Submissions

Author Guidelines

What does LD&C publish?
LD&C publishes original research on all topics related to language documentation and conservation, including, but not limited to: the goals of language documentation, speech community collaboration, data management, fieldwork methods and methodologies, ethical issues, orthography design, reference grammar design, lexicography, ethnolinguistic vitality assessment, archiving, language planning, areal survey reports, short field reports, as well as issues related to language maintenance, preservation, revitalization, and reclamation. Articles submitted to LD&C should reference where linguistic data is archived and cite primary data, like example sentences, to allow readers to access the primary records. There is no charge to authors to publish with LD&C.

How do I submit a manuscript?
LD&C uses the Open Submissions system to manage the submission and review of its content. Please go to the following site to create a user account and to upload your submission: https://opensubmissions.org/index.php/LDC/about/submissions

Please be careful to select your role as ‘author’ in your initial registration.

What is the preferred format for submissions?
LD&C accepts manuscripts in electronic form only. Submissions should be formatted using the LD&C Template and submitted as .DOCX files with tables, figures, and examples in place. The content of the template itself also serves as a style guide for the journal. Submissions must be fully anonymized, with author names and acknowledgments redacted from the manuscript text. Document properties, too, should not include author names. Non-anonymized submissions will returned without review. Authors are also expected to include a brief (no more than 200-word) abstract with their submission.

May I submit audio and video files that complement my text?
LD&C welcomes audio and video clips that enhance the quality of a manuscript. Files should be submitted as a single ZIP file, using WAV format for audio and MPEG for video. Should a manuscript be accepted for publication, audio and video files will be made available in ScholarSpace along with the article. File names should reflect the order in which clips are referenced in the article.

What is the review process for articles?
Submissions are first reviewed internally for suitability for the journal. If a submission passes internal review, it is sent for external review. Articles are double-blind peer reviewed by at least two external reviewers.  Although reviewers are asked to adhere to a particular timeline, external review is typically the longest step in the publication process. Once reviews are received, LD&C editors evaluate them and notify authors as to whether their submission has been accepted, needs revisions, or is declined. Revised submissions may or may not be subject to an additional round of peer review. The timeline from submission to notification varies depending on the number of submissions that are being processed at any given time. 

Who holds the copyrights for articles published in LD&C?
The copyrights for all articles published by LD&C are held by their respective authors. All articles published by LD&C are made available through a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 4.0 International License (described in plain English at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and in full legal text at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode). These licenses enable the legal sharing and reuse of cultural, educational, and scientific works.