ELLITE: Journal of English Language, Literature, and Teaching is committed to complete institutional transparency regarding its legal ownership, operational management, governance structure, and financial sustainability. In strict compliance with Point 5 (Ownership and Management) and Point 6 (Governing Body) of the COPE Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, information about the ownership and management of the journal is clearly stated on the journal's website to ensure that authors, peer reviewers, and readers are never misled regarding the true nature of the journal's proprietor and publisher. Furthermore, our institutional governance operates under the foundational values of accountability, stewardship, and transparency articulated in the COPE Core Principles.

1. Institutional Ownership and Publisher Identity

ELLITE Journal is officially owned, funded, and published by Universitas Muhammadiyah Jember, an accredited higher education institution located in Jember, East Java, Indonesia. When the journal published its inaugural issue in May 2016, its academic and operational administration was initially managed internally by the English Language Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP), Universitas Muhammadiyah Jember. Following more than two years of consistent publication growth, in 2019 the operational management and technical publishing infrastructure of ELLITE were formally transferred under the central auspices of the Universitas Muhammadiyah Jember Journal Center (Pusat Jurnal Universitas Muhammadiyah Jember). This centralized institutional management structure guarantees sustainable technical support, ethical oversight, and administrative continuity in full alignment with COPE's Core Practice on Journal Management and COPE's Discussion Document on Predatory Publishing, which mandate verifiable institutional affiliation and authentic organizational governance.

2. Editorial Governance and Independence

While Universitas Muhammadiyah Jember and the Universitas Muhammadiyah Jember Journal Center serve as the legal owner and administrative manager, full authority over the scholarly content of ELLITE is vested in the Editor-in-Chief and an international/national Editorial Board composed of recognized experts in English language, linguistics, literature, and English language teaching. In strict adherence to the COPE Code of Conduct for Journal Editors and COPE's Short Guide to Ethical Editing, the relationship between the institutional owner and the Editorial Board is firmly rooted in the principle of editorial independence. Editors evaluate manuscripts and make publication decisions based exclusively on academic merit, methodological rigor, originality, and relevance to the journal's scope, without interference from the university leadership or commercial interests, as emphasized in COPE's Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines. Full names, academic affiliations, and contact details of the Editorial Team and Governing Body are publicly displayed on the journal's website in accordance with COPE's Transparency Standards on Governing Bodies and Editorial Contacts.

3. Responsibilities of the Owner and Managing Unit

As the managing body, the Universitas Muhammadiyah Jember Journal Center works collaboratively with the Editorial Board to establish and maintain robust publishing infrastructure, regular training for editors and reviewers, and clearly articulated editorial policies. Consistent with COPE's Framework on Allegations of Misconduct and COPE's Guidelines on Cooperation between Research Institutions and Journals on Research Integrity Cases, the university and the Journal Center support the Editor-in-Chief in investigating suspected ethical breaches, facilitating institutional communication, and publishing formal errata, expressions of concern, or retractions when necessary under the COPE Retraction Guidelines. Furthermore, in the event that any manuscript is submitted by a faculty member, administrator, or editor affiliated with Universitas Muhammadiyah Jember, the managing unit enforces strict conflict-of-interest protocols—requiring the submission to be handled independently by an external or non-conflicted editor and evaluated via double-blind peer review by external referees—in full compliance with COPE's Guidance on Institutional and Editorial Conflicts of Interest.

4. Business Model, Revenue Sources, and Digital Preservation

In accordance with Point 13 (Revenue Sources) and Point 14 (Advertising) of the COPE Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, ELLITE operates as a non-profit academic publication funded primarily through institutional subsidies from Universitas Muhammadiyah Jember and supported by a transparent post-acceptance Article Publication Charge (APC) of IDR 500,000 (USD 35). This business model ensures sustainable production, Crossref DOI registration, and unrestricted open-access dissemination without ever allowing financial considerations to influence peer-review outcomes or editorial decisions. ELLITE does not accept commercial third-party advertising or direct marketing that could compromise scholarly objectivity. Finally, in fulfillment of Point 12 (Archiving) of the COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Electronic Backup and Preservation, the Universitas Muhammadiyah Jember Journal Center guarantees the permanent digital preservation and accessibility of all published content through the Public Knowledge Project Preservation Network (PKP PN), national repositories (Garuda/OneSearch), and institutional server backups in the event the journal ceases publication.