Guides for authors

Getting Started

Interested in submitting to this journal? We recommend that you first review the About the Journal page for the journal's scope and section policies, as well as these Author Guidelines. Authors must register with the journal prior to submitting. If already registered, simply log in and begin the submission process.

Submission Checklist

Before submitting, please ensure you have prepared all of the following items. All forms must be downloaded, completed, signed, and uploaded together with your manuscript.

Manuscript files

  1. Main manuscript (anonymous) — with all author names, affiliations, ORCID iDs, acknowledgements, and any other identifying information removed. This file will be sent to peer reviewers.
  2. Title page (with author information) — including all authors' names, full institutional affiliations (institution, city, country), ORCID iDs, author biographies, and the corresponding author's email address.

Required forms 3. Cover Letter 4. Conflicts of Interest Statement 5. Research Ethics Declaration (required if study involves human participants) 6. Informed Consent Form (required if study involves human participants)

Template 7. IJLI Manuscript Template

Note: The Conflicts of Interest Statement is required for all submissions regardless of study type. The Research Ethics Declaration and Informed Consent Form are required for all studies involving primary data collection from human participants (e.g., classroom observation, surveys, interviews, language assessments). Studies based on published texts, corpus data, or publicly available data are typically exempt — please state this in your Cover Letter.

Manuscript Preparation

Language and Style

Manuscripts must be written in clear academic English. Authors whose first language is not English are strongly encouraged to have their manuscript reviewed by a proficient English speaker or a professional editing service prior to submission.

Length

Full manuscripts should be between 6,000 and 8,000 words, inclusive of references, tables, and figures.

Formatting and Citation Style

IJLI follows APA 7th edition for all citations and references. Authors may use reference management tools such as Zotero, Mendeley, or Google Scholar to manage citations. All manuscripts must be formatted using the IJLI Manuscript Template.

Submission Files

All submissions must include two separate manuscript files:

  • File 1 — Anonymous manuscript: Remove all author names, affiliations, ORCID iDs, acknowledgements, author biographies, and any other identifying information. This file will be sent to peer reviewers.
  • File 2 — Title page with author information: Include the article title, all authors' names, full institutional affiliations (institution, city, country), ORCID iDs, author biographies, and the corresponding author's email address.

Plagiarism

All submitted manuscripts are screened using Turnitin. Only manuscripts with a similarity index below 20% will be considered for review. Manuscripts found to involve plagiarism will be immediately rejected. For full details, see Ethics and Malpractice.

After Peer Review

After receiving reviewers' comments, authors must submit their revised manuscript together with a completed Revision Form, documenting how each reviewer comment has been addressed. Submissions of revised manuscripts without a completed Revision Form will not be processed.

Download Revision Form

Authorship

Authorship Criteria

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made a substantial contribution to the work. All named authors must have:

  1. Made substantial contributions to the conception, design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation of the study;
  2. Drafted the manuscript or critically revised it for important intellectual content;
  3. Approved the final version to be published; and
  4. Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work, including the accuracy and integrity of any part of the study.

Contributors who do not meet all four criteria should be acknowledged in an Acknowledgements section rather than listed as authors.

Author Identification and ORCID

All authors are required to include a valid ORCID iD at the time of submission. Manuscripts submitted without a valid ORCID iD for all named authors will not be processed. ORCID iDs provide a persistent, verifiable digital identifier that unambiguously links each author to their published work, enabling readers, reviewers, and indexing bodies to independently verify authors' publication records and disciplinary expertise. Authors who do not yet have an ORCID iD must register for one free of charge at orcid.org before submitting. The ORCID iD for each author must be included on the title page.

Author Biography

All manuscripts must include a brief Author Biography section on the title page, providing a short professional profile for each named author. Each biography should be 2–4 sentences in length and must include: the author's current institutional affiliation (institution, city, and country); their primary research interests and areas of expertise; and a note of relevant publications or scholarly activities that demonstrate active participation in the language instruction and/or applied linguistics research community.

The Author Biography section must appear in the title page file only and must be removed from the anonymous manuscript file submitted for peer review.

Affiliation

The primary affiliation listed for each author should be the institution where the majority of their work was conducted. Affiliations must include the full institution name, city, and country. Affiliations will not be updated after publication.

Role of the Corresponding Author

One author must be designated as the Corresponding Author, who acts on behalf of all co-authors and takes responsibility for communication with the journal. The Corresponding Author is responsible for:

  1. Ensuring all listed authors have approved the final manuscript prior to submission, including the author list and order;
  2. Managing all correspondence between the journal and co-authors, both before and after publication;
  3. Disclosing any re-use of previously published material and noting any unpublished manuscripts referenced, in the cover letter;
  4. Ensuring that all required disclosures, declarations, and data transparency statements are included in the manuscript.

Authorship Disputes

In the case of an authorship dispute during peer review or after publication, the journal will not be in a position to investigate or adjudicate. Authors will be asked to resolve the dispute among themselves. If resolution cannot be reached, the journal reserves the right to withdraw the manuscript from the editorial process or, in the case of a published article, to refer the matter to the authors' institutions.

Ethical Standards for Research

IJLI is committed to the highest standards of research integrity. All research published in this journal must have been designed and conducted in accordance with applicable ethical guidelines for language instruction and educational research.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

Authors must include a section entitled "Compliance with Ethical Standards" in their manuscript addressing the following, as applicable:

  • Conflicts of Interest: Disclose any financial or non-financial interests that could be perceived as influencing the research. If none, state: "The authors declare no conflict of interest."
  • Funding: Disclose all sources of funding. If none, state: "This research received no external funding."
  • Ethics Approval: For studies involving human participants, state the name of the approving ethics committee/IRB and the approval reference number. Where formal ethics review was not required, state the basis for exemption.
  • Informed Consent: Confirm that informed consent (or assent, for minor participants) was obtained from all participants prior to data collection.
  • Author Contributions: Describe each named author's specific role using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) framework.

Research Involving Human Participants

Studies involving any form of primary data collection from human participants — including classroom observation, surveys, questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, language assessments, think-aloud protocols, or case studies — must comply with the ethical guidelines for language instruction and educational research established by the authors' institution and/or relevant professional bodies such as the British Educational Research Association (BERA) or the American Educational Research Association (AERA).

Authors conducting such studies must complete and submit:

Studies based entirely on published or publicly available data (e.g., corpus studies, document analysis, literature reviews) are typically exempt. Authors should indicate this in their cover letter.

Research Involving Vulnerable Populations

Studies involving vulnerable populations — including young learners, students with disabilities, learners from marginalized communities, or any participants in settings where power dynamics may affect voluntary participation — require additional ethical care. Authors must describe how they identified and mitigated potential risks to participants, and how confidentiality and anonymity have been protected.

Conflicts of Interest

All authors are required to disclose any interests — financial or non-financial — that are directly or indirectly related to the submitted work. Interests arising within the last three years of beginning the work must be reported.

Download Conflicts of Interest Statement

Data Transparency

All authors are required to ensure that data, materials, and any software or custom code used in their research support their published claims and comply with disciplinary standards. Data should be retained for an appropriate period and made accessible upon reasonable request, except where doing so would compromise participant confidentiality.

Confidentiality

All correspondence between authors and the journal — including communication with Editors-in-Chief, Managing Editors, and reviewer reports — must be treated as strictly confidential and must not be shared without the explicit consent of the relevant parties.

Cover Letter

All submissions must include a cover letter confirming the originality of the work, exclusive submission to IJLI, suitability of all listed authors, and compliance with the journal's ethical standards.

Download Cover Letter

Review Process

IJLI employs a double-blind peer review process. All submitted manuscripts are evaluated by a minimum of two independent expert reviewers. Authors are welcome to review the Review Form to understand the criteria by which manuscripts are evaluated.

Download Review Form

Resources for Authors

The following video resources may assist authors in preparing their manuscripts:

For Librarians

We encourage research librarians to list this journal among their library's electronic journal holdings. This journal's open-source publishing system (OJS/PKP) is also suitable for libraries to host for faculty members involved in journal editing. See Open Journal Systems for more information.

For Readers

We invite readers to sign up for the journal's publishing notification service. Use the Register link at the top of the home page to receive the Table of Contents by email upon the release of each new issue.