Guide for Authors

Submission Guidelines of the Journal of Research in Applied Linguistics (RALs)

Thank you for your interest in Journal of Research in Applied Linguistics (RALs). Please read through the Submission Guidelines carefully prior to submitting your manuscript. Note that submission implies that the content has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere except as a brief abstract in the proceedings of a scientific meeting or symposium.

RALs invites all language researchers, applied linguists, and teaching practitioners to contribute to the journal by submitting papers under the following main headings:

  • Applied Linguistics
  • Literary Studies
  • Translation Studies

Manuscript Preparation

Feature articles include theoretical analyses and reports of original research. All the articles should connect theory, research, and practice. Submissions are evaluated along the following criteria:

  • Relevance and importance to RALs readers
  • Adequacy of conceptual framework
  • Appropriateness and competence of method
  • Reasonableness of interpretations and conclusions
  • Links between theory, research, or policy and practice
  • Clarity of organization and vigor of style
  • Originality of contribution

A manuscript must follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), sixth edition. It should be about 5000 to 8,000 words in length, including references and an abstract of 100 to 150 words. Please make sure to follow the submission guidelines of RALs.

 

Writing Style

RALs follows the writing style recommendations of chapters 2 and 3 in the APA Manual, sixth edition. Manuscripts should be written for clarity so that implications are comprehensible to practitioners as well as to researchers. Contributors are strongly recommended to use the template that is available on the Journal website for submitting manuscripts to RALs. Manuscripts that do not follow the template and its style will be sent back to authors for revision and resubmission.

 

Manuscript Submission

Authors are requested to submit their papers electronically by using the Journal of Research in Applied Linguistics online submission and review website at http://rals.scu.ac.ir. This site will guide authors stepwise through the submission process. Authors are requested to submit the text, tables, and artwork in electronic form via the website. Authors who are unable to provide an electronic version or have other circumstances that prevent online submission must contact the Editor at ar.jalilifar@gmail.com prior to submission to discuss alternative options.

 

Formatting Guideline (Manuscript Submission Template)

Submitted manuscripts should comply with the formatting guidelines specified in the manuscript submission template and instructions. Use the following links to download the instructions, the template for the English manuscript, and the template for the Persian abstract. Please note that the manuscripts not submitted in the following templates will be sent back to the authors for revision and resubmission.

 

RALs manuscript submission template (Ver. 2 - Oct 2020)

Instructions for using RALs manuscript submission template (Ver. 2 - Oct 2020)

RALs Persian abstract submission template (Ver. 2 - Oct 2020)

 

Financial Requirements for Publication in RALs

Contributors will not be charged for the review process or publication.

 

Peer Review Process

The acceptance criteria for all papers are the quality and originality of the research and its significance to our readership. Upon submission, an e-mail message or letter from the Journal Management System will acknowledge manuscript receipt. All submitted manuscripts are evaluated by one of our editors within one month to determine suitability for review in RALs. If accepted for external review, manuscripts are peer reviewed by two anonymous reviewers and the editor. Typically, one has broad general knowledge of the field, and one has expertise in the particular topic or methodology. Within six months, authors can expect to receive one of four decisions: (a) manuscript acceptance, (b) acceptance with revisions, (c) nonacceptance with an invitation for revision and resubmission for another round of review, or (d) rejection and recommendation for submission to a different publication. RALs attempts to keep the review process as short as possible to enable rapid publication of new scientific data. We seek to provide authors with an understanding of the perceived strengths and weaknesses of their manuscript, the basis for the decision, and advice on how to proceed. By following this procedure, we expect to make sound decisions on all manuscripts and provide consistently thorough, constructive, and fair reviews of all manuscripts. It should be noted that the recommendations of reviewers are advisory to the editor, and final responsibility for acceptance or declination rests with the editor.

 

Correspondence

All correspondence about your manuscript should be emailed to the editorial office at rals@scu.ac.ir. You may also call the Journal’s office on Sundays and Mondays at 10:00 to 13:00 and find out about the status of your paper submitted to the journal. The designated corresponding author should communicate with the editorial office on behalf of all authors during the review process. The corresponding author is expected to coordinate with co-authors as necessary.

 

Plagiarism Check

The editorial office runs a plagiarism check on every submission using iThenticate. By submitting your manuscript to this journal you accept that your manuscript may be screened for plagiarism against previously published works. Individual authors and researchers can now check their work for plagiarism before submission. Please click here for more details.

 

Authorship and Copyright Transfer Agreement

Authors submitting a paper do so on the understanding that the manuscript has been read and approved by all authors and that all authors agree on the submission of the manuscript to the Journal. The corresponding author should carefully check that all those whose works contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors. ALL named authors must have made an active contribution to the analysis and interpretation of the data and/or the drafting of the paper and ALL must have critically reviewed its content and have approved the final version submitted for publication.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the manuscript content. They should also sign an agreement form confirming their contribution in writing the manuscript. Papers are only considered for publication once consent is given by all contributing authors. The journal copyright form can be downloaded here.

 

Conflict of Interest and Source of Funding

Authors are required to disclose any possible conflict of interest. These include financial issues (for example patent, ownership, stock ownership, consultancies, speaker's fee). Author’s conflict of interest (or information specifying the absence of conflicts of interest) will be published under a separate heading entitled ‘Conflict of Interests’.  

 

Reversion of rights

Articles may sometimes be accepted for publication but later rejected in the publication process, even in some cases after public posting in "Articles in Press" form, in which case all rights will revert to the author.