Aims and scope

The Malaysian Journal of Action Research is an open-access and fully peer-reviewed international journal for practitioners, professionals, academics and researchers. The journal has a strong multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary focus. It seeks to facilitate discussion and debate that crosses the boundaries of professional contexts and domains, including education, nursing, social work, allied health professions, business and management, computer science and the criminal justice sector.
The Malaysian Journal of Action Research promotes professional growth in these fields of study by publishing manuscripts on evidence-based practices, reviews of current policy initiatives, examples of applied theories, and reports of original research in a language that is accessible and practical. It seeks to explore pedagogical practices using a variety of action research paradigms, philosophies and methodologies, including, but not limited to:

1. Practical action research
2. Technical action research
3. Participatory action research
4. Critical participatory action research
5. Critical action research
6. Classroom-based action research
7. Action science
8. Action learning
9. Soft system approaches
10. Industrial action research
11. Appreciative inquiry
12. Collaborative action research
13. Self-study action research
14. Autoethnography in action research
15. Community-based action research
16. Community-based participatory action research
17. Emancipatory action research
18. Living theory research
19. Educational living theory research
20. Theory of practice architectures research
21. Action case

Peer review process

The peer review process for the Malaysian Journal of Action Research is designed to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity and scholarly excellence. It begins with the submission of an original, unpublished manuscript by an author via the journal submission portal, Open Journal Systems. The submitted work must meet the guidelines provided by the journal and align with its scope. The Editor-in-Chief or a member of the Editorial Board conducts an initial review to determine the suitability of the manuscript for further review.

If the manuscript passes the initial review, it is then assigned to at least two independent peer reviewers who possess expertise in the manuscript’s subject area. To maintain fairness and objectivity, the journal operates a double-blind review system, ensuring both the author’s and the reviewers’ anonymity.

The reviewers are tasked with evaluating the manuscript on several criteria, including its novelty, validity, methodological rigour, significance, and quality of presentation. Each reviewer provides a detailed report and a recommendation for acceptance, revisions (major or minor), o r rejection. This feedback is then assessed by the Editor-in-Chief who makes the editorial decision.

If the manuscript requires revisions, the author is asked to address all the reviewers’ comments and revise the manuscript. The revised work might undergo a second round of review if deemed necessary. The Editor-in-Chief then makes the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of the manuscript.

In the event of a manuscript’s acceptance, it undergoes a final editing process before its online publication on the journal website. Authors also have the right to appeal any editorial decision by providing a detailed explanation for their appeal. This comprehensive process ensures that the Malaysian Journal of Action Research remains an essential source of top-tier research in its field. Authors are urged to adhere to journal submission guidelines and strive to meet the journal’s high -quality standards to increase their chances of successful publication.

Open access statement

The Malaysian Journal of Action Research upholds the principle of open access, firmly standing by the belief that unrestricted access to research promotes a broader, more impactful global exchange of knowledge. To implement this belief, the journal provides immediate open access to its content, enabling the democratisation of information access and contributing to the overall progress of the field.

The journal adheres to an open access policy. This policy means that all its content is freely accessible without any charge to the user or their respective institution. This freedom extends beyond reading; users also have the liberty to download, copy, distribute, print, search, and link the full texts of the manuscripts. In addition, users can employ these manuscripts for any other lawful purpose without needing prior permission from either the publisher or the author. However, it is mandatory for users to give appropriate acknowledgment and cite the source when and wherever the content is utilised.

The journal operates under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence – CC -BY 4.0 [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/]. This licence agreement permits users to freely distribute, remix, adjust, and build upon the original work, even for commercial purposes, as long as the original authors and source are appropriately acknowledged. This policy not only supports the free dissemination of knowledge but also encourages creativity and innovation by allowing the work to be repurposed in new and varied contexts.

All authors choosing to publish in the Malaysian Journal of Action Research are required to agree to these terms of publication. By doing so, they are participating actively in the open access movement, making their research widely accessible and impactful within and beyond the academic community. Through this commitment, the journal aspires to maintain a scholarly environment where knowledge is openly shared for societal betterment, rather than kept behind paywalls.

Copyright and licencing

The Malaysian Journal of Action Research serves as an open access hub for knowledge dissemination, making all its content freely accessible to users without any fees. This access extends beyond passive reading, offering users the freedom to download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the manuscripts published in the journal. This adherence to open access principles resonates with the definition outlined by the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI).

As mentioned, this journal operates under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0), thus offering a flexible and inclusive publishing framework that is considerate of the authors’ rights while facilitating the widespread dissemination of their work. When publishing with the Malaysian Journal of Action Research, authors agree to the following terms:

1. Authors retain the copyright of their work, thereby preserving their right to their intellectual property.
2. The journal reserves the right of first publication, implying that the work will be first published in this journal. However, authors maintain the copyright and can republish their work in other venues.
3. As the work is simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence, it enables others to share the work freely, provided that they give due acknowledgement to the original authorship and its initial publication in this journal.
4. Authors can enter into separate, non-exclusive distribution agreements that allow the journal’s published version of the work to be shared in other venues. For instance, authors can republish their work in institutional repositories, books, or on their websites, as long as they acknowledge its initial publication in this journal.
5. The journal encourages authors to share their work online, both prior to and during the submission process. Posting their work on institutional repositories or personal websites can prompt productive academic exchanges and significantly enhance the visibility and citation of their published work.

By adhering to this inclusive copyright licence agreement, the Malaysian Journal of Action Research cultivates a scholarly culture of transparency, collaboration, and accessibility. This approach enables researchers and readers globally to benefit from the open dissemination and exchange of knowledge, thus fostering a vibrant and dynamic academic community.

Publisher

The Malaysian Journal of Action Research is an academic and practitioner publication published by the Malaysian Action Research Network (MARNet). MARNet is dedicated to advancing the field of action research, and correspondingly, the Malaysian Journal of Action Research seeks to reflect its commitment to quality research and scholarly integrity. The journal serves as an important medium for sharing insightful and impactful studies within the action research community both in Malaysia and internationally.

The Malaysian Action Research Network (MARNet) is a registered organisation under the Registrar of Societies (PPM-013-05-02092021). MARNet aims to promote and advance action research as a legitimate philosophy and methodology in Malaysia, providing encouragement and support for action researchers at all levels to conduct rigorous and evidence-based work. Find out more about MARNet at https://www.marnet.my.

Author guidelines

The editors welcome the submission of a wide variety of high-quality original action research manuscripts in a range of styles and genres, drawing on a variety of action research paradigms, including:

• Reports on action research
• Short pieces of research in progress
• Impact accounts
• Photo essays
• Telling stories
• Reflections on policy in practice
• Informed and analytical accounts of innovative practice
• Critiques of recent policy developments
• Conversations/Dialogues and interviews
• Book reviews

The journal is also keen to encourage authors to take the first step in initiating public conversations, and provides proactive support for new writers. The journal will be flexible about article ‘size’ and will welcome contributions of different lengths to reflect the variety of contribution types outlined above. For guidance, authors might submit:

• 5,000-7,500 word peer-reviewed articles
• 1,000-2,500 word peer-reviewed ‘reflective pieces’ or ‘thought pieces’
• 1,000-1,500 word stories that are close to the writer’s heart and that give meaning to their professional career

The manuscript must also deal with one of the key topics of the journal (a variety of action research paradigms, philosophies and methodologies); otherwise, it will not be accepted.

General Information

Manuscripts can be accepted either in English or Bahasa Melayu. If authors are not native speakers, the use of proofreading and copyediting services is strongly recommended. This helps to avoid desk rejection and negative comments from reviewers. Additionally, a sufficiently high level of language prevents delays in the review process.

A typical manuscript of an action research report should consist of the following sections: Title, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgements, References, and Appendix (if necessary). Reflective pieces and stories usually do not need to have the IMRAD structure. However, they should have specified objectives and must include citations and/or a literature review.

The abstract should be between 80 and 120 words for all types of manuscripts. Each manuscript should contain at least 5 keywords. All keywords must follow alphabetical order, separated by commas. Manuscripts in Bahasa Melayu should include an additional title, abstract and keywords in English.

The introduction should provide a brief review of the current state of the research area, citing relevant sources from journals and conference proceedings listed in databases such as Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, or ERIC. The introduction should lead to a clear problem statement or objective of the manuscript, and conclude by outlining the subsequent sections.

Given that the primary audience of the journal is based in Malaysia, it is imperative to ensure that your manuscript includes pertinent citations that resonate within the Malaysian context. Moreover, the inclusion of studies conducted in Malaysia further solidifies the relevance of your research to our readership. These considerations are instrumental in building a meaningful dialogue within the Malaysian academic community and contributing to the local body of knowledge.

The methods section should describe the research methods employed and provide details on the plan of action. If the manuscript builds upon the author’s previous work, it is important to briefly reference this work and describe how the present paper builds on it.

The results section should present the main findings and goals achieved, aligning with the described plan of actions. It is essential to maintain a clear structure and address the main objective stated in the introduction, ensuring all relevant findings are presented.

The discussion section holds significant importance in the manuscript. Authors should compare their findings with other relevant works in the field, discussing the applicability, strengths, and limitations of the results. If a problem was identified, potential solutions should be proposed. It is crucial to include a proper and comprehensive discussion, as manuscripts without a thorough discussion may lead reviewers to have reservations.

The conclusion should summarise the manuscript and highlight its key points. Authors may also provide valuable insights into potential research directions by suggesting topics for future work. It is important to maintain conciseness in this section, ensuring that it remains focused and does not exceed half a page.

In the case of empirical studies, authors are mandated to include a statement detailing the ethical approval obtained for the study. This should specify the reviewing body or organisation that granted the ethical clearance for the research, and a reference number for the approval (if available).

A reference list should be included at the end of the manuscript, with the references compiled in ascending alphabetical order.

Plagiarism policy

Plagiarism is defined as copying another person’s text or ideas without proper attribution or citation, regardless of the source, authorship, or permission. The Malaysian Journal of Action Research recognises the serious nature of this offence. Therefore, it has established a clear policy outlining specific actions (penalties) when plagiarism is detected in any submitted manuscript.

The plagiarism policy of the Malaysian Journal of Action Research is as follows:

1. All submitted manuscripts must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Authors are required to declare these conditions unequivocally at the outset of the submission process, thereby affirming the originality and exclusivity of their manuscript.

2. The journal employs the advanced plagiarism detection software, Turnitin, to identify any potential instances of plagiarism within submitted manuscripts. This also includes an Artificial Intelligence (AI) detector to identify if a tool such as ChatGPT has been used to generate any of the text. It is crucial for authors to ensure that the Turnitin similarity report for their submission is 25% or below, as we consider this to be an acceptable threshold for any overlap with existing publications.

3. In cases of minor plagiarism, where a sentence or short paragraph from another manuscript has been copied without significant data or ideas, authors will receive a warning and be requested to revise the manuscript to properly cite the original sources.

4. When a significant piece of data, paragraph, or sentence from another manuscript has been plagiarised without proper citation, the submitted manuscript will be automatically rejected.

5. Instances of severe plagiarism, involving the reproduction of large portions of another manuscript, including original results, ideas, and methods, will result in automatic rejection of the manuscript. Additionally, authors engaging in severe plagiarism will be prohibited from submitting further manuscripts to the journal.

6. All authors are collectively responsible for the content of their submitted manuscript, and they all sign the journal Copyright Transfer Form. Therefore, if a penalty is imposed on a manuscript due to plagiarism, all authors will be subject to the same penalty without exception.

7. In the case of self-plagiarism, the term intermediate plagiarism is applied if less than one-half of the manuscript but more than one-tenth of the manuscript is reused from a previously published work. Minor self-plagiarism is classified if the experimental or methods section is majorly similar or quite similar to a previously published work.

8. Authors are allowed to use previously published material to clarify the presentation of new results. However, the previously published material must be identified, and the differences from the current publication must be mentioned. Permission to republish must be obtained from the copyright holder.

9. The Manuscript and Web Editor for the journal is responsible for maintaining a list of authors subjected to penalties. If a banned author is identified, appropriate measures will be taken by the Editor-in-Chief or a member of the Editorial Board.

This plagiarism policy will be prominently displayed on the homepage of the Malaysian Journal of Action Research, and authors will be provided with a copy upon initial receipt of their original manuscript. Authors will be required to acknowledge and confirm their understanding of this policy when submitting their manuscripts. The aim is to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity and ensure that the publication process is free from plagiarism.

Article processing charges (APC)

The Malaysian Journal of Action Research publishes in full open access, meaning unlimited use and reuse of articles, in addition to giving credit to the authors. All our manuscripts are published under a Creative Commons (CC BY 4.0) Licence.

Authors are required to pay a one-time Article Processing Charge (APC) to cover the costs of peer review administration and management, professional production of manuscripts in PDF and other formats, and dissemination of published manuscripts in various venues, in addition to other publishing functions. There are no charges for rejected manuscripts, no submission charges, and no surcharges based on the length of a manuscript, figures or supplementary data. Some manuscripts (Editorials, Comments, etc.) are published free of charge.

MARNet member and invited author: FREE
Non-member: RM100
International author: USD100

Bank: RHB Bank
Account Number: 2-55104-0001226-4
Account Name: Pertubuhan Jaringan Kajian Tindakan Malaysia

Should the Editor-in-Chief or a member of the editorial board determine that a manuscript requires language copyediting, authors will be responsible for bearing the associated costs prior to the publication of their work. For manuscripts written in English, the journal employs the services of a copyediting firm staffed by native English speakers based in the United Kingdom. For manuscripts in Bahasa Melayu, the journal utilises the services of a certified Munsyi Dewan from Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), Malaysia. The application of these services ensures linguistic precision, enhancing the readability and understanding of the work published in the Malaysian Journal of Action Research.