Guide for Authors

INTRODUCTION

Aims and Scope

Journal of Language and Education (JLE) is a high-quality open access peer-reviewed international journal published quarterly by the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Russia. JLE provides a platform for researchers, academicians, professionals, and practitioners to impart and share knowledge in the form of high quality empirical and theoretical research papers, pilot studies, opinion papers and reviews (scoping / systematical reviews, meta-analysis and book reviews).

The journal provides an international source of peer-reviewed information on scholarly communication at large, with language- and education-related issues in closeup covering niches and issues such as academic and scholarly writing, writing for publishing, science editing, canonical patterns and non-standard irregularities of scholarly and academic texts, English as an Additional Language (EAL), English as lingua franca and multilingualism, literacy brokerage, journal writing conventions, structural and thesis-driven aspects of scholarly writing, research readability, self-awareness of writing confidence, publishing norms, fostering academic writing skills, writing-enriched university curricula, moves and steps theory and practice in scholarly writing, rhetoric schemas.

The Education section coverage include such topics as changing universities and their missions, university graduates’ employability skills, soft skills, education reframing, innovative models of teaching and progressive learning technologies (flipped class, mixed learning, deep active learning, etc.), virtual education and MOOCs, gamification and game-based curricula, redefining of quality of tertiary education and international rankings, mobility and autonomy in highereducation. The list is certain to be regularly updated as the educational settings are prone to fast and constant change.

Basic Philosophy

Please read the guidelines below prior to submitting your manuscript. Manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be declined.

  • Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Journal of Language and Education will be reviewed.
  • There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal.
  • Journal of Language and Education is an open access journal. Read our Copyrights and Licensing policy.
  • As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.

Submission Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

  • Make sure your manuscript is the right fit for the journal by reviewing the journal information.
  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  • The manuscript strictly follows JLE Template.

You have also uploaded through your JLE account the following supplementary files:

Important notice: Unless you upload Title page (as a separate file) and Cover letter, your manuscript is not sent out for peer review. If you prefer open peer review, you do not need to upload the separate title page of the article, but a cover letter is still required. Make sure that the novelty of the research is described in the cover letter.

  • The submission file is Microsoft Word file format.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the APA style 7th.
  • The submission is plagiarism / self-plagiarism free.
  • Newly published sources from Scopus / WoS are analysed in your manuscript.
  • Where available, DOIs for the references have been provided.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Ethics in Publishing

Please see our information pages on Editorial Ethics Policy.

Copyright Notice

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the Copyright Notice.

Privacy Statement 

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

Submission

Authors are requested to submit their papers electronically by using the Journal of Language and Education online submission. Please follow the hyperlink “Make a submission” on the right and upload all of your manuscript files following the instructions given on the screen. Authors need to register with the journal prior to submitting or, if already registered, can simply log in and begin the five-step process. This site will guide authors stepwise through the submission process. If you need to submit a revised paper as a result of the peer review process, you will also do this in the submission system. DO NOT create a new download for the edited version of the article. Upload it to the "Revisions" section of the submission you have already created.

All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, takes place by e-mail or electronic journal management system removing the need for a paper trail.

Submission Categories

The Journal of Language and Education accepts submissions in the following categories:

  • Editorials
  • ORAs (Original Research Articles)
  • Pilot Studies
  • Systematic Review Articles
  • Book Reviews
  • Perspective articles
  • Opinion articles

Editorial

An editorial article is published in every issue and authored by JLE Editors. Editorials aim to overview the topicality of the current issue, or get readers’ attention focused on some essential themes JLE is starting to probe.

Original Research Article (ORA)

An original article provides an overview of innovative research in a particular field of study within or related to the focus and scope of the journal, presented according to a clear and well-structured format. Three structures of original research are provided below: Qualitative, Quantitative and Theoretical. For more information see How to Write an ORA.

Word limit

4500-7000 words (excluding the structured abstract and references)

Abstract

300-350 words to include a Novelty and Topicality, Research purpose, Motivation for the study, Research approach / Design and method, Main findings, Practical / Managerial implications and Contribution / Value-add

References

30 - 60

Tables/Figures

no more than 7 Tables/Figure

Ethical statement 

should be included in the manuscript

Pilot Study

A pilot study is a small-scale empirical research, often of preliminary nature. It tends to be carried out before a comprehensive or profound research in order to test the design, methodology or any other aspect of a future full-scaled research.

The rationale behind the pilot kind of study should be worded in the introduction to such an article.

Wordlimit

4,000-4,500 words (excluding the structured abstract and references)

Abstract

200 - 300 words to cover a Novelty and Topicality, Research purpose, Motivation for the study, Research approach / Design and method, Main findings, Practical / Managerial implications and Contribution / Value-add

References

30

Tables/Figures   

no more than 4 Tables/ Figures

Ethical statement 

should be included in the manuscript

Systematic Review Article

Review articles provide a critical and constructive analysis of existing published literature in a field, through summary, analysis, and comparison, often identifying specific gaps or problems and providing recommendations for future research. The main purpose of a review article is to examine the current state of the relevant publications on a given topic and to initiate a discussion about the research methodologies and the findings related to the said topic. Therefore, a review article should contain a comprehensive list of supporting references being thoroughly cited in the text. Review articles generally do not present new data from the author's experimental work. Review articles published in JLE are systematic reviews. The latter are based on a comprehensive methodology covering selection of sources and their analysis, providing a complete overview of current literature relevant to a research question. Other types of review articles (i.e. reviews based on narrative analysis and meta-analysis) are published only exceptionally.

Word limit

4000-8000 words (references included)

Abstract

n/a

References

50 - 100

Tables/Figures   

no more than 5 Tables/Figure

Ethical statement   

should be included in the manuscript

Book Review

A book review may address one particular book or a series of books devoted to a particular branch of science. The aim of a book review is to provide insight on recently published scholarly book/books. Book reviews are also relatively short articles. It is preferable to reduce the analytical and graphical content and concentrate on the discussion about the valuable information which can be derived from the book chapters. In case of a research monograph, where distinct chapters are written by different authors, elaborate on both the self-consistency and the overall writing style.

JLE is focused on reviews of the books published not earlier than three years (including the year of submission). For more information, see How to Write a Review Article.

We kindly ask our potential authors to turn to JLE Book Review Editor to discuss your choice of books for review before you proceed to writing. You may also get a list of books JLE is interested in.

Word limit

1800 - 2500 words

Abstract

70-100 words to cover the information on the reviewed book, its authors and publishers, the subject of the book and its target readership

References

optional, but not more than 5 references

Tables/Figures   

n/a

Ethical statement   

n/a

Perspective and Opinion Article

Perspectives are scholarly reviews of fundamental concepts or prevalent ideas in a field. Perspectives have the same basic structure and length as review articles, however they should be more speculative and very visionary. They offer the author an opportunity to present criticism or address controversy. The intention is very much that these articles should represent a personal perspective. A perspective can be a review of a single concept or a few related concepts.

Opinion articles present the author’s viewpoint on the interpretation, analysis, or methods used in a particular study. It allows the author to comment on the strength and weakness of a theory or hypothesis. The purpose of such articles therefore is to stimulate debates on such topics and to inform in order to guide the establishment of best practices and the development of a ‘final’ stance on such a topic. The latter may then require, (if necessary), a further position paper on this topic. For more information see How to Write a Perspective and Opinion Article.

Wordlimit

2000-5000 words (excluding the structured abstract and references)

Abstract

around 150 words

References

no more than 35 references

Tables/Figures   

no more than 3 Tables/Figure

Ethical statement   

should be included in the manuscript

SUBMISSION PREPARATION

Important notice: All manuscripts should be prepared according to the Publication Manual of the American PsychologicalAssociation (7th edition) and will be returned to the author if the formatting is not complete. All the necessary instructions on paper submission and its formatting are presented in JLE Template. Please make sure that your manuscript strictly follows it.

New Submission

Submission to JLE proceeds totally online and you will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of your files.

Formatting requirements

The entire manuscript must be neatly prepared, spell-checked, and adhere to the formatting requirements stipulated in our submission guidelines.

File format

The document uploaded during Step 2 of the submission process:

Microsoft Word (*.doc or *.docx): We can accept Word 2003 DOC files and Word 2007 DOCX files.

Rich Text Format (RTF): Users of other word processing packages should save or convert their files to RTF before uploading. Many free tools are available that will make this process easier.

Referencing style guide

The manuscript must adhere to the APA referencing style. Conform to the formatting style of Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

Language

Manuscripts must be written in British English, according to the Oxford English Dictionary [avoid Americanisms (e.g. use ‘s’ and not ‘z’ spellings), set your version of Microsoft Word to UK English].

Font type

Use a standard font size in any standard font family.

Line spacing

Choose 1.15 lines to space text.

Paragraph spacing is 6 pt.

Important notice: Please don’t separate paragraphs with empty lines and don’t use first-line indents.

Headings

Ensure that formatting for headings is consistent in the manuscript. Limit manuscript sections and sub-sections to four heading levels. Make sure heading levels are clearly indicated in the manuscript text. Do not number headings.

Word count

JLE recommends 6000 word count, excluding title page, legends, and references.

For more information see our JLE Template.

Peer review

JLE employs two peer review cycles: Pre-publication review (Blind Review or Open Review) and Post-publication review. If the author prefers double-blind review, he needs to upload the manuscript without any information about the authors, and in parallel with the manuscript he needs to upload a separate title page of the manuscript with the required information (See Template). If an author prefers open peer review, he initially uploads the manuscript with all the information about the authors.

All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor's decision is final. In case of desk rejection reviews are not sent to authors.

Double-blind VS Open review

By default, author names are removed from the manuscripts to ensure double-blind peer review. But they are offered the option to give their names for reviewers, and a few select this option.

Reviewers can also remove their names from the manuscript if they are interested in blind review. However, we encourage reviewers to reveal their names. Authors appreciate knowing who reviewed their manuscript and it helps them frame suitable responses.

To facilitate double-blind review process, which means the identities of the authors are concealed from the reviewers, and vice versa, please include the following separately:

Title page (with author details): This should include the title, authors' names, affiliations,acknowledgements and any Declaration of Interest statement, and a complete address for thecorresponding author including an e-mail address (designate as Title Page).

Blinded manuscript (no author details): The main body of the paper (including the references, figures, tables and any acknowledgements) should not include any identifying information, such as the authors' names or affiliations (designate as Main Document).

If you leave your contact information in the manuscript you should be aware that your paper will undergo open review process since you reveal your identity to the reviewers.

Post peer review

The next review cycle is implemented after the publication of the article in the journal. Any researcher who works in the field of knowledge related to the published article may send a review of the article published in the journal during an unlimited period of time. Further, by agreement between the authors and the reviewer, the review can be either published in the public domain or stored in the editorial office of the journal. As a result of post-publication review, the authors have the right to make changes in the text of the article as a response to the recommendations of reviewers. A revised version of the article with a new DOI will be uploaded to the website of the Journal. If the authors do not agree with the comments of reviewers, they provide them with a detailed response to justify their position. Upon agreement with the reviewers and the author, this response can also be posted in the public domain or sent to reviewers without making it available to the readers.

This approach allows us to get real feedback from both authors and reviewers, improves the quality of published research materials and lays the foundation for truly scientific communication.

Cover Letter

A Cover letter should also be submitted as a separate document in the submissions section. Please follow JLE Cover Letter Template. Editors are not able to consider manuscripts unless they are submitted along with the Cover letter.

As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.

The format of the compulsory cover letter forms part of your submission. You should provide the following elements:

Submission title: Specific, descriptive, concise, and comprehensible to readers outside the field, max 95 characters (including spaces).

Type of submission: original research, review, or perspective

Full author details: The title(s), full name(s), position(s), affiliation(s) and contact details (postal address, email, telephone, highest academic degree, Open Researcher and Contributor Identification (ORCID) and cell phone number) of each author. Anyone that has made a significant contribution to the research and the paper must be listed as an author in your cover letter.

Corresponding author: Identify to whom all correspondence should be addressed.All authors of a manuscript should include their full names, affiliations, postal addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses on the cover page of the manuscript. Please give the affiliation where the research was conducted. Please note that the email address of the corresponding author will normally be displayed in the article.

The corresponding author must be authorized by all co-authors to act as an agent on their behalf in all matters pertaining to publication of the manuscript, and the order of names should be agreed by all authors.

Authors’ contributions: Briefly summarise the nature of the contribution made by each of the authors listed.

Disclaimer: A statement that the views expressed in the submitted article are his or her own and not an official position of the institution or funder.

Source(s) of support: These include grants, equipment, and/or other support that facilitated conduct of the work described in the article or the writing of the article itself.

Summary: Lastly, a list containing the number of words, pages, tables, figures and/or other supplementary material should accompany the submission.

Concisely present the novelty of your scientific work in one or two paragraphs. Highlight the best experiments and your most promising results and include any new special techniques that were used, if any.

Clearly and concisely explain the significance and rationale for why you are submitting your work to JLE (how and why your work is relevant to the journal’s scope).

List all the authors and sign the letter.

Revised Submissions

It is highly likely that, if your paper is not rejected, you will be asked to revise it. You will have the opportunity to improve your paper taking into account the expert insights of the reviewers and the editor. This is an opportunity to distil an even better version of your paper so make the most of the invitation. You will also be able to respond to reviewer comments and signal where you have made changes or where you disagree with the advice. Remember to do this calmly and be prepared to justify your comments.

If you need to submit a revised paper as a result of the peer review process, you will also do this in the submission system. Pleasesubmit the revised manuscript along with a Rebuttal Letter in which you address the reviewer’s requests for revision to the section "Revisions" in your dashboard.

Data Sharing Policy

We encourage authors to share the underlying data behind their articles. You can either upload your data onto Figshare, Dryad, or another repository, and then cite it in your article. If you think the data may be useful to reviewers but don’t want to make it public you can upload the data file for review only (not publication with your article).

Article Structure

Subdivision of article

Divide your article into clearly defined sections. Each subsection should be given a brief subheading.

Each heading should appear on its own separate line.

Manuscripts should be compiled in the following order:

1. Title Page

This should include the title, authors' names, affiliations,ORCID, acknowledgements and any Declaration of Interest statement, and a complete address for thecorresponding author including an e-mail address. The title page should be a submitted as a separate file (see our JLE Template)

Please supply all details required by any funding and grant-awarding bodies as an Acknowledgement on the title page of the manuscript, in a separate paragraph, as follows:

For single agency grants: "This work was supported by the [Funding Agency] under Grant [number xxxx]."

For multiple agency grants: "This work was supported by the [Funding Agency 1] under Grant [number xxxx]; [Funding Agency 2] under Grant [number xxxx]; and [Funding Agency 3] under Grant [number xxxx]."

2. Abstract

A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should statebriefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is oftenpresented separate from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. References should thereforebe avoided, but if essential, they must be cited in full, without reference to the reference list. Nonstandard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at theirfirst mention in the abstract itself. Abstracts of no less than 150 and no more than 350 words are required for all manuscripts submitted. For more information see How to Write a Scientific Abstract.

3. Keywords

Immediately after the abstract, provide from 5 to 7 keywords, avoiding general and pluralterms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, "and," "of"). Be sparing with abbreviations: onlyabbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.

4. Main Text

Introduction

State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results. The gap in the existing knowledge on the topic filled by the author should be obvious. In the last paragraph of the introduction, it is mandatory that the research objectives and goals are specified

Methodology

Provide sufficient details to allow the work to be reproduced by an independent researcher. Methods that are already published should be summarized, and indicated by a reference. If quoting directly from a previously published method, use quotation marks and also cite the source. Any modifications to existing methods should also be described. This section should be divided into subsections following JLE Template.

Results

Results should be clear and concise.

Discussion

This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.

Conclusions

The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which should stand alone.

5. References and Footnotes

Please ensure that at least 30 % of references analysed in your paper are newly published sources from Scopus / WoS. Reference entries should strictly follow the format specified in the Publication Manual of the AmericanPsychological Association (7th edition). Include a DOI for all works that have a DOI, regardless of whether you used the online version or the print version (including book chapters). APA requires that the entries have a hangingindent. All references need to be in APA style before the manuscript can go into copyediting and will be returned to the author if the formatting is not complete. 

Please see our information pages on References in Text, Reference List and Footnotes as well as a Template.

6. Appendices (if appropriate).

If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc

Other crucial points to be considered

  • Table(s) should be with caption(s).
  • Please use single quotation marks, except where ‘a quotation is “within” a quotation’. Long quotations should be indented without quotation marks.
  • Use double quotation marks to enclose a direct quotation. Type [sic] after a misspelled word or an incorrect or apparently absurd statement in quoted material to indicate that this is an accurate rendition of the original source. Use single quotation marks for quotations within quotations

E.g. Some participants were skeptical about the process: “I don’t put any stock in these ‘dream diaries.’”

  • For all manuscripts non-discriminatory language is mandatory. Sexist or racist terms must not be used.

Changes to authorship

Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. To request such a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason for the change in author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed.

Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publication of the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue, any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.

Publication Schedule

The journal publishes quarterly: March, June, September and December. To be included within an issue the articles must be accepted at least 2 months before the cover date. To allow time for peer review, therefore, articles must be submitted far earlier than this. Note, however, that selection for an issue cannot be guaranteed by the submission/acceptance date – but the accepted and finalised article will be made available as soon as possible using Early View (see below).

Early View

Early View articles are complete full-text articles published online in advance of their publication in the issue. Articles are therefore available as soon as they are ready, rather than having to wait for the next scheduled issue. Early View articles are complete and final. They have been fully reviewed, revised and edited for publication, and the authors’ final corrections have been incorporated. Because they are in final form, no changes can be made after online publication. The nature of Early View articles means that they do not yet have volume, issue or page numbers, so they cannot be cited in the traditional way. They are cited using their Digital Object Identifier (DOI) with no volume and issue or pagination information.

E.g., Aroud, V.B. (2021). Modern trends in higher education. Journal of Language and Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2020.11205

FURTHER INFORMATION

Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the JLE editorial office as follows:

The Editor
Journal of Language and Education
E-mail: jle@hse.ru