Review Policy

All research articles submitted to Jurnal Bina Mulia Hukum undergo rigorous peer review. Peer review ensures that every published article is original, academically sound, and makes a meaningful contribution to legal scholarship. The journal’s review policy follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

1. Type of Review

The journal uses double-blind peer review. Reviewers do not know who the authors are, and authors do not know who the reviewers are. Authors must therefore remove all identifying information from the manuscript before submission.

2. Number of Reviewers

Every manuscript that passes initial screening is reviewed by at least two independent reviewers with expertise in the relevant field of law. Wherever possible, at least one reviewer comes from an institution other than the author’s. Reviewers are drawn from institutions in Indonesia and abroad.

3. Initial Screening and Similarity Check

Before peer review, the editors check that each manuscript:

• fits the journal’s Focus and Scope,
• follows the Author Guidelines and template,
• has a similarity index below 20% when checked with Turnitin or iThenticate, excluding references, quotations, and legal texts (see our Plagiarism Policy).

Manuscripts that do not meet these requirements are returned to the author or rejected without review.

4. Review Criteria

Reviewers assess each manuscript on:

• originality and novelty,
• significance for legal theory, practice, or policy,
• the depth and accuracy of its legal analysis,
• the suitability of its research method,
• the use of current and relevant sources,
• clarity of structure and language,
• whether the conclusions follow from the analysis.

5. Recommendations and Decisions

Reviewers recommend one of the following: accept, minor revision, major revision, or reject. The final decision is made by the Editor in Chief, based on the reviewers’ reports. If the reviewers’ recommendations differ significantly, the editor may invite an additional reviewer.

6. Confidentiality and Ethics

Manuscripts under review are confidential. Reviewers must:

• not share the manuscript or use its content for their own benefit,
• not upload any part of the manuscript to generative AI tools,
• declare any conflict of interest and decline the review if one exists.

Manuscripts submitted by members of the editorial team or by authors from the Faculty of Law, Universitas Padjadjaran, go through the same review process. They are handled by editors who have no conflict of interest.