Editorial Board Regulations – Asia Pacific Association of Language, Culture, and Education (APALCE)

Asia Pacific Journal of Language, Culture, and Education

https://apalce.org/apjlce

[ISSN: 3092-362X / DOI: 10.23403]

Journal & Manuscript enquiries: journal@apalce.org

[Editorial Board Regulations]

Asia Pacific Journal of Language, Culture, and Education (APJLCE)

Enacted: January 8, 2026

Chapter 1. General Provisions

Article 1. Name and Purpose

This body shall be called the Editorial Board of the Asia Pacific Journal of Language, Culture, and Education (APJLCE).

The Board oversees the editorial policy, peer review, publication quality, integrity, and international development of APJLCE.

Article 2. Basis and Scope

The Board is established pursuant to the bylaws of the Asia Pacific Association of Language, Culture, and Education (APALCE).

The Board shall exercise authority over the editorial management of APJLCE in accordance with these Regulations, the Journal Submission Guidelines, the Research Ethics Regulations, and issue-specific Calls for Papers.

Article 3. Definitions and Shared Terms

For the purposes of these Regulations, Association means APALCE, Journal means APJLCE, and Editor-in-Chief means the editor with overall responsibility for editorial direction and final decisions.

The recognized submission categories of the journal are Research Articles; Short Articles / Research Notes; Scholarly Forum / Discussion Papers / Trend Essays; and Book Reviews.

Chapter 2. Composition and Operation

Article 4. Composition

The Board shall consist of the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editors and/or Section Editors where appointed, a Managing Editor or Editorial Secretary where appointed, a Book Review Editor where appointed, Editorial Board Members, and any ex officio members designated under the Association’s bylaws.

The Board shall ordinarily consist of approximately 20 to 30 members, including editorial officers and ex officio members.

Article 5. Appointment, Term, and International Representation

The Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board members shall be appointed in accordance with the relevant procedures of the Association.

Upon recommendation of the Editor-in-Chief, the President of the Association may appoint Associate Editors, Section Editors, a Managing Editor, a Book Review Editor, and other editorial officers as needed.

Editorial Board members shall be selected from scholars of recognized standing in fields relevant to the journal, including language education, applied linguistics, corpus linguistics, language and culture studies, translation and interpreting studies, multilingualism, educational technology, discourse studies, and related interdisciplinary areas.

The composition of the Board shall reflect disciplinary breadth, methodological diversity, and international representation, including members from Korea and abroad.

Members shall ordinarily serve a three-year term and may be reappointed.

Article 6. Duties of the Editor-in-Chief and Editors

The Editor-in-Chief directs the editorial policy of the journal, convenes and chairs Board meetings, assigns manuscripts, oversees peer review, communicates final decisions, and supervises publication.

Associate Editors or Section Editors manage manuscripts assigned to them, recommend appropriate reviewers, evaluate review reports, and advise the Editor-in-Chief on editorial decisions.

The Managing Editor or Editorial Secretary assists with submission handling, correspondence, scheduling, recordkeeping, and production coordination.

The Book Review Editor solicits, evaluates, and edits book reviews and recommends whether they should be published.

Article 7. Meetings, Quorum, and Decision-Making

The Board shall meet as convened by the Editor-in-Chief and shall ordinarily meet at least twice a year. Meetings may be held in person, online, or by other appropriate means.

A meeting shall be valid when a majority of Board members are present, and decisions shall ordinarily be made by a majority of those present and voting unless these Regulations provide otherwise.

Routine editorial matters may be handled electronically between meetings where appropriate.

Article 8. Confidentiality and Conflicts of Interest

Editors and Board members shall preserve the confidentiality of manuscripts, reviewer identities, editorial discussions, and unpublished material.

Any editor or Board member with a conflict of interest concerning a submission or ethical investigation shall disclose the conflict and recuse themselves from the matter.

Chapter 3. Submission, Review, and Publication

Article 9. Submission Categories and Editorial Responsibility

APJLCE welcomes submissions from scholars, researchers, and practitioners worldwide. Membership in the Association shall not be required for submission.

The Board shall ensure that all recognized submission categories are managed in accordance with the Journal Submission Guidelines and the Research Ethics Regulations.

Article 10. Initial Screening

Upon receipt of a submission, the Editor-in-Chief or an assigned editor shall conduct an initial screening to determine whether the manuscript falls within the journal’s scope, satisfies minimum scholarly and ethical standards, and substantially complies with the Journal Submission Guidelines.

A manuscript may be returned for correction before review or declined without external review if it is manifestly out of scope, seriously deficient, ethically problematic, or substantially non-compliant.

Article 11. Assignment of Handling Editor and Selection of Reviewers

A submission passing initial screening shall be assigned to the Editor-in-Chief, an Associate Editor, or a Section Editor for handling.

The handling editor shall select reviewers with due regard to subject expertise, independence, absence of conflict of interest, fairness, and the international and interdisciplinary aims of the journal.

Reviewers may be selected from the Board or from qualified external specialists. Where necessary, the Editor-in-Chief may appoint an additional reviewer or reassign the manuscript.

Article 12. Peer Review Procedure

Research Articles, Short Articles / Research Notes, and Scholarly Forum / Discussion Papers / Trend Essays shall ordinarily undergo double-blind peer review by at least two anonymous reviewers.

Where reviewer reports conflict significantly or additional expertise is required, the handling editor or Editor-in-Chief may appoint a third reviewer.

Reviewers shall ordinarily recommend one of the following outcomes: Accept; Accept with Minor Revisions; Revise and Resubmit / Major Revisions; or Reject.

Reviewer recommendations are advisory. Final editorial decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief in light of reviewer reports, the handling editor’s recommendation, and the journal’s standards.

Article 13. Revisions, Re-review, and Final Decision

Where revisions are requested, authors shall submit a revised manuscript and a response to comments within the period specified by the journal.

A revised manuscript may be assessed directly by the handling editor or returned to one or more reviewers for re-review.

Re-review shall ordinarily not exceed two rounds unless the Editor-in-Chief determines that exceptional circumstances justify otherwise.

The Editor-in-Chief shall make and communicate the final decision on publication.

Article 14. Book Reviews and Editorially Assessed Content

Book Reviews shall ordinarily be assessed editorially by the Book Review Editor and/or the Editor-in-Chief and may or may not be sent for external peer review.

Editorials, announcements, commissioned pieces, and other non-research content may be managed through editorial assessment rather than external review.

Article 15. Publication Schedule, Fees, Open Access, and Best Paper Award

APJLCE is an online journal ordinarily published twice a year, with Issue 1 published on 30 June and Issue 2 published on 31 December.

Issue-specific deadlines and editorial timelines shall be announced in the relevant Call for Papers.

The journal charges no submission fee, review fee, or publication fee.

The journal follows a Green Open Access model in accordance with its current archiving policy.

The Board may recommend selected outstanding published papers for an annual Best Paper Award.

Article 16. Copyright, Publication Rights, Corrections, Retractions, and Other Post-Publication Actions

The copyright of published works remains with the author. Authors grant APJLCE a non-exclusive right to publish, reproduce, distribute, host, and archive accepted work for journal purposes.

The Board may authorize minor editorial changes for clarity, style, format, and consistency, but no major substantive change shall be made without the author’s approval.

Where significant error, misconduct, or ethical concern is identified after publication, the Board may take appropriate action, including correction, expression of concern, retraction, or removal in exceptional legal or ethical circumstances.

Addendum

Article A1. Effective Date

These revised Regulations shall take effect on the date of approval by the Association and shall supersede the previous Editorial Board Regulations of APJLCE.