1. Archiving Policy Statement

Al-Tafaqquh: Journal of Islamic Law, published by Universitas Muslim Indonesia and managed by the Faculty of Islamic Studies, recognizes the importance of preserving scholarly publications and editorial records to ensure long-term accessibility, authenticity, reliability, and continuity of academic knowledge.

The journal is committed to establishing and maintaining responsible digital archiving procedures for published articles, journal metadata, and essential editorial documentation.

This policy outlines the journal's principles concerning digital preservation, backup management, repository access, data security, disaster recovery, and long-term scholarly record protection.

2. OBJECTIVES OF DIGITAL ARCHIVING

The journal's digital archiving policy seeks to:

1. Preserve published scholarly articles and their associated bibliographic metadata.
2. Maintain the authenticity and integrity of the scholarly record.
3. Support long-term access to published research.
4. Reduce risks associated with technical failures, unauthorized access, cyberattacks, and accidental data loss.
5. Facilitate recovery of journal content when digital publishing services are disrupted.
6. Support transparency and accountability in editorial management.

3. SCOPE OF ARCHIVED MATERIALS

The journal's preservation framework covers the following categories of digital materials, subject to their availability and applicable access restrictions:

• Published Articles: Final versions of accepted and published scholarly articles, including PDF files and other available publication formats.
• Journal Issues: Volume and issue records, tables of contents, publication dates, and associated materials.
• Bibliographic Metadata: Article titles, author information, abstracts, keywords, DOI records, and citation details.
• Editorial Records: Submission histories, editorial correspondence, peer review documentation, and editorial decisions.
• Supplementary Materials: Research instruments, datasets, appendices, and other supplementary files when submitted and approved for preservation.

Confidential editorial and peer review records are distinguished from publicly accessible published materials and remain subject to privacy and confidentiality requirements.

4. DIGITAL STORAGE AND BACKUP MANAGEMENT

Al-Tafaqquh recognizes the importance of maintaining reliable digital storage and backup arrangements to protect scholarly publications and essential editorial information.

The journal's digital preservation framework prioritizes the following procedures:

• Maintaining organized digital records of published articles and associated metadata.
• Implementing scheduled backups of journal files and relevant database records.
• Maintaining backup copies separately from the primary publishing environment where technically feasible.
• Restricting access to sensitive administrative and editorial information.
• Verifying the integrity and recoverability of archived digital materials.
• Reviewing backup and restoration procedures as part of ongoing digital publishing management.

5. DIGITAL REPOSITORIES AND DISCOVERABILITY

The journal supports the dissemination and discoverability of published research through its official Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform and appropriate scholarly indexing services.

Where available, bibliographic records, DOI metadata, and indexing information may contribute to the identification and discovery of published articles through external academic databases.

However, indexing and metadata registration should not be regarded as equivalent to guaranteed long-term preservation of full-text article files.

The journal may evaluate institutional repositories, recognized preservation networks, and other trusted digital archiving services as part of its continuing development.

6. LONG-TERM DIGITAL PRESERVATION

Al-Tafaqquh recognizes the importance of established digital preservation initiatives, including:

• LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe): A distributed preservation approach designed to support the long-term protection of digital scholarly content.
• CLOCKSS: A community-governed preservation archive intended to safeguard scholarly publications for long-term access.
• PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN): A preservation initiative for eligible journals using Open Journal Systems.
• Institutional Repositories: Repository services operated by academic institutions for the storage and preservation of scholarly publications.

These initiatives are identified as potential preservation mechanisms for consideration. Their inclusion in this statement does not constitute a claim of current journal membership, enrollment, or active preservation coverage.

7. DIGITAL SECURITY AND ACCESS CONTROL

The journal acknowledges the need to safeguard its publishing platform against unauthorized access, malicious content injection, data alteration, and other cybersecurity threats.

Digital security priorities include:

1. Managing administrative access according to editorial responsibilities.
2. Protecting author, reviewer, and editor account credentials.
3. Maintaining appropriate software updates and security controls.
4. Monitoring potential website vulnerabilities and unauthorized modifications.
5. Protecting confidential submission and peer review records.
6. Supporting secure recovery procedures following cybersecurity incidents.

8. DISASTER RECOVERY AND SERVICE CONTINUITY

In the event of a technical failure, cybersecurity incident, or interruption to the publishing platform, the journal prioritizes the assessment and restoration of affected publishing services and scholarly records.

The journal's recovery framework includes:

• Identifying affected systems, files, and editorial records.
• Assessing the availability and integrity of backup materials.
• Restoring published articles and essential metadata where recoverable.
• Reviewing access to author, reviewer, and editorial accounts.
• Documenting significant disruptions and recovery limitations.
• Providing appropriate information to affected stakeholders.

Where records are unavailable or incomplete, the journal should distinguish temporary inaccessibility from confirmed permanent data loss.

9. HISTORICAL DIGITAL PUBLISHING DISRUPTIONS

Al-Tafaqquh experienced significant website security incidents in December 2024 and January 2026, involving unauthorized online gambling-related content injection.

These incidents affected access to the journal website, published PDF articles, editorial correspondence, peer review histories, and certain manuscript records.

The journal acknowledges these disruptions as important considerations in the development of its digital preservation and publishing continuity policies.

Further information is available through the journal's historical documentation:

Journal History - Al-Tafaqquh: Journal of Islamic Law

10. ACCESSIBILITY OF ARCHIVED CONTENT

Published scholarly articles are intended to remain openly accessible through the journal's official publishing platform, subject to applicable copyright and licensing conditions.

Confidential submission files, unpublished manuscripts, peer review correspondence, personal information, and internal editorial records are not made publicly accessible solely because they are preserved within the journal's archive.

Access to confidential records is restricted according to legitimate editorial responsibilities and applicable institutional and legal requirements.

11. AUTHOR SELF-ARCHIVING

Authors may share and preserve their published articles through appropriate institutional repositories and scholarly platforms in accordance with the copyright and open access license applicable to the publication.

When sharing the published version, authors should provide accurate bibliographic information and acknowledge the original publication in Al-Tafaqquh: Journal of Islamic Law.

Authors are encouraged to preserve their original research data and manuscript records in accordance with applicable ethical, legal, and institutional requirements.

12. RESPONSIBILITY AND POLICY REVIEW

The editorial management of Al-Tafaqquh, in coordination with the journal's publisher and relevant technical administrators, is responsible for reviewing digital preservation needs and recommending appropriate measures to improve archival reliability.

This policy should be periodically reviewed to reflect developments in publishing infrastructure, institutional capacity, cybersecurity practices, and recognized digital preservation standards.

13. DIGITAL PRESERVATION RESOURCES

The following resources provide information on established approaches to scholarly digital preservation:

• LOCKSS Program
• CLOCKSS Archive
• PKP Preservation Network
• Crossref