Standard & Responsibilities

Mission and Publication Standards

The International Journal of TESOL & Education (IJTE) (ISSN: 2768-4563) is committed to advancing scholarship in language teaching and learning by publishing high-quality, original research. The journal covers a broad range of topics including TESOL, applied linguistics, language and linguistics, Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL), m-learning, e-learning, curriculum development, learning environments, translation and interpretation, teacher education, educational technology, educational developments, quality assurance in education, and other issues relating to language teaching and learning.

As a peer-reviewed open-access journal, IJTE upholds the highest standards of publication ethics and research integrity. Editors, reviewers, and authors all share a collective responsibility for meeting these standards. The policies on this page apply to all parties involved in the publication process and are aligned with internationally recognized best practices in scholarly publishing, including the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Part 1: Responsibilities of Editors

1.1 Fair and Impartial Evaluation

Editors are responsible for ensuring that all manuscripts are evaluated solely on the basis of their scholarly merit. Editorial decisions must not be influenced by an author's gender, nationality, institutional affiliation, geographic origin, religious or political beliefs, or any characteristic unrelated to the quality and significance of the work. All submissions to IJTE receive the same rigorous evaluation process regardless of the authors' background or institution.

1.2 Editorial Independence

The Editor-in-Chief holds full responsibility and authority over the editorial content of the journal and all publication decisions. Editorial decisions are made independently of the publisher and are not influenced by commercial interests or external pressures.

1.3 Confidentiality

Editors must treat all submitted manuscripts and related correspondence as strictly confidential. The content of submissions, reviewer identities, and the details of the editorial process must not be disclosed to anyone outside the editorial process without the explicit consent of the relevant parties.

1.4 Conflicts of Interest

Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest — including personal, professional, financial, or collaborative relationships with any of the authors. In such cases, the manuscript will be assigned to another editor.

1.5 Handling Allegations of Misconduct

IJTE takes all reports of potential research or publication misconduct seriously. Any allegation of unethical behavior — whether brought to the editors' attention or identified through the editorial process — will be investigated thoroughly and promptly. The following graduated procedure applies:

Step 1 — Initial Assessment: Upon receiving a report or identifying a potential concern, the handling editor will make a preliminary assessment of the evidence and determine whether the concern is credible and requires further action.

Step 2 — Investigation: If the initial assessment confirms a potential violation, all available evidence will be collected and reviewed by a small group of relevant editorial board members convened to address the case. The author(s) or reviewer(s) in question will be given the opportunity to respond to the concerns raised before any decision is made.

Step 3 — Outcome: The response and all evidence will inform the editorial board's decision. Possible outcomes, applied proportionally to the severity of the misconduct, include:

  • Informing or educating the author or reviewer where the issue appears to stem from a misunderstanding of acceptable standards;
  • Issuing a formal written warning to the author or reviewer;
  • Rejecting the submitted manuscript or removing the published article from the journal's website;
  • Publishing a formal notice, correction, retraction, or expression of concern as appropriate;
  • Notifying the author's or reviewer's employing institution or funding body;
  • Referring the case to a relevant professional organization or higher authority (e.g., COPE) where the matter exceeds the scope of the editorial board.

All decisions made in response to misconduct will be documented and handled in accordance with COPE guidelines.

Part 2: Responsibilities of Reviewers

2.1 Contribution to Quality

Peer reviewers play a vital role in maintaining the scholarly quality of IJTE. Reviewers are expected to provide objective, evidence-based, and constructive assessments that assist authors in improving their work and support editors in making sound publication decisions.

2.2 Timeliness

Reviewers must complete their evaluations within the timeframe agreed upon at the point of accepting the review invitation. Reviewers who anticipate delays must notify the editorial team promptly so that alternative arrangements can be made. Timely reviews are essential to authors receiving fair and prompt feedback.

2.3 Confidentiality

All manuscripts submitted for review are confidential documents. Reviewers must not share, discuss, or disclose the content of any manuscript under review, or the outcome of their review, with any third party. Reviewers must not retain copies of reviewed manuscripts beyond the review period.

2.4 Conflicts of Interest

Reviewers must identify and disclose any potential conflict of interest that could compromise the objectivity of their review. Conflicts of interest include, but are not limited to, personal or professional relationships with any of the authors, involvement in competing research, prior knowledge of the work, or any financial interest in the outcome of the review. If a conflict of interest exists, the reviewer must decline the review invitation and notify the editor immediately.

2.5 Detecting Overlap and Plagiarism

Reviewers should alert the editor if they identify substantial similarities between the manuscript under review and any other published or submitted work of which they are aware. Reviewers should not be expected to conduct plagiarism checks, but should flag any concerns that arise naturally in the course of their review.

2.6 Scope and Expertise

Reviewers should only accept review invitations for manuscripts that fall within their area of expertise. If a reviewer determines after accepting an invitation that the manuscript falls outside their competence, they must notify the editor promptly.

Part 3: Responsibilities of Authors

3.1 Originality and Integrity

Authors must ensure that their submitted manuscripts represent entirely original work. All sources, ideas, data, and language drawn from other works must be properly cited and attributed. The following are strictly prohibited:

  • Plagiarism: Presenting another person's work, ideas, or language as one's own without appropriate attribution.
  • Self-plagiarism: Republishing one's own previously published work without disclosure and without substantially new content or analysis.
  • Duplicate submission: Submitting the same manuscript, or a manuscript with substantially overlapping content, to more than one journal simultaneously.
  • Data fabrication or falsification: Inventing, manipulating, or selectively reporting data with the intent to mislead.

3.2 Data Accuracy and Transparency

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of all data presented in their manuscripts. Authors must maintain accurate records of all data associated with their submitted work and make these data available upon reasonable request from editors or readers. Where appropriate and permitted by institutional or funding body policies, data should be deposited in a suitable repository to allow verification and re-use by other researchers. Data-sharing expectations may vary by study type in accordance with disciplinary norms in TESOL and applied linguistics research.

3.3 Exclusive Submission

By submitting a manuscript to IJTE, authors confirm that the work is not currently under consideration at any other journal or publication outlet, and that it has not been previously published in any form. If a closely related manuscript is submitted elsewhere while the IJTE submission is under review, the corresponding author must immediately notify the IJTE Editorial Team and provide a copy of the related manuscript.

3.4 Ethical Conduct in Research Involving Human Participants

Research published in IJTE must have been conducted in accordance with applicable ethical guidelines for educational research. For studies involving human participants — including classroom observation, surveys, interviews, language assessments, and similar methods — authors must confirm that:

  • The study complied with the ethical principles established by the authors' institution and/or by relevant professional bodies, such as the British Educational Research Association (BERA) or the American Educational Research Association (AERA);
  • Ethics approval (or a documented exemption) was obtained prior to data collection;
  • Informed consent was obtained from all participants, and from parents or legal guardians in the case of minor participants;
  • Participant confidentiality and anonymity have been maintained throughout the research and in the manuscript.

3.5 Participant Privacy

Authors must obtain explicit informed consent from all human participants before collecting any data. Authors are responsible for ensuring that participant identities are protected in all published materials. Identifying details may only be included with the explicit written consent of the participant concerned.

3.6 Acknowledgement of Sources and Permissions

Authors must properly cite all sources that informed their research, including works that shaped the direction and findings of the study. Any material reproduced or adapted from copyrighted sources requires prior written permission from the rights holder. It is the authors' sole responsibility to obtain such permissions before submission.

3.7 Author Contributions and Acknowledgements

All individuals listed as authors must meet the authorship criteria set out in IJTE's Editorial Policies. Authors must include an Author Contributions statement identifying each author's specific role in the study. Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet the full authorship criteria must be acknowledged in an Acknowledgements section rather than listed as authors.

3.8 Disclosure of Funding and Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose all sources of funding that supported the research, as well as any financial or non-financial interests that could be perceived as influencing the work. These disclosures must be included both in the manuscript's "Compliance with Ethical Standards" section and in the Conflicts of Interest Statement submitted with the manuscript.

3.9 Post-Publication Corrections

Authors have a responsibility to notify the IJTE Editorial Team promptly if a significant error in their published work is identified. Authors must cooperate fully with the editorial team and publisher to issue an erratum, corrigendum, addendum, or retraction as appropriate. IJTE's commitment to the integrity of the scholarly record requires that all substantive errors be corrected transparently and without undue delay.

For full details of the journal's ethics policies, including procedures for investigating misconduct and issuing retractions, please see the Ethics and Malpractice page. For submission requirements and ethical disclosure forms, see the Guides for Authors.