Manuscript Types

Jurnal Mediasas: Media Ilmu Syari'ah dan Ahwal Al-Syakhsiyyah  welcomes scholarly manuscripts that contribute to the development of knowledge in Islamic law, Islamic family law, family law, Sharia economic law, Islamic criminal law, customary law, Islamic constitutional law, comparative law, anthropological and sociological approaches to law, marriage and gender issues, the history of Islamic law, and related multidisciplinary studies.

The journal welcomes original research, conceptual analyses, critical reviews, and other scholarly contributions that advance theoretical understanding, examine contemporary legal and social issues, critically interpret Islamic legal sources, or investigate the relationship between Islamic legal principles, legislation, judicial practice, and social realities.

Submitted manuscripts must be original, must not have been published previously, and must not be under consideration for publication by another journal. Manuscripts must demonstrate scholarly novelty, appropriate methodological or analytical rigor, a clear contribution to the relevant field, and compliance with the journal's publication ethics and author guidelines.

MEDIASAS primarily considers the following types of manuscripts.

1. Field Research Articles

Field research articles present empirical findings derived from research involving individuals, families, communities, institutions, or other relevant social and legal settings.

Research may examine Islamic family law practices, marriage and divorce, child custody, inheritance, family dispute resolution, customary law, gender relations, access to justice, the implementation of Islamic law, legal awareness, or the social consequences of legal policies and regulations.

Studies may employ qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods approaches. Appropriate data collection techniques may include interviews, observations, surveys, focus group discussions, and documentary analysis.

Manuscripts must clearly explain the research problem and objectives, their relationship to previous scholarship, the research design, data sources, participant or sample selection where applicable, data collection procedures, analytical methods, and relevant ethical considerations. Authors must explain how the methods answer the research questions.

Findings must be presented systematically and discussed critically in relation to relevant theories, previous studies, legal frameworks, or Islamic legal perspectives. Authors must acknowledge methodological limitations and ensure that their conclusions are supported by the evidence presented.

Research involving human participants must follow applicable ethical requirements, including appropriate consent and protection of confidentiality where necessary.

2. Library-Based Research Articles

Library-based research articles examine legal, Islamic legal, historical, conceptual, or social questions through systematic and critical analysis of written and documentary sources.

Relevant sources may include legislation, court decisions, judicial precedents, fatwas, classical and contemporary Islamic legal texts, fiqh literature, legal commentaries, scholarly books and articles, policy documents, archival materials, and other authoritative sources relevant to the research question.

Studies may employ doctrinal legal research, normative legal analysis, comparative law, historical analysis, conceptual analysis, or other appropriate approaches. Manuscripts may investigate legal interpretation, Islamic legal reasoning, differences among schools of Islamic jurisprudence, the application of Islamic family law, legal pluralism, or the relationship between Sharia principles and contemporary legal practice.

Authors must explain the research approach, the rationale for selecting sources, the scope and boundaries of the inquiry, and the procedures used to interpret and analyze the materials. Where relevant, primary legal sources must be distinguished from secondary literature, and the authority, context, and limitations of the sources must be considered.

The manuscript must develop a coherent argument, critical interpretation, or analytical synthesis that contributes to scholarly discussion. A descriptive compilation of legal provisions, fatwas, or literature without substantive analysis is insufficient.

3. Conceptual Articles

Conceptual articles develop theoretical arguments, analytical frameworks, or new interpretations relevant to Islamic law, Islamic family law, and the journal's broader scope.

These manuscripts may address contemporary legal problems, reform of family law, Islamic legal thought, gender and justice, legal pluralism, the relationship between religious norms and state law, or emerging issues in Islamic legal studies.

A conceptual article must identify a clear research problem, explain the theoretical or conceptual framework, engage critically with relevant scholarship, and develop a coherent argument. Authors must demonstrate the originality, relevance, and scholarly significance of their proposed interpretation or framework.

Although conceptual articles may not involve empirical data collection, they must use appropriate scholarly methods, support their arguments with credible sources, and explain how the analysis advances existing knowledge. Unsupported opinion or a general descriptive discussion without a clear analytical contribution is insufficient.

4. Book Reviews

Book reviews provide critical assessments of scholarly books relevant to Islamic law, Islamic family law, family studies, Sharia economic law, customary law, gender and marriage, or related legal and multidisciplinary studies.

Reviews should provide complete bibliographic information, including the author's or editor's name, book title, publisher, publication year, page count, and ISBN where available.

A review should identify the book's central argument, objectives, scope, theoretical orientation, and methodology where applicable. It should critically evaluate the use of sources, the strength of the arguments, the book's contributions, its limitations, and its significance for current scholarly debates.

Book reviews must go beyond summarizing the content or promoting the publication. Reviewers should explain the relevance of the book to the journal's readership and disclose any relationship or interest that could compromise the objectivity of the assessment.

5. Systematic Literature Review Articles

Systematic literature review (SLR) articles synthesize existing scholarship on clearly defined questions within the scope of MEDIASAS through transparent and reproducible procedures for searching, selecting, appraising, and analyzing the literature.

Relevant topics may include developments in Islamic family law, marriage and divorce, child custody, inheritance, Islamic legal reform, customary law, gender and justice, legal pluralism, or other related areas.

Manuscripts must specify the databases or information sources searched, search terms and strategies, search dates, publication period covered, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and procedures used to screen and select studies. Authors must describe data extraction procedures, quality appraisal where appropriate, and the methods used to synthesize the findings.

The selection process must be documented clearly, including the number of records identified, screened, excluded, and included, with reasons for exclusion at the full-text stage where applicable. A flow diagram may be included to improve transparency.

The review must critically synthesize the findings, identify patterns and disagreements, assess methodological limitations, and identify gaps in existing knowledge. Authors should explain the implications for legal theory, Islamic legal scholarship, future research, policy, or practice.

Where studies involve different jurisdictions, legal systems, schools of Islamic jurisprudence, or social contexts, these differences must be considered when interpreting the findings. Bibliometric analysis may complement an SLR but cannot replace substantive critical synthesis of the included literature.

Presentation and Assessment Requirements

All submissions must align with the focus and scope of MEDIASAS and comply with the journal's current Author Guidelines and manuscript template.

Field research articles must provide a transparent account of their research methods and empirical evidence. Library-based articles must explain their analytical approach and the use of legal and documentary sources. Conceptual articles must present a coherent theoretical argument. Book reviews must demonstrate critical engagement with the work under review. Systematic literature reviews must report transparent and appropriate review procedures.

Manuscripts must be written in Indonesian or English and follow the journal's applicable formatting and citation requirements. Authors must ensure that the manuscript is original, free from plagiarism, and properly acknowledges all sources.

All submissions are subject to editorial screening and, where appropriate, peer review in accordance with the journal's policies. Publication decisions consider relevance to the journal's scope, originality, methodological or analytical rigor, quality of evidence and sources, clarity of presentation, ethical compliance, and scholarly contribution.

MEDIASAS reserves the right to reject manuscripts that fall outside its scope, lack sufficient scholarly contribution, fail to meet methodological or analytical standards, or do not comply with the journal's submission requirements.