Comprehensive policies governing peer review, conflicts of interest, data sharing, ethical oversight, intellectual property, and post publication processes.

1. Peer Review Process

The peer review process is a fundamental method in academic validation, where a submitted manuscript is critically assessed by expert reviewers who possess appropriate expertise in the subject area while maintaining independence from the work. Educational Technology in Developing Countries (ETDC) adheres to a double blind peer review process, ensuring that neither the authors nor the reviewers are aware of each other's identities. To maintain this anonymity, the Editorial Office removes all identifying information from the manuscript before initiating the review process.

All manuscripts submitted to ETDC are reviewed by one or more independent reviewers. If the Editor in Chief, Associate Editors, or any member of the Editorial Board is a co author of a submitted manuscript, the review process is arranged so that they are not involved in the evaluation or decision making related to the submission. Only scientifically sound, original, and relevant articles receive positive recommendations from reviewers and proceed to acceptance for publication.

The Editor in Chief holds full authority over the acceptance or rejection of submitted manuscripts. Reviewers are required to maintain confidentiality regarding the manuscripts before acceptance and publication, declare any potential conflicts of interest, and may suggest relevant published work that the authors may have overlooked. If a conflict of interest is identified, the reviewer is withdrawn from the process.

Initial Decisions

If a revised version is submitted, it is re evaluated by the Editor in Chief or an Editorial Board member, who may either send it back to the original reviewers for further review or make a final decision regarding its publication. This process ensures that only high quality, original, and impactful research is published.

2. Handling Complaints and Appeals

ETDC adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines regarding appeals to editorial decisions and complaints about the journal's peer review process. To appeal an editorial decision, authors submit an appeal letter through the journal's online editorial system, addressed to the Editor in Chief.

An appeal should include:

All appeals are carefully reviewed in accordance with COPE's principles on complaints and appeals. The Editor in Chief may consult additional independent experts if necessary. Until a final decision is reached, authors must not submit the manuscript to another journal, as this would violate ethical guidelines regarding duplicate submission. The Editorial Board's decision on appeals is final, and no further appeals will be considered beyond this process.

3. Conflict of Interest and Competing Interests

To maintain transparency and best practices in scholarly publishing, ETDC requires authors, editors, and reviewers to disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could affect the integrity of the publication process, from manuscript preparation and interpretation to peer review and editorial decisions.

A conflict of interest may arise when authors have financial, academic, political, or personal ties that could influence their interpretation of findings, even if unintentionally. ETDC therefore requires all authors to declare any potential conflicts of interest at the time of manuscript submission. If the article is published, this information is also disclosed to readers.

ETDC follows COPE's guidelines on handling suspected undisclosed conflicts of interest in both submitted and published articles. The journal reserves the right to request additional information and take necessary actions, including retraction if a conflict of interest is found to have significantly influenced the research.

4. Data Sharing and Reproducibility

ETDC encourages authors to follow best practices in data sharing to enhance the transparency, reproducibility, and impact of their research. Authors are strongly encouraged to provide supporting material such as datasets, supplementary files, and research codes related to the findings presented in their manuscript. Authors may request a waiver for data sharing if it involves confidentiality concerns, security risks, or privacy issues related to human subjects.

ETDC works in consultation with editors, academic societies, and relevant stakeholders to define journal level data sharing policies, ensuring that published research remains credible, transparent, and reproducible.

5. Ethical Oversight

ETDC emphasizes strict adherence to ethical laws and regulations in educational research and academic publishing. Authors must include an ethical statement issued by their institution regarding the research conducted, particularly if the study involves human participants such as students, teachers, or educational staff. Reviewers must maintain confidentiality throughout the peer review process and must not disclose data, results, or information from the manuscript they evaluate to third parties or use it for personal gain.

Statement of Informed Consent

Educational research involving human participants must obtain informed consent from the individuals involved or from a responsible guardian, for example parents or school administrators in the case of minors. Identifying details such as names, initials, school affiliations, or other personal information must not be published unless scientifically necessary and the participant has provided written consent for publication.

If identifying details are not essential, they must be omitted. When there is any uncertainty about privacy protection, informed consent must still be obtained. For example, blurring faces in photographs of participants does not sufficiently guarantee anonymity. If identifying characteristics are modified for privacy reasons, such as in interviews or case studies, authors must ensure that such modifications do not alter the scientific meaning and provide a clear statement regarding the changes. Authors must also acknowledge any assistance in manuscript preparation and disclose funding sources related to the research.

Statement of Human and Animal Rights

For educational research involving human subjects, authors must ensure that all procedures comply with the ethical standards set by the relevant institutional or national ethics committee. If there is uncertainty regarding ethical compliance, authors must explain their research approach and provide evidence that the institutional ethics committee has explicitly approved any questionable aspects of the study.

For studies involving animals in educational experiments, such as research in educational psychology or neuroscience, authors must confirm that all procedures follow institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of animals in research.

6. Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Licensing

Author Rights and Responsibilities

Authors certify that the submitted manuscript, including any supporting documents, is their original intellectual property and that copyright has not been transferred to another party. Authors declare that the manuscript does not contain plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, or manipulated citations and that it complies with the authorship policies of ETDC.

Editorial Team Responsibilities

All review comments and reports remain the intellectual property of the reviewer or editor. Reviewers and editors must maintain confidentiality regarding communications, comments, or reports related to the review and editorial process, and must keep all manuscripts, revisions, and drafts confidential except for the final published version.

License

Reporting Violations

Any suspected violations of this policy should be reported to the Editor in Chief through the Ethics Complaints and Appeals process.

7. Post Publication Discussion and Corrections

ETDC upholds academic integrity and transparency by facilitating post publication discussions and corrections in accordance with COPE's core practices and recognized scholarly publishing standards.

All post publication corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern are clearly documented and made accessible to maintain the credibility and reliability of ETDC's academic publications.