Adeyemi Federal University of Education, Ondo, Nigeria
afuedlanguagejournal@gmail.com
AFUED International Journal of English Language Bridging Gaps, Interrogating Theories and Fostering Applications in Language Studies
EDITORIAL INTEGRITY & GOVERNANCE

Peer Review Process & Publication Ethics

Upholding the highest standards of scholarship, transparency and research integrity through rigorous double-blind evaluation, COPE-aligned publication ethics and clear open-access policies.

Evaluation Protocol

Double-Blind Assessment Framework

Every manuscript submitted to AIJEL undergoes a multi-tiered review cycle designed to ensure academic merit, methodological validity and disciplinary relevance. Both author identities and reviewer details remain strictly anonymized to eliminate bias throughout the editorial assessment.

Peer Review Stages

  1. Desk Evaluation & Screening: Upon submission, an email confirmation is issued to the corresponding author. The Editorial Committee performs an initial screening to verify scope alignment, adherence to formatting instructions and similarity index verification using Turnitin (must not exceed 20%).
  2. Double-Blind Peer Review: Qualified manuscripts are assigned to independent subject experts. Reviewers evaluate theoretical relevance, originality, methodology, clarity, and contribution to linguistics and language education. The standard evaluation period spans 2 to 3 weeks.
  3. Editorial Decision: The Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor assess reviewer reports to determine acceptance, minor revisions, major revisions or rejection. Decisions are evidence-based and communicated formally via email.
  4. Revision & Final Approval: Authors revise manuscripts in alignment with reviewer and editorial feedback. Approved papers proceed to final formatting and open-access publication.

Responsibilities of Editors

  • Maintain absolute confidentiality of submitted manuscripts.
  • Ensure fair, unbiased and timely double-blind evaluations.
  • Uphold research integrity by mitigating plagiarism and data manipulation.
  • Recuse themselves from handling papers where conflicts of interest exist.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

  • Provide comprehensive, constructive and objective scholarly feedback.
  • Promptly disclose any conflicts of interest and decline assignments when compromised.
  • Adhere strictly to agreed evaluation timelines.
  • Treat all manuscript data, texts and arguments as privileged information.
Integrity Standards

Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement

AIJEL strictly adheres to the core principles established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). We are committed to maintaining integrity, transparency and accountability across every stage of the publication process.

Author Responsibilities

  • Originality & Plagiarism: Manuscripts must be completely original and must not be published or under consideration elsewhere. Plagiarism, duplicate submission, data fabrication, falsification and improper image manipulation are strictly unacceptable.
  • Authorship Criteria: Authorship must be limited to individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions to the research design, data collection or critical manuscript writing. All listed co-authors must approve the final submitted version.
  • Data Transparency: Authors are responsible for the accuracy and honesty of reported data. Underlying research data should be maintained and presented upon reasonable editorial request.
  • Human & Animal Subject Approvals: Studies involving human participants or institutional fieldwork must comply with relevant institutional review boards (IRBs) and ethical guidelines, with informed consent explicitly documented.
  • Disclosure of Conflicts: All sources of financial support, institutional sponsorships and personal affiliations that could influence outcomes must be declared.

Handling Misconduct & Retractions

The Editorial Board investigates reported ethical concerns, including redundant publishing and unauthorized data use. When substantial errors or ethical breaches occur, AIJEL enforces corrective measures including formal corrections, editorial expressions of concern or immediate article retractions.

Artificial Intelligence Guidelines

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

This policy governs the ethical application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in research design, data gathering, manuscript drafting, and visual asset preparation for submissions to AIJEL.

AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, DALL-E, or machine learning models) do not qualify for authorship and cannot be listed as authors. Human authors remain entirely accountable for the accuracy, validity and integrity of the work.

General AI Principles

  • Human Intellectual Ownership: Core concepts, interpretations, analyses, and conclusions must remain the direct intellectual output of human authors. Synthetic data generation, artificial hallucination of citations and automated image fabrication are prohibited.
  • Mandatory AI Disclosure: Authors must formally declare any use of AI tools in their manuscript submission package. The statement must detail the specific software utilized and the operational purpose (such as grammatical editing, data calculation assistance or code generation).
  • Verification & Verification Tools: Authors are obligated to verify all citations, quotations and factual claims produced with AI assistance. AIJEL utilizes editorial detection workflows to verify authenticity and enforce the required similarity threshold.