Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Journal of Education and Learning Reviews (JELR) is an international peer-reviewed journal in education and learning, published by DR.KEN Institute of Academic Development and Promotion under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Rajabhat Mahasarakham University. The journal holds ISSN 3057-0387 (Online) and is a Crossref member with DOI prefix 10.60027, ensuring that all published articles are assigned Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) for persistent access, reliable citation, and long-term availability of scholarly content.

1. Purpose and Commitment

The Journal of Education and Learning Reviews (JELR) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency, accountability, and ethical conduct in scholarly publishing. This policy applies to all participants in the publication process, including authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and the publisher.

JELR is a double-blind peer-reviewed and open-access journal. Editorial decisions are made independently and are based on scholarly merit, originality, methodological rigor, relevance to the journal’s scope, clarity of presentation, and compliance with ethical and publication standards. The publisher does not interfere with editorial decisions concerning acceptance, revision, rejection, correction, expression of concern, or retraction. Scopus states that journals suggested for evaluation should have a publicly available publication ethics and publication malpractice statement.

2. Ethical Framework and International Standards

JELR follows internationally recognized guidance and best practices in publication ethics, editorial responsibility, and research integrity. The journal follows the COPE Core Practices and uses relevant COPE guidance and COPE flowcharts when handling concerns related to plagiarism, authorship, peer review integrity, conflicts of interest, complaints, corrections, and retractions. COPE’s Core Practices are intended for journals, editors, publishers, and institutions involved in scholarly publishing.

For research involving human participants, identifiable human data, or identifiable human material, JELR also refers to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki. Where relevant, the journal may additionally refer to WAME Policies for editorial guidance.

Official references
COPE Core Practices
COPE Guidance
COPE Flowcharts
COPE Retraction Guidelines
COPE Main Website
WAME Policies
Declaration of Helsinki (WMA)

3. Scope of This Policy

This policy applies to all submissions to JELR, including original research articles, review articles, conceptual papers, case studies, and other scholarly works considered for publication. It governs matters relating to originality, authorship and contributorship, peer review integrity, editorial independence, human research ethics, conflicts of interest, complaints and appeals, corrections, retractions, and the handling of suspected misconduct.

4. Human Research Ethics

JELR takes research ethics seriously and prioritizes the safety, rights, dignity, privacy, and well-being of all human participants. Any study involving human participants must comply with applicable institutional, national, and international ethical requirements. Where required, authors must obtain approval from an appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB), Research Ethics Committee (REC), Human Research Ethics Committee, or equivalent body before conducting the study.

Authors must clearly state in the manuscript:

the name of the approving ethics committee or board;
the approval number or reference code;
whether informed consent was obtained;
how privacy and confidentiality were protected; and
whether special permission was required for identifiable or sensitive material.

For studies involving interviews, classroom observations, student data, photographs, audio or video recordings, digital learning analytics, or other potentially sensitive materials, authors must ensure that ethical approval and participant protection requirements are met.

Related journal pages
Submission Guidelines
PEMS

5. Research Involving Vulnerable Populations

Research involving vulnerable populations requires additional safeguards. Vulnerable populations may include, but are not limited to, children, minors, school students, patients, persons with disabilities, individuals with limited decision-making capacity, and participants in dependent or hierarchical relationships such as students, trainees, or employees.

For such research, authors must clearly report:

the justification for involving the vulnerable population;
the level of risk and measures taken to minimize harm;
how coercion, pressure, undue influence, or exploitation were prevented;
how parental or guardian consent was obtained, where applicable;
how participant assent was obtained, where appropriate;
how privacy, confidentiality, dignity, and well-being were protected; and
how participation, refusal, or withdrawal did not affect grades, employment, healthcare, institutional access, or other dependent relationships.

JELR expects these studies to comply with internationally recognized ethics principles, including the Declaration of Helsinki.

6. Required Ethics Statement in Manuscripts

All manuscripts involving human participants must include a clear Ethics Statement.

The Ethics Statement should specify:

the name of the ethics committee or IRB/REC;
the approval number or reference code;
confirmation that informed consent was obtained;
confirmation of parental or guardian consent where applicable;
confirmation of participant assent where applicable; and
confirmation that data were anonymized or handled confidentially.

Example
This study was approved by [Institution Name] under approval no. [number]. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. For minors, parental consent and participant assent were obtained where applicable. All data were anonymized and handled confidentially.

If ethics approval was not required, authors must provide a clear explanation based on applicable institutional or national regulations. The editorial team may request supporting documentation and retains the right to determine whether ethics approval should have been obtained.

7. Peer Review Integrity

JELR operates a double-blind peer review process. All submissions undergo initial editorial screening before external review and are normally evaluated by at least two independent reviewers with relevant expertise. Editors are responsible for ensuring fairness, confidentiality, objectivity, and academic rigor throughout the review process.

The journal does not tolerate peer review manipulation, fabricated reviewer identities, falsified reviewer reports, or any attempt to interfere improperly with editorial decision-making. COPE provides guidance and flowcharts for journals handling misconduct and publication-process manipulation.

Related journal pages
Submission Guidelines
PEMS

8. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are responsible for maintaining the quality, fairness, and integrity of the editorial process. Editors must:

ensure a fair, unbiased, and timely peer review process;
maintain the confidentiality of submissions and editorial communications;
select suitably qualified reviewers;
manage conflicts of interest appropriately;
evaluate manuscripts on academic merit, originality, clarity, relevance, and ethical compliance;
request clarification, revision, supporting documents, or additional ethical justification where necessary; and
follow recognized ethical guidance, including COPE principles, when concerns arise.

9. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must:

submit original work that is not under consideration elsewhere;
ensure that their reporting is accurate, honest, and not misleading;
avoid plagiarism, duplicate submission, redundant publication, fabrication, falsification, and deceptive image or data manipulation;
ensure that authorship reflects genuine scholarly contributions;
disclose all relevant conflicts of interest and funding sources;
comply with all applicable research ethics requirements; and
cooperate with editorial requests for clarification, correction, or investigation.

Authors remain fully responsible for the content of their submissions.

10. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers are expected to:

provide objective, constructive, and timely evaluations;
maintain strict confidentiality;
declare any conflicts of interest before accepting review assignments;
decline review when impartiality may be compromised or expertise is insufficient; and
alert editors to suspected plagiarism, unethical research practices, data irregularities, duplicate publication, or other serious concerns.

11. Authorship and Contributorship

All listed authors must have made substantial scholarly contributions to the work and must approve the final version of the manuscript. Ghost authorship, guest authorship, honorary authorship, and other misleading authorship practices are not permitted.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that:

all listed authors meet authorship criteria;
no eligible contributor has been omitted; and
all authors approve the submitted and final versions of the manuscript.

12. Conflict of Interest

All participants in the publication process, including authors, reviewers, and editors, must disclose any financial, institutional, academic, professional, or personal relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing their judgment or conduct.

Undisclosed conflicts of interest may result in editorial action, including correction, expression of concern, or retraction where warranted. WAME includes policy guidance relevant to competing interests and editorial transparency.

13. Originality, Plagiarism, and Redundant Publication

Submitted manuscripts must be original and must not contain plagiarized material, unattributed text or ideas, duplicate publication, or redundant publication. JELR may screen submissions using plagiarism detection tools before or during peer review.

Where overlap, duplication, or serious ethical concerns are identified, the journal may request clarification, return the manuscript for revision, reject the submission, or take post-publication action if the issue is discovered later.

COPE’s retraction guidance emphasizes that the purpose of retraction is to correct the literature and preserve its integrity.

14. Data Integrity, Reproducibility, and Data Availability

Authors must ensure that data are reported accurately and are not fabricated, falsified, selectively omitted, or misrepresented. Where appropriate, authors should retain research data and supporting materials and provide them to the journal if requested for editorial review or investigation.

JELR encourages transparency and reproducibility. Authors should include a Data Availability Statement indicating whether data are openly available, available upon reasonable request, included within the article, or restricted for ethical or legal reasons. COPE guidance includes resources related to reproducibility and data sharing.

Examples of Data Availability Statements

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.
The data supporting the findings of this study are available in [repository name] at [DOI or persistent link].
Data sharing is not applicable to this article because no new data were created or analyzed.

15. AI-Assisted Writing and AI-Generated Content

JELR permits limited use of AI tools only under transparent and responsible conditions. AI systems and generative tools cannot be listed as authors because authorship requires accountability and responsibility.

Authors must disclose significant AI use where it materially affects drafting, editing, analysis, interpretation, or presentation of the manuscript. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, citation, legality, and integrity of all submitted content.

AI-assisted or AI-generated content must not be fabricated, plagiarized, misleading, or deceptive. Scopus recommends that journals have a dedicated generative AI policy and disclose the use of generative AI in content creation or the publishing process.

16. Research Misconduct

Research and publication misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

plagiarism;
duplicate or redundant publication;
data fabrication or falsification;
misleading image or data manipulation;
unethical research involving human participants;
false statements regarding ethics approval, consent, authorship, or funding;
undisclosed conflicts of interest; and
peer review manipulation.

When concerns arise, JELR may request explanations, supporting documentation, raw data, ethics approvals, or institutional confirmation. Depending on the outcome, the journal may reject a submission, publish a correction, issue an expression of concern, retract a paper, or notify relevant institutions, following COPE guidance where appropriate.

17. Complaints and Appeals

Complaints about editorial conduct, peer review, publication ethics, or related matters must be submitted with relevant evidence. Complaints will be reviewed fairly, confidentially, and transparently.

Authors may appeal editorial decisions where justified. Appeals should explain clearly why the decision should be reconsidered and should provide supporting evidence or clarification. Submission of an appeal does not guarantee reversal of the original decision.

18. Post-Publication Updates

To maintain the integrity of the scholarly record, JELR may publish post-publication notices such as:

Corrections for errors that do not invalidate the main findings;
Expressions of Concern where serious concerns exist but an investigation remains incomplete or inconclusive; and
Retractions where findings are unreliable because of major error, misconduct, plagiarism, duplicate publication, ethical failure, or other substantial problems.

All notices will be clearly linked to the original article and will explain the reason for the editorial action in the interest of transparency. This aligns with COPE guidance on retractions and post-publication integrity.

19. Article Retraction Policy

Retractions may be issued when published findings are shown to be unreliable because of misconduct or honest error; when plagiarism or duplicate publication is confirmed; when data are fabricated or falsified; when major ethical breaches are identified; when required ethics approval was not obtained; or when a serious undisclosed conflict of interest materially affected publication.

Retracted articles may remain accessible to preserve the scholarly record, but they will be clearly marked as retracted and accompanied by a formal retraction notice that remains permanently linked to the article. COPE states that retractions should be transparent and preserve the record rather than silently remove the article.

20. Copyright and Open Access

JELR is an open-access journal. Articles are made freely available online, and reuse is governed by the journal’s stated licensing terms. Authors must ensure that submitted content does not infringe the rights of third parties and that permissions are obtained where necessary for copyrighted material, instruments, images, or other protected content.

For Creative Commons licensing options, see:
Creative Commons Licenses

21. Transparency and Continuous Improvement

JELR is committed to transparency in editorial processes and continuous improvement in publication standards. The journal periodically reviews and updates its policies to remain aligned with international best practices in publication ethics, editorial governance, and research integrity.

Scopus states that journals under consideration should provide a clear, publicly available ethics and malpractice statement, alongside transparent peer review information and an English-language homepage suitable for an international audience.

Related journal pages
Announcements
Issue Archive

22. Submission Requirements and Supporting Documents

Where relevant, the editorial office may require authors to provide supporting documents, including:

ethics approval letters;
IRB/REC approval references;
informed consent documentation;
parental or guardian consent forms;
participant assent documentation;
institutional permission letters;
conflict of interest disclosures;
funding statements;
data availability statements; and
other records necessary for editorial or ethics review.

Related journal page
Submission Guidelines

23. Contact Information

Editorial Office
Journal of Education and Learning Reviews (JELR)
Publisher: DR.KEN Institute of Academic Development and Promotion, under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Rajabhat Mahasarakham University
Journal Website
Publisher Website
Publisher Contact
Email: dr.keninstitute@gmail.com
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Publication Ethics