Guides for authors

Getting Started

Interested in submitting to this journal? We recommend that you first review the About the Journal page for the journal's scope and section policies, as well as these Author Guidelines. Authors must register with the journal prior to submitting. If already registered, simply log in and begin the submission process.

Submission Checklist

Before submitting, please ensure you have prepared all of the following:

Manuscript files

  1. Main manuscript (anonymous) — with all author names, affiliations, and identifying information removed, for double-blind peer review
  2. Title page (with author information) — including all authors' names, institutional affiliations, city, country, ORCID iDs, and corresponding author's email address

Required forms (download, complete, and upload at submission) 3. Cover Letter 4. Conflicts of Interest Statement 5. Research Ethics Declaration (if study involves human participants) 6. Informed Consent Form (if study involves human participants)

Template 7. IJTE Manuscript Template

Note: The Conflicts of Interest Statement is required for all submissions. The Research Ethics Declaration and Informed Consent Form are required for all studies that involve primary data collection from human participants (e.g., classroom observation, surveys, interviews, language assessments). Studies based on published texts, curriculum documents, or publicly available data may be exempt — please indicate this in your cover letter.

Manuscript Preparation

Language and Style

Manuscripts must be written in clear academic English. Authors whose first language is not English are strongly encouraged to have their manuscript reviewed by a proficient English speaker or a professional editing service prior to submission.

Length

Full manuscripts should be between 6,000 and 8,000 words, inclusive of references, tables, and figures.

Formatting and Citation Style

IJTE follows APA 7th edition for all citations and references. Authors may use reference management tools such as Zotero, Mendeley, or Google Scholar to manage citations. All manuscripts must be formatted using the IJTE Manuscript Template.

Submission Files

All submissions must include two separate manuscript files:

  • File 1 (Anonymous manuscript): Remove all author names, affiliations, acknowledgements, and any other identifying information. This file will be sent to peer reviewers.
  • File 2 (Title page with author information): Include article title, all authors' names, affiliations (institution, city, country), ORCID iDs, and the corresponding author's email address.

Plagiarism

All submitted manuscripts are screened using Turnitin. Only manuscripts with a similarity index below 20% will be considered for review. Manuscripts found to involve plagiarism will be immediately rejected. For full details, see Ethics and Malpractice.

After Peer Review

After receiving reviewers' comments, authors must submit their revised manuscript together with a completed Revision Form, which documents how each reviewer comment has been addressed. Submissions of revised manuscripts without a completed Revision Form will not be processed.

Download Revision Form

Authorship

Authorship Criteria

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made a substantial contribution to the work. All named authors must have:

  1. Made substantial contributions to the conception, design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation of the study;
  2. Drafted the manuscript or critically revised it for important intellectual content;
  3. Approved the final version to be published; and
  4. Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work, including the accuracy and integrity of any part of the study.

Contributors who do not meet all four criteria should be acknowledged in an Acknowledgements section rather than listed as authors.

Author Identification and ORCID

All authors are required to register and include a valid ORCID iD at the time of submission. Manuscripts submitted without a valid ORCID iD for all named authors will not be processed. ORCID iDs provide a persistent, verifiable digital identifier that unambiguously links each author to their published work and professional profile, enabling readers, reviewers, and indexing bodies to independently verify authors’ publication records and disciplinary expertise. Authors who do not yet have an ORCID iD must register for one free of charge at orcid.org before submitting. The ORCID iD for each author must be included on the title page.

Author Biography

All manuscripts must include a brief Author Biography section at the end of the manuscript (after the References list), providing a short professional profile for each named author. Each biography should be 2–4 sentences in length and must include: the author’s current institutional affiliation (institution, city, and country); their primary research interests and areas of expertise; and a note of relevant publications or scholarly activities that demonstrate active participation in the TESOL and/or education research community. The Author Biography section must appear in the title page file only and must be removed from the anonymous manuscript file submitted for peer review. A model example is provided below:

Example: Jane Smith is an Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Example, City, Country. Her research focuses on second language writing, feedback in EFL contexts, and technology-enhanced language learning. She has published in journals including the Journal of Second Language Writing and TESOL Quarterly.

Affiliation

The primary affiliation listed for each author should be the institution where the majority of their work was conducted. If an author has subsequently moved, their current address may additionally be noted. Affiliations must include the full institution name, city, and country. Affiliations will not be updated after publication.

Role of the Corresponding Author

One author must be designated as the Corresponding Author, who acts on behalf of all co-authors. The Corresponding Author is responsible for:

  1. Ensuring all listed authors have approved the final manuscript prior to submission, including the author list and order of names;
  2. Managing all correspondence between the journal and co-authors, both before and after publication;
  3. Disclosing any re-use of previously published material and noting any unpublished manuscripts referenced, in the cover letter;
  4. Ensuring that all required disclosures, declarations, and data transparency statements are included in the manuscript.

Communication during the submission and proofing process may be delegated to a Contact or Submitting Author, provided the Corresponding Author is clearly identified in the manuscript.

Authorship Disputes

In the case of an authorship dispute during peer review or after publication, the journal will not be in a position to investigate or adjudicate. Authors will be asked to resolve the dispute among themselves. If resolution cannot be reached, the journal reserves the right to withdraw the manuscript from the editorial process or, in the case of a published article, to refer the matter to the authors' institutions.

Ethical Standards for Research

IJTE is committed to the highest standards of research integrity. All research published in this journal must have been designed and conducted in accordance with applicable ethical guidelines. The sections below describe requirements specific to different types of research commonly published in TESOL and education journals.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

Authors must include a section entitled "Compliance with Ethical Standards" in their manuscript. This section should address the following, as applicable to their study:

  • Conflicts of interest: Disclose any financial or non-financial interests that could be perceived as influencing the research or its reporting. If there are no conflicts of interest, this must be stated explicitly.
  • Research ethics approval: For studies involving human participants, state whether ethics approval was obtained and provide the name of the approving body and reference number. Where formal ethics review was not required, state the basis for exemption.
  • Informed consent: Confirm that informed consent (or assent, for minor participants) was obtained from all participants prior to data collection.
  • Funding: Disclose all funding sources that supported the research.

Research Involving Human Participants

Studies that involve any form of primary data collection from human participants — including classroom observation, surveys, questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, language assessments, think-aloud protocols, or case studies — must comply with the ethical guidelines for educational research 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).

Authors conducting such studies must complete and submit:

Studies based entirely on published or publicly available data (e.g., corpus studies, document analysis, literature reviews) are typically exempt from these requirements. Authors should indicate this in their cover letter.

Research Involving Vulnerable Populations

Studies involving vulnerable populations — including young learners, students with disabilities, learners from marginalized communities, or any participants in settings where power dynamics may affect voluntary participation — require additional ethical care. Authors must describe how they identified and mitigated potential risks to participants, and how confidentiality and anonymity have been protected. Please consult IJTE's Ethics and Malpractice page for further guidance.

Conflicts of Interest

All authors are required to disclose any interests — financial or non-financial — that are directly or indirectly related to the submitted work. Interests arising within the last three years of beginning the work must be reported. Interests outside this period must also be disclosed if they could reasonably be perceived as influencing the submitted work.

Disclosure does not imply that an interest is inappropriate. Transparency is the goal, and it enables readers to form their own judgments. Please complete and submit the Conflicts of Interest Statement with your manuscript.

Data Transparency

All authors are required to ensure that data, materials, and any software or custom code used in their research support their published claims and comply with disciplinary standards. Data should be retained for an appropriate period and made accessible upon reasonable request, except where doing so would compromise participant confidentiality or other legitimate restrictions. Data-sharing expectations may vary by study type and disciplinary norms in TESOL and applied linguistics research.

Confidentiality

All correspondence between authors and the journal — including communication with Editors-in-Chief, Managing Editors, and reviewer reports — must be treated as strictly confidential. This information must not be shared without the explicit consent of the relevant parties.

Cover Letter

All submissions must include a cover letter. The cover letter should confirm the originality of the work, its exclusive submission to IJTE, the suitability of all listed authors, and compliance with the journal's ethical standards. Please use the IJTE Cover Letter template.

 

Review Process

IJTE employs a double-blind peer review process. All submitted manuscripts are evaluated by a minimum of two independent expert reviewers. Reviewers assess the manuscript's scholarly merit, methodological rigor, relevance to the field, and adherence to ethical standards. The Editor-in-Chief or Managing Editor is responsible for final publication decisions.

Authors are welcome to review the Review Form to understand the criteria by which manuscripts are evaluated.

Download Review Form

Resources for Authors

The following video resources may assist authors in preparing their manuscripts:

For Librarians

We encourage research librarians to list this journal among their library's electronic journal holdings. This journal's open-source publishing system (OJS/PKP) is also suitable for libraries to host for faculty members involved in journal editing. See Open Journal Systems for more information.

For Readers

We invite readers to sign up for the journal's publishing notification service. Use the Register link at the top of the home page to receive the Table of Contents by email upon the release of each new issue. See the journal's Privacy Statement for information on how your data is used.