Publication Ethics

Datokarama English Education Journal is committed to upholding high standards of publication ethics in all stages of the editorial and publishing process. This statement sets out the ethical responsibilities of the journal, its publisher, authors, peer reviewers, and editors. The journal follows internationally recognized best practices in publication ethics and aligns its policies with the principles and guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

All individuals participating in the publishing process—editors, authors, reviewers, and partner institutions—are required to adhere to relevant confidentiality agreements for each submission, promptly report any suspected ethical breaches, and disclose any potential conflicts of interest.

1. Authors’ Responsibilities

Authors are primarily responsible for presenting a clear, precise, and accurate report of the research they have conducted, accompanied by an objective interpretation of its significance. Each manuscript should contain enough detail and appropriate references to allow other researchers to replicate or verify the work.

Manuscripts submitted to the journal must be original, unpublished work that is not simultaneously under review by any other journal, book, or outlet. Duplicate or concurrent submissions are not permitted.

Fragmenting a single research project into multiple overlapping papers (“salami publication”) is discouraged. Each article should present a coherent and complete account of a specific part or aspect of the research.

Authorship should be restricted to individuals who have made a substantial contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study. All individuals who have made significant contributions should be allowed to be listed as co-authors. Individuals who made supporting contributions but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged in an appropriate section instead.

All named authors share responsibility for the originality, validity, and integrity of the content of the manuscript. For this reason, no form of Artificial Intelligence (AI) or automated tool may be listed as an author.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that:

• All appropriate contributors are included as co-authors;
• No inappropriate individuals are listed as co-authors; and
• Every co-author has seen, reviewed, and approved the final version of the manuscript and has agreed to its submission to the journal.

All authors have an obligation to promptly cooperate with requests for corrections or retractions if significant errors or inaccuracies are discovered in their published work. Individuals unwilling or unable to accept appropriate responsibility for the paper should not be listed as co-authors.

Authors should list only those institutional affiliations with which they have or had a formal relationship at the time the research was conducted and/or when the manuscript was prepared.

Artificial Intelligence in Research and Writing

If AI tools were used at any stage of the research process or in preparing the manuscript (for example, for data processing, language editing, or idea organization), this use must be transparently disclosed in the methods, acknowledgments, or a dedicated statement.

Authors are encouraged to use wording such as:
“The author(s) used [NAME OF TOOL / SERVICE] in their research/writing workflow for [SPECIFIC PURPOSE, e.g., language editing, coding assistance, data visualization]. After using this tool, the author(s) conducted thorough quality checks and revised the content as necessary, and they accept full responsibility for all aspects of the published work.”

All existing requirements related to copyright, originality, and plagiarism continue to apply regardless of the use of AI or other automated tools.

AI systems do not meet authorship criteria and must not be credited as authors.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is defined as the unauthorized and unacknowledged use of another person’s words, ideas, data, methods, or results in a way that may lead readers to believe that this material is the author’s own. Plagiarism may be intentional or result from negligence, lack of familiarity with publication practices, or poor judgment, but it is always unacceptable and can carry serious academic, professional, and legal consequences.

The journal does not tolerate any form of plagiarism. All submissions may be screened with plagiarism-detection software. Manuscripts in which plagiarism is suspected, in whole or in part, will be rejected or returned for clarification. If plagiarism is identified after publication, the journal will act in line with the procedures described in the section “Correcting the Scholarly Record”.

Duplicate or redundant publication, sometimes referred to as “self-plagiarism,” occurs when an author republishes the same or substantially similar content (including in another language) without appropriate citation, justification, or permission. The journal does not support substantial overlap between publications except where:

• Such overlap has been clearly justified and approved by the editors in advance;
• The author has obtained permission from the original publication; and
• The original work is transparently cited and acknowledged in the new article.

Libel, Defamation, and Freedom of Expression

The journal values academic freedom and freedom of expression. At the same time, it does not support the publication of false statements that may damage the reputation of individuals, institutions, or organizations.

Scholarly critique of other research must be conducted in a professional, evidence-based, and respectful manner, avoiding personal attacks, inflammatory language, or unfounded allegations.

Manipulation, Falsification, and Fabrication of Data

Fabricating, falsifying, or manipulating data is a serious breach of academic integrity. Altering tables, figures, images, or datasets to misrepresent findings or exaggerate significance is unacceptable.

Authors are expected to present data and results honestly and accurately. Any adjustments to data presentation (e.g., for readability or anonymization) must not distort, conceal, or mislead regarding the underlying findings.

Research Involving Humans or Animals

Research that involves human participants or animals must comply with relevant international, national, and institutional ethical and legal standards for the specific type of study. If the nature of the research would ordinarily require ethical approval from an institutional review board (IRB) or ethics committee, the authors must obtain such approval before conducting the study and clearly indicate this in the manuscript (e.g., in the Methods or Ethics Statement).

Authors must protect the privacy and confidentiality of human participants. Where information included in the article could identify individual participants, the authors must take reasonable steps to anonymize the data and obtain explicit permission from participants (or their legal guardians) for publication. A statement describing how consent was obtained and how anonymity was protected should be included in the manuscript where appropriate.

Conflicts of Interest and Funding

All authors, editors, reviewers, and staff associated with the journal must disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest that might influence—or be perceived to influence—their judgment or objectivity. Conflicts of interest may be financial (e.g., funding, paid consultancies, ownership of shares), non-financial (e.g., personal relationships, academic competition), professional, contractual, or personal.

Authors must also clearly disclose any financial support or funding obtained for the research reported in the article, beyond their regular employment at the institutions listed as affiliations. This information should appear in a dedicated Funding or Acknowledgments statement within the manuscript.

Data and Supporting Evidence

The journal encourages transparency and openness regarding research data, code, and other materials that support the findings presented in a manuscript. Authors should keep accurate and complete records of the data and materials that underlie their results so that others can understand, evaluate, and, where appropriate, replicate their work.

Where feasible, authors are encouraged to:

• Make data and supporting materials available in a suitable repository or storage service; and
• Include a Data Availability Statement in their article describing where the data are stored, how they can be accessed, and under what conditions or licenses they may be used.

Authors should also be prepared to provide their data or other supporting evidence upon reasonable request, subject to ethical, legal, and confidentiality constraints.

2. Editorial Responsibilities

The ultimate responsibility for deciding whether a submitted manuscript will be accepted, revised, or rejected lies with the Editor-in-Chief or the designated top-level editor(s) of the journal. In making these decisions, editors may consult associate editors, members of the editorial board, and/or peer reviewers.

Editors must evaluate manuscripts fairly and promptly, based solely on their scholarly merit, originality, clarity, and relevance to the journal’s scope, without discrimination based on authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, nationality, or political views. Editors must also avoid situations that create real or apparent conflicts of interest.

Editors and members of the editorial team must treat all submitted manuscripts as confidential documents. They may share details only with those involved in the editorial process (e.g., reviewers and, when necessary, additional editorial advisors). Unpublished materials disclosed in a submission must not be used in an editor’s own research without the express written consent of the author(s).

If editors receive credible evidence or concerns that the findings or conclusions of a published article may be inaccurate or flawed, they should work with the journal’s publisher and the authors to consider issuing a correction, expression of concern, or retraction as appropriate.

3. Peer Review and Reviewers’ Responsibilities

Peer review by qualified experts is central to the journal’s decision-making process and to maintaining academic quality.

Reviewers are expected to:

• Assess manuscripts objectively and impartially, focusing on the quality, rigor, and contribution of the research;
• Refrain from personal criticism of the authors;
• Evaluate manuscripts without discrimination based on authors’ personal characteristics or beliefs; and
• Respect the intellectual independence and scholarly perspectives of the authors.

Reviewers must disclose to the editors any conflicts of interest that might influence their review, such as close collaboration, direct competition, or personal relationships with the authors, or any financial or academic interests in the subject matter. Reviewers should decline to review a manuscript if such conflicts would prevent an unbiased evaluation.

Review reports should be clear, constructive, and adequately substantiated so that authors and editors can understand the basis of the recommendations. Reviewers should:

• Identify relevant published work that has not been cited;
• Indicate when they believe an argument, method, or result has been previously published, providing specific citations where possible; and
• Alert the editor to any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under review and other published or simultaneously submitted work of which they are aware.

Information and ideas obtained through peer review must be treated as confidential and must not be used for personal advantage or shared with others without authorization. Manuscripts are confidential and must not be shared with third parties, except when a reviewer seeks specific advice, in which case the reviewer must inform the editor and ensure the consulted colleague maintains confidentiality.

Reviewers must not use or disclose unpublished material, arguments, or interpretations from a manuscript they are reviewing without written permission from the author(s).

A Note on the Use of AI in Peer Review

It is not permitted for reviewers to use generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT or similar services) to generate, draft, or significantly edit peer-review reports, or to upload confidential manuscripts to such tools. Doing so may expose confidential content to external systems and violate the trust and confidentiality inherent in peer review. The responsibility for the review content lies entirely with the human reviewer.

4. Journal and Publisher Responsibilities

The journal and its publisher strive to maintain editorial independence and protect the editorial process from undue corporate, financial, institutional, or political influence. The journal does not discriminate against authors, editors, or reviewers based on their personal characteristics or identity.

Editorial decisions on manuscripts submitted to Datokarama English Education Journal are made by the journal’s editors based on independent peer-review reports and their professional judgment. The publisher may make strategic decisions regarding the journal’s long-term sustainability, policy updates, or alignment with ethical standards, but does not interfere with editorial decisions on individual manuscripts.

The journal and its publisher will not tolerate abusive, threatening, or harassing behavior toward editors, reviewers, staff, or others involved in the publication process and reserve the right to take appropriate action to protect those individuals.

The journal may grant licenses or permissions that allow third parties to reproduce, reuse, or adapt its content in different formats, languages, or contexts, in accordance with its licensing terms. Any reuse must respect the integrity of the original work and comply with the applicable license and copyright conditions.

The journal is committed to opposing censorship and upholding freedom of academic speech and expression. Its goal is to serve the scholarly community locally and internationally while adhering to recognized ethical guidelines.

Correcting the Scholarly Record

Datokarama English Education Journal takes its duty seriously to preserve the accuracy, integrity, and completeness of the scholarly record. When concerns arise regarding the reliability or ethics of published work, the journal will follow recognized best practices in academic publishing and, where appropriate, the guidance of relevant institutions and ethical bodies.

If credible allegations of research misconduct, data fabrication, plagiarism, or unethical research practices are raised, the journal will work with the editor(s), the authors’ institutions, and other relevant organizations, as necessary, to investigate the issue.

Errata and Corrigenda

An erratum or corrigendum is a notice that briefly describes corrections to a published article.

• A corrigendum is issued when the author(s) request a correction for an error that they introduced (for example, minor mistakes in text, figures, or references) that does not invalidate the overall findings.
• An erratum is issued when the journal or publisher is responsible for the error (for example, production or typesetting mistakes).

Any impact of the correction on the article’s conclusions should be clearly indicated. The corrected article remains part of the online journal, and the Erratum/Corrigendum notice is linked to the article and made freely accessible.

Minor errors that do not affect the validity of the research, the integrity of the metadata, or readers’ understanding of the article may be corrected at the discretion of the journal without a separate Erratum/Corrigendum notice. In such cases, the corrected version will indicate the date the change was made.

Retractions

A retraction is issued when there is strong evidence that the findings reported in an article are unreliable (due to misconduct such as data fabrication or falsification, or due to honest but significant error), when the work has been previously published elsewhere without proper acknowledgment or permission, when plagiarism is confirmed, or when ethical standards for research (e.g., involving human or animal subjects) have been seriously violated.

Retractions may be initiated by the authors, editors, or publisher. When authors themselves discover major errors that invalidate their conclusions, they are encouraged to request a retraction. In other cases, editors or the publisher may determine that a retraction is necessary.

A retraction notice:

• Clearly states that the article should no longer be regarded as part of the reliable scholarly record;
• Explains the reasons for the retraction and who is responsible for the decision; and
• Is freely accessible and directly linked to the retracted article.

To preserve the integrity of the scholarly record, the original article is not removed from the journal’s website, but it is clearly marked as retracted. If a retraction is issued without the unanimous consent of all authors, this fact is noted in the retraction notice.

In rare and exceptional situations involving legal issues (for example, defamation, court orders, or serious copyright violations), the journal may remove or temporarily disable access to an article. In such cases, bibliographic information will be retained to maintain the continuity of the academic record.

Special Issues and Other Publications

For special issues, thematic issues, or other affiliated publications managed under the journal’s umbrella, ethical concerns will be handled in a similar manner. If serious legal, ethical, or security issues are raised, the journal will inform the editor(s) and author(s), investigate the concerns, and consider appropriate actions such as issuing corrections, retractions, or withdrawal from circulation, while still seeking to preserve the integrity of the broader scholarly record (e.g., by maintaining metadata and, where legally possible, abstracts or summaries).

The journal may consider appeals against editorial decisions if there is reason to believe that the decision did not adequately follow the ethical and procedural standards set out in this Statement.

Contact

Any person who believes that research published in Datokarama English Education Journal, or the processes surrounding its review and publication, has not adhered to the principles described in this Publishing Ethics Statement is encouraged to contact the Editor-in-Chief or the editorial office via the official contact details provided on the Journal’s website.