Publication Schedule & Online First Policy
This policy explains how the Journal of Hypermedia & Technology-Enhanced Learning (J-HyTEL) manages its scheduled annual issues, complete-issue release, optional Online First publication, actual publication dates, DOI continuity, issue assignment, and final bibliographic records.
Three Scheduled Issues Each Year
Submissions are accepted throughout the year and are processed according to the journal's editorial, peer-review, and production procedures.
February
The first regular issue is scheduled for publication in February.
June
The second regular issue is scheduled for publication in June.
October
The third regular issue is scheduled for publication in October.
Current issue format
J-HyTEL currently publishes regular issues only. The journal does not currently publish special issues, guest-edited issues, sponsored supplements, conference proceedings, or externally managed article collections.
Scheduled month and actual release date
The scheduled month identifies the journal's intended publication cycle. An issue is made publicly available only after the required editorial and production work has been completed. If completion extends beyond the scheduled month, J-HyTEL records the actual date on which the issue is released and does not backdate the issue or any article.
Publication as a Complete Issue
J-HyTEL publishes each regular issue as a complete issue and does not use a publicly open or progressively filled regular issue as its standard publication model.
Editorial completion
Every article selected for a regular issue must have completed editorial screening, independent peer review, any required revision, and final editorial acceptance.
Production completion
Accepted articles must also complete copyediting, author proofing, layout, licensing checks, metadata verification, DOI processing, and final publication-quality checks.
Issue readiness
A regular issue is released only when its scholarly content and issue-level information are complete and the issue satisfies the journal's applicable editorial, ethical, technical, and production requirements.
Quality before timing
A scheduled publication month does not override reviewer independence, editorial judgement, revision requirements, acceptance criteria, research-integrity checks, author proof approval, or production quality.
Delayed issue procedure
If the editorial or production work required for an issue has not been completed within its scheduled month, the issue remains in the journal's workflow until it is ready for publication. The most recently published issue remains the current issue. An eligible final article may, at the editors' discretion, be published through Online First before assignment to the complete issue.
Scheduled Issue Month and Actual Publication Date
The scheduled issue month, the actual complete-issue release date, and an article's published date describe related but distinct parts of the publication record.
The volume, issue number, year, and scheduled month identify the journal's regular publication cycle. The scheduled month is a publication target and is not automatically treated as the actual publication date.
The issue page records the actual date on which the complete issue is made publicly available. Each article records its own published date. Where an article was previously made publicly available through Online First, its published date may be earlier than the release date of the complete issue to which it is later assigned.
No backdating
J-HyTEL does not assign an earlier publication date merely to match a scheduled issue month. The Received, Revised, Accepted, and Published dates shown for each article must remain chronologically accurate and consistent across the article page, published full text, OJS metadata, DOI metadata, and indexing records. Where an article is published through Online First, the Published date records the date on which its final Version of Record first became publicly accessible.
Online First Publication
Online First is an optional publication pathway that allows an eligible final article to be publicly available and cited before it is assigned to a regular issue.
Publication status
An article may be published through Online First only after it has completed peer review, required revision, final editorial acceptance, copyediting, author proofing, layout, licensing checks, metadata verification, DOI preparation, and final publication-quality checks. The DOI should be activated before public release; where activation is still being processed, the article record must display a transparent DOI-pending status and the DOI must be activated promptly on the same record.
Online First publication is not automatic. The editors determine whether an eligible article should be published before issue assignment or remain in production until the relevant complete issue is released.
Once made publicly available through Online First, the article is the final, published, and citable Version of Record. It is not a draft, accepted manuscript, author proof, or provisional version awaiting substantive editorial revision.
After Online First publication, only bibliographic information required for issue assignment, such as volume, issue, page range, or article identifier, may be added routinely. Any substantive post-publication change must be handled under the journal's correction, retraction, and version-control policies.
Transparent article record
Each Online First article must display its authors, title, Published date, final article files, DOI, licence information, and current issue-assignment status. Where final pagination depends on issue assignment, the article record may state that pagination is pending. This bibliographic status does not create a separate article version.
When Online First is not used
An accepted article that has not been published through Online First remains within the journal's editorial or production system. It is not publicly available and must not be represented as published or citable until it is formally released.
DOI, Published Date & Issue Assignment
Assigning an Online First article to a complete issue adds final bibliographic information to the existing publication record and does not create a second publication.
DOI continuity
The DOI assigned to an Online First article remains unchanged when the article is assigned to a volume and issue. The DOI continues to resolve to the same article record.
Date continuity
The article retains its original Published date, representing the date on which its Version of Record first became publicly accessible. Later issue assignment does not replace or backdate that date.
Bibliographic update
The existing article record is updated with its final volume, issue, and page range or article identifier, where applicable. Corresponding metadata records are updated to maintain consistency with the final issue assignment.
No duplicate publication
Issue assignment is not republication, a second acceptance decision, or a second peer-review process. Post-publication errors or changes are addressed transparently through the journal's applicable correction, retraction, and version-control procedures rather than through silent replacement.
Policy administration
Policy status: Active. Policy owner: J-HyTEL Editorial Board. Last reviewed: 5 August 2026. Material changes to the publication schedule, issue-release model, Online First pathway, DOI handling, or publication-record rules will be published on this page before they take effect.