Editorial Process

1. Submission

Manuscripts must be submitted through the journal's online submission system. Authors are responsible for ensuring that all required files, author details, affiliations, abstract, keywords, references, declarations, tables, figures, and supplementary materials are complete and accurate at the time of submission.

2. Initial Editorial Assessment

Each submission undergoes an initial editorial assessment, normally within approximately 7 days.

During this stage, the editorial team evaluates:

• Relevance to the aims and scope of the journal;
• Originality and scholarly contribution;
• Overall academic quality;
• Clarity of language and presentation;
• Methodological suitability;
• Compliance with the journal's Author Guidelines;
• Completeness and accuracy of references;
• Ethical and publication-integrity requirements.

Manuscripts that are outside the journal's scope, substantially incomplete, methodologically unsuitable, or clearly below the journal's academic standards may be declined without external peer review.

3. Similarity and Integrity Screening

Where appropriate, submitted manuscripts may be screened for similarity, plagiarism, duplicate publication, citation irregularities, or other publication-integrity concerns. Similarity reports are assessed by the editorial team in context and are not interpreted solely on the basis of a numerical similarity percentage.

4. Assignment to an Editor

Manuscripts that pass the initial assessment are assigned to an appropriate editor with relevant subject expertise. The editor oversees the peer-review process, reviewer selection, author communication, and recommendation for an editorial decision.

5. Single-Blind Peer Review

The European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL follows a single-blind peer-review process. Reviewers normally have access to author information, while reviewer identities are not disclosed to the authors.

Manuscripts considered suitable for review are sent to independent reviewers with relevant expertise. Reviewers assess the manuscript's originality, theoretical contribution, methodology, analysis, interpretation, clarity, ethical standards, references, and overall suitability for publication.

The journal normally aims to complete the peer-review process within approximately 3 months. The actual review period may vary depending on reviewer availability, manuscript complexity, and the number of revision rounds required.

6. Editorial Decision

Following peer review, the editor considers the reviewers' reports and the manuscript as a whole. The editorial decision may be:

• Accept;
• Minor Revision;
• Major Revision;
• Reject.

Reviewer recommendations are advisory. The final decision rests with the responsible editor and, where appropriate, the Editor-in-Chief or editorial office.

7. Revision by Authors

When revision is requested, authors should submit a revised manuscript together with a point-by-point response explaining how each editorial and reviewer comment has been addressed.

Where an author does not follow a particular recommendation, a clear academic justification should be provided. Revised manuscripts may be returned to the original reviewers or may be assessed directly by the editor, depending on the extent of the revisions required.

8. Final Acceptance

A manuscript is accepted only when the editor is satisfied that the scholarly, methodological, ethical, and presentation requirements of the journal have been met. Acceptance is communicated formally through the journal's editorial system.

9. Copyediting and Production

Accepted manuscripts proceed to copyediting, formatting, typesetting, metadata preparation, reference checking, and other production procedures. Minor editorial corrections may be made to improve consistency, readability, and conformity with journal style without altering the scholarly meaning of the article.

10. Author Proofreading

The corresponding author may receive proofs for final checking before publication. Authors should carefully review author names, affiliations, text, references, tables, figures, and other publication details. Proof correction is intended primarily for production errors and necessary minor corrections rather than substantial rewriting of the accepted manuscript.

11. Publication

Once editorial processing, typesetting, and proofreading are complete, accepted articles are published in the current running issue of The European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL.

The journal publishes two issues per year. Accepted articles may appear online within the running issue without waiting for all articles assigned to that issue to be completed.

12. Open Access Publication

All published articles are made freely and permanently available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License. The European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL operates as a diamond open access journal and does not charge authors article processing charges for standard publication.

13. Post-Publication Responsibilities

After publication, authors and readers are encouraged to notify the editorial office of any significant errors or concerns. Where necessary, the journal may publish a correction, amendment, expression of concern, or retraction in accordance with its Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Policy.

Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions are based on scholarly and ethical considerations and are independent of authors' nationality, institutional affiliation, financial circumstances, personal identity, or ability to pay. The journal's diamond open access model ensures that publication decisions are not influenced by article processing charges.