Citation and References Style

Al-Nasr requires all submitted manuscripts to follow a clear, consistent, complete, and verifiable citation and references style. Accurate citation is an essential part of scholarly writing, publication ethics, peer-review evaluation, academic transparency, source verification, indexing quality, and long-term research visibility.

Al-Nasr publishes original scholarly work in Islamic Studies and related interdisciplinary fields, including Qur’anic Studies, Ḥadīth Studies, Sīrah Studies, Islamic jurisprudence, Islamic law, Islamic thought, Muslim history, theology, philosophy, Sufism, ethics, Muslim societies, Islamic civilization, religious studies, humanities, social sciences, and contemporary issues relevant to Pakistan and the wider Muslim world. Since scholarship in these areas often uses Arabic, Urdu, Persian, English, classical Islamic texts, translated works, manuscripts, journal articles, archival material, and digital sources, authors must document all sources carefully and consistently.

Required Citation System

Al-Nasr follows a footnote-based citation style based on the Chicago Manual of Style. All cited sources must be referenced in numbered footnotes, and a complete References section must be included at the end of the manuscript.

Authors must use one citation style consistently throughout the manuscript. Mixed citation systems, incomplete references, unclear source details, or randomly formatted citations are not acceptable. Manuscripts with weak, inconsistent, incomplete, or unverifiable references may be returned to the author for correction before editorial processing or peer review.

General Citation Requirements

Authors must cite every source used in the manuscript, including books, journal articles, book chapters, edited volumes, theses, dissertations, Qur’anic verses, Ḥadīth collections, classical Islamic works, manuscripts, archival sources, reports, websites, translations, conference papers, and digital sources.

Each reference should provide sufficient information for verification. A complete reference normally includes the author’s name, title of the work, editor or translator where applicable, place of publication, publisher, year of publication, volume number, issue number, page range, DOI, URL, and access date where relevant.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all quotations, paraphrases, translations, arguments, historical claims, textual references, and borrowed ideas are properly acknowledged. Any source cited in the manuscript must also be included in the final References section.

Footnotes

Footnotes must be numbered consecutively throughout the manuscript. They should be used for source references and brief explanatory comments. Long explanatory footnotes should be avoided unless they are necessary for understanding the argument.

The first citation of a source must be complete. Later citations to the same source may use a shortened form.

Book

Footnote:
Muhammad Hamidullah, Introduction to Islam (Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, 1980), 45.

References:
Hamidullah, Muhammad. Introduction to Islam. Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, 1980.

Book with Editor

Footnote:
Ibn Khaldūn, Al-Muqaddimah, ed. ʿAbd al-Salām al-Shaddādī (Casablanca: Bayt al-Funūn wa al-ʿUlūm wa al-Ādāb, 2005), 1:75.

References:
Ibn Khaldūn. Al-Muqaddimah. Edited by ʿAbd al-Salām al-Shaddādī. Casablanca: Bayt al-Funūn wa al-ʿUlūm wa al-Ādāb, 2005.

Translated Book

Footnote:
Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, The Incoherence of the Philosophers, trans. Michael E. Marmura (Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 2000), 28.

References:
Al-Ghazālī, Abū Ḥāmid. The Incoherence of the Philosophers. Translated by Michael E. Marmura. Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 2000.

Journal Article

Footnote:
Fazlur Rahman, “Islamization of Knowledge: A Response,” American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 5, no. 1 (1988): 7.

References:
Rahman, Fazlur. “Islamization of Knowledge: A Response.” American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 5, no. 1 (1988): 3–11.

Journal Article with DOI

Footnote:
Jonathan A. C. Brown, “Hadith and the Politics of Islamic Authority,” Journal of Islamic Studies 21, no. 2 (2010): 210, https://doi.org/xxxxx.

References:
Brown, Jonathan A. C. “Hadith and the Politics of Islamic Authority.” Journal of Islamic Studies 21, no. 2 (2010): 200–215. https://doi.org/xxxxx.

Where available, DOI must be included in the reference. Authors should ensure that DOI links are correct, active, and written in standard URL format.

Chapter in an Edited Book

Footnote:
Wael B. Hallaq, “Islamic Law: History and Transformation,” in The New Cambridge History of Islam, ed. Robert W. Hefner (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 142.

References:
Hallaq, Wael B. “Islamic Law: History and Transformation.” In The New Cambridge History of Islam, edited by Robert W. Hefner, 142–183. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Thesis or Dissertation

Footnote:
Ayesha Siddiqua, “Islamic Legal Maxims and Contemporary Financial Transactions” (PhD diss., University of the Punjab, 2021), 88.

References:
Siddiqua, Ayesha. “Islamic Legal Maxims and Contemporary Financial Transactions.” PhD diss., University of the Punjab, 2021.

Conference Paper

Footnote:
Ahmad Khan, “Religious Ethics and Contemporary Muslim Society” (paper presented at the International Conference on Islamic Studies, Lahore, Pakistan, March 2024), 12.

References:
Khan, Ahmad. “Religious Ethics and Contemporary Muslim Society.” Paper presented at the International Conference on Islamic Studies, Lahore, Pakistan, March 2024.

Website or Online Source

Online sources should be used carefully and only where academically appropriate. Authors must provide the author or organization name, page title, website name, publication date or access date, and URL.

Footnote:
Islamic Research Institute, “Introduction,” accessed January 10, 2026, https://example.com.

References:
Islamic Research Institute. “Introduction.” Accessed January 10, 2026. https://example.com.

Online sources without clear authorship, publication details, institutional credibility, or stable access should be avoided unless they are necessary for the research.

Qur’anic References

Qur’anic references must include the sūrah name or number and verse number. Authors must ensure that all Qur’anic quotations are accurate. Where a translation is used, the translation must be properly identified.

Examples:
Qur’ān 2:286.
Qur’ān, al-Baqarah 2:286.

When using a published translation:

Footnote:
The Qur’an, trans. M. A. S. Abdel Haleem (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 2:286.

References:
The Qur’an. Translated by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Authors should not cite Qur’anic verses vaguely. References such as “Qur’an, Surah Baqarah” without verse number are incomplete.

Ḥadīth References

Ḥadīth references must be complete and verifiable. Authors should mention the name of the Ḥadīth collection, book or chapter title where applicable, ḥadīth number, volume number, page number, editor, publisher, and edition details where relevant.

Footnote:
Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Īmān, ḥadīth no. 8.

Where a printed edition is used:

Footnote:
Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, ed. Muḥammad Fuʾād ʿAbd al-Bāqī (Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, n.d.), 1:36.

References:
Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. Edited by Muḥammad Fuʾād ʿAbd al-Bāqī. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, n.d.

Authors should avoid incomplete references such as only mentioning “Bukhari,” “Muslim,” or “Tirmidhi” without book/chapter, ḥadīth number, volume, edition, or page details where applicable.

Classical Islamic Sources

For classical Islamic sources, authors must provide complete publication details. This includes the author’s full name, title of the work, editor or compiler where applicable, publisher, place of publication, year of publication, volume number, and page number.

Footnote:
Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān ʿan Taʾwīl Āy al-Qurʾān, ed. Aḥmad Muḥammad Shākir (Cairo: Dār al-Maʿārif, 1954), 3:210.

References:
Al-Ṭabarī, Muḥammad ibn Jarīr. Jāmiʿ al-Bayān ʿan Taʾwīl Āy al-Qurʾān. Edited by Aḥmad Muḥammad Shākir. Cairo: Dār al-Maʿārif, 1954.

Classical references should not be cited only by title. The edition used by the author must be identifiable.

Urdu, Arabic, and Persian Sources

Al-Nasr accepts manuscripts in English, Urdu, and Arabic. References in Urdu, Arabic, and Persian may be provided in the original script. However, authors must ensure consistency in script, punctuation, order, and formatting throughout the manuscript.

For all sources written in non-Roman scripts, including Arabic, Urdu, and Persian, authors should provide Roman-script transliteration of author names and titles where required for indexing, metadata preparation, citation tracking, and international discoverability. The original-script reference may be retained, but Roman-script details should be added consistently to support accurate identification of sources.

Urdu Source

Footnote:
محمد اقبال، تشکیل جدید الٰہیات اسلامیہ، لاہور: ادارہ ثقافت اسلامیہ، 2005، 45۔

References:
محمد اقبال۔ تشکیل جدید الٰہیات اسلامیہ۔ لاہور: ادارہ ثقافت اسلامیہ، 2005۔

Roman-script metadata/reference support where required:
Iqbal, Muhammad. Tashkīl-i Jadīd Ilāhiyāt-i Islāmiyyah. Lahore: Idārah Saqāfat-i Islāmiyyah, 2005.

Arabic Source

Footnote:
ابن خلدون، المقدمة، بیروت: دارالفکر، 2004، 1:75۔

References:
ابن خلدون۔ المقدمة۔ بیروت: دارالفکر، 2004۔

Roman-script metadata/reference support where required:
Ibn Khaldūn. Al-Muqaddimah. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 2004.

Authors should follow Al-Nasr’s Transliteration and Multilingual Policy for Romanization of Arabic, Urdu, and Persian terms, names, book titles, and technical concepts. The detailed transliteration tables should be consulted on the separate Transliteration Tables page.

Repeated Citations

The first citation of a source should be complete. Later citations may use a shortened form.

First citation:
Muhammad Hamidullah, Introduction to Islam (Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, 1980), 45.

Shortened citation:
Hamidullah, Introduction to Islam, 52.

The use of unclear repeated references such as “ibid.” should be avoided where possible, especially in manuscripts prepared for online publication, digital indexing, citation tracking, and metadata extraction.

References Section

Every manuscript must include a complete References section at the end. The References section must include only the sources actually cited in the manuscript. Uncited works should not be listed.

References should be arranged alphabetically by the author’s last name where possible. For Urdu, Arabic, and Persian sources, authors should maintain a consistent arrangement and formatting pattern.

Each reference must be complete enough for the source to be identified, verified, and located by readers, reviewers, editors, and indexing services.

English and Roman-Script Metadata for Non-English Manuscripts

For manuscripts submitted in Urdu, Arabic, or any other non-Roman script, authors must provide article title, abstract, keywords, author names, affiliations, and references-related metadata in English or Roman script where required by the journal’s submission system, indexing standards, and article-level metadata preparation.

Author names should be written consistently in Roman script across the manuscript, submission metadata, article file, and published article record. Inconsistent spelling of author names may affect citation tracking, indexing, author identification, and research visibility.

Reference Quality and Verification

Authors must verify all references before submission. The editorial office may check references during initial screening, editorial review, peer review, copyediting, and production.

Manuscripts may be returned for correction where references are incomplete, inaccurate, inconsistent, unverifiable, misleading, or not formatted according to Al-Nasr’s required style.

Common reference problems include missing page numbers, missing publication years, incomplete journal details, incorrect DOI links, broken URLs, inconsistent author names, unclear Urdu or Arabic source details, missing transliteration for non-Roman metadata, and incomplete references to Qur’anic verses or Ḥadīth collections.

Citation Accuracy and Author Responsibility

Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy of all citations, quotations, translations, references, Qur’anic references, Ḥadīth references, DOI links, URLs, and publication details.

Incorrect citation, unattributed borrowing, misleading references, fabricated sources, inaccurate translation, or manipulation of references may be treated as a publication ethics concern. Such cases may lead to correction, rejection, withdrawal, or further editorial action in accordance with Al-Nasr’s publication ethics policy.

Al-Nasr considers accurate citation and references a core requirement of responsible academic publishing. Authors are expected to document their sources carefully, represent previous scholarship honestly, and prepare manuscripts in a form suitable for peer review, editorial evaluation, digital preservation, indexing, and international scholarly communication.