About the Journal

Focus and Scope

AJAD: Jurnal Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat is dedicated to advancing the field of community engagement, societal transformation, and applied social innovation. The journal examines how collaborative initiatives, appropriate technologies, and empowerment frameworks are conceptualized, implemented, evaluated, and sustained to address real-world community challenges across various domains.

AJAD welcomes original community service research articles, implementation reports, field evaluation studies, and policy/best-practice reviews. The core research themes encompass, but are not limited to, the following primary clusters:

• Technology for Community Development: Application of appropriate technology, digitalization, software solutions, and technological innovation for rural and urban community empowerment.
• Economic Empowerment & Community Development: Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs/UMKM) development, social entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and enhancement of local economic capacity.
• Health & Community Welfare: Community health programs, sanitation, health and nutrition education, mental health initiatives, and improvement of general social welfare.
• Educational Community Service: Education-based community service, human resource training and capacity building, literacy and non-formal education, academic mentoring, and innovative learning tools for local communities.
• Community Engagement & Social Innovation: Participatory strategies, social innovation frameworks, community-driven development, disaster risk reduction, and institutional capacity building.
• Case Studies & Practice Reports: Evaluative case studies, field best practices, impact assessment reports, and lessons learned from multidisciplinary community service activities.

Authorship Criteria & Standards

Authorship in AJAD is strictly reserved for individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions to the research or community engagement project. In alignment with COPE guidelines and the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) framework, all listed authors must meet all four standard criteria: (1) substantial contributions to conception, design, execution, or data collection/analysis; (2) drafting or critically revising the manuscript; (3) final approval of the version to be published; and (4) agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work. Ghost, guest, or honorary authorship is strictly prohibited. For complete contributor details, see our Ethical Guidelines.

Language Policy

AJAD accepts and publishes manuscripts written in English or Indonesian. Regardless of the main text language, every article must be accompanied by a bilingual abstract (both English and Indonesian) to maximize international discoverability while maintaining regional academic relevance. Authors may use the official English or Indonesian article template available in the sidebar. Submissions must be written in clear, academically rigorous language; the editorial office may request professional language refinements prior to peer review.

Peer Review Process & Workflow

All submitted manuscripts must represent original, unpublished work that is not currently under evaluation by another journal or conference. AJAD enforces a rigorous double-blind peer review workflow managed through the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform:

1. 1
   Initial Desk Screening

   The handling editor evaluates the submission for scope alignment, template formatting, plagiarism screening, completeness, and verification of the 4 Mandatory Declarations (AI Usage, Author Contributions CRediT, Funding Statement, Conflict of Interest).

2. 2
   Plagiarism & Integrity Screening

   Submissions are automatically checked using iThenticate, Turnitin, and Copyleaks. Manuscripts exceeding an overall 20% similarity index or exhibiting undisclosed AI text generation are returned or rejected outright.

3. 3
   Double-Blind Peer Review

   Anonymized drafts are assigned to at least two independent expert reviewers from our Reviewer Team. Author identities and reviewer details remain strictly decoupled throughout the review cycle.

4. 4
   Editorial Decision

   The Editor-in-Chief issues an editorial decision based on reviewer evaluations: Accept Submission, Revisions Required (Minor), Resubmit for Review (Major), Resubmit Elsewhere, or Decline Submission.

5. 5
   Revision & Re-Evaluation

   Authors submit revised manuscripts alongside a point-by-point response matrix within specified deadlines for editor or reviewer re-assessment.

6. 6
   Production & Publication

   Accepted papers proceed through professional copyediting, XML/PDF galley typesetting, DOI registration with Crossref, and online publishing.

AJAD maintains an efficient review schedule: an initial editorial screening decision is rendered within 5 days, peer review takes approximately 14 to 21 days, total submission-to-acceptance averages 30 days, and online publication follows within 10 days of acceptance. Published articles explicitly feature complete genesis milestones (Received, Revised, Accepted, Published) on the article landing pages and PDF galleys.

Special Issue Policy

AJAD periodically hosts Special Issues focused on targeted community engagement challenges, regional empowerment models, and collaborative social projects. Guest Editors are recognized scholars or domain experts who oversee the evaluation under strict adherence to the journal's standard double-blind peer review policies. Proposals for Special Issues may be addressed to the Editorial Office.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

AJAD recognizes the constructive assistance offered by Artificial Intelligence tools in scholarly writing while safeguarding academic transparency. The following policy applies to all submissions:

• Transparent Disclosure: Authors must provide an explicit statement prior to References indicating whether or not AI-assisted tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Perplexity, Grammarly AI, DeepL) were utilized during the preparation of the manuscript. When used, the statement must name the tool, its version, and the purpose of use.
• AI Authorship Preclusion: In alignment with COPE standards, AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors because non-human software cannot assume legal or ethical accountability for research assertions.
• Author Ownership & Integrity: Authors maintain full intellectual ownership and legal responsibility for the factual integrity, empirical datasets, citations, and originality of their published work.
• Permitted Scope: The use of AI is welcomed strictly for proofreading, translation support, grammar, and stylistic enhancement. Methodological designs and substantive conclusions must reflect the authors' own scholarly synthesis.
• Prohibited Use: AI tools must not be used to fabricate data, generate fictitious references, or create or alter images/results.
• Reviewers & Editors: Confidential manuscripts must not be uploaded to public AI tools during the review and editorial process.

Publication Frequency & Scheduling

AJAD: Jurnal Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat is published three times a year (thrice yearly) in April, August, and December. Regular calls for papers and editorial announcements are published under the Announcements section of this portal.

Open Access Statement

AJAD is an immediate and permanent Gold Open Access journal. All published articles are freely available online immediately upon publication without paywalls, subscription fees, or reader registration. In accordance with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI), readers are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of all articles.

Article Processing Charges (APC) & Fee Policy

AJAD operates an author-pays Open Access publishing model supported by an Article Processing Charge (APC). Submitting a manuscript and undergoing peer review is completely free of charge. A flat fee applies only if the manuscript is formally accepted for publication. Detailed fee schedules, domestic and international author rates, optional printed copy fees, and financial hardship waiver policies are transparently maintained on our dedicated Publication Fees page.

Copyright and Licensing Terms

Authors who publish in AJAD retain full copyright of their work and grant the journal the right of first publication. All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), permitting unrestricted sharing, adaptation, and redistribution in any medium, provided original credit is properly credited.

Plagiarism & Screening Policy

AJAD enforces strict anti-plagiarism standards. All manuscripts are screened via iThenticate, Turnitin, and Copyleaks prior to peer review. Submissions exhibiting an unreferenced similarity index above 20% or unacknowledged AI-generated content are rejected or returned for complete rewriting.

Conflict of Interest Policy

All authors, peer reviewers, and editors must disclose any potential commercial, financial, institutional, or personal conflicts of interest that could compromise the objectivity or integrity of the research. Authors must include an explicit Conflict of Interest Statement prior to References. Reviewers and editors must recuse themselves from handling submissions where personal or financial ties exist. For full details, visit our Ethical Guidelines.

Publication Ethics & Integrity

AJAD adheres to the ethical standards and flowcharts established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Comprehensive guidelines governing authorship criteria (CRediT taxonomy), reviewer duties, editor independence, and complaint resolution are detailed on our Publication Ethics page.

Post-Publication Discussions, Corrections & Retractions

AJAD is committed to maintaining the accuracy of the scholarly record. Minor typographical or layout fixes that do not affect scientific findings are handled via silent correction. Substantive errors in data, formulas, or author lists are corrected through citable Corrigenda/Errata. Retractions are strictly executed according to COPE Retraction Guidelines. Complete policies are available on our Ethical Guidelines page.

Digital Preservation & Archiving

To ensure permanent availability, AJAD content is preserved across distributed digital archives, including LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, Portico, and the PKP Preservation Network (PKP-PN). Authors are encouraged to self-archive published PDF galleys in institutional and public repositories.

Ownership & Management Information

AJAD: Jurnal Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat is owned, managed, and published by the Research Division of Lembaga Mitra Solusi Teknologi Informasi (L-MSTI), Banda Aceh, Indonesia. L-MSTI provides the administrative, financial, and technical infrastructure required to sustain the journal's publication standards and long-term digital preservation.

Journal History & Development Timeline

• Inaugural Launch (2021): AJAD: Jurnal Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat was established in early 2021 by Divisi Riset, Lembaga Mitra Solusi Teknologi Informasi (L-MSTI) to address the growing demand for high-quality community engagement publications.
• Initial Accreditation – SINTA 5 (2022): Pursuant to official accreditation evaluation, AJAD was officially awarded SINTA 5 national accreditation applicable from Volume 1 Number 1 (2021) through Volume 5 Number 2 (2025).
• Review Protocol Enhancement (2023): Implemented enhanced double-blind peer review workflows, structured reviewer evaluation criteria, and systematic screening protocols.
• Digital Preservation Partnership (2024): Established a long-term digital archiving agreement with Portico alongside LOCKSS and CLOCKSS frameworks to guarantee permanent content availability.
• National Accreditation Upgrade – SINTA 4 (January 2026): Pursuant to the Decree of the Director General of Research and Development No. 295/C/C3/KPT/2026 dated 2 January 2026 (Period 2 of 2025), AJAD was officially upgraded to SINTA 4 national accreditation, valid from 2025 through 2029.
• OJS 3.4 Infrastructure & Interface Upgrade (2026): Completed system migration to Open Journal Systems (OJS) version 3.4.0-11, featuring optimized mobile responsiveness, enhanced security, and standardized metadata.
• Persistent Identifiers – ROR & ORCID (2026): Integrated Research Organization Registry (ROR ID) metadata to standardize institutional affiliations and initiated phased integration for author ORCID iDs.
• Standardized Template & Mandatory Disclosures (Target 2027): Updated manuscript template scheduled for release in late November 2026, enforcing full genesis history dating and 4 Mandatory Author Declarations (AI Usage, CRediT taxonomy, Funding, and Competing Interests).