CREATE: Contemporary Research in Education and Teaching is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics, academic integrity, transparency, accountability, and responsible scholarly communication. This Ethics Statement establishes the ethical responsibilities and professional standards expected of editors, reviewers, authors, and other parties involved in the publication process. The policy is intended to ensure that all manuscripts submitted to and published by the journal are handled fairly, objectively, confidentially, and in accordance with recognized principles of responsible academic publishing.

The ethical principles outlined below apply throughout the entire publication process, from manuscript submission and peer review to editorial decision-making, publication, correction, and post-publication procedures. CREATE: Contemporary Research in Education and Teaching recognizes that the integrity of the scholarly record is a shared responsibility and therefore expects all participants in the publication process to act with honesty, professionalism, respect, independence, and accountability.

The Editor in Chief and designated editors are responsible for deciding which manuscripts submitted to the journal should be published. Editorial decisions are based on the academic and scholarly quality of the manuscript, originality, methodological soundness, relevance to the aims and scope of CREATE: Contemporary Research in Education and Teaching, clarity of presentation, significance of the contribution, ethical compliance, and conformity with the journal's publication policies.

Editorial decisions may be informed by reviewer recommendations, the policies of the journal's editorial board, and applicable legal and ethical requirements concerning copyright, plagiarism, research integrity, and other matters relevant to scholarly publishing. Editors may consult other editors, reviewers, or appropriate academic advisers when necessary.

In making publication decisions, editors shall exercise independent academic judgment and shall ensure that decisions are not influenced by personal relationships, institutional interests, commercial considerations, political pressure, or other inappropriate external influences. Where ethical or legal concerns arise, editors shall follow appropriate procedures and ensure that decisions are fair, consistent, transparent, and properly documented.

Editors shall evaluate manuscripts according to their intellectual and scholarly content without discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, nationality, institutional affiliation, or political philosophy of the authors.

CREATE: Contemporary Research in Education and Teaching is committed to ensuring that all submitted manuscripts receive fair and equitable consideration based solely on their scholarly and intellectual merits. Editorial evaluation shall not be influenced by the personal characteristics, identity, background, institutional affiliation, nationality, or personal beliefs of the authors.

Editors are expected to maintain professional objectivity throughout the editorial process and to provide equal opportunities for authors whose work meets the journal's academic and ethical standards. Any form of discrimination, prejudice, favoritism, or unjustified preferential treatment is inconsistent with the principles of CREATE: Contemporary Research in Education and Teaching.

The Editor in Chief, editors, and editorial staff must not disclose information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

Confidentiality is an essential component of the editorial and peer-review process. Editors and editorial staff must protect all information contained in submitted manuscripts and ensure that unpublished materials, research findings, author information, reviewer identities, and editorial correspondence are not disclosed to unauthorized individuals.

Information obtained through the editorial process may only be used for legitimate editorial purposes. Editors, reviewers, and editorial staff must take reasonable measures to prevent unauthorized access, distribution, copying, or use of confidential manuscript materials.

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's own research without the express written consent of the author. Editors and all individuals involved in the editorial process must respect the intellectual property and confidentiality of submitted work.

Editors, reviewers, and other individuals involved in the editorial process must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that could affect their objectivity or independence. A conflict of interest may arise from personal, professional, financial, institutional, collaborative, competitive, or other relationships with authors or organizations associated with a manuscript.

When a conflict of interest is identified, the individual concerned should withdraw from the relevant editorial or review process. CREATE: Contemporary Research in Education and Teaching considers transparent disclosure to be an important safeguard for maintaining trust, impartiality, and credibility in scholarly publishing.

Reviewers play a critical role in maintaining the academic quality and integrity of manuscripts published by CREATE: Contemporary Research in Education and Teaching. Reviewers are expected to provide independent, constructive, timely, respectful, and evidence-based assessments that assist editors in making informed decisions and help authors improve the quality and clarity of their work.

Peer review assists editors in making informed editorial decisions and, through editorial communication with authors, may also assist authors in improving the quality, clarity, rigor, and presentation of their manuscripts.

Reviewers should provide clear and academically grounded assessments that enable editors to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, originality, methodological rigor, relevance, and contribution of a manuscript.

Any selected reviewer who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that a prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and decline the review invitation.

Reviewers should accept review invitations only when they possess appropriate expertise and have sufficient time to conduct the review carefully and responsibly. Prompt communication with the editor is expected when a reviewer cannot complete an assigned review within the agreed period.

Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.

Reviewers must not share manuscript files, research findings, data, figures, tables, supplementary materials, or other confidential information with unauthorized persons. Review materials must not be used for personal, professional, competitive, or commercial advantage.

Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Reviewers should express their views clearly, professionally, and with supporting arguments or evidence.

Reviewer comments should focus on the manuscript and its scholarly content rather than on personal characteristics or opinions concerning the author. Reviewers should identify significant strengths and weaknesses and provide specific, constructive recommendations.

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument has previously been reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation.

Reviewers should distinguish between legitimate scholarly overlap and possible plagiarism or redundant publication. Where substantial similarity or concerns about inappropriate citation practices are identified, reviewers should provide the editor with sufficient information to enable an appropriate and confidential investigation.

Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and must not be used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, organizations, or institutions associated with the manuscript.

Reviewers must inform the editor promptly if they become aware of any relationship or circumstance that could compromise their impartiality. When a conflict cannot be appropriately managed, the reviewer should decline the assignment to protect the integrity and credibility of the peer-review process.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their submissions to CREATE: Contemporary Research in Education and Teaching meet the highest standards of research integrity, academic honesty, originality, transparency, and responsible scholarly communication.

Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed and an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the manuscript. A paper should contain sufficient methodological detail and appropriate references to permit readers and other researchers to understand and, where appropriate, replicate the work.

Authors should provide sufficient methodological information to enable readers and other researchers to understand, evaluate, and, where appropriate, replicate the reported research. Data, analytical procedures, research instruments, and relevant methodological decisions should be reported honestly and transparently.

Authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works and that, where they have used the work, ideas, words, data, images, or other intellectual contributions of others, these materials have been appropriately cited, acknowledged, or quoted.

CREATE: Contemporary Research in Education and Teaching considers plagiarism in all its forms to be a serious violation of academic integrity. Authors must appropriately acknowledge ideas, findings, words, data, images, methods, and other intellectual contributions originating from other sources.

Authors should not publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

Authors must not submit manuscripts containing substantially overlapping research to multiple journals simultaneously. If related work has been published or submitted elsewhere, authors should disclose this information to the editor and clearly explain the relationship between the works.

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made significant scholarly contributions to the conception, design, execution, analysis, interpretation, or preparation of the reported study.

The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the manuscript. The corresponding author is also responsible for ensuring that all listed authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.

CREATE: Contemporary Research in Education and Teaching does not support honorary, guest, gift, or ghost authorship. Authorship should accurately reflect substantial scholarly contributions to the research and manuscript.

All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might reasonably be perceived to influence the results, interpretation, or presentation of their work. All sources of financial support for the research should be disclosed.

Authors should provide transparent information concerning financial support, institutional support, sponsorship, consultancy relationships, personal relationships, or other circumstances that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research or its interpretation.

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, it is the author's responsibility to promptly notify the journal editor and cooperate with the editorial team to correct or, where necessary, retract the paper.

Authors are expected to act promptly and responsibly when they discover errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or other problems in their published work that could materially affect the interpretation, reliability, or validity of the research.

Depending on the nature and significance of the problem, CREATE: Contemporary Research in Education and Teaching may publish a correction, clarification, expression of concern, or retraction in accordance with appropriate editorial and publication ethics procedures.

CREATE: Contemporary Research in Education and Teaching expects all research submitted for publication to comply with recognized principles of research integrity. Authors must conduct and report their research honestly and responsibly and must comply with relevant institutional, legal, and ethical requirements applicable to their research.

Fabrication, including the invention of data, results, participants, procedures, or other research information, is strictly prohibited.

Falsification, including manipulation, alteration, omission, or selective reporting of research materials or results in a manner that may mislead readers, is unacceptable.

Plagiarism, including presenting another person's ideas, words, data, images, or intellectual contributions as one's own without appropriate acknowledgment, is considered a serious breach of publication ethics.

Duplicate publication, substantial redundant publication, and inappropriate fragmentation of research findings are not permitted. Authors must disclose related publications and submissions where relevant.

Where research involves human participants, authors are responsible for ensuring that the research has been conducted in accordance with applicable ethical standards and institutional requirements. Where required, appropriate ethical approval or informed consent must be obtained and appropriately reported in the manuscript.

Authors should protect the privacy, dignity, safety, and confidentiality of research participants. Personal or identifiable information should not be disclosed unless appropriate consent and ethical authorization have been obtained.

CREATE: Contemporary Research in Education and Teaching recognizes that publication ethics extends beyond the publication of an article. The journal is committed to maintaining the integrity and reliability of the scholarly record after publication.

When credible concerns are raised regarding a published article, the editorial team may investigate the matter and communicate with the authors, reviewers, institutions, or other relevant parties where appropriate. Corrective measures may include the publication of a correction, clarification, expression of concern, or retraction, depending on the circumstances.

Through this Ethics Statement, CREATE: Contemporary Research in Education and Teaching affirms its commitment to responsible scholarly publishing and to the continuous improvement of editorial and peer-review practices. All editors, reviewers, authors, and contributors are expected to uphold the principles of honesty, transparency, fairness, confidentiality, accountability, respect, and academic integrity.

The journal reserves the right to take appropriate action when violations of publication ethics or research integrity are identified. Such action will be undertaken in a fair, proportionate, confidential, and documented manner, with the primary objective of protecting the integrity of the scholarly record and maintaining the trust of the academic community.