Editorial Policy

1. Purpose of the Editorial Policy

The Journal of Education and Development Lab (JEDL) is committed to publishing high-quality, original, ethical, and academically significant scholarly work.

This Editorial Policy establishes the principles and procedures that guide JEDL's editorial activities, including manuscript assessment, peer review, editorial decision-making, publication, editorial independence, confidentiality, research integrity, and management of potential conflicts of interest.

The policy applies to the Editor-in-Chief, editors, editorial board members, reviewers, authors, and other individuals involved in the publication process.

2. Editorial Mission

JEDL seeks to advance scholarly knowledge in education, development, humanities, social sciences, cultural studies, technology, and related interdisciplinary fields.

The editorial team aims to publish research that demonstrates:

  • Originality;

  • Academic significance;

  • Methodological rigor;

  • Theoretical or conceptual relevance;

  • Ethical research practices;

  • Clarity and scholarly quality;

  • Relevance to the journal's Aims & Scope.

JEDL encourages research that connects academic knowledge with educational practice, social development, cultural understanding, policy, innovation, and contemporary global challenges.

3. Editorial Independence

JEDL maintains editorial independence in all scholarly and editorial decisions.

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by:

  • Political considerations;

  • Religious considerations;

  • Commercial interests;

  • Financial contributions;

  • Institutional pressure;

  • Personal relationships;

  • Author reputation;

  • Nationality;

  • Gender;

  • Race or ethnicity;

  • Academic status;

  • Institutional affiliation.

Manuscripts are evaluated on their academic merit, originality, relevance, methodological quality, ethical standards, and suitability for the journal.

Neither advertisers, sponsors, publishers, owners, nor other external parties may interfere with editorial decisions.

4. Editorial Governance

JEDL is managed by an editorial team consisting of appropriate academic and scholarly personnel.

The editorial structure may include:

  • Editor-in-Chief;

  • Managing Editor;

  • Associate Editors;

  • Section Editors;

  • Editorial Board Members;

  • Reviewers;

  • Editorial and technical support personnel.

Each member is expected to perform their responsibilities professionally, objectively, ethically, and in accordance with JEDL policies.

Editorial responsibilities may be delegated where appropriate, but the Editor-in-Chief retains overall responsibility for the journal's editorial standards.

5. Responsibilities of the Editor-in-Chief

The Editor-in-Chief has overall responsibility for maintaining the academic quality and integrity of JEDL.

Responsibilities include:

  • Establishing and maintaining editorial standards;

  • Ensuring fair and consistent editorial procedures;

  • Making or overseeing editorial decisions;

  • Ensuring appropriate peer review;

  • Protecting the confidentiality of manuscripts;

  • Managing conflicts of interest;

  • Addressing allegations of research or publication misconduct;

  • Ensuring corrections and retractions are handled appropriately;

  • Maintaining editorial independence;

  • Supporting transparency in journal operations;

  • Ensuring compliance with applicable ethical standards.

The Editor-in-Chief may delegate specific responsibilities to other editors while retaining overall editorial oversight.

6. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are expected to:

  • Evaluate manuscripts objectively;

  • Assess manuscripts according to the journal's scope and standards;

  • Select appropriate reviewers;

  • Avoid conflicts of interest;

  • Maintain manuscript confidentiality;

  • Consider reviewer recommendations fairly;

  • Make decisions based on scholarly merit;

  • Communicate decisions professionally;

  • Identify potential ethical concerns;

  • Refer serious ethical matters to the appropriate editorial authority.

Editors should not use unpublished information obtained through the editorial process for personal research or advantage.

7. Editorial Board Responsibilities

Editorial Board members contribute to the academic development and governance of JEDL.

Their responsibilities may include:

  • Advising the Editor-in-Chief;

  • Supporting the journal's academic direction;

  • Reviewing manuscripts when requested;

  • Promoting scholarly standards;

  • Identifying emerging areas of research;

  • Supporting the journal's international academic network;

  • Advising on ethical or methodological issues.

Editorial Board members must maintain confidentiality and disclose relevant conflicts of interest.

Membership of the Editorial Board does not guarantee publication of an individual's submissions.

8. Initial Editorial Assessment

All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial editorial assessment before being sent for peer review.

The assessment may consider:

  • Alignment with JEDL's Aims & Scope;

  • Originality;

  • Academic relevance;

  • Research question or objective;

  • Methodological appropriateness;

  • Ethical considerations;

  • Basic scholarly quality;

  • Language and presentation;

  • Completeness of the submission;

  • Potential plagiarism or duplicate publication;

  • Compliance with author guidelines.

A manuscript may be rejected at this stage if it is clearly unsuitable for the journal or does not meet minimum editorial requirements.

Such a decision is an editorial decision and is not necessarily an indication of research misconduct or poor-quality research.

9. Peer Review

Manuscripts that pass the initial editorial assessment may be sent for peer review.

JEDL uses a peer-review process designed to provide independent scholarly assessment of submitted work.

Depending on the journal's designated review model, reviewer identities and author identities may be concealed from one another.

Reviewers are selected based on:

  • Relevant academic expertise;

  • Subject knowledge;

  • Methodological competence;

  • Research experience;

  • Availability;

  • Absence of significant conflicts of interest.

Further details are provided in the JEDL Peer Review Policy.

10. Editorial Decision-Making

Editorial decisions may include:

  • Accept;

  • Accept subject to minor revisions;

  • Revise and resubmit / major revisions;

  • Reject.

Editors consider the complete scholarly record of the submission, including:

  • Manuscript quality;

  • Originality;

  • Methodological rigor;

  • Reviewer reports;

  • Ethical considerations;

  • Relevance to JEDL;

  • Author responses to reviewer comments.

Reviewer recommendations are important but do not automatically determine the final editorial decision.

The editor responsible for the manuscript may request additional reviews or expert opinions when necessary.

11. Fair and Consistent Treatment of Authors

JEDL is committed to treating authors fairly and consistently.

Editorial decisions are not based on:

  • Personal characteristics;

  • Nationality;

  • Institutional prestige;

  • Academic rank;

  • Personal relationships;

  • Political or religious views;

  • Financial considerations.

Authors are expected to comply with JEDL's submission, ethical, authorship, copyright, and research-integrity requirements.

12. Conflicts of Interest

Editors, reviewers, and authors must disclose conflicts of interest that could reasonably influence the research or editorial process.

Potential conflicts may include:

  • Personal relationships;

  • Professional relationships;

  • Financial interests;

  • Institutional interests;

  • Academic competition;

  • Collaborative relationships;

  • Supervisory relationships;

  • Other circumstances that could affect impartiality.

An editor should not handle a manuscript where a significant conflict of interest exists.

In such circumstances, the manuscript may be assigned to another qualified editor.

13. Confidentiality

JEDL treats unpublished manuscripts and editorial materials as confidential.

Editors and reviewers must not:

  • Share unpublished manuscripts without authorization;

  • Use unpublished findings for personal benefit;

  • Discuss manuscripts unnecessarily with unauthorized individuals;

  • Reveal confidential reviewer or author information where anonymity applies.

Confidential information may be disclosed when necessary to investigate suspected misconduct or when disclosure is required by law or legitimate authority.

14. Research Integrity

JEDL expects all published research to meet appropriate standards of academic and research integrity.

The journal does not tolerate:

  • Plagiarism;

  • Fabrication;

  • Falsification;

  • Data manipulation;

  • Duplicate publication;

  • Undisclosed conflicts of interest;

  • Unethical research;

  • Improper authorship;

  • Citation manipulation;

  • Peer-review manipulation;

  • Other forms of academic misconduct.

Where concerns arise, JEDL may investigate according to its Publication Ethics & Malpractice Policy and applicable publication-ethics guidance.

15. Plagiarism and Similarity Checking

JEDL may use plagiarism-detection or similarity-checking tools to assess submitted manuscripts.

Similarity reports are considered as part of the editorial assessment rather than being treated as an automatic determination of misconduct.

Editors may investigate significant or suspicious overlap and may request an explanation from the authors.

Where plagiarism or other misconduct is confirmed, JEDL may reject, withdraw, correct, or retract the affected work as appropriate.

16. Artificial Intelligence and Editorial Work

JEDL recognizes that artificial intelligence and automated technologies may be used in scholarly publishing.

Editors and reviewers may use appropriate technological tools to assist with administrative or editorial tasks, provided that confidentiality and ethical obligations are maintained.

Unpublished manuscript content must not be entered into external AI systems where doing so would compromise confidentiality or intellectual property.

AI tools must not replace the independent scholarly judgment and accountability of editors or reviewers.

Further requirements concerning authors' use of generative AI are provided in the JEDL AI and Generative AI Policy.

17. Editorial Use of Artificial Intelligence

Where AI-assisted tools are used for editorial or administrative purposes, JEDL expects editors and staff to:

  • Protect confidential manuscript information;

  • Avoid uploading confidential material to unauthorized third-party systems;

  • Verify AI-generated information;

  • Maintain human oversight;

  • Avoid discriminatory or biased decision-making;

  • Protect author and reviewer privacy.

Final editorial decisions remain the responsibility of qualified human editors.

18. Special Issues and Guest Editors

JEDL may publish special issues or thematic collections under the supervision of guest editors or designated academic editors.

Guest editors must follow the same standards applied to regular submissions, including:

  • Peer review;

  • Conflict-of-interest requirements;

  • Research ethics;

  • Confidentiality;

  • Publication ethics;

  • Editorial independence.

Guest editors must not guarantee publication or bypass normal editorial procedures.

Manuscripts submitted by guest editors or individuals closely associated with a special issue should be handled by an independent editor where appropriate.

19. Editorial Decisions Involving Editors or Board Members

Editors and Editorial Board members may submit manuscripts to JEDL.

Their manuscripts must undergo the same academic standards as other submissions.

Where an editor or board member has a conflict of interest, they must not participate in the editorial decision concerning their own submission.

The manuscript should be assigned to an independent editor, and the review process should be managed without inappropriate influence from the submitting editor or board member.

20. Appeals

Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they believe that:

  • A significant factual error occurred;

  • The editorial process was materially flawed;

  • The decision was based on a demonstrable misunderstanding;

  • Relevant information was overlooked;

  • There is evidence of inappropriate bias or conflict of interest.

An appeal should provide a clear and evidence-based explanation.

Appeals are not intended simply to challenge a decision because an author disagrees with the reviewers.

Further details are provided in the JEDL Appeals Policy.

21. Complaints

JEDL accepts complaints concerning:

  • Editorial conduct;

  • Peer review;

  • Publication ethics;

  • Authorship;

  • Conflicts of interest;

  • Editorial decisions;

  • Published content;

  • Journal administration.

Complaints will be handled fairly, confidentially where appropriate, and without retaliation.

JEDL will make reasonable efforts to investigate complaints and take appropriate corrective action when necessary.

22. Corrections and Retractions

JEDL recognizes its responsibility to maintain the integrity of the published scholarly record.

When errors or misconduct are identified, the journal may publish:

  • Corrections;

  • Corrigenda;

  • Errata;

  • Addenda;

  • Expressions of Concern;

  • Retractions.

The appropriate action will depend on the nature and seriousness of the issue.

Published articles will not ordinarily be removed simply because an author requests removal after publication.

Further details are provided in the JEDL Correction, Retraction & Withdrawal Policy.

23. Editorial Transparency

JEDL is committed to providing transparent information about:

  • Journal ownership and management;

  • Editorial leadership;

  • Editorial Board membership;

  • Peer-review procedures;

  • Publication ethics;

  • Copyright and licensing;

  • Open-access status;

  • Publication fees;

  • Waivers, where applicable;

  • Complaints and appeals;

  • Corrections and retractions;

  • Data and research-ethics requirements.

JEDL will periodically review its policies to ensure that they remain accurate and consistent with its actual publishing practices.

24. Publication Fees and Editorial Decisions

Where JEDL charges publication or article processing fees, payment or the ability to pay must not determine whether a manuscript is accepted.

Editorial decisions are made independently of financial considerations.

Any applicable publication charges, waivers, or discounts will be clearly communicated to authors.

25. Advertising and Sponsorship

Advertising, sponsorship, or other financial relationships, where applicable, must not influence editorial decisions.

Advertisements must be distinguishable from scholarly content.

JEDL reserves the right to reject advertising or sponsorship arrangements that could compromise editorial independence, academic integrity, or the reputation of the journal.

26. Open Access and Copyright

JEDL supports open scholarly communication and provides access to published research under the applicable copyright and licensing terms.

The copyright and licensing conditions applicable to each article will be clearly identified.

Authors retain the rights provided under JEDL's Copyright & Licensing Policy, subject to the specific publication agreement and applicable license.

27. Digital Preservation and Scholarly Record

JEDL is committed to maintaining the long-term availability and integrity of its published scholarly content.

The journal may participate in appropriate digital preservation, repository, archiving, DOI, metadata, and scholarly infrastructure services.

Changes to the journal's website or publishing platform should not unnecessarily compromise access to the scholarly record.

28. Editorial Policy Review

This Editorial Policy may be periodically reviewed and updated to reflect:

  • Changes in scholarly publishing;

  • Changes in technology;

  • Changes in ethical standards;

  • Changes in journal operations;

  • Changes in applicable legal or regulatory requirements;

  • Recommendations from recognized publishing-ethics organizations.

The current version will be maintained on the JEDL website.

29. Commitment to Academic Integrity

JEDL is committed to maintaining a scholarly environment based on:

Integrity • Independence • Fairness • Transparency • Confidentiality • Accountability • Academic Excellence

The journal seeks to ensure that every editorial and publishing decision contributes to the reliability, accessibility, and integrity of the academic record.

Journal of Education and Development Lab (JEDL)
International • Multidisciplinary • Peer-Reviewed • Open Access

Editorial Policy — Effective Date: 1 June 2026
Last Updated: 9 September 2026