Question :
I am a professor at one of the Jordanian universities. I usually publish academic research papers in international journals. The Ministry of Higher Education forces universities to allocate specific sums to be paid as fees for the publication of academic research papers. In other words, a researcher has the right to publish a paper at the expense of the university from the sums it allocates for this purpose. In fact, I have written an academic paper and applied for publishing it in one of the international journals. After that, I filed for collecting the publication fees from the university where I work. The sum was estimated at (600$). It is worth pointing out that the paper is still under the name of the university where I work. I.e. the Ministry of Higher Education has calculated the points for this paper in favor of the latter university. In light of this, Is it permissible for me to continue with the procedures of collecting the publication fees from this university although they have already been paid by an overseas academic organization? This is knowing that the latter won`t ask me to give back that amount as it benefits from the research paper itself, similar to the university where I work.
The Answer :
All perfect praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.
It is no secret that a university grants a reward for the research paper which hasn`t been published in another journal. Thus, an already published research doesn`t entitle the researcher to receive another reward. Accordingly, you (Asker) aren`t entitled to receive a reward for your research from the university where you work. Moreover, as an honest Muslim, you are expected to tell the university where you work that the publication fees have already been covered by another academic organization. Therefore, it is unlawful for you to take for yourself the money, which the university has paid to cover publication expenses. You should remember that Nawwas bin Sam'an (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: I asked Messenger of Allah (PBUH) about virtue and sin, and he said: "Virtue is noble behaviour, and sin is that which creates doubt and you do not like people to know about it." [Related by Muslim]. And Allah The Almighty Knows Best.
