ELLITE: English Language, Literature, and Teaching Journal requires all authors, reviewers, and editorial board members to operate with absolute transparency regarding any potential conflicts of interest, strictly upholding the foundational standards outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE Core Practices). According to COPE, a conflict of interest—also referred to as a competing interest—arises when an individual's objective professional judgment in the publishing process is potentially influenced by financial, personal, academic, or professional relationships (COPE Topic: Competing Interests).

All authors submitting their manuscripts to ELLITE must explicitly declare any financial or non-financial competing interests that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their research. If the editorial team suspects or is alerted to an undisclosed conflict of interest in a submitted manuscript, they will immediately pause the peer review process and request a formal explanation from the corresponding author, following the structured procedures established by COPE (COPE Flowchart: Undisclosed Conflict of Interest in a Submitted Manuscript).

Peer reviewers are ethically bound to decline review invitations if they discover they have a competing interest with any of the authors, institutions, or funding bodies associated with the manuscript, ensuring that the evaluation remains entirely objective (COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers). Similarly, editors must formally recuse themselves from handling or making editorial decisions on any manuscripts where they possess a direct personal, financial, or collaborative conflict of interest, guaranteeing an unbiased scholarly assessment as demanded by COPE's editorial management standards (COPE Best Practices in Editorial Management).

Should an undeclared conflict of interest be brought to light by a reader or whistleblower after an article has already been published, the journal will immediately launch an investigation and contact the authors for clarification based on COPE's recommended workflows (COPE Flowchart: Undeclared Conflict of Interest in a Published Article). If the subsequent investigation confirms that a significant conflict of interest was deliberately concealed and impacts the reliability of the work, ELLITE is obligated to transparently correct the academic record by publishing an erratum, a formal expression of concern, or, in the most severe cases, issuing a retraction (COPE Retraction Guidelines).