Submission guidelines | JALT Publications

Mission Statement

The annual Conference Proceedings is to be a permanent record of papers presented at the conference that are likely to be useful and enlightening for teachers in practice, especially present and future JALT members. Such papers are likely to report on recent research and be well-founded on a review of previous publications.

Call for Submissions

As a non-commercial presenter at JALT2011, you are cordially invited to submit a paper based on your presentation for publication in the JALT2011 Conference Proceedings. The Proceedings is the official JALT post-conference publication of presentations. In the same way that your presentation was vetted prior to the conference, your conference paper will also be subjected to peer review. Publication in the JALT2011 Conference Proceedings qualifies as a refereed publication, and the Proceedings also function as an important reference point for foreign language teaching in Japan and beyond. We would therefore like to strongly encourage you to submit a paper.

To do so, please follow these guidelines carefully. Articles may be in English or Japanese. If you wish to submit material in other languages, please contact the editor (acceptance is dependent on the availability of qualified reviewers and editors).

Format: Due to the large numbers of papers being published in recent years, the Proceedings is published online only. However, a special "A Taste of the JALT2011 Proceedings" issue of The Language Teacher will be published in 2012. This issue will feature a selection of papers chosen by an independent group of reviewers. Nomination and selection details will be sent to Proceedings authors after review of their submissions is complete and their editors have been assigned.

Deadline: Submissions can be made at any time from now. All papers must be submitted by January 6, 2012. Submissions after that date will not be considered. 締め切り：2012年1月6日

Downloadable files

The following files are available for download:
オンラインで入手できるファイル:

• Sample file (as a style guide) [RTF file] [PDF file]
• Table Guide (how to make tables for your paper) [PDF file]
• Copyright agreement [RTF file] [PDF file]. This must be completed and returned by Jan 6, 2012

Online Submissions オンラインでの投稿

Note: If you already have a JALT Proceedings or The Language Teacher account, you don’t need to create a new account; you can use your existing account.

1. Visit http://jalt-publications.org/access/
2. Select REGISTER (if you don’t already have an account. If you already have an account, skip steps 2-8)
3. Select JALT Conference Proceedings
4. Complete the information (if you are already registered with TLT, then there is a link from this page to enroll your account)
5. CHECK AUTHOR: Able to submit items to the journal 1. If you are interested in and willing to read some submissions for the Proceedings, please also check the Reviewer box.
6. Click register.
7. IF YOU DON'T SELECT AUTHOR, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO SUBMIT YOUR PAPER TO THE PROCEEDINGS.
8. You will automatically be logged in.
9. Select the Author link that appears under JALT Conference Proceedings
10. Select CLICK HERE to start your submission.
11. Follow the steps to complete your submission, with these caveats:
    a. You need to click the upload button to upload your file.
    b. You must click finish submission in order to complete the submission process.
12. You can check on the progress of your review and on the editing process through your author page in the journal.

Selection and Editing Procedure 選考方法と編集手順

Once your paper has been received, it will be given an initial review by the editors. Each paper that is judged as being suitable for possible publication is sent to two Reading Committee members for review. These readers will receive blind papers (meaning your name and personal information will be removed prior to sending). Where possible, papers are sent to readers who have an interest in your field.

By early 2012, the readers will hopefully have finished their reviews, and will have uploaded their feedback and recommendations. General feedback will be available for you to read, while specific recommendations will be available only to the editors.

Once the reading process is complete, all writers will be contacted about the status of their paper.

Papers that are positively reviewed will be assigned an associate editor to work with on any editing, rewriting, or correction of papers. This should be completed by the middle of March. At this time, the editors will make the final selection of papers that are of a publishable standard. This selection will be based on feedback from both the reading committee and the collaborative editors you have been working with.

Successful writers will be notified, and will have a final opportunity to tweak their papers. Articles will be sent out for proofing and layout, after which writers and editors will complete a final check.

Layout will be completed, and final versions uploaded to the website. We intend to have everything completed before the end of the summer vacation . . . whether this is possible depends on the speed with which editing and rewriting can take place.

There will also be an opportunity for authors to nominate their papers to have a summary published in The Language Teacher and/or their full paper to be published in an edited volume, or book proposal to be sent to a publisher. These optional additional publication opportunities are intended to further reflect the quality of the Proceedings overall and to raise the profile of Proceedings publications for authors. The timing of these additional publication options is still being decided.

If you have any queries, please get in touch. Thank you for your contribution to this Proceedings. . . we're looking forward to collaborating on what promises to be a memorable volume of work! If you have any questions that are not answered here, or are having problems related to this site or your paper, please contact the editors [proc2011 at jalt-publications.org].

原稿受領後、編集部が全ての原稿を査読します。編集部が適切と判断した原稿のみ、２人の査読委員に送ります。査読委員は、著者の名前を隠した匿名の原稿を読むことになります。投稿原稿の分野に詳しい査読委員に査読をお願いすることにしています。 2011年初めには、査読委員は原稿を読み終わり、著者と編集部へのフィードバックをサイト上に戻すことになります。投稿者の皆さんは、著者へのフィードバックは読むことが出来ますが、編集部へのフィードバックは読むことができません。 査読が終了すると、全ての投稿者に、原稿に対する評価が送られます。評価は、次の４つの段階で示されます。

• 出版可能
• 出版可能であるが、多少の修正が必要
• 出版可能であるが、大幅な修正が必要
• 出版不可

上記の３つのカテゴリーに入った投稿者は、編集者と共に修正や編集作業に入ります。この作業は、３月半ばに終了予定です。この時期に、編集部では、原稿の最終選考を行います。この選考は、査読者と編集者からのフィードバックを基にして決定します。

最終選考に残った投稿者は通知を受け、原稿に最後の修正を加えることが出来ます。原稿の校正とレイアウト作業が終わった後、著者と編集部は、最終段階のチェックをします。レイアウト終了後、最終校がウェブサイト上にアップロードされます。夏休みが始まる前には、全ての作業を終える予定です。

本年度のproceedingsの著者は、TLT への要旨掲載と、特別編集号への原稿掲載の機会を得ることができます。特別編集号への掲載は、出版社への出版企画提案になります。こうした新たな出版機会を設けることによって、編集部では、JALTのConference Proceedings の内容と出版の質を上げようと努めています。詳細については検討中です。

本年度のProceedingsに投稿していただきまして、ありがとうございます。編集部では、本年度も、素晴らしいProceedingsを完成したいと願っています。ご質問がある方は、どうぞ、ご遠慮なく、編集部にお問い合わせ下さい。

Conditions for inclusion

• Only authors who actually presented at the conference are eligible to submit a paper to the Proceedings.
• Generally, the editors will not publish papers derived from commercial presentations, but such presenters should consult with the editors if they have a question about suitability for inclusion.
• Presenters may submit two papers individually, and any number of co-authored papers. Usually only one paper may be submitted for each presentation, though consideration will be given to separate papers from multiple presenters (please consult the editors first).

Submission of materials

Please note that due to the large number of papers to be processed, incomplete submissions (e.g., lacking translated abstracts or included graphics), incorrectly formatted submissions (see the sample file available above), or excessively long papers will NOT be considered for inclusion.

For all submissions, prepare the following materials:

1. Contact details (name, address, telephone, fax, email), paper title, author name(s) with institutional affiliation, abstract (150 word maximum). These will be input directly into our online journal system and do not need to be uploaded as a file.
2. One copy of the manuscript with all graphics, charts, and tables included or clearly indicated and all names and identifying information removed. This is your primary upload file and will be used by the Reading Committee to evaluate your paper.
3. One copy with author names and affiliations included, to be uploaded as a supplementary file.
4. All graphics and charts in their native format (e.g., Excel, jpg, png, etc.) as separate, clearly labeled files, to be uploaded as supplementary files
5. At the time of submission, authors must also include a translation of the abstract:
   1. English papers must have a Japanese translation of the abstract.
   2. Japanese papers must have an English translation of the abstract.
   3. For papers written in a language other than English or Japanese, authors must submit an abstract in that other language, together with an abstract translation in English.
6. Note that one writer must complete the copyright form and post it to the editors before we can proceed with any submission. This can be downloaded from the link above.

Note: In all cases, it is the responsibility of the writer(s) to provide an accurate translation of the abstract.

Article Types and Word Lengths

Note: Word lengths include tables, graphs, references, reference list, and all text in the main body of the paper. There is a separate word allocation for the abstract (up to 150 words), for the bio data (up to about 75 words for each writer) and for any appendixes.

Group 1: Papers, Workshops, and Poster Presentations

• Not more than 4,000 words. A paper of less than 2,500 words is unlikely to be chosen for publication
• Such papers are expected to include a lively combination of classroom practice, theory, and research.

Group 2: Colloquia, Forums, and Plenary Sessions

• Not more than 5,000 words.
• Such papers should reflect the presentation proposals accepted by the Conference Programming Committee.
• Writers should consult the summaries of each participating presenter for help in organizing the paper.
• All Colloquia and Forum presenters should be involved in the writing process—at the very least, to comment on the content.
• In all cases, the paper must be written by one or more of the participating presenters.
• All presenters must also have their names listed either as co-authors or as participants, for example: by Mary Green & John Smith (Presenters: Mary Green (moderator), John Smith, Bill Black, Patricia Brown, Taro Watanabe).

Manuscript guidelines

JALT uses an adapted form of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edition as a style guide. Consult the sample documents available from links above, or recent issues of JALT Journal or The Language Teacher for examples of JALT Publications' layout and referencing.

1. Start the manuscript with: Title, Author, Affiliation (use separate lines for each writer), Abstract (English), and Abstract (Japanese or other languages)
2. Use a common 12 point font throughout, except within tables where smaller font sizes may be necessary.
3. Remove all page headers and footers.
4. Footnotes and endnotes must not be. Instead, please include such material in the body of the paper.
5. Remove all hyperlinks, such as in email addresses or URLs.
6. The whole manuscript should be left justified, including titles, headers, and reference list with a ragged right edge.
7. Paragraphs immediately after a header should not be indented.
8. Other paragraphs may be indented using ONE tab space, though if possible, use the indenting controls to create the indent. Do NOT use the space key please!
9. Allow one blank line (double return) between the preceding paragraph and a new header.
10. Level 1 headers should be in bold, level 2 headers in bold italic, and level 3 headers in plain italic. Headers should be left justified, and not numbered.
11. Use only ONE space between sentences!
12. If you are using Excel graphs or figures, include the original file on the disk as well as inserting it in your paper (or clearly identifying where it is to be placed). Do NOT use Excel for tables. Use the table feature of your word-processing programme.
13. Likewise, any graphics must also be included as separate files in TIFF, PICT, GIF, or JPEG format on the disk (for other file formats, contact the editors first).
14. Tables should be set out using your software's table layout tools. Keep tables simple, do not nest tables within tables, do not put the table title within the table (see Table Layout Guide available above).
15. Copyright of included items: If you intend to include graphics, lyrics, or other material obtained from copyrighted sources, permission to publish these must be obtained prior to submission. A copy of this permission will need to be sent to the editors.
16. Reference lists should be formatted exactly as in The Language Teacher except that the left margin should be straight. Do not use underlining for titles, but use italics and plain text only. Use returns only at the end of each reference, not within the reference (do not worry if the formatting looks strange as this will be corrected during layout).
17. Save your files in either doc or rtf (Rich Text Format) format. 

Advice regarding submissions

The Proceedings editors welcome all submissions and encourage a wide range of viewpoints in the papers. That said, time and editorial limitations make it impossible to accept all submitted papers. Major factors in successfully completing the selection process include adherence to guidelines, as well as clarity and appropriateness for the intended audience. Authors are urged to:

• Have papers read by at least two supportive readers. Experience shows this is a useful way for authors to acquire and maintain a good sense of audience and focus.
• Avoid lengthy introductions and extensive bibliographical reviews; references should be used to support the smooth development of the text only.
• Clarify the main points with examples and/or details. Ask peer readers to check whether everything is sufficiently clear and elaborated in the text.
• Give papers a clear sense of voice: i.e., write in a direct and personalized style, where the imagined reader is an interested, but critically minded teacher.

Selection

The editors will select papers from a variety of content areas to create a balance in the Proceedings. Because of the time involved in getting the Proceedings out prior to JALT2012, the editors may not accept papers needing large amounts of editing or formatting. Submitted papers should be in a finalized form and must not have been previously published elsewhere (though adaptations of previously published material will be considered. In such cases, add a citation notice along the lines of "This paper is an adaptation of a paper that first appeared in...").
 

Special selection options

For previous Proceedings, we have implemented the Taste of JALT TLT special issue. We would like to continue this with the JALT2011 Proceedings so we ask you to keep this in mind from the beginning of the editorial process.

After reviewing is complete, authors will have an opportunity to nominate their papers for the Taste of JALT TLT. This is a special issue of TLT, published in October. It features summaries of quality contributions to the Proceedings. The aim is to publicize and raise the profile of the Proceedings. It also gives authors a chance for their Proceedings paper to earn a print publication credit.

Authors are welcome to nominate their papers for this special issue of TLT. Thank you for your interest in the JALT Conference Proceedings and your efforts in helping to maintain and improve the quality of the publication.