What are publishing ethics?
We operate ethical publishing practices in line with the policies followed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Consistent ethical standards are adhered to throughout the publishing process. Please contact us if you would like any further information on any of our policies.

Peer review

Peer review process: All books are subjected to peer-review which involves obtaining advice on all book proposals from experts in the field who have no conflict of interest. Editors make objective decisions based on advice. All content undergoes a rigorous review process prior to publication. 

Publication ethics and malpractice policies

  • Publication ethics: Content selected for publication adheres to high standards of rigor and integrity. Content is original and has not been published (or being considered) elsewhere. Permissions have all been granted for third-party materials prior to publication. No elements of the content are considered to be libelous, defamatory or unlawful. Authors have signed contracts guaranteeing their authorship, providing permission to publish the work. Should they occur, we would automatically reject any cases of 'gift' authorship 'ghost' authorship. 
  • Mistakes and corrections: Authors or editors must provide retractions or corrections of mistakes where they occur. Where applicable, a list of references and a statement of financial support must be included in all articles. Authors retain copyright over their work, but must not republish any part of the work without permission from the publisher.
  • Suspected misconduct: Publishers and editors make every effort to detect research misconduct and prevent the publication of such content. Candlin & Mynard ePublishing Limited does not encourage or knowingly allow research misconduct to occur. If the editorial team were made aware of any allegation of research misconduct, it would be investigated and dealt with appropriately in line with the COPE guidelines. If content is retracted, it will be removed from the volume immediately and a public statement placed in relevant sections of the publisher's website. Necessary corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies may be posted by authors or editors where appropriate as needed.

The use of AI tools

  • Peer review and generative AI: Content submitted to Candlin & Mynard ePublishing Limited are treated confidentially. AI tools/LLM are only used during reviewing or editing if confidentiality is assured (i.e., the LLM is stored locally or has a confidentiality statement). We rely on human expert reviewers to ensure accuracy, rigour, and validity of feedback. 
  • Authorship and generative AI: In line with COPE’s position statement on AI tools, Large Language Models cannot be credited with authorship. In addition, "authors who use AI tools in the writing of a manuscript, production of images or graphical elements of the paper, or in the collection and analysis of data, must be transparent in disclosing in the Materials and Methods (or similar section) of the paper how the AI tool was used and which tool was used. Authors are fully responsible for the content of their manuscript, even those parts produced by an AI tool, and are thus liable for any breach of publication ethics" (COPE, 2023). 

Personnel

  • Leadership: The Managing Director, Series Editors and all advisors are recognized experts in the fields of language education, applied linguistics or professional communication.
  • Authors and editors: Lead authors and editors are required to have significantly contributed to the field of relevant to their proposed book. 

Fees and royalties

  • Editorial fees: There are no fees or charges for authors for the following: submission processing, submission review and feedback, contract issuing, content advice, editorial advice, copyediting, proofreading, manuscript preparation, distribution or marketing. 
  • Royalties: The default/ usual publication route provides authors/editors with 12% royalties on sales/ downloads (calculated annually, divided equally between co-editors/ co-authors of a given project). If the royalty statement is less than 100 USD, it is carried over to the following year.
  • Open access: If an author chooses to publish their work open access, the ebook or selected chapter(s) will be freely available for downloading in line with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0). The content will be available in multiple digital formats via the publisher's website and ebook distribution channels. A different contract can be arranged for print versions of the same book as print books are not eligible for open access. Open access publishing will incur one-off fees on release of the ebook.

Storage and data management

  • Archiving: All content is securely stored in four places: The cloud (two places), the managing editors PC, and on a backup hard-drive.
  • Website: The website is regularly updated by editorial team members and care has been taken to ensure high standards of accuracy, ethics and professional standards.

Company name and address

Name of the publishing company: Candlin & Mynard ePublishing Limited is a unique name, named after the founders Christopher Candlin and Jo Mynard.

Mailing address
Unit 1002 Unicorn Trade Centre
127-131 Des Voeux Road Central
Hong Kong

Email: [email protected]
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Limited company Hong Kong, number: 1830010.