Publication and Research Ethics

  1. Publication Ethics

The Journal of Modern Languages (JML) adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) standards on publications ethics. We uphold values of objectivity, confidentiality, and integrity to publish original work in the best possible standard and take all possible steps to act against publication malpractices. Submission of an article implies that:

  • the work described has not been published previously except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis.
  • it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
  • its submission and publication in the journal is known and approved by all authors.
  • the work is the author's own with no falsification or fabrication of data, plagiarism including duplicate publication of the author's own work without proper citation.
  1. Research Ethics

Authors should include evidence of ethical approval in the manuscript, particularly if the study involved human subjects.

Additionally, the research reported in the manuscript must have been conducted in accordance with the ethical policies of the authors’ institutions and/ or funders as well as national and international laws.

For human subjects, informed consent must have been informed.

Authors should also indicate other forms of approvals and/ or consent obtained, where relevant (e.g., Ministry of Education, parents of child respondents)

  1. Third-Party Content

Third party content refers to any form of content belonging to others.

If your work contains such content, you must ensure that you have obtained written permission to use or reuse the content (e.g., images) from the rights holder.

  1. Peer Review Policy

Manuscripts submitted to JML first undergo editorial screening, followed by them being checked for originality. If plagiarism is detected, the manuscript will not be considered for publication.

Manuscripts that get through the editorial screening will undergo a double-blind peer review process by at least two anonymous reviewers who are knowledgeable in similar areas as the manuscript.

At this stage, the manuscript may be accepted, rejected, require further revisions, or need to be resubmitted for a second round of reviews.

Revised manuscripts will be checked by the Chief Editor and the Associate Editors before a decision is made about the manuscript.

Articles in a Thematic or Special Issue will be subject to the same evaluation process under the supervision of the Guest Editor.

  1. Roles and Responsibilities

(i) The Chief Editor and Associate Editors of JML are responsible for the following:

  • periodically reviewing the Editorial mission as well as the focus and scope of the Journal.
  • ensuring that the published journal articles are aligned with the editorial mission.
  • making decisions to publish any thematic issues for the journal and for recruiting papers to be published.
  • overseeing the process of the editorial review which includes:
    a. using the peer-review system to conduct the editorial review process.
    b. assigning papers to potential reviewers who have relevant knowledge and skills to review the papers.
    c. monitoring the quality and process of the reviews.
    d. reminding or replacing reviewers to expedite the review process.
  • make final decisions about the acceptance of papers (whether to accept or reject a paper) when different opinions arose in the Reviewer's evaluations.
  • ensure that the journal adheres to the ethical policies for scholarly publishing.
  • seek opportunities to promote JML.

(ii) The Reviewers of JML are responsible for the following:

  • treating the manuscripts as confidential.
  • providing unbiased peer-review reports which contain objective and constructive feedback to facilitate authors to improve on their work.
  • submitting the peer review report to the Editor in a fair and timely fashion.
  • recommending editorial decisions based on the quality and validity of the information in the manuscript.
  • informing the Editors if they are unqualified to review the manuscript and thereafter remove the manuscript for good.

(iii) The Authors of JML are responsible for the following:

  • writing and submitting original work to JML.
  • ensuring the article provides adequate contributions to new knowledge in the research field.
  • providing work that contributes to the intellectual conception and design of the research work.
  • ensuring the process of acquisition of data adheres to research and publication ethics.
  • amending errors and improving the manuscript based on feedback provided by reviewers.

Any case of ethical misconduct will be treated seriously and will be dealt with using the guidelines issued by the COPE. For further details please visit: