Our commitment to academic freedom

IJRLE affirms the right of scholars to pursue knowledge, to ask difficult questions, to reach and publish conclusions according to the evidence and their professional judgement, and to do so without political, institutional, commercial, or ideological interference. We are committed to evaluating every submission solely on its scholarly merit — its originality, rigour, significance, and ethical soundness — and never on the basis of the nationality, religion, gender, ethnicity, institutional affiliation, language, or personal beliefs of its authors.

As a journal publishing in English, Chinese, and Arabic, IJRLE is especially mindful of its responsibility to protect a plurality of scholarly voices and traditions. We welcome work that advances and, where warranted, challenges prevailing views, and we extend particular care to early-career researchers and to scholars writing from contexts that are under-represented in international publishing.

Editorial independence

Editorial decisions are made independently by the editorial team on academic grounds alone. They are not influenced by the journal's management, by funders, by institutions, or by any external party. The journal maintains a strict separation between any commercial or institutional relationships and its editorial decision-making.

Research integrity: expectations of authors

Authors submitting to IJRLE are expected to uphold the highest standards of research integrity. Specifically, authors must ensure that:

• The work is original, has not been published elsewhere, and is not under consideration by another journal.
• All data, results, and analyses are genuine and accurately reported; fabrication, falsification, and selective or misleading reporting are prohibited.
• The work is free of plagiarism, including self-plagiarism and redundant publication; all sources are properly cited and quoted.
• Research involving human participants was conducted with appropriate ethical approval and informed consent, and protects the privacy and dignity of participants.
• All listed authors made a substantial contribution, approved the final version, and agree to be accountable for the work (see Authorship, below).
• All conflicts of interest and all sources of funding are disclosed.

Authorship

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant intellectual contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study, and who take public responsibility for the content. All those who meet these criteria should be listed; those who contributed in lesser ways should be acknowledged. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors have seen and approved the final manuscript and agree to its submission. Any change to authorship after submission requires the written agreement of all authors. Guest, gift, and ghost authorship are not permitted, and, as set out in our editorial policies, generative AI tools cannot be credited as authors.

Conflicts of interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors must declare any financial, personal, or professional relationship that could be perceived to influence the work or its evaluation. Editors and reviewers with a competing interest in a submission recuse themselves from handling it. Declared interests are managed transparently and, where relevant, disclosed in the published article.

Handling allegations of misconduct

IJRLE takes all allegations of research or publication misconduct seriously and investigates them in accordance with the guidelines and flowcharts of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Concerns — whether about plagiarism, data integrity, authorship, undisclosed conflicts, or ethical approval — are examined impartially and confidentially. Authors are given a fair opportunity to respond before any decision is reached. Where misconduct is confirmed, the journal may issue a correction, an expression of concern, or a retraction, and may notify the author's institution, as appropriate to the severity of the case.