YOGYAKARTA – The Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS) at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) held a discussion on the management of the Studies in Interreligious Dialogue (SID) journal on Tuesday (17/06), at the East Wing Meeting Room, 2nd Floor, UGM Graduate School. The event was attended by representatives from the Directorate of Research and the Directorate of Information Technology at UGM.
The discussion aimed to address existing challenges in managing the SID journal, which has so far been conducted manually. Dr. Zainal Abidin Bagir, editor of the SID journal, explained that the entire publication process—from article submission and peer review to editors and authors’ communication —has been managed manually via email.
“We hope that after this discussion, the management of the SID journal can transition into an online system. This would streamline editorial processes, enhance communication between editors and authors, and ensure better documentation of each publication stage,” said Dr. Zainal.
The SID journal is a collaborative initiative between ICRS UGM and Peeters Publishers, based in Belgium. This partnership not only enables ICRS to manage a reputable international journal in the field of religious studies but also helps expand its global academic network.
Responding to the discussion, Ide Yunianto, M.Eng., from the Directorate of Research, noted that UGM already has an online journal management system that could be utilized for SID. However, he emphasized the need to revisit the existing cooperation agreement to determine the extent of ICRS’s authority in managing the journal.
“We will also consult university leadership to clarify UGM and Peeters’ positions in the partnership if SID is to be integrated into UGM’s journal management system, therefore the copyright or intellectual property issues do not arise in the future,” Ide added.
Similarly, M. Zudha Ghofur from the Directorate of Information Technology stated that the digital transformation of SID’s journal management is highly feasible, whether by adopting UGM’s existing system or developing a tailored solution to meet the journal’s specific needs.
Writer: Asti Rahmaningrum