Publication Ethics

VISTARA: Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and academic integrity. The journal applies ethical principles in all stages of publication, including manuscript submission, editorial screening, peer review, revision, acceptance, publication, correction, and retraction. All parties involved in the publication process, including authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher, are expected to uphold honesty, transparency, objectivity, confidentiality, and scholarly responsibility.

1. Duties of Authors

Authors are responsible for ensuring that the manuscript submitted to VISTARA: Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature is original, academically sound, and has not been previously published or submitted simultaneously to another journal.

Authors must ensure that:

The manuscript is original and free from plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, and data manipulation.
All sources used in the manuscript are properly cited and listed in the references.
The manuscript has not been submitted to another journal at the same time.
All listed authors have made significant contributions to the research and manuscript preparation.
All authors have approved the final version of the manuscript before submission.
Any potential conflict of interest is clearly disclosed.
Research involving human participants, if applicable, has been conducted ethically and with appropriate consent.
The manuscript follows the journal’s author guidelines, template, citation style, and formatting requirements.
A plagiarism/similarity report using Turnitin is submitted when required by the journal.

Authors must not submit manuscripts containing unethical practices, including plagiarism, duplicate publication, salami publication, false authorship, ghost authorship, citation manipulation, or the use of unreliable data. If authors discover significant errors in their published article, they must immediately notify the editor and cooperate in issuing a correction or retraction when necessary.

2. Duties of Editors

Editors are responsible for managing the editorial process fairly, transparently, and professionally. The editor evaluates manuscripts based on their relevance to the journal’s focus and scope, originality, academic quality, methodological soundness, clarity of presentation, and contribution to the field of applied linguistics, language education, literature, and related areas.

Editors must ensure that:

Every submitted manuscript is treated fairly and objectively.
Editorial decisions are not influenced by the author’s gender, nationality, institutional affiliation, religion, political views, or personal background.
Manuscripts are evaluated based on academic merit and suitability to the journal’s scope.
The peer review process is conducted properly and confidentially.
Reviewers are selected based on their expertise and relevance to the manuscript topic.
Conflicts of interest are avoided in the editorial and review process.
Unpublished information from submitted manuscripts is not used for personal advantage.
Final decisions are made based on editorial assessment, reviewer recommendations, manuscript quality, and compliance with journal policies.

Editors have the authority to accept, reject, request revision, or withdraw manuscripts when ethical or academic problems are identified. Editors may reject manuscripts that do not meet the journal’s standards, are outside the journal’s scope, contain plagiarism, or fail to comply with the author guidelines.

3. Duties of Reviewers

Reviewers play an important role in maintaining the quality and integrity of the journal. Reviewers are expected to provide constructive, objective, timely, and academically responsible feedback to help editors make publication decisions and help authors improve their manuscripts.

Reviewers must ensure that:

The manuscript is reviewed objectively and professionally.
Comments are clear, constructive, respectful, and supported by academic reasoning.
The confidentiality of the manuscript is maintained.
The manuscript is not shared, copied, or discussed with others without permission from the editor.
Any conflict of interest is immediately reported to the editor.
The reviewer declines the review invitation if the manuscript is outside their expertise or if they are unable to complete the review on time.
Any suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, ethical problem, or similarity with other works is reported to the editor.

Reviewers must not use unpublished materials, data, arguments, or ideas from the manuscript for personal research or benefit. Reviewers should focus on the quality, originality, structure, methodology, theoretical relevance, analysis, interpretation, references, and contribution of the manuscript.

4. Duties of the Publisher

The publisher of VISTARA: Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature is responsible for supporting the integrity, independence, and sustainability of the journal. The publisher ensures that editorial decisions remain independent and are not influenced by commercial, institutional, or personal interests.

The publisher supports the journal in maintaining:

Transparent editorial and publication policies.
Ethical peer review and editorial management.
Long-term access to published articles.
Proper handling of complaints, corrections, and retractions.
Protection of academic integrity and publication ethics.

The publisher works together with the editorial team to prevent unethical publishing practices and to take appropriate action when ethical misconduct is identified.

5. Peer Review Process

All manuscripts submitted to VISTARA: Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature undergo an editorial screening process before being sent to reviewers. The initial screening includes checking the manuscript’s relevance to the journal’s focus and scope, compliance with the author guidelines, manuscript structure, language quality, citation style, reference quality, and similarity level.

Manuscripts that pass the editorial screening will be reviewed through a peer review process. Reviewers evaluate the manuscript’s originality, clarity, theoretical foundation, methodology, analysis, discussion, contribution, and overall academic quality. Based on the reviewers’ comments and recommendations, the editor may decide to accept the manuscript, request minor revision, request major revision, send the revised manuscript for further review, or reject the manuscript.

6. Plagiarism and Similarity Policy

VISTARA: Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature does not tolerate plagiarism in any form. Plagiarism includes using another person’s words, ideas, data, arguments, or work without proper acknowledgment. Self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, and excessive text recycling are also considered unethical practices.

Authors are required to ensure that their manuscripts are original and properly cited. The journal may use Turnitin or other similarity-checking tools to detect potential plagiarism. Manuscripts with a high similarity level, improper citation, or indications of plagiarism may be returned to authors for revision or rejected.

The maximum acceptable similarity level is 20%, excluding references, direct quotations, and commonly used academic phrases. However, the final decision is not based only on the percentage of similarity, but also on the nature and seriousness of the overlap.

7. Conflict of Interest

Authors, editors, and reviewers must disclose any potential conflict of interest that may influence the manuscript evaluation or publication process. Conflicts of interest may include personal relationships, institutional relationships, financial interests, academic competition, research collaboration, or other conditions that may affect objectivity.

If a conflict of interest is identified, the editor will take appropriate action, such as assigning another reviewer, transferring editorial responsibility to another editor, or requesting clarification from the parties involved.

8. Authorship and Contribution

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made significant contributions to the research and manuscript preparation. All listed authors must approve the final version of the manuscript and agree to its submission to the journal.

Individuals who contributed to the research or manuscript but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged in the acknowledgment section. The journal does not allow ghost authorship, guest authorship, or honorary authorship.

Any changes to authorship after submission must be approved by all authors and clearly explained to the editor.

9. Data Integrity and Research Transparency

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and reliability of the data presented in their manuscripts. Data must not be fabricated, falsified, manipulated, or selectively reported in a misleading way.

Authors may be asked to provide raw data, research instruments, ethical approval documents, or other supporting materials when necessary. If the manuscript is based on research involving human participants, the authors must ensure that the research was conducted ethically and that participant privacy and confidentiality were protected.

10. Correction, Retraction, and Withdrawal

The journal may issue corrections, retractions, or withdrawals when necessary to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.

A correction may be issued when a published article contains minor errors that do not affect the overall findings or conclusions. A retraction may be issued when serious ethical or academic problems are found, including plagiarism, data fabrication, duplicate publication, serious methodological errors, or unethical research practices.

Authors may request manuscript withdrawal before publication by providing a clear and reasonable explanation to the editor. Withdrawal after acceptance or during the publication process must follow the journal’s editorial policy and may require editorial approval.

11. Handling of Complaints and Ethical Misconduct

The journal will carefully handle complaints related to editorial decisions, peer review, publication ethics, plagiarism, authorship disputes, conflicts of interest, and research misconduct. All complaints must be submitted in writing to the editorial office with clear evidence and explanation.

The editorial team will review the complaint objectively and may request clarification from the authors, reviewers, editors, or other relevant parties. If misconduct is confirmed, the journal may take appropriate action, including manuscript rejection, article correction, article retraction, notification to the author’s institution, or restriction from future submission.

12. Confidentiality

All submitted manuscripts are treated as confidential documents. Editors and reviewers must not disclose any information about submitted manuscripts to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, editorial team, or publisher when necessary.

Unpublished materials from submitted manuscripts must not be used by editors, reviewers, or other parties for personal advantage or research purposes without written permission from the author.

13. Publication Decision

The final decision regarding manuscript publication is made by the editor based on the manuscript’s quality, originality, relevance to the journal’s scope, reviewer recommendations, ethical compliance, and adherence to the journal’s guidelines.

The editor has the right to reject manuscripts that are outside the journal’s scope, fail to meet academic standards, contain ethical problems, or do not comply with the journal’s policies.

14. Ethical Oversight

VISTARA: Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature is committed to ensuring that all published works follow ethical standards in scholarly publishing. The journal encourages responsible research practices, transparent reporting, proper citation, respect for research participants, and academic honesty.

The journal may update this publication ethics statement when necessary to maintain alignment with good practices in scholarly publishing.