Issues in Language Teaching (ILT) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and academic integrity. The journal expects authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher to adhere to ethical principles throughout the submission, peer-review, editorial decision-making, and publication processes.
ILT follows internationally recognized principles of publication ethics and takes all allegations of research and publication misconduct seriously. The journal refers to the guidelines and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) when addressing ethical concerns and suspected misconduct.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that their submitted manuscripts are original, accurate, ethically conducted, and prepared in accordance with accepted academic standards.
By submitting a manuscript to ILT, authors confirm that:
The manuscript is original and has not been published previously, nor is it under consideration for publication by another journal.
All individuals listed as authors have made substantial scholarly contributions to the research or manuscript, have reviewed and approved the submitted version, and agree to be accountable for their contributions.
All sources, ideas, quotations, and materials obtained from other works have been properly acknowledged and referenced.
All relevant funding sources and potential conflicts of interest have been disclosed.
Any necessary ethical approval and informed consent have been obtained and accurately reported.
The manuscript accurately represents the research conducted, and its findings are presented objectively and transparently.
The corresponding author is responsible for communicating with the journal on behalf of all co-authors and confirming that all authors have approved the submitted and final versions of the manuscript.
Any request to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission must be justified and approved by all affected authors. The journal reserves the right to request further information before approving such changes.
All scholarly content published in ILT, except for explicitly identified editorial materials, is subject to the journal's peer-review process. Manuscripts are evaluated by specialists in the relevant fields to assess their academic quality, originality, relevance, and contribution to the discipline.
Reviewers are expected to provide objective, constructive, and evidence-based evaluations. They must maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and must not use unpublished information obtained through peer review for personal advantage.
Editors and reviewers must not disclose confidential manuscript information or the identities of authors and reviewers where the journal's double-anonymous peer-review procedure applies.
Reviewers must disclose any potential conflict of interest and decline an assignment if such a conflict could compromise their impartiality. Further details are provided in the journal's Peer Review Policy.
All authors must disclose any financial, professional, personal, institutional, or other relationships that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, their research or the interpretation of their findings.
Relevant conflicts of interest must be clearly stated in the manuscript at the time of submission. If no conflicts exist, authors should explicitly declare that they have no competing interests.
Reviewers and editors must also disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest. Editors must not make decisions on manuscripts in which they have a conflict that could compromise their impartiality. Such manuscripts must be assigned to an independent editor whenever practicable.
Authors submitting manuscripts to ILT must clearly and explicitly acknowledge all sources of financial support received for their research, including grants, institutional funding, and other forms of financial assistance.
The funding statement should be included in the manuscript. If the research received no specific financial support, authors should include an appropriate declaration to that effect.
ILT requires all submitted manuscripts to be original and free from plagiarism, inappropriate self-plagiarism, duplicate or redundant publication, and unauthorized use of other individuals' work.
Whenever authors incorporate ideas, words, data, or materials from other sources, they must provide appropriate citations and acknowledgements. Authors are also responsible for respecting copyright requirements and obtaining permission for the reproduction or adaptation of copyrighted materials, including figures, tables, and other content, where necessary.
Prior to being assigned to reviewers, submitted manuscripts are screened using iThenticate to identify textual similarities with existing publications and other sources. Similarity reports are assessed by the editorial team. A similarity score alone does not establish plagiarism; the nature, extent, and context of the identified similarities are taken into consideration.
ILT does not tolerate plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, citation manipulation, or other forms of research and publication misconduct.
Authors may be requested to provide the raw data, research materials, or other relevant documentation supporting their findings for editorial evaluation or verification purposes.
Authors are expected to retain their research data and be prepared to provide access to it when reasonably requested by the editorial team, subject to applicable ethical, legal, and confidentiality requirements.
ILT encourages transparent research practices. Authors should include a data availability statement indicating whether the data supporting their findings are publicly available, available upon reasonable request, restricted for ethical or legal reasons, or not applicable.
Any sharing of research data must respect the privacy, confidentiality, and rights of research participants.
Research involving human participants must be conducted in accordance with applicable institutional, national, and international ethical standards.
Authors must disclose whether their research involved human participants and, where required, provide evidence of approval from an appropriate research ethics committee or institutional review board. The name of the approving body and the relevant ethics approval or reference number should be included in the manuscript when applicable.
Authors must confirm that informed consent was obtained from participants where required. Particular care must be taken when research involves minors, vulnerable individuals, or sensitive populations.
Where research involves identifiable personal information, authors must ensure that the collection, use, storage, and reporting of such information comply with applicable ethical and legal requirements.
The editorial team may request supporting documentation, including research ethics approval and informed consent forms, where necessary.
Authors must obtain appropriate informed consent before publishing identifiable images, photographs, personal information, or individual case details relating to research participants or other individuals.
Where applicable, authors must confirm that consent for publication has been obtained and provide relevant documentation upon the journal's request.
Authors must take appropriate measures to protect the privacy and confidentiality of individuals and must not include identifiable personal information without the necessary authorization.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscripts do not infringe the intellectual property rights of others.
All third-party material, including figures, tables, images, questionnaires, and substantial extracts of text, must be properly acknowledged. Written permission must be obtained from the relevant rights holders whenever required.
The journal's copyright and licensing arrangements are explained in its separate Copyright and Licensing Policy. Authors are expected to comply with these arrangements when submitting their manuscripts.
Authors, reviewers, and readers may submit complaints concerning editorial decisions, editorial conduct, peer-review procedures, or other aspects of the journal's publishing practices.
Complaints should be submitted in writing to the journal through its official email address: ilt@atu.ac.ir.
Authors who wish to appeal an editorial decision should provide a written explanation identifying specific factual errors, misunderstandings, or procedural irregularities that may have affected the decision. Appeals must be supported by relevant evidence.
Complaints and appeals will be assessed fairly and confidentially by the Editor-in-Chief or an appropriate independent editorial representative, where practicable. Complaints concerning the Editor-in-Chief should be directed to the publisher or an authorized representative of the publishing institution.
The journal will communicate the outcome of its assessment to the person submitting the complaint or appeal.
The publisher and editorial team of ILT are committed to preventing and addressing research and publication misconduct.
Forms of misconduct include, but are not limited to:
Plagiarism and inappropriate self-plagiarism.
Data fabrication and falsification.
Duplicate or redundant publication.
Inappropriate authorship practices.
Citation manipulation.
Undisclosed conflicts of interest.
Unethical research involving human participants.
Improper manipulation of images or research materials.
Other practices that undermine the integrity of scholarly research and publication.
When an allegation of misconduct is received, the journal will assess the available evidence and may request explanations, original data, or supporting documentation from the authors or other relevant parties.
Depending on the nature and seriousness of the case, the journal may reject the manuscript, issue a correction or retraction, publish an expression of concern, or notify the authors' institutions or other relevant authorities.
In handling suspected misconduct, ILT will refer to relevant COPE guidelines and recommendations.
If authors discover a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work, they must promptly notify the journal's editorial team and cooperate in determining the appropriate corrective action.
Readers may also report substantive concerns about published articles to the journal through its official communication channels. The editorial team will assess such concerns and may invite the authors concerned to respond.
Depending on the nature and significance of an identified problem, the journal may publish a correction, retraction, or expression of concern.
Corrections are issued when errors affect the accuracy of an article but do not invalidate its overall findings. Retractions may be issued when the findings are unreliable because of significant errors or misconduct, or when serious breaches of publication ethics have occurred. Expressions of concern may be published when an investigation is ongoing or when available evidence is insufficient to reach a final conclusion.
All corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern will be clearly identified and linked to the original article to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record. The journal will follow relevant COPE guidance when taking such actions.
ILT has a separate Generative AI Policy governing the use of generative artificial intelligence and AI-assisted technologies in manuscript preparation, peer review, and editorial processes.
Authors, reviewers, and editors are expected to comply with that policy and disclose relevant uses of AI tools as required. AI tools cannot be listed as authors, and human authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical acceptability of submitted and published content.
Editorial decisions are based on the academic merit, originality, relevance, methodological quality, and contribution of submitted manuscripts. Decisions must not be influenced by an author's nationality, institutional affiliation, gender, personal beliefs, or other irrelevant personal characteristics.
The publisher supports the editorial independence of the Editor-in-Chief and editorial team. Commercial, institutional, or other external considerations must not improperly influence editorial decisions.
ILT is committed to maintaining and improving its ethical standards and publication practices. The journal periodically reviews its policies to ensure that they remain consistent with developments in scholarly publishing and research integrity.
Authors, reviewers, editors, and readers are encouraged to familiarize themselves with this statement and to report any concerns regarding publication ethics through the journal's official communication channels.
