The following Code of Ethics for the Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (JoSoTL) follows the ethical guidelines for research and publication described in the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Guidelines. The editorial process follows the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing advocating for “ethical and transparent scholarly publishing” (COPE, 2022).

The editorial team and advisory board of this journal appreciate and endeavor to follow these guidelines promoting accessibility based solely on scholarly merit in every aspect of our publication process.

Publication ethics

Allegations of misconduct

If allegations of scientific misconduct should arise during the review process, it should be reported immediately to the editor-in-chief, who will communicate in writing with the primary author about the allegation. At no time will the source of the allegation be revealed. The author(s) will have 21 days to respond to the allegation. Common allegations are duplicate publications, insufficient citing of significant amounts of literature, or submitting to several journals at the same time.

If misconduct is determined to have occurred, the editor-in-chief will consult with the editorial advisory board and publisher before issuing a penalty and notifying vested parties. Authors are encouraged to familiarize themselves with scientific publishing policies regarding plagiarism, scientific misconduct and dual publication.

Authors & Contributors

Per the guidelines of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), responsible authorship should be based on:

• Making a substantial contribution to the conceptualization, design, execution, or interpretation of the research; and
• Drafting or substantively reviewing or revising the study manuscript; and
• The ability to take responsibility for publication of the research and particularly your contribution to it.

The JoSoTL website contains specific information on JoSoTL authorship under: About the Journal: Policy on Authorship.

Complaint and appeals

Since editors have discretion in determining if a submission is a good fit for the journal, many submissions are declined without an external review. These decisions are not eligible for a formal appeal. Once the manuscript has undergone peer review, should an author believe the decision to reject the manuscript is unwarranted, the author may appeal the decision by contacting the editor in chief and providing detailed information on the reviewer comments. The editor-in-chief will assess the complaint, consult with the advisory board if needed, and provide a response to the author(s). The decision made by the editor-in-chief is final.

Conflict of interest

The editorial team agree not to disclose information on submitted articles nor to use contents of unpublished articles for their own use. JoSoTL uses the double-blind peer review process to keep submitted material confidential during the review process.

Website Information

Current and past issues, as well as details on author submissions and other pertinent information can be found on the JoSoTL website.

Ownership

JoSoTL is published by Indiana University's (Bloomington, IN) Faculty Academy on Excellence in Teaching (FACET). FACET is a faculty-run grassroots community with statewide and campus steering committees and a rigorous statewide and campus selection process. FACET recently updated their strategic plan to reinforce, nurture, and sustain FACET's commitment to justice in teaching and learning.

FACET’s community of scholars crosses campus and disciplinary boundaries to support scholarly teaching and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. FACET publishes the Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, the Quick Hits book series, which shares techniques and strategies from award-winning college teachers, and the Journal of Teaching and Learning with Technology.

Editorial Team

Editorial team members review submitted manuscripts to assess quality, relevance to the journal’s scope, and adherence to journal guidelines. Based on their editorial role, editors will review and decide whether to submit a manuscript for review, recruit qualified reviewers, evaluate the quality of peer reviews, and make informed publication decisions. In reviewing manuscripts, the editorial team ensures articles meet the journal’s standards for scientific rigor and ethical conduct. Editors’ base decisions solely on the scientific value of the manuscript, including originality and contribution of the research to the SoTL.

Should potential conflicts arise between authors and reviewers, the editor-in-chief will identify and manage conflicts. The editorial team manages their assigned roles efficiently to ensure prompt publication of accepted manuscripts while also providing guidance to authors on improving manuscript content and flow. JoSoTL is published four times per year. Special issues may be published in some years.

Journal Editorial Team

• Michael Morrone, Editor in Chief
• Indiana University 
• josotl@iu.edu
• Kathryn Berlin, Executive Editor
•  Indiana University, Indianapolis
• Nancy Evans, Editor
• Indiana University Bloomington
• Polly Husmann, Editor
• Indiana University Bloomington
• Steve Rahko, Editor
• Illinois State University
• Christopher Young, Editor
•  Indiana University Northwest
• Karissa Rector, Editorial Assistant
•  Indiana University 

Peer review processes

JoSoTL welcomes submissions that advance the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in higher education contexts. Of value are contributions that transcend disciplinary boundaries, reflecting the diverse, multi-disciplinary nature of our readership.

All submissions go through a desk review process that often takes a month depending on the volume of submissions. After desk review, manuscripts are either declined as out of scope or premature for review, or they are assigned to reviewers. The review process includes a double-blind practice where the authors do not know the identity of the reviewers and vice versa. Once a manuscript is assigned to reviewers, the goal is to make a final publication decision within 150 days.

Access and copyright policies

JoSoTL is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access. Authors do not pay any fee to publish manuscripts in this journal.

Specific information on JoSoTL’s copyright information policies can be found on our journal’s website under About Me: Submissions: Copyright Notice.

As part of Indiana University’s participation in the CLOCKSS (Controlled Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) program, a distributed global archiving system, this journal’s contents are part of a secure and permanent archive. https://www.clockss.org/clockss/How_CLOCKSS_Works.

References

COPE DOAJ OASPA WAME (2022). Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.1.12