Editorial Policies

Focus and Scope

Dedicated to advancing scholarly inquiry into the English language from diverse linguistic perspectives, the journal welcomes original, high-quality research that contributes theoretically, empirically, or practically to our understanding of English.

We invite submissions across all major areas of linguistics and encourage researchers to submit original papers with strong theoretical foundations and practical relevance. We welcome manuscripts that provide novel perspectives, thorough analyses, and meaningful advancements in the field. All submissions will be subject to a stringent peer-review process to uphold our commitment to academic excellence.

The journal focuses on the English language (as L1, L2, EFL, or lingua franca) in the following core areas:
  • Theoretical Linguistics: Syntax, phonology, morphology, semantics, pragmatics, and interface studies.
  • Sociolinguistics & Varieties of English: Dialectology, World Englishes, language variation, change, identity, and ideology.
  • Corpus Linguistics & Computational Approaches: Data-driven studies on English usage, discourse analysis, NLP applications, and multimodal/digital communication.
  • Applied Linguistics: Second language acquisition, TESOL/TEFL, language teacher education, curriculum and pedagogy, language assessment, EAP/ESP, and language policy.
  • Historical Linguistics: Evolution of English, philology, diachronic studies, and historical pragmatics.
  • Cognitive & Psycholinguistics: Language processing, acquisition, mental representation, and bilingual/multilingual cognition.

 

Section Policies

Articles

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed
 

Peer Review Process

The journal employs a double-blind peer-review system, ensuring that the identities of both authors and reviewers remain confidential throughout the process. Each submission undergoes a rigorous evaluation by three experts: two external reviewers and one editorial board member. This approach promotes objectivity, fairness, and scholarly integrity, while minimizing bias and potential conflicts of interest. Final decisions—acceptance or rejection—are based on reviewers’ recommendations. In cases of divergent opinions, the Editor-in-Chief carefully assesses all feedback and either makes a balanced decision or initiates a second round of peer review to ensure thorough and impartial evaluation.

 

Publication Frequency

Semiannual, published in June and December

 

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

 

Archiving

This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. More...

 

Indexes

CNKI

DTU Library

ERA

EuroPub

Google Scholar

LOCKSS

 
 
PKP Open Archives Harvester

RePEc

ROAD

Scilit

Worldcat

 

Submission Policy

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), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the authorities responsible where the work was carried out. However, we accept submissions that have previously appeared on preprint servers (for example: arXiv, bioRxiv, Nature Precedings, Philica, Social Science Research Network, and Vixra); have previously been presented at conferences; or have previously appeared in other “non-journal” venues (for example: blogs or posters). Authors are responsible for updating the archived preprint with the journal reference (including DOI) and a link to the published articles on the appropriate journal website upon publication.

The publisher and journals have a zero-tolerance plagiarism policy. We check the issue using two methods: a plagiarism prevention tool (iThenticate) and a reviewer check. All submissions will be checked by iThenticate before being sent to reviewers.

We insist a rigorous viewpoint on the self-plagiarism. The self-plagiarism is plagiarism, as it fails to contribute to the research and science.

 

Refund Policy

We implement a reasonable refund policy based on the publishing status.

- Fully refund: online version is unpublished

- Half refund: online version is published and print version is unpublished

- No refund: both the online and print version are published

 

Self-Archiving Policy

This journal supports the rights of authors to share their work and make it more widely accessible. Accordingly, we have established the following policy regarding self-archiving, also known as green open access:

  1. Preprint Version: Authors are free to deposit the preprint version of their work in any repository or website at any time without embargo.
  2. Postprint Version (Author’s Accepted Manuscript): Authors may deposit the postprint version of their work in institutional or subject repositories, or personal websites, immediately upon publication in our journal, provided that they include a link to the article's DOI on the journal's website.
  3. Published Version (Version of Record): Authors may also archive the published version of their work under the terms of the Creative Commons license chosen for the work, typically allowing for self-archiving with proper attribution. We encourage authors to include a link to the article's DOI on our journal's website when archiving the published version.

This policy is intended to facilitate the widest possible dissemination of research while respecting the integrity of the peer review process and the final published version.

 

AI Usage Policy

Authors are encouraged to use AI tools to enhance their research but must adhere to these guidelines to ensure ethical and transparent use.

For Authors

Permitted Use (with disclosure)
AI tools may be used for:
•    Language polishing, grammar, spelling, and punctuation checking.
•    Basic data formatting (without interpretation).
•    Translation (human verification required).

Prohibited Use – Scholarly Integrity
AI tools must not be used for:
•    Generating or selecting references (AI generated references are often false or fabricated).
•    Writing core sections: Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion.
•    Interpreting data or drawing conclusions.
•    Generating research hypotheses or original analysis.
AI generated or AI written papers will not be accepted.

Disclosure and Role Specification
If any AI tools were used (for permitted tasks), authors must include a “Declaration of the Use of AI” at the end of the manuscript (before the References). The declaration must state:
•    The name and version of the AI tool(s).
•    The specific purpose and the tasks performed (e.g., “grammar checking”, “translation”).
•    Where and how AI was utilized, and its impact on the research or writing process.
If no AI tools were used, no declaration is needed.

Content Review & Editing
All content generated with AI tools must undergo thorough author review and editing to ensure quality, accuracy. Authors are fully responsible for all content, including AI generated sections.

Authorship Integrity
AI tools cannot be listed as co authors or contributors.

Reference Integrity
AI is strictly prohibited from generating, suggesting, or selecting reference entries. All cited works must be identified, evaluated, and selected by the authors based on scholarly relevance and merit. Automated citation formatting tools (e.g., Zotero, EndNote) may be used solely for formatting references that have been selected by the author.

Ethical Consideration & Misconduct
Maintain transparency regarding AI usage and address any ethical issues related to AI-generated content. Uphold ethical standards throughout the research process to ensure integrity.

Failure to disclose AI use as required, use of AI for prohibited tasks, or presenting unacknowledged AI generated content as one’s own work constitutes academic misconduct. Such violations will result in immediate rejection of the manuscript. For already published articles, retraction or correction may be issued.


For Reviewers and Editors

Peer Review Integrity
Reviewers and editors must refrain from using AI tools to generate, draft, or substantially assist in writing the review report. Reviewers must not upload the manuscript—or any substantial portion—to any AI platform. Should a review be found to contain AI-generated content, the editorial team may disregard the report and reassess the reviewer's suitability for future assignments.

 

Publish a Special Issue

In order to better serve the needs of the academic community, we welcome collaborations with other institutions to publish special issues. If you are interested in publishing a special issue with our journal, please send your inquiry and proposal to elr@sciedupress.com.

Before embarking on a special issue with our journal, please take note of the following points:

  • Special issues should be focused on a specific research topic, conference, or closely related area of research.
  • Articles accepted for publication in special issues will undergo the same rigorous review process as regular issues.
  • You are welcome to recommend appropriate researchers to act as guest editors and reviewers.
  • To ensure timely publication, please discuss your proposal with us at least five months in advance.
  • An article processing charge (APC) will be charged for each article.
  • We will provide you with a number of printed journals, with a maximum of two copies of each article.
  • We also offer a free e-journal in PDF format if required.

We are committed to facilitating the dissemination of high-quality research and knowledge through special issues. We look forward to working with you to bring your research to a wider audience. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries or concerns.

 

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The English Linguistics Research is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct in scholarly publishing. We adhere to the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and require all authors, reviewers, and editors to uphold the following principles.

1. Responsibilities of Authors

  • Submissions must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration by any other journal. Plagiarism (including self-plagiarism), data fabrication, falsification, or duplicate submission constitutes serious publication malpractice and is strictly prohibited.
  • All listed authors must have made substantial contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the research and must approve the final manuscript. Gift, ghost, or honorary authorship is unacceptable.
  • Authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest—financial, institutional, personal, or otherwise—that could influence the work.
  • For studies involving human participants or sensitive data, appropriate ethical approval and informed consent must be obtained and documented.
  • If significant errors are identified in a published article, authors must promptly notify the editorial office and cooperate in issuing corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern.
  • Authors must follow the journal’s AI Usage Policy. Permitted uses (with disclosure) include language polishing, basic data formatting, and translation (human verification required). Prohibited uses include: generating or selecting references; writing core sections (Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion); interpreting data; or generating hypotheses. AI‑written papers will not be accepted. If AI tools are used, authors must include a “Declaration of the Use of AI” before the References, stating the tool name/version, purpose, and impact. No declaration is needed if no AI tools are used. Authors bear full responsibility for all content. AI tools cannot be co‑authors. Failure to disclose or using AI for prohibited tasks constitutes misconduct and may result in rejection, retraction, or correction.

2. Responsibilities of Reviewers

  • Treat all manuscripts as confidential documents; do not share, discuss, or exploit their content—including for personal research, commercial gain, or competitive advantage—outside the peer-review process without explicit permission.
  • Evaluate submissions objectively based on scholarly merit, considering relevance, originality, methodological soundness, significance, readability, and language quality—without bias related to the authors’ identity, nationality, gender, institutional affiliation, or beliefs.
  • Decline to review if a real or perceived conflict of interest exists (e.g., recent collaboration, competition, or personal relationship with the authors).
  • Provide timely, constructive, and respectful feedback aimed at improving the manuscript. Notify the editor immediately if unable to complete the review within the agreed timeframe.
  • Do not request that authors add citations to the reviewer’s own publications unless those works are directly and substantively relevant to the manuscript’s content. Unnecessary self-citation requests constitute a misuse of the peer review process and may result in the reviewer being disqualified from future assignments.
  • Alert the editor without delay if plagiarism, redundant publication, unethical research, or other misconduct is suspected.
  • Reviewers must prepare their review reports based on their own independent scholarly judgment, critical analysis, and professional expertise. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to compose, generate, or substantially assist in drafting review content is not permitted, as peer review is a personal intellectual responsibility that underpins the integrity of scholarly publishing. Under no circumstances should reviewers upload the manuscript—or substantial portions of it—to any public or third-party AI platform, as this constitutes a serious breach of confidentiality. Should a review be found to contain AI-generated content or to rely unduly on automated assistance, the editorial team reserves the right to disregard the report and reassess the reviewer's suitability for future reviewing assignments.

3. Responsibilities of Editors

  • Ensure every manuscript undergoes a rigorous, fair, and timely peer-review process conducted by at least two independent, international experts in the relevant field.
  • Make publication decisions solely on the basis of academic validity, significance, and originality. Possible outcomes include: Accept / Revisions Required (minor/major) / Resubmit for Review / Decline.
    • Revised manuscripts are not guaranteed acceptance upon resubmission.
    • Manuscripts that have been rejected after peer review will generally not be reconsidered, unless the authors provide compelling justification for exceptional circumstances.
  • The journal is committed to prompt handling and efficient publication while maintaining scholarly rigor.
  • Maintain strict confidentiality: information about a submitted manuscript is disclosed only to the corresponding author, assigned reviewers, potential reviewers (as needed), editorial advisors, and the publisher.
  • Never use unpublished material from a submitted manuscript in their own research without the express written consent of the author(s).
  • Recuse themselves from handling any submission in which they have a conflict of interest (e.g., due to collaborative, competitive, or institutional ties) and delegate it to another qualified editor.
  • Respond promptly to allegations of copyright infringement or other intellectual property violations by taking reasonable investigative and corrective actions.
  • Take appropriate measures in cases of suspected ethical misconduct—including issuing corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern—in full accordance with COPE guidelines.
  • Promote equity and inclusion by minimizing bias and encouraging diverse scholarly perspectives.
  • Ensure Timeliness and Relevance of Published Content: To uphold the academic integrity and currency of the journal, editors must enforce a strict Validity of Acceptance policy. Any manuscript that has not been formally published within 24 months (2 years) of its initial conditional acceptance is considered outdated. In such cases, the initial acceptance is void, and the manuscript must undergo a mandatory re-evaluation (fresh peer review) to ensure it meets current scientific standards and data relevance. This policy applies universally to all submissions to guarantee fairness and quality consistency.

In addition, the English Linguistics Research fully complies with the ethical guidelines established by Sciedu Press.