Language Problems and Language Planning

LPLP Instructions to authors for manuscript preparation

Manuscript preparation

Manuscripts should be in .doc or .docx (Times New Roman 12, double-spaced throughout). Please remember to include page numbering.

As LPLP uses a double-blind revision process, all author information must be removed from the manuscript; author(s)’s name(s) and affiliation(s) must NOT be listed under the title.

The manuscript must contain the following elements (in this order):

• title (no more than 20 words, ideally between 5 and 10)
• two abstracts (between 150 and 200 words each): one abstract in English and the other in another language (e.g., the same language as the paper itself if the paper is not in English, or a language related to the paper’s topic)
• text body with sections and subsections, numbered or not (see below for more detail about title conventions)
• the references list in APA style
• the tables and figures
• the appendix (optional)

The manuscript should at least contain two levels of headings, but no more than three.

• level 1: Flush left, boldface;
• level 2: Flush left, boldface, italicized;
• level 3: Flush left, italicized.

All paragraphs except the first in a section should be indented. Footnotes should be used sparingly.

Types of publications

Original research articles: Contributions normally between 7,000 and 9,000 words all inclusive (i.e., including tables, figures, references, and notes). These usually consist of analyses of findings from a scientific study or research project, underscoring the study’s significance in advancing or challenging debates in the relevant field.

Research notes: Contributions normally between 3,000 and 4,000 words all inclusive (i.e., including tables, figures, references and notes). These can take various forms, such as reports on work in progress or delineating the first steps of innovative, critical approaches to existing scholarship; discussions of methods or approaches that did not yield expected results; more practice-focused analyses of novel pedagogical approaches to acquisition planning, experiences by language policy-makers, or proposals for interventions in language policy and planning.

Review articles: Contributions normally between 7,000 and 9,000 words all inclusive (i.e., including tables, figures, references and notes). These usually summarise and synthesise existing published research on a specific topic to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge, focusing on recent publications in the field (e.g, books dealing with similar topics). Unlike a research article, it does not present new experimental data but provides a critical evaluation of previously published studies to identify trends, gaps, and areas for future research. Unlike a book review, they do not focus on one book only.

Book reviews: These contributions are normally solicited and are between 1,500 and 2,000 words. Occasionally, unsolicited reviews may be considered—in this case, please provide information about your reviewing and publishing experience and research expertise in the area of the book to be reviewed. Once the book has been received by the author, the review will usually be due within 2-3 months. The reviewer’s name, full address and a short bibliographical note (max 4 lines) should also be provided at the end of the review.

Language

LPLP publishes papers not just in English, but also in German, Italian, Spanish, French and Esperanto, and other languages can be considered; over the last ten years, an additional 25 languages have been used for abstracts and book reviews.

No matter what language you choose, please carefully check your syntax and overall language quality and consistency (e.g., in the case of English, American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these).

Figures, tables, maps

These should stand at the appropriate place in the manuscript, not on separate pages at the end of the manuscript. All figures, tables and maps should be numbered consecutively and labelled with a title. Place titles ABOVE tables and BELOW figures and maps. In case further explanatory detail is needed (e.g., abbreviations used in a table, figure or map) place them below the title, figure or map. Place a period after the (bolded) number in the title and at the end of the title itself, e.g.:

       Table 1. Example title.

Please see this guidance about alternative text for all images, to ensure accessibility of the work.

Quotations

Quotations, if not exceeding three lines, should appear in the text, marked by “double” quotations, with the source reference. Quotations LONGER THAN three (printed) lines should be indented and set off from the regular text, with the source of quotation added at the end.

These extracts must not enclosed in quotation marks.

References in the body of the text

In the body of the text, use the author(s)’s last name(s) plus the publication year (plus page numbers if required), as follows:

• Alpha (1993: 208) has observed ...
• ... as has been observed (see Alpha 1993: 208), ...

The list of citations should be as follows:

• As found in Alpha (1948: 96-107), Bravo (1978), Charlie (1994: 176), Echo (2013), ...
• ... as found in previous research (Alpha 1948: 96-107, Bravo 1978, Charlie 1994: 176).

For in-text citations with two authors, use “&” both within the citations themselves and for any references to the authors/work in the body of the text.

• Alpha & Echo (2010) have found that ...
• ... as found in previous studies (Alpha & Echo 2010).

Use “et al.” for citations with three or more authors. Do not add commas or italics.

• As Echo et al. (2011) have argued ...
• ... this phenomenon is unique to this dialect (Echo et al. 2011).

Reference list

LPLP uses APA style; the only change is that complete first names are preferred instead of the initial only (which is the more usual APA standard).

Disclosure of non-previously released data

In order ensure transparency and reproducibility, LPLP encourages authors to make available the data used in a paper published by the journal, unless the authors are bound by legal, ethical, copyright, confidentiality or other clauses.

If data are made available, data references should include the following elements: author name(s), data set title, data repository, year, and global persistent identifier. If you have made your research data available in a data repository (e.g., Open Science Framework), you can link your article directly to the dataset.

Cover letter

All manuscripts should be accompanied by a cover letter that (1) briefly introduces the paper, (2) discloses any conflict of interest; and (3) confirms that the paper has not been submitted elsewhere (see below).

The author(s)’s name(s) and affiliation(s), and the postal and e-mail addresses of the corresponding author are also required in the cover letter.

Declaration of interest

All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. If there are no conflicts of interest then please state this: ‘Conflicts of interest: none’.

Submission declaration and verification

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and, tacitly or explicitly, by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in any language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder.