Article Submission and Review Process
Teaching English as a Second Language Quarterly is a double-masked, peer-reviewed journal published by Shiraz University Press, Shiraz, Iran. Authors are encouraged to submit complete, unpublished, and original works that are not under review in any other journal. Please refer to the journal website (http://tesl.shirazu.ac.ir/) to register according to the instructions provided. Once registered, each author will receive a username and password to track the review process. Next, submit the paper to the journal for consideration.
Peer Review Process
Acceptance criteria for all papers include the quality and originality of the research and its significance to our readership. Upon submission, an email message or letter from the journal Management System will acknowledge receipt of the manuscript. One of our editors evaluates all submitted manuscripts within one month to determine whether they are suitable for review in TESL Quarterly. If accepted for external review, two anonymous reviewers and the editor peer-review manuscripts. Typically, one reviewer has broad general knowledge of the field, and the other has expertise in the particular topic or methodology. Within four months, authors can expect to receive one of four decisions: (a) manuscript acceptance, (b) acceptance with revisions, (c) non-acceptance with an invitation for revision and resubmission for another round of review, or (d) rejection and recommendation for submission to a different publication. TESL Quarterly attempts to keep the review process as short as possible to enable rapid publication of new scientific data. We aim to help authors understand the perceived strengths and weaknesses of their manuscript, the basis for the decision, and advice on how to proceed. By following this procedure, we aim to make sound decisions on all manuscripts and provide consistently thorough, constructive, and fair reviews. Reviewers' recommendations are advisory to the editor-in-chief; therefore, the editor-in-chief retains final responsibility for acceptance or rejection.
Publication Process Flow Chart
Correspondence
All correspondence about your manuscript should be emailed to the editorial office at emailededitor@saadi.shirazu.ac.ir. You may also call the Journal's office (071-36134286), Saturdays to Wednesdays, 8:00 AM to 12:00 AM and 1.00 PM to 3.00 PM, to find out about the status of your paper submitted to the journal. The designated corresponding author should communicate with the editorial office on behalf of all authors during the review process. The corresponding author is expected to coordinate with co-authors as necessary.
Plagiarism Check
Authors need to check their work for plagiarism before submission using iThenticate (iranpaper.ir) and provide the report (PDF) when submitting the article. The editorial office also runs a plagiarism check on every manuscript upon final acceptance.
Authorship
Authors submit a paper because the manuscript has been read and approved by all authors, and all authors agree to the submission of the manuscript to the Journal. The corresponding author should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors. ALL named authors must have made an active contribution to the analysis and interpretation of the data and/or the drafting of the paper, and ALL must have critically reviewed its content and have approved the final version submitted for publication.
Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the manuscript content. They should also sign an agreement form confirming their written contribution to the manuscript. Papers are only considered for publication once all contributing authors give consent.
Policies & Principles on GenAI and LLM Usage
Our Overarching Principles:
-Human Accountability: Authors retain ultimate responsibility and accountability for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of their work, including any AI-assisted portions.
-Responsible Supplementation: AI tools should be used to complement and enhance human intellectual effort, not to replace critical thinking, analysis, or the creative authorship of content.
-Transparency and Disclosure: The use of Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) must be openly and clearly disclosed.
Policy for Authors:
Permitted Use with Mandatory Disclosure
You may use assistive AI tools for copy-editing, such as improving grammar, spelling, clarity, or formatting of your own original work, but you must disclose this transparently and clearly.
You may use Generative AI or LLMs (e.g., ChatGPT, GPT-4, Claude) to generate images, but you must disclose this explicitly upon submission.
Disclosure must be made in the manuscript, in the AI Use Statement at the end of the manuscript, specifying the AI model used and the purpose for which it was used.
Prohibited Use:
Submitting AI-generated content as your own original writing is not permitted. You may not list AI tools as authors. Authorship requires legal and academic accountability, which AI cannot hold.
Author Responsibilities:
You are required to verify all content generated by an AI tool for accuracy, validity, and appropriateness, including checking for factual errors, biases, and fabricated citations or sources.
You must ensure the work contains no plagiarism. AI tools may reproduce text from their training data. Thus, authors are responsible for ensuring original work and proper attribution.
You must cite primary sources, not the AI tool, in your reference list.
Consequences of Non-Compliance:
Submissions found to have used GenAI inappropriately or without the required disclosure will be subject to immediate rejection. Inappropriate use includes generating content, plagiarism, or failing to be transparent about using AI in preparing the manuscript.
Conflict of Interest and Source of Funding
Authors are required to disclose any possible conflict of interest. These include financial issues (for example, patents, ownership, stock ownership, consultancies, speakers' fees). Authors' conflict of interest (or information specifying the absence of conflicts of interest) will be published under a separate heading entitled Author declaration'. Click here
Authors Complaints Process
Before submitting manuscripts, authors are requested to read all the guidelines and policies regarding the processing and publication of the manuscript.
How to complain?
Authors have the right to complain and request an explanation if they perceive misconduct under any applicable policies and ethical guidelines. The authors can raise their complaints by submitting a letter to tesleditor@saadi.shirazu.ac.ir
We investigate all complaints regarding delinquencies in the work process in accordance with prevailing publication ethics practices.
Complaints categorization
An author or any other scholar may submit their complaints about any issues related to:
Plagiarism
Copyright violation
Deception in research results or incorrect research results
Violations of the set standards for research
Unrevealed conflicts of interest
Bias in the review process
Manuscript processing time is unusually late
The peer-review comments are unsatisfactory
Authorship issues
Policy for Dealing with Complaints
Once the Journal receives a complaint, it first sends an acknowledgment letter to the complainant, assuring them that appropriate action will be taken within three working days, excluding the date the complaint is received.
The Journal handling team initiates the investigation process under the direction of the Editor-in-Chief. After the investigation is complete, we hold a meeting with a complete report on the complaint. We make a decision and forward it to the concerned scholar through their submitted email ID.
We view complaint emails as an opportunity to improve our Manuscript Processing System. We address all received complaints politely and promptly.
Publication Rate
Based on a survey of papers received by TESL Quarterly, the current acceptance rate is about 15%.
Author rights reversion
Articles may sometimes be accepted for publication but later rejected in the publication process, even in some cases after public posting in "Articles in Press" form, in which case all rights will revert to the author.
The Financial Requirements for Publication in TESL Quarterly
According to the formal announcement made by the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology of Iran, manuscripts submitted to TESL Quarterly for review and possible publication will be processed only when the following conditions are met:
General Writing Style Guidelines
1. File submission: Manuscript files must be written in MS Word.
2. Length: Length of manuscripts should be between 6000-10000 words, A4 paper size. Note that the maximum word limit may be extended due to exceptional circumstances of the papers.
3. Submission: Submission of manuscripts should be sent electronically via the journal website: http://tesl.shirazu.ac.ir according to the paper submission template. A cover letter should accompany the manuscript and must include the following: manuscript title, author name(s), affiliation, department, surface mail address, phone number (home, office, and mobile phone), fax number, and email address. In the case of a co-authored manuscript, the first or corresponding author must be designated in the letter and acknowledged in a footnote in the manuscript. (e.g., first author: Mina Ramzi; second author: Hassan, Ayat).
4. The Journal does not publish more than one article, whether single- or multiple-authored, in a single volume.
5. Referencing style: Authors need to follow the exact APA style in their reference list and in-text citations (references). Samples are provided in this volume.
Reference List - APA Style [Times New Roman; 10 points; 1.41 cm indentation starting from the second line]
[Journal article]
Bacon, S. M., & Finnemann, M. D. (1990). A study of the attitude, motives, and strategies of university foreign language students and their disposition to authentic oral and written input. The Modern Language Journal, 74, 459-473.
[Journal article with volume number]
Lee, M-B. (2002). A closer look at language learning strategies and EFL performance. Foreign Languages Education, 10 (1), 115-132.
[Edited book]
Jeremage, S. (Ed.). (1980). Bilingual education: Teaching English as a second language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[Paper in conference proceedings]
Saeki, T. (2001). A study on English learning motivation between Japanese and Korean college students. Proceedings of the PAAL. Tokyo, 6, 361-365.
[Poster presented at a conference]
Ruby, J. & Fulton, C. (1993, June). Beyond redlining: Editing software that works. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Scholarly Publishing, Washington, DC.
[Unpublished conference proceedings paper]
Lanktree, C., & Briere, J. (1991, January). Early data on the trauma symptom checklist for children (TSC-C). Paper presented at the meeting of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, San Diego, CA.
[Unpublished master's thesis]
Almeida, D. M. (1990). Fat Fathers' participation in family work: Consequences for fat fathers' stress and father-child relations. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
[Unpublished doctoral dissertation]
Zimmerman, C. B. (1994). Self-selected reading and interactive vocabulary instruction: knowledge and perceptions of word learning among L2 learners. Unpublished doctoral dissertation.University of Southern California, LA.
[Article in periodical]
Kandel, E. R. (2000, November 10). Neuroscience: Breaking down scientific barriers to the study of brain and mind. Science, 290, 1113-1120.
[Unpublished manuscript]
Peterson, E. N. & Kim, S. (1995). Coherence and academic writing: Some definitions and suggestions for teaching. Unpublished manuscript, State University of New York at Buffalo.
[Same author, same year of publication: arranged in alphabetical order by the title of publication]
Peterson, J. R. (1996a). A Study of …
Peterson, J. R. (1996b). Investigating….
[Non-English journal article: original title and in brackets, the English translation]
Van Dijk, U. (1985). Biit ibozen van English in hot oblamden zoschrenden Pedagogik Studem, 28, 45-78.
[Electronic media]
Internet: follow guidelines for book or journal; cite the date of publication or update, or the date of retrieval.
Hilts, P. J. (1999, February 16). In forecasting their emotions, most people flunk out. New York Times. Retrieved November 21, 2000, from http://www.nytimes.com
Borman, W. C. (1993). Role of early supervisory experience in supervisor performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 443-449. Retrieved October 23, 2000, from PsyArticles database.
Footnotes
.... was videotaped weekly in a fixed-point manner of observation1.
1. The video camera was fixed in one corner of the room where the whole classroom can be framed. Another reason for this videotaping method was to avoid bothering the children and disturbing the class.
[Times New Roman; 9; line spacing: 12pt]
Reference citation in text
[Direct citation 1]
She stated, "p'acebofect'" 'isappeared when behaviors were studied in this manner" ("iele, 1993, p.276), but she did not clarify which behaviors were studied.
[Direct citation 2] Fewer than forty words
Lee (1999) found that "The EAP writing curriculum incorporates reading and analysis of major academic journal articles in the specific field to identify macro-level organization and obligatory 'moves' in conjunction with writing practice." (p. 21).
[Direct citation 3] More than forty words
Miele (1993) found the following:
The "p" "l" cebo effect," which had been verified in previous studies, disappeared when behaviors were studied in this manner. Furthermore, the behaviors never reappeared, even when reed rings were administered. Earlier studies were clearly premature in attributing the results to a placebo effect. (p. 276)
[margin; left 0.88cm, right 0.83cm spaces]
[Indirect citation 1]
Brown (1998) compared discourse styles...
[Indirect citation 2]
In a recent study of second language acquisition (Brown, 1998) ...
[One work by two authors]
Smith and Takamoto (1997) argued that...
In a recent study of SLA (Smith & Takamoto, 1997) ...
[One work by multiple authors: use et al
First citation: Jones, Benson, and Collins (1997) found that...
In a recent study of second language acquisition (Jones, Benson, & Collins, 1997)...
Subsequent citations: Jones et al. (1997) further argued that. ...
Ina recent study of second language acquisition (Jones et al, 1997) ...
[One work by multiple authors, more than 6] First citation: Dresler et al. (1992). Showed that...
In a recent study of second language acquisition (Dresler et al., 1992) ...
[Multiple works: arrange in alphabetical order]
Previous research (Lass, 1992; Meyer & Sage, 1978, 1980; Nichols, 1987a, 1987b; Oats et al., 1973) ...
For works not included in the above examples, refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th Ed.).
.%5B1%5D.jpg){kind=link}