Guidelines

Mission Statement

The annual Postconference Publication is 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. Papers are expected to report on recent research and innovative pedagogy and be well founded on a review of previous work. Papers should adhere to APA 7th Edition formatting.

Call for Submissions

As a noncommercial presenter at JALT2024, you are cordially invited to submit a paper based on your presentation for publication in the official 2025 Postconference Publication, Moving JALT into the Future: Opportunity, Diversity, and Excellence. In the same way that your presentation was vetted prior to the conference, your conference paper will also be subjected to extensive peer review. The Publication also functions 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 a paper in another language, 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 Postconference Publication is published online only.

Deadline: Sunday, January 12, 2025. Submissions can be made at any time after November 18, 2024. All papers must be submitted by Sunday, January 12, 2025 11:59 p.m., Japan Standard Time. Submissions after that date will not be considered. 

Downloadable Files

The following style guide is available for download [Style Guide PDF]

Online Submissions オンラインでの投稿

If you do NOT have an account in our system, follow these steps:

1. Visit http://jalt-publications.org/content/.
2. Select REGISTER in the top right corner.
3. Complete the personal information.
4. Click REGISTER.
5. Select Postconference Publication. You will see a MAKE A SUBMISSION link on the right. Follow the steps.
6. Follow the steps to complete your submission.
7. You can check on the progress of your review and on the editing process through your author page in the journal.

If you already have an account registered in the system, follow these steps:

1. Visit http://jalt-publications.org/content/.
2. Log in.
3. Select Postconference Publication. You will see a MAKE A SUBMISSION link on the right. 
4. Follow the steps to complete your submission.
5. You can check on the progress of your review through your author page in the journal.

Selection and Editing Procedure

Once your paper has been received, it will go through 4 stages. Authors are responsible for seeing their submission through all four stages. Submissions that do not have the cooperation of the author(s), regardless of the stage of production, might be rejected. 

Stages of Production Overview: 

1. Reviews

   • Initial review, double-blind feedback, status update

2. Content Editing

   • Revisions with content editor, final selection

3. Copyediting

   • APA check, formatting, final polish

4. Layout

   • Layout, final review, publish-ready completion

Stage 1 is Reviews. First, papers will be given an initial review by the Editor-in-chief and the Reviews Editor. Then each paper is sent to two additional reviewers. These readers do a blind review. When possible, papers are sent to reviewers who have an interest in your field.When the reviewers have finished their reviews, they will upload their feedback and recommendations to the OJS. General feedback will be available for authors to read, while specific recommendations will be available only to the editors.

Once the Review Process is complete, the author(s) will be contacted about the status of their papers. 

Papers that are positively reviewed will be sent to Stage 2 – Content Editing. The paper will be assigned a content editor, who will work with the author(s), and advise on any editing, rewriting, or correction of papers. All author(s) should try to complete this phase within one month. At this time, the PCP Editors will make the final selection of papers that are of a publishable standard. This selection will be based on feedback from both the reviewers and the content editor, as well as the quality of the finished paper. 

Stage 3 is Copy Editing. Authors who have their paper sent to copy editing will work with a copy editor for final polishing and checking on APA standards. Once the author has completed this last stage, the paper will be sent to layout, after which the author(s) and editors will complete a final check. 

Layout will be completed and final versions uploaded to the website. We intend to have everything completed by the end of August 2025. Whether this is possible depends on the cooperation and speed with which author(s) can complete the rewriting and editing in Stages 2 and 3.

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 at: jaltpubs.pcp.ed (at) jalt.org. Please do not contact us through Basecamp.  We will only be able to respond to direct emails. 

If you want to contact us about the status of your paper in the production process, we hope you will also consider volunteering in one of the volunteer roles we have available. If we have more volunteers to help with reviews, content editing, and copyediting, we will be able to vet the submissions quicker.

Important Note: Outside of contact with a content editor, correspondence regarding your submission will be completed through the online system used for submitting and reviewing. In the past, email messages sent through this system have occasionally gone into “spam” or “junk” email folders, resulting in missed deadlines and other problems. Authors are strongly encouraged to check or disable these folders so as not to lose important messages. When authors do not respond to messages, their submission is considered inactive and may ultimately be rejected.

Restrictions

Papers submitted to JALT Postconference Publication must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication elsewhere. JALT Postconference Publication has First World Publication Rights, as defined by International Copyright Conventions, for all manuscripts published. If accepted, the editors reserve the right to edit all copy for length, style, and clarity without prior notification to authors. Plagiarism, including self-plagiarism, will result in articles not being published or being retracted and may also result in the author(s) being banned from submitting to any JALT Publication.
Please be sure to review the JALT Publications—Statement of Ethics and Malpractice before submission.

Conditions for Inclusion

• Only authors who presented at the JALT International Conference are eligible to submit a paper to the Postconference Publication.
• Only one paper may be submitted for each presentation. However, in the case of forums and panels, consideration will be given to separate papers from multiple presenters (please consult the editors BEFORE submitting).
• Generally, the editors will not publish papers promoting a commercial product or service, but such presenters should consult with the editors if they have a question about suitability for inclusion.

Submission of Materials

Please note that due to the large number of papers that need to be processed, incomplete submissions (e.g., lacking translated abstracts or necessary 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, email), paper title, author name(s) with institutional affiliation will be added directly to the OJS system. Do not include these items in your manuscript. 

2. MAKE SURE ALL DOCUMENTS UPLOADED TO THE OJS ARE ANONYMIZED. Please replace all mentions of your name with “Author” in the text.

   •  If possible, please use third person reference for self-citations.

     •  For example: In their work on JALT Postconference Publications, they determined… (Authors, 2023). 

     • Do not write: In our work on JALT Postconference Publications, we determined … (Authors, 2024). 

   • You will add your name back to the manuscript during content editing.

3. All graphics and charts in their original format (e.g., Excel, jpg, png) as separate, clearly labeled files, to be uploaded as supplementary files.

4. Each paper must have an English abstract (150 words) and a Japanese abstract (400 characters). These will be uploaded to the OJS and in your manuscript file. 

   • If your paper is written in a third language and has received editorial approval for submission, please write an abstract in that language (150 words/400 characters) as well.

Note:   In all cases, it is the responsibility of the writer(s) to provide an accurate translation of the abstract. JALT does not provide translation services. Please ask colleagues, friends, or family to help you with the initial Japanese translation if you need assistance. Our Japanese copyeditor will check your abstract for major errors during the copyediting stage.

Article Types and Word Lengths

Note: Word lengths is all text in the main body of the paper, including words and numbers in all tables, graphs, and endnotes, but not references. There is a separate word allocation for the title (up to 10 words), for the abstract (up to 150 words), for the bio data (up to 75 words for each author), and for any appendices (no more than one-third the length of the paper as a rule of thumb).

Group 1: Papers, Workshops, and Poster Presentations

• 2,500 - 4,000 words

• Directly related to the presentation topic. 

  • You can use a different title for your manuscript than your presentation title, as long as the topic is the same.

• Include a combination of classroom practice, theory, and research. 

  • Not all papers must be research-based. They can be solely theoretical or practical as well.

• If there are multiple authors, everyone must contribute equally. 

  • If there are multiple presenters, any presenter who does not wish to write the article is exempt. They will not have their name listed as a coauthor.

Group 2: Colloquia, Forums, and Plenary Sessions

• 2,500 - 5,000 words

• 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 listed as coauthors are expected to participate equally in the drafting and editing of the paper.

Manuscript Guidelines

JALT uses the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition, as a style guide. Consult the sample documents available from links above or last year’ issue of the Postconference Publication for examples of layout and referencing in JALT Publications.

1. Start the manuscript with: Title, Author, Affiliation (use separate lines for each writer), Abstract (English), and Abstract (Japanese and/or other languages).

2. Use a common 12-point font throughout, except within tables where smaller font sizes may be necessary. Use 1.5x line spacing.

3. Remove all page headers and footers.

4. Do not use footnotes. Endnotes can be included immediately after the main text, but should be kept to a minimum.

5. The whole manuscript should be left aligned—including titles, headers, and reference list—with a ragged right edge.

6. Paragraphs are indented except when immediately following headings. 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!

7. Allow one blank line (double return) between the preceding paragraph and a new header.

8. Level 1 headers should be in bold, level 2 headers in bold italic, and level 3 headers in plain italic. Headers should be left aligned and not numbered.

9. Use only ONE space between sentences.

10. If you are using Excel graphs or figures, include the original file with your submission as well as inserting it in your paper (or clearly identifying where it is to be placed).

11. Likewise, any graphics must also be included as separate files in TIFF, PICT, GIF, or JPEG format with your submission (for other file formats, contact the editors first).

12. 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.

    • Do NOT use Excel for tables. Use the table feature of your word-processing program.

13. If the paper makes use of data gathered from human subjects, the author needs to have obtained informed consent and institutional clearance. This must be explicitly stated in the paper.

14. All material from outside sources must be properly cited. Plagiarism and self-plagiarism will result in automatic rejection of the paper and may result in authors being banned from submitting papers to JALT Publications in future.

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 must be sent to the editors in order for the paper to be accepted.

16. Reference lists should be formatted according to APA 7th edition (see last year’s issue of the Postconference Publication or the model text for examples) except that the left margin should be straight (the indents will be added later). 

    • Do not use underlining for titles. Use italics and plain text only. 

    • Use one carriage return only at the end of each reference, not within the reference. 

    • Please note that some citation management software tools are not always reliable and reference lists can be incorrectly formatted by them. It is the authors’ responsibility to check the formatting of the reference list. 

    • Authors must add digital object identifiers (DOIs) to all references that have them. See the style guide for examples.

17. Save your manuscript file in either doc, docx (recommended), or rtf (Rich Text Format) format. Do not submit your manuscript as a PDF.

Advice Regarding Submissions

The Postconference Publication 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, details, or both. Ask peer readers to check whether everything is sufficiently clear and elaborated in the text.

• Give papers a clear sense of voice: That is, write in a direct and personalized style, where the imagined reader is an interested, but critically minded teacher.

• Ensure a clear and concise abstract. State the type of article in the abstract. For example, the paper is a research paper, a pilot study, a forum, or practical teaching ideas for teachers.

Selection

The editors will select papers from a variety of content areas to create a balance in the Postconference Publication. Because of the time involved in publishing the Postconference Publication, the editors do 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. If you are submitting an adapted version of a previously published paper, you will need to obtain permission to reprint from the publisher of the original. A copy of the written permission should be included as a supplementary file when you submit the paper. In such cases, add a citation notice such as “This paper is an adaptation of a paper that first appeared in . . . ” Failure to make a citation to one’s own work that has been published elsewhere will be regarded as self-plagiarism and result in the rejection of the paper.