About the Journal
The Journal of the Center for International Humanitarian Law is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal published by the Center for International Humanitarian Law.
It is dedicated to publishing original legal research and studies across various branches of public and private law.
The journal welcomes rigorous academic contributions addressing doctrinal, analytical, critical, or comparative issues, with the aim of advancing legal knowledge and promoting a culture of respect for the rule of law at both the national and international levels.
Journal Vision: To be a leading and distinguished academic platform at both the Arab and international levels for supporting and advancing legal research, contributing to bridging the gap between legal theory and practice, and keeping pace with contemporary legislative and judicial developments.
Peer Review Process
The journal adopts a rigorous and transparent peer review system aimed at ensuring the scientific quality and academic credibility of all published material. This process is based on the following principles and procedures:
First: Type of Peer Review Adopted
The journal operates a double-blind peer review system, whereby the identity of the author(s) is concealed from reviewers, and the identity of reviewers is concealed from the author(s). This ensures complete impartiality and prevents the scientific decision from being influenced by any personal, institutional, or affiliation-based considerations.
Second: Peer Review Stages in Detail
The peer review process begins with the submission of the manuscript through the journal's electronic platform, following which the author receives an automatic acknowledgment of receipt within one to two days. This is followed by the initial screening stage (internal review), conducted by the editorial secretariat, which takes approximately 3 to 5 days and involves verifying that the manuscript meets the formal submission requirements and falls within the journal's scope. The manuscript is then subjected to a plagiarism detection check using anti-plagiarism software, with the requirement that the similarity ratio does not exceed the maximum threshold announced by the journal; this stage takes one to two days.
Once these preliminary stages are successfully completed, the Editor-in-Chief or the Editorial Board assigns at least two reviewers with relevant expertise, a process that takes 3 to 7 days. Subsequently, the substantive (external) peer review stage commences, during which the manuscript is independently evaluated by at least two reviewers using a standardized evaluation form. This stage typically takes 3 to 6 weeks. In the event of conflicting evaluations (accept/reject), the manuscript is referred to a third tie-breaker reviewer, which requires an additional two weeks.
Following this, the Editorial Board makes the final decision (accept / accept with revisions / reject) based on the reviewers' reports, within one week. The reviewers' comments are then sent to the author to carry out the required revisions, with the possibility of resubmitting the revised manuscript to the reviewers for verification; the duration of this stage varies depending on the extent of the revisions required. Upon final acceptance, the manuscript undergoes linguistic copyediting, technical editing, and final formatting in preparation for publication, a process that takes approximately two weeks. Finally, the manuscript is published in the relevant issue and assigned a permanent Digital Object Identifier (DOI).
Third: Reviewer Selection Criteria
The journal applies stringent criteria in the selection of reviewers, the most notable of which are:
1. The reviewer must hold a doctoral degree in the same or a closely related field of specialization.
2. The reviewer must possess a published research record in the field of migration and displacement studies or related disciplines.
3. There must be no direct relationship (academic supervision, kinship, recent research partnership) between the reviewer and the author(s).
4. Reviewers are required to sign a conflict-of-interest declaration prior to undertaking the review.
The journal also ensures institutional and geographical diversity among reviewers to guarantee objectivity and the incorporation of multiple scholarly perspectives.
Fourth: Evaluation Form Criteria
Reviewers are required to evaluate the manuscript assigned to them using a standardized evaluation form covering a set of core criteria, for which they provide both numerical and descriptive assessments, along with a final recommendation. These criteria include:
• The originality of the topic and its novel scientific contribution to the field of migration and displacement studies.
• The soundness of the theoretical framework and the clarity of the research problem, objectives, and hypotheses.
• The accuracy of the methodology and its appropriateness to the nature of the topic and data collection tools.
• The quality of analysis and discussion, and the extent to which they are grounded in reliable evidence and data.
• The soundness of academic documentation and adherence to the journal's adopted citation style.
• The quality of language, academic style, and clarity of presentation.
The final recommendation takes one of the following forms: accept as is, accept with minor revisions, accept with major revisions and resubmit, or reject.
Fifth: Integrity Safeguards in Peer Review
The journal places the utmost importance on scholarly integrity and ensures this through a number of safeguards, the most notable of which are:
1. Strict confidentiality regarding the identities of both authors and reviewers throughout all stages of the process.
2. Granting authors the right to submit a reasoned scientific appeal against a rejection decision through the Editorial Board.
3. The electronic documentation of all correspondence and stages of the review process for auditing and accountability purposes.
4. The prohibition of any Editorial Board member from participating in the review of a manuscript in which they have a direct interest or involvement.
