Research Ethics

ETERNAL - English, Teaching, Learning and Research is committed to ensuring that research published in the journal is conducted and reported in accordance with recognized principles of research ethics, academic integrity, and responsible research practice.

Because research in English language education frequently involves students, teachers, lecturers, schools, universities, and other human participants, authors are expected to protect participants' rights, dignity, privacy, safety, and welfare throughout the research process.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their research complies with applicable institutional, national, and professional ethical requirements. ETERNAL may request evidence of ethical approval, informed consent, or other documentation when necessary to assess the ethical conduct of a study.

1. Ethical Approval

Research involving human participants should receive approval or clearance from an appropriate independent research ethics committee, institutional review board, or equivalent body before data collection begins, where such review is required by the authors' institution, jurisdiction, or applicable ethical standards.

Authors should provide an ethics statement in the manuscript indicating:

• whether ethical approval was required;
• the name of the approving institution or ethics committee, where applicable;
• the approval or reference number, where available; and
• the date or other relevant information concerning the approval.

Where formal ethics approval was not required or was not available, authors should explain the basis for that determination and describe the ethical safeguards applied in conducting the research.

The absence of formal institutional ethics review does not automatically mean that ethical considerations do not apply. Authors remain responsible for protecting research participants and conducting research responsibly.

ETERNAL may request supporting documentation where there are reasonable concerns about the ethical conduct of a study.

2. Research Involving Human Participants

Studies involving students, teachers, lecturers, administrators, or other individuals must be designed and conducted with respect for participants' rights and welfare.

Authors should consider, as appropriate:

• voluntary participation;
• informed consent;
• the right to decline participation;
• the right to withdraw where applicable;
• protection from unnecessary harm or distress;
• privacy and confidentiality;
• appropriate treatment of personal and sensitive information; and
• fair and respectful treatment of participants.

The ethical requirements should be appropriate to the nature, context, age, and vulnerability of the participants.

3. Informed Consent

Authors should obtain informed consent from participants when required by the nature of the research and applicable ethical standards.

Participants should receive sufficient information to make an informed decision about participation, including, where appropriate:

• the purpose and nature of the study;
• what participation involves;
• the expected duration of participation;
• potential risks or discomforts;
• potential benefits, where applicable;
• how data will be collected and used;
• measures for protecting confidentiality;
• whether participation is voluntary;
• their right to decline or withdraw where applicable; and
• how they may obtain further information about the study.

Consent should be obtained in a form appropriate to the participants and research context.

For research involving minors or participants who cannot legally provide informed consent, authors should obtain permission from an appropriate parent, guardian, or authorized representative, together with participant assent where appropriate and required.

4. Research with Students and Other Potentially Dependent Participants

Special care should be taken when participants are students, employees, supervisees, or other individuals who may perceive that participation is expected or required because of their relationship with the researcher.

Participation should be voluntary and should not be linked unnecessarily to academic grades, employment evaluation, supervision, access to services, or other benefits.

Researchers should make reasonable efforts to ensure that participants understand that refusing to participate will not result in academic, professional, or other penalties.

Where the researcher is also the participant's teacher, supervisor, employer, or evaluator, authors should explain the safeguards used to minimize potential pressure or conflicts of interest.

5. Privacy and Confidentiality

Authors must take appropriate measures to protect participants' privacy and confidentiality.

Personal information should be collected, stored, analyzed, and reported only to the extent necessary for the research purpose and in accordance with applicable laws, institutional requirements, and ethical standards.

Where appropriate, authors should:

• use participant codes or pseudonyms;
• remove unnecessary identifying information;
• securely store research records;
• restrict access to identifiable data;
• avoid reporting combinations of information that could indirectly identify participants; and
• explain how confidentiality was maintained.

Researchers should take particular care when reporting data from small schools, departments, classes, institutions, or other settings where participants may be identifiable even when their names are removed.

6. Publication of Identifiable Information

Authors should not publish identifiable personal information, photographs, recordings, quotations, or other materials that could reasonably identify a participant unless publication is ethically and legally justified and appropriate consent has been obtained.

Consent to participate in a study does not necessarily constitute consent to publish identifiable information.

Where identifiable information is essential to the scholarly purpose of an article, authors should obtain appropriate consent for publication and explain the relevant ethical considerations.

7. Vulnerable Participants

Research involving potentially vulnerable participants requires additional ethical consideration.

Such participants may include, depending on the research context:

• children and minors;
• individuals with limited capacity to provide informed consent;
• students in dependent relationships with researchers;
• individuals experiencing significant social, educational, or economic disadvantage; or
• participants whose disclosure of information could expose them to social, academic, professional, or other harm.

Authors should demonstrate that appropriate safeguards were implemented and that the research procedures were proportionate to the research purpose.

8. Online and Digital Research

Research conducted through online platforms, learning management systems, social media, digital communities, messaging applications, or other digital environments must also address research ethics.

The fact that information is publicly accessible online does not automatically mean that it can be used without ethical consideration.

Authors should consider:

• whether users reasonably expect privacy;
• whether individuals can be identified from usernames, quotations, screenshots, or contextual information;
• whether consent is required;
• how digital data are collected and stored;
• whether platform terms and applicable regulations are respected; and
• whether publication could cause harm to individuals or communities.

Researchers should anonymize or otherwise protect participants whenever appropriate.

9. Audio, Video, and Other Recordings

When research involves interviews, classroom observations, focus groups, audio recordings, video recordings, photographs, screen recordings, or other identifiable materials, authors should obtain appropriate consent and explain how the materials will be used, stored, and protected.

Where recordings are not necessary for publication, authors should avoid publishing identifiable recordings or extracts that could unnecessarily expose participants.

10. Data Protection and Secure Storage

Authors are responsible for protecting research data throughout the research lifecycle.

Research data containing personal or identifiable information should be stored securely and accessed only by authorized individuals.

Authors should follow applicable institutional policies and legal requirements concerning:

• data protection;
• confidentiality;
• secure storage;
• data retention;
• controlled access; and
• secure deletion or destruction.

Where research data are shared through repositories or made available to other researchers, authors must ensure that such sharing is ethically and legally permissible.

11. Research Integrity

ETERNAL expects authors to conduct research honestly and responsibly.

Research must not involve:

• fabrication of data;
• falsification or manipulation of data;
• plagiarism;
• inappropriate manipulation of images or research materials;
• fraudulent or misleading reporting;
• deliberate omission or alteration of relevant findings;
• unethical manipulation of participants;
• unauthorized use of confidential information; or
• other practices that compromise the integrity of the research.

Research ethics and publication ethics are closely related but distinct. Concerns about research misconduct may also be addressed under ETERNAL's Publication Ethics, Publishing Malpractice, and Corrections & Retractions policies.

12. Reporting Research Methods and Ethical Procedures

Authors should report ethical procedures transparently and sufficiently for readers and editors to understand how participants and data were protected.

Where applicable, manuscripts should include an ethics statement identifying:

Ethical Approval:
The relevant ethics committee, institutional review board, or equivalent body and approval/reference number.

Informed Consent:
Whether and how informed consent was obtained.

Participant Protection:
The measures used to protect privacy, confidentiality, anonymity, and welfare.

Data Protection:
How identifiable research data were stored, accessed, and protected.

When an ethical requirement was not applicable, authors should state this clearly rather than omit the information.

13. Research Conducted Across Institutions or Countries

For studies conducted across multiple institutions, regions, or countries, authors should comply with the ethical requirements applicable to the research setting and relevant participating institutions.

Where different jurisdictions impose different requirements, authors should identify and address the applicable ethical obligations.

Research conducted in one country using participants, data, or institutions from another country should not circumvent applicable ethical requirements.

14. Ethical Use of Existing or Secondary Data

Research using existing datasets, institutional records, publicly available databases, archived documents, or secondary data should comply with the terms governing access and use of those data.

Authors should determine whether ethical approval, permission from the data owner, participant consent, or other authorization is required.

Public availability of data does not necessarily eliminate ethical responsibilities concerning privacy, confidentiality, or potential harm.

15. Ethical Considerations in Qualitative Research

Qualitative research may involve close relationships between researchers and participants and may generate detailed personal accounts.

Authors conducting interviews, focus groups, observations, narrative studies, case studies, ethnographic research, or similar research should consider:

• informed and ongoing consent;
• participant privacy;
• confidentiality of personal narratives;
• risks of deductive identification;
• researcher–participant relationships;
• potential power imbalances; and
• the consequences of publishing sensitive accounts.

Researchers should avoid presenting participants' experiences in ways that could unnecessarily expose, stigmatize, or harm them.

16. Ethical Considerations in Educational Research

For studies conducted in schools, universities, language centers, or other educational settings, authors should obtain the permissions required by the relevant institutions and ethical authorities.

Institutional permission to access a research site does not necessarily replace individual informed consent where individual participation is involved.

Authors should distinguish between:

• permission to conduct research at an institution;
• consent to participate in research; and
• consent to publish identifiable information.

These are separate ethical considerations.

17. Editorial Assessment of Research Ethics

ETERNAL editors may assess the ethical aspects of a submitted manuscript during editorial screening and peer review.

Editors may request clarification or documentation when:

• an ethics statement is missing;
• the participant population raises particular ethical concerns;
• consent procedures are unclear;
• identifiable information appears to have been published without appropriate justification;
• the research involves potentially vulnerable participants;
• the reported methods raise ethical concerns; or
• there is credible evidence that applicable ethical requirements may not have been followed.

The journal may seek independent advice or refer serious concerns to the authors' institution or another appropriate authority.

18. Ethical Concerns After Publication

If credible concerns arise about the ethical conduct of research after publication, ETERNAL may investigate the matter and request relevant information from the authors or their institution.

Depending on the nature and seriousness of the concern, the journal may publish a correction, Expression of Concern, or retraction in accordance with its Corrections & Retractions policy.

The journal's primary responsibility in such cases is to protect the integrity of the scholarly record and the rights and welfare of research participants.

19. Authors' Responsibility

Authors are ultimately responsible for ensuring that their research complies with applicable ethical standards and institutional requirements.

The corresponding author should ensure that all required ethical information and documentation are accurately reported during submission and that all authors are aware of and agree with the ethical procedures reported in the manuscript.

Where requested, authors should be prepared to provide appropriate evidence of ethical approval, consent procedures, institutional permission, or other relevant documentation.

20. Contact and Reporting Concerns

Questions or concerns regarding the ethical conduct of research published or submitted to ETERNAL may be communicated through the journal's official editorial contact channel.

Concerns should provide sufficient information and supporting evidence to allow the journal to assess the matter appropriately.

ETERNAL is committed to handling research ethics concerns fairly, confidentially, and in accordance with recognized principles of responsible scholarly publishing.

This policy may be updated periodically to reflect developments in research ethics, applicable regulations, and standards of responsible research and publication.