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About
Issues in Applied Linguistics (ial) is a peer-reviewed journal committed to advancing scholarship in applied linguistics and related fields. The journal publishes original research from faculty, independent scholars, and graduate students on topics including second language acquisition, language socialization, language processing, language assessment, language pedagogy, language policy, and other language-related phenomena.
ial welcomes theoretically and methodologically diverse contributions, including qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, critical, discourse-analytic, interactional, and psychophysiological research. In addition to research articles, the journal publishes book reviews and interviews with leading scholars in the field.
By providing a forum for innovative and rigorous scholarship, ial seeks to promote critical inquiry and interdisciplinary dialogue on language, learning, teaching, and use across diverse contexts.
Focus and Scope
Focus and Scope
Issues in Applied Linguistics (IAL) is a peer-reviewed, open-access scholarly journal dedicated to advancing research, theory, pedagogy, and critical inquiry in applied linguistics. Established in 1989, IAL provides a forum for original scholarship examining language in its diverse educational, social, cultural, cognitive, political, and institutional contexts.
The journal welcomes contributions across the broad spectrum of applied linguistics, including, but not limited to, second and additional language acquisition, language teaching and learning, multilingualism, sociolinguistics, discourse and conversation analysis, language assessment, language policy and planning, literacy, language processing, pragmatics, language and identity, technology-mediated language learning, and research methodology.
IAL particularly values interdisciplinary scholarship, methodological diversity, and innovative approaches that challenge established perspectives, introduce new theoretical or methodological directions, or connect applied linguistics research with educational and professional practice. We welcome research conducted in a variety of linguistic, geographical, institutional, and sociocultural contexts.
Commitment to Emerging Scholars
IAL welcomes submissions from graduate students, recent graduates, early-career scholars, established researchers, independent scholars, and practitioners.
We particularly encourage emerging scholars to submit original and promising work, including manuscripts developed from graduate seminar papers, theses, dissertations, and conference presentations.
We recognize that valuable scholarly contributions are not always fully polished at initial submission. Our editorial team is committed to providing constructive feedback and working collaboratively with authors whose manuscripts demonstrate intellectual rigor, originality, innovation, and the potential to make a significant contribution to applied linguistics.
All submissions undergo editorial evaluation and appropriate review procedures. While publication cannot be guaranteed, IAL aims to foster a supportive scholarly environment in which promising ideas can be developed into high-quality publications.
Types of Publications
IAL welcomes a broad range of scholarly contributions, recognizing that important advances in applied linguistics take many forms beyond traditional empirical research articles.
The journal publishes the following types of work:
- Research Articles: Original empirical, theoretical, conceptual, and methodological studies, including qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, replication, and validation research.
- Review Articles: Systematic reviews, scoping reviews, critical and integrative literature reviews, meta-analyses, and other scholarly research syntheses.
- Book Reviews: Critical evaluations of scholarly books and edited collections relevant to applied linguistics, generally published within the preceding five years.
- Conference Proceedings: Full conference papers, expanded presentations, symposium contributions, and collections of scholarly work originating from academic conferences and research gatherings.
- Short Communications and Research Notes: Pilot studies, exploratory investigations, preliminary findings, brief research reports, and focused methodological or theoretical contributions.
- Perspectives and Commentaries: Position papers, opinion pieces, critical essays, scholarly commentaries, theoretical and methodological critiques, policy analyses, and proposals for future research directions.
- Pedagogical Contributions: Classroom-based and practitioner research, action research, pedagogical innovations, lesson plans, teaching materials, instructional activities, curriculum designs, and assessment practices grounded in relevant scholarship and pedagogical principles.
- Interviews and Scholarly Dialogues: Interviews with established and emerging scholars, scholarly conversations, responses and rejoinders, debates, and critical exchanges addressing important developments in the field.
- Editorials: Introductions to journal issues, editorial reflections, discussions of developments in applied linguistics, and contributions addressing the journal's scholarly mission and direction. Editorials are generally prepared or commissioned by the editorial team.
The inclusion of these publication types reflects both IAL's historical publishing practices and its commitment to supporting diverse forms of scholarly expression. Availability for unsolicited submissions may vary by category.
Scholarly Contributions and Editorial Standards
IAL seeks submissions that make meaningful contributions to applied linguistics through original research, theoretical advancement, critical analysis, methodological innovation, pedagogical development, or scholarly dialogue.
Submissions should demonstrate a clear purpose, engagement with relevant scholarship, and an identifiable contribution to the field. The nature of the supporting evidence and analysis will vary according to the manuscript type. For example, conceptual articles should advance well-developed scholarly arguments, while pedagogical contributions should provide a sound rationale and sufficient detail to support critical evaluation and potential adaptation.
The journal welcomes diverse theoretical orientations and research methodologies and encourages scholarship that explores emerging questions, challenges conventional assumptions, and promotes dialogue across disciplinary and professional boundaries.
IAL is committed to maintaining rigorous scholarly standards while fostering an inclusive, constructive, and intellectually engaging publication environment for scholars at all career stages.
For detailed manuscript preparation requirements, article-type descriptions, and submission procedures, please consult the Submission Guidelines.
To explore the journal's published scholarship and archives, visit Issues in Applied Linguistics on eScholarship.
Submission Checklist
Manuscripts must be double-spaced (including references, examples, etc.) formatted with 1” margins on all sides, and no longer than 30 pages. Figures and tables should be numbered and captioned observing APA Style (7th Edition), and on separate files. Please attach a separate cover sheet file with the following information:
- The full title of your paper
- Your name
- Name and address of your institution (or other address where you can best be reached)
- Phone number
- E-mail address
- Short title of your paper (for running head)
- A short “Bio” paragraph with a brief description of your professional or academic information with no more that 50 words
- The first page must also include an abstract of the article with up to 150 words
- Aside from the cover sheet, the author's name should not appear on the manuscript itself
References & Citations: References and citations should be made using APA Format. For example, citations should be like (Cazden, 1988, p. 53), or (Sinclair & Coulthard, 1975).
- A series of references should be listed in alphabetical order: for example, (Cazden, 1988; Goodlad, 1984, Lemke, 1991), or (Long, 1996; Long & Porter, 1985).
- A series of references for the same author or authors should be ordered in chronological order as follows: (Hall, 1993, 1995, 1997). Use letters a, b, c to distinguish citations of different works by the same author in the same year.
- All references cited in the text must be listed in the references list alphabetically. For more information, please see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
Submission of an article or book review is taken to imply that the manuscript has NOT been previously published or submitted simultaneously to another publication. If a related article has been published elsewhere, this should be noted.
Copyright Notice
The Journal is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to readers or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.
1. As consideration for publication in the Journal, the Author grants the Journal the following rights:
1.1. A non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free right to publish, reproduce, publicly display, publicly perform and distribute the Work in perpetuity throughout the world in all means of expression by any method or media now known or hereafter developed; and
1.2. A non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free right to license others, including databases or printing vendors, to do any or all of the above on a non-exclusive basis.
2. The Author warrants that:
2.1. The Author is the author of the Submission, or is authorized to act on behalf of the author(s) and copyright holder (if different from the author(s)), and has the power to convey the rights granted in this agreement.
2.2. If the Submission has multiple authors, the other authors are identified in the Submission, and the Author will inform the other authors of the terms of this agreement.
2.3. Any textual, graphic or multimedia material included in the Submission that is the intellectual property or work of another is identified and cited in the Submission.
2.4. If the Submission reproduces any material that is the intellectual property of another, the Author has received permission to publish that material in the Submission, or the material is being incorporated based on an informed, reasonable, and good faith application of fair use.
2.5. The Submission is the original work of the Author(s). To the best of the Author’s knowledge, it does not contain matter that is obscene, libelous, or defamatory; it does not knowingly violate another’s right of privacy, right of publicity, or other legal right; does not contain false or misleading statements; and is otherwise not unlawful.
2.6. The Submission has not been previously published, and is not pending review elsewhere. If this is not the case, the Author will provide the Journal with information about the other locations where the Submission appears or is pending review. Prior distribution of a Submission, including on a preprint server or in a repository, does not disqualify a Submission from potential publication; the Journal is primarily concerned with other appearances in similar publications.
2.7. If the Author is a student, the Author agrees to share their work and waive any privacy rights granted by FERPA or any other law, policy or regulation, with respect to the Submission, for the purpose of publication. If the Author has any student co-authors, the Author will obtain a signed copy of this agreement from those co-authors.
3. Indemnification
The Author will indemnify and hold the Journal harmless against loss, damages, expenses, awards, and judgments arising from breach of any of the above warranties.
4. Author’s Rights and Obligations
4.1. Nothing in this agreement constitutes a transfer of the copyright by the Author. As such, the Author retains all rights not expressly granted herein, including but not limited to, the right:
4.1.1. To reproduce and distribute the Submission, and to authorize others to reproduce and distribute the Submission, in any format;
4.1.2. To post the Submission in an institutional repository or the Author’s personal or departmental web page.
4.1.3. To include the Submission, in whole or in part, in another work.
4.2. If the Author distributes the Submission on another website or in another publication (as described above), the Journal will be cited as the source of first publication.
5. Rights for Readers
The Journal and the Author agree that the Submission will be distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), or other later version of the same license, that allows others to copy, distribute, translate, adapt, and build upon the Submission, even commercially, as long as they provide appropriate credit to the author(s). Anyone who uses or redistributes the Submission under this license must indicate any changes that were made, must link to the license, and cannot imply that the author(s) endorse them or their use. More information about this license is available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
6. Termination
The Author agrees to the terms of this agreement for the Submission being considered for publication. If the Submission is declined, this agreement is terminated.
Peer Review
This journal operates a double anonymous peer review policy.
Licences
The following licences are allowed:
- CC BY 4.0
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Publication Cycle
This journal publishes continuously all year round.
Sections
| Section or article type | Public Submissions | Peer Reviewed | Indexed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research Articles | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Review Articles | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Book Reviews | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Conference Proceedings | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Short Communications and Research Notes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pedagogical Contributions | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Interviews and Scholarly Dialogues | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Editorials | Yes | Yes | Yes |