Journal of English Language Teaching and Education (JELTE) requires authors, reviewers, and editors to disclose any financial or non-financial interests that could influence, or could reasonably be perceived to influence, the objectivity, integrity, or interpretation of scholarly work.
A conflict of interest does not necessarily mean that a person has acted improperly. Disclosure allows the journal, reviewers, and readers to assess potential sources of bias transparently.
Declaration of Competing Interests for Authors
Authors must disclose any financial, personal, professional, institutional, academic, or other interests that may be perceived as influencing the research, interpretation of findings, or publication process.
The corresponding author is responsible for submitting the competing-interest statement on behalf of all authors and confirming that all authors have reviewed and approved the declaration.
Financial Conflicts of Interest
Financial conflicts may include, but are not limited to:
• receiving research funding, fees, salary, reimbursement, or other financial support from an organization that may benefit or lose financially from the publication;
• holding stocks, shares, or other financial interests in an organization that may be affected by the publication;
• holding or applying for patents related to the research or manuscript;
• receiving financial support from an organization that holds or has applied for a relevant patent; and
• other financial relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research.
Non-Financial Conflicts of Interest
Non-financial conflicts may include:
• personal relationships;
• professional or institutional relationships;
• academic or intellectual interests;
• ideological or religious interests;
• current or recent collaboration with individuals involved in the manuscript;
• competitive academic relationships; and
• other circumstances that could reasonably affect or be perceived to affect impartiality.
Examples of Author Statements
No conflict:
“The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this article.”
With conflict:
“The authors declare the following competing interest: [provide a clear description of the relevant financial or non-financial interest].”
Declaration of Competing Interests for Reviewers
Reviewers must disclose any financial or non-financial competing interests that could reasonably affect their impartiality in evaluating a manuscript.
Before accepting or completing a review, reviewers should consider whether they:
• have received funding, fees, salary, or other financial support from an organization that may benefit or lose financially from the publication;
• hold financial interests, shares, or patents related to the manuscript;
• are currently collaborating with any of the authors;
• have recently co-authored publications with any of the authors;
• have a personal, professional, institutional, academic, ideological, or other relationship with an author that could affect impartiality; or
• have another circumstance that could reasonably lead to a perceived conflict of interest.
Reviewers who identify a significant conflict should inform the Editor and, where appropriate, decline the review assignment.
If no competing interest exists, the reviewer may state:
“No competing interests were disclosed.”
Any disclosed competing interest will be considered by the Editor when determining whether the reviewer should participate in the peer-review process.
Conflicts of Interest for Editors
Editors and Editorial Board members must disclose any financial, professional, personal, academic, or institutional interests that could affect their editorial judgment.
An editor should not handle a manuscript when they:
• are an author or co-author of the manuscript;
• have a close personal or professional relationship with one of the authors;
• have a significant academic or professional conflict with the authors;
• have a direct financial interest related to the research; or
• have another circumstance that may reasonably compromise or appear to compromise impartiality.
In such cases, the manuscript should be assigned to an independent editor who has no relevant conflict of interest.
Editors must maintain confidentiality and should not use unpublished information obtained through the editorial process for personal advantage or professional benefit.
Management of Conflicts of Interest
All disclosed conflicts will be assessed by the Editor-in-Chief or an appropriate independent editor. Depending on the nature and significance of the conflict, the journal may:
• request additional disclosure;
• assign an alternative reviewer or editor;
• require clarification from the authors;
• include a competing-interest statement in the published article;
• require additional review; or
• take other appropriate editorial action.
Failure to disclose a relevant conflict of interest may be considered a publication-ethics concern and may result in further investigation or corrective action in accordance with JELTE's publication-ethics policies.
