Information for Authors
IMPORTANT NOTE
We have now set up a web-based online submission system for articles, letters to the editor, and contributions to the ‘Comment’ and ‘Readers respond’ features. We can now only accept contributions through this system.
Full details of how to make online submissions can be found here.
Readership
ELT Journal is truly international, with subscribers in almost every country in the world. Readers of ELT Journal teach EFL, ESL, EAP, and ESP in a range of local contexts and conditions. They work in primary and secondary schools, in colleges and universities, in the state and private sectors. Some are teacher trainers and others are teachers in training. Many hold posts of responsibility and manage ELT programmes and projects.
Subject matter
ELT Journal invites submissions in a number of categories:
Articles
We welcome articles that draw on experience with new methods, techniques, materials, syllabuses, means of assessment, approaches to teacher training, and other areas of professional interest.
Articles focusing on aspects of the English language (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, discourse features, etc.) are also welcome, so long as they do not require specialist knowledge of linguistics, and so long as they are not purely descriptive or analytical. Readers are interested in the practical applications of language description or analysis.
We are interested in receiving articles that describe carefully planned and executed experiments, provided that the experiment is designed to throw light on a topic which is itself of interest to our readers.
We are also glad to receive articles which deal with the issues implicit in English language teaching in context, e.g. the effects of educational policy, aspects of management, the planning and development of projects, review and evaluation procedures, cultural aspects of ELT, and so on.
Contributors are asked to take into account the following important factors when writing their articles:
- Articles should be of interest and relevance to the readers of ELT Journal.
- They should be clearly and coherently written so that the contents are internally consistent and accessible to the readership.
- ELT Journal is not a journal of primary research. There should be a balance between theory and practice in all submissions. Descriptions of practice should be related to underlying theoretical principles; theoretical concepts should be clarified by reference to their practical applications.
- Articles that deal with a particular teaching or learning context should have clear implications for people working in a wide variety of different situations.
- Articles must demonstrate an awareness of other and recent work carried out in the area on which they report.
- The presentation and discussion of data must not pre-suppose more than a basic knowledge of statistics or of specialized terminology.
- Care must be taken not to over-reference articles by supplying lists of sources which contain more than the key references. Articles should contain no more than 15 references. Of these, no more than two should relate to the author’s own work.
Before you consider submitting your article to ELT Journal, please familiarize yourself with the Journal and the type of article we publish. If you do not have access to recent copies, you may view a sample issue at our website.
Please do not make multiple submissions of the same article to different Journals at the same time. We hope that you will have written a submission you send to us especially for the specific readership of ELT Journal, so please do not send it to other Journals until you have heard back from us.
Please do not send more than one submission at a time.
All submissions received are blind reviewed by members of the Editorial Advisory Panel.
Reviews
Unsolicited reviews cannot be accepted for publication. If you are interested in writing a review for ELT Journal, please contact the Reviews Editor at the address given in the Journal or on our website. The website address is given at the end of this guide.
Key concepts in ELT
This is a glossary, in encyclopaedic form, of important concepts in the field of ELT. It aims to assist readers in developing an appreciation of central ideas in ELT and in approaching the content of the articles from a perspective informed by current debate on aspects of theory and practice. Each entry is approximately 500 words long and includes definition(s) of the concept; notes on historical development, if appropriate; explanations and examples; and suggestions for further reading.
You will find examples in recent issues of the Journal or on our website. If you are interested in writing a Key concept, please contact the Editor.
Comment
This is a feature in which individuals are invited to express their personal, and sometimes controversial, views on professional issues. These views are not necessarily those of the Editor, the Editorial Panel, or the Publisher. The maximum length of contributions is 1000 words.
Readers Respond
This is a forum for readers to contribute their own reactions, perspectives or experiences in relation to a specific article published in a recent issue. Submissions, which must be a maximum of 1250 words, will be considered by the Editorial Panel before being accepted for publication.
Correspondence
We welcome letters from readers in response to published articles, features and reviews. Letters must be a maximum of 500 words and may be edited for length or content.
Preparing an article
In preparing your article, please pay close attention to the following:
Length
Articles of around 3500 words in length are preferred. It is not possible for us to accept articles over 4000 words long. Please give a word count at the end of your article. Word counts should include tables and appendices, but may exclude the abstract and the list of references.
Style
Please try to make your article as easy to read as possible. Use short headings and subheadings to make the structure of your article clear. If appropriate, illustrate your article with examples, diagrams, tables, etc. If you introduce a term which you think may not be familiar to some readers, give a short definition in a note at the end of the article. The use of he and his, she and her is acceptable only when a definite person is being referred to. Please use ‘he or she’, ‘his or hers’; ‘they’ or ‘them’; or plural nouns, e.g. ‘students’, ‘teachers’, etc.
Spelling
Please use standard British English spelling of words such as ‘centre’ or ‘colour’. Where British English has alternative spellings of words such as ‘recognize’/‘recognise’, please use the ‘z’ form, e.g. ‘summarize’. But note that in British English ‘analyse’ is spelled with ‘s’.
Title and abstract
Please give your article a brief, clear, and informative title. Titles should preferably be a maximum of 50 characters long, with an absolute maximum of 70, including spaces. Begin your article with an abstract of no more than 150 words summarizing your main points.
Format
See the separate file ELTJ template for guidance on formatting your article with the correct layout.
Page numbers
Please make sure that pages are numbered.
Headings and subheadings
Headings and subheadings should be on a separate line, ranged left. Underline main headings, but do not underline subheadings. Do not use a numbering or lettering system for headings. Do not try to format your submission in the style of a published article.
References in the text
If you wish to make references in the text to other publications please do so clearly and in the following way: author’s surname, date, and page number in parentheses, e.g. (Kramsch 1993: 35). If the reference is to a general argument or topic covered by the author, you may omit the page number. However, a quotation or a specific point made by an author must be supported by a page number reference. If you refer to the same publication twice (or more) in quick succession, please use the following form on the second or subsequent occasion, e.g. (Kramsch: ibid). If you refer to the same publication more than once, but not on the same page, then please use the following form on the second or subsequent occasion, e.g. (Kramsch: op.cit.). Please remember not to over-reference your article either in relation to specific points you make in the text (maximum of two references to support any specific point), or overall (maximum of 15 references overall). In your article, please make sure you refer to no more than two of your own previous publications.
Footnotes
Short notes can appear in the text within brackets; longer ones should be collected together at the end of the article. There will be no footnotes on individual pages. Please number your notes consecutively, giving clear superscript numbers in the appropriate places. You should not include more footnotes than are absolutely necessary.
Acknowledgements
Please do not include acknowledgements to colleagues or students who may have helped you during the writing of the article. It is often difficult to find space to credit all those who might be credited and we have therefore decided to leave it to authors to express their thanks personally.
List of references
Please give full bibliographical details of references and list them in alphabetical order of author, following the style of the examples given below:
Donato, R. and F. Brooks. 1994.'Looking across collaborative tasks: capturing L2 discourse development.' Paper presented at AAAL Conference, Baltimore, Maryland.
Lightbown, P. and N. Spada. 1999. How Languages are Learned (Second Edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Littlejohn, A. 1992. 'Why are ELT materials the way they are?'. Unpublished PhD thesis, Lancaster University.
Nunan, D. 1990. 'Action research in the language classroom' in J.C. Richards and D. Nunan (eds.).
Pennington, M.C. 1990 'A professional development focus for the language teaching practicum' in J. C. Richards and D. Nunan (eds.) [Note this format when your list of references contains two or more mentions of an edited collection.]
Richards, J. C. and D. Nunan (eds.). 1990. Second Language Teacher Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Swales, J. 1989. 'Service English programme design and opportunity cost' in R.K. Johnson (ed.) The Second Language Curriculum Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [Note this format when your list of references contains only one mention of an edited collection.]
Wenden, A. 1986a. 'Helping language learners think about learning'. ELT Journal 40/1: 3-12.
Wenden, A. 1986b. 'What do second language learners know about their language learning?' Applied Linguistics 7/2: 186-201.
Illustrations
If your article is to contain essential illustrations (including diagrams, tables, charts, etc.), please supply them in electronic form in a separate file from the main document, labelled Figure 1, Figure 2, etc. References to illustrations should be clearly indicated in parentheses in the text, e.g. (Insert Figure 1 here). Any accompanying photographs should be in black and white.
Copyright
Please indicate clearly the holders of copyright in any illustrations, extracts, diagrams, etc., which accompany your contribution. It will be your responsibility to approach them to gain permission for copyright material to be used, and you will have to pay any costs involved.
Authorship
In the case of multiple authorship, names will appear in the order in which contributors give them, even if that order is not alphabetical.
Biographical note
It is not necessary to include biographical details with a first submission.
Terms of acceptance
- The Editor does not undertake to return any copies of the manuscript. Contributors are advised to retain at least one copy for themselves.
- Contributions to ELT Journal are sent to members of the Editorial Advisory Panel and acceptance is dependent upon their recommendation for publication. Within approximately three months of receiving it, the Editor will try to let you know whether, and if possible when, your contribution will be published.
- The Editor reserves the right to ask for re-formatting of articles not submitted in the way indicated in this guide.
- The Editor reserves the right to make editorial changes in any manuscript accepted for publication to enhance style or clarity. A copy-edited version of the article will be sent to authors for approval. Please, therefore, give your full address, fax number, and email address (if available). Please note that page proofs are not normally sent to the author.
- The cost of all fees payable for permission to use copyright material shall, unless otherwise agreed, be borne by the author.
- The Editor will assume that an article submitted for consideration has not been previously published, and is not being considered for publication elsewhere, either in the submitted form or in a modified version. It is a condition of publication in ELT Journal that licence is assigned to Oxford University Press, subject to the following conditions:
- In assigning licence, you may use the article in subsequent publications written or edited by yourself, provided that acknowledgement is made of ELT Journal as the place of original publication, and that permission is obtained from the Publisher.
- The Publisher will normally give permission to a third party to reproduce your work in whole or in part, provided that your consent is also obtained. You are asked to refer to OUP all enquiries from third parties to reproduce your work.
- If your contribution is published, you will receive two gratis copies of the issue in which it appears.
Offprints
On publication of your article, details of free online access to your paper will be sent to the corresponding author, who may then circulate them to co-authors. If you wish to purchase offprints, please complete this form and return to the publishers before the issue in which your article is to appear goes to press.
Contact:
Editor:
Keith Morrow
Homerton House
Cawston Rd
Reepham
Norwich NR10 4LT
UK
Email: editor@eltj.org
Book Reviews Editor:
Philip Prowse
PO Box 83
Cambridge
CB3 9PW
UK
Email: reviews@eltj.org
ELT Journal website: http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org