Author Guidelines

Purpose

The Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal, CALJ, is mainly concerned with disseminating research articles, pedagogical innovations, and theoretical reviews relevant to the field of applied linguistics and language education. The editorial team is interested in participating in an academic dialog with the existing national, Latinamerican and global academic community about the issues related to language teacher education. 

Selection Process

In order to guarantee a high quality process of selection and publication, the manuscripts received by the CALJ editor pass through a revision process prior to being approved. Once a manuscript is received the assistant to the editor does a first technical revision of the document. On the second stage, all manuscripts we receive are verified through Turnitin. It provides a service to determine the originality of texts based on comparisons with their internal database and net-wide searches. Next, the articles that pass the preliminary evaluation are sent for content evaluation to the members of the editorial committee. With the concept from the editorial committee, the editor assigns two external evaluators following a blind review process. The articles that are not ready to be sent to evaluators are returned to the authors for revisions until it fulfills the requirements to proceed to assign evaluators.

All the articles go through the double-blind review process. The evaluation can take from one to two months depending on the time availability of the experts. In cases when there is a disagreement in the concepts provided by the two evaluators a third internal or external evaluator is required to provide an evaluative concept.

The evaluators are invited to evaluate the manuscripts and they receive a copy of the article and a copy of the evaluation format. Once we receive the two concepts from the evaluators we contact the author and inform about the results of the evaluation. In the case the article requires minor revisions to its content as suggested by the evaluators the author(s) are given 2 weeks to do so. The articles requiring major modifications are given one to two months to be re-submitted. On the contrary, when the article is not accepted, the assistant also informs the author immediately of the results of the evaluation. Regularly, from the moment a manuscript is received to the moment the authors are informed about the acceptance or rejection of a manuscript the process can take from 6 to 8 months. Finally, the process of evaluation, revision, acceptance, and preparation for publication regularly take 1 year. 

In order to be accepted for publication in CALJ, contributions should:

• Be original and interesting concerning the subject, methodology, and conclusions
• Be relevant to current research and theoretical implications
• Include knowledge of previous research in the same field
• Be scientifically rigorous and have great depth of analysis
• Be accurate in the use of concepts and terminology
• Have correct formatting, style and organization according to APA style
• Be well-written with sophistication and conciseness
• Be without bias or prejudice

Types of Articles

• Research Articles: A document that details the original results of research projects. The structure of this type of article typically contains the following sections: title, abstract, key words, introduction, theoretical framework, methodology, analysis and discussion of results, conclusions, and references. Authors are encouraged to include graphic aides.
• Reflections on Praxis/ Pedagogical Innovations: A document that shows research results on a specific topic from the author’s analytical, interpretative, or critical perspective that presents an innovation with pedagogical implications. This type of article may include: theoretical considerations, pedagogical context, findings, discussion, context, etc. Authors are encouraged to include graphic aids. It should contain original sources.
• Theme Reviews: A document resulting from a critical revision of literature related to a specific topic. This kind of article is derived from research in which published or non-published research results in a scientific field are analyzed, systematized, and integrated in order to inform readers of the latest tendencies and developments.
• Pedagogical Innovations: This document focuses on the pedagogical core of the teaching profession, namely the pedagogical knowledge base of teachers. In this category, the authors are expected to include a solid justification, a description of the processes followed in a given educational setting, samples of a pedagogical intervention in specific teaching fields of such processes, results of the experiences and conclusions. The authors are also expected to support their manuscript with theoretical and/or research studies and to present analytical perspectives.
• Teaching Issues: A document that identifies and arranges profiles in relation to two connected areas of professional teacher practices: classroom teaching practices and participation in professional learning communities. It compares these profiles across different educational systems, examines evidence and links to inputs and processes.
• Book Review: Critical, analytical review, should provide some context for the work under consideration. This doesn’t have to be extensive, not more than 2000 words, but should answer basic questions an informed reader. Always be specific. Provide evidence to back up your opinions.

Form and Style

• We recommend that you download the guide, which contains a formatted template including the instructions mentioned here. 
• General information: Includes the title and a footnote where the author indicates whether the article is base don an original research or a tesis. If it stems from a research project, the title of the project should be included, as well as the sponsor, the code number of the project or the contract number. It should also include the name, institutional affiliation and e-mail address of each author (in separate footnotes for each author).
• Abstract: The abstract should be between 150 and 200 words. Abstracts must clearly show the problem or issue under study, the theoretical perspective(s) under which the problem is examined, the methodology employed, and, finally, results and conclusions.
• Key words: List four to six key words for the article. Write “Keywords:” in italics at the end of your abstract. Do not bold.
• Scientific articles regularly include four main sections: Introduction (it includes the description of the problem and the theoretical support to the study), Methodology, Results, Discussion of Results and Conclusions.
• Graphic Aids: Authors are highly encouraged to submit graphic aides with their articles. Graphic aides could include tables, diagrams, appendixes, illustrations, etc. that help the reader better understand the article. They should include the corresponding reference citations.
• In addition to appearing in the body of the text, graphic aides should be submitted as separate files, according to the following:
• If the body of the text contains statistical charts: original editable files that support these charts with .xls or. xlsx extensions.
• If the body of the text contains other graphics such as photographs, maps, diagrams: original files with .jpg or .tiff extensions. The optimal resolution of these elements must be 1536 x 1024 pixels or 300 dpi to guarantee quality of the printed and digital media. Otherwise, they should be changed or removed.
• In no case should tables be inserted as images; they must be created with a word processor as they need to be editable.
• Each graphic aide should be clearly labeled with number and caption. They should be numbered Figure 1, Figure 2, Table 1, Table 2, etc. Graphics may be modified or left out by the decision of the editor, according to the needs of the publication. Any changes will be discussed with the author before publication. 
• Length: Articles should be between 4,000 and 8,000 words (including the abstract, footnotes, references, tables, figures, appendixes and all other matter). The length of the manuscript should not exceed 8,000 words.
• Software Requirements: All articles should be submitted in a Microsoft Word operating system, including Word 93-2007, Vista, or Windows 7.
• Languages published: Papers are received in formal academic English or Spanish. Linguistic expressions from other cultural groups (i.e., Spanglish, slang, Cockney, Afro-American, Quechua, etc.) are welcome as samples and objects of research.
• Bio-data and anonymity: In all cases, contributors are kindly asked to refrain from writing their names and professional affiliation in the body of their articles.
• Permission and Consent: If the article contains extracts from other works, especially figures, tables, etc., please contact the authors and publishers (the holders of the copyright) before submitting the final version to seek permission to use their work. By submitting the article, authors warrant that they have obtained permission from the copyright holder to reproduce (in any printed or electronic format) material not written by the author and that the author has acknowledged the source. If primary data is to be included, research participants should have signed a consent form.
• Submissions: The submission should be broken into two types of files: the article and any graphic aids. All articles must be submitted through the Open Journal System, http://revistas.udistrital.edu.co/ojs/index.php/calj/login.
• Waiver: Every article shall be subject to the review of the editorial committee. The editor reserves the right to make formal modifications to articles throughout the editing process.
• Contact: Communicate with the journal at caljournal.ud@correo.udistrital.edu.co

Format

• Please follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), Sixth Edition, 2010, for appropriate format. You might find the following links useful:
  • APA Style Guide: http://www.apastyle.org/apa-style-help.aspx
  • APA Formatting and Style Guide: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/1/
  • APA Paper sample: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/18/
• Font: Times New Roman, 12 points. Double space the entire document. Spaces between words or after full periods and colons should be a single space.
• Title: Use lower case, capitalize only the first letter of every word except prepositions, may use up to two lines.
• Headings: No more than two levels of heading below the title. Headings should not be numbered. The first level heading is bold, lowercase except for the first letter of every word. A second level heading is italics, also lowercase except for the first letter of every word.
• Paragraphs: Do not use a hard return at the end of a line in running text except at the end of a paragraph.
• Page breaks: Do not insert page breaks in the text. Do not insert extra spacing to avoid widows or orphans. Page breaks will be different in the typeset proofs. Turn Hyphenation off.
• Proofread and spell check your work when you have finished, including the reference list. Please make sure the references follow APA style. Make a back-up of all your work. If you detect any virus on your machine, please inform all your CALJ contacts immediately.
• Footnotes: These should be kept to an absolute minimum. Citations should appear within the text, not in footnotes.
• In-text references: These should appear in the body of the article, not in footnotes, giving the author's last name followed by the year and page number where relevant. Use double quotation marks for quoted material. Any quotation that runs for more than 40 words should be set off from the main paragraph and does not need quotation marks. Refer to APA for more information. 

Documentation of Sources

Please follow APA guidelines Sixth Edition for appropriate documentation of sources in your paper and for your reference list. You might find the following links useful:

• APA Reference List: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/05/
• APA In-Text Citations: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/

The following are examples of how to list book, chapter in a book, article, government document, article in proceedings, article from an online periodical, etc, in the reference list.

Book

Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal publication. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Chapter in book

O'Neil, J. M., & Egan, J. (1992). Men's and women's gender role journeys: A metaphor for healing, transition, and transformation. In B. R. Wainrib (Ed.), Gender issues across the life cycle (pp. 107-123). New York, NY: Springer.

Article in Journal

Harlow, H. F. (1983). Fundamentals for preparing psychology journal articles. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 55, 893-896.

Government document

National Institute of Mental Health. (1990). Clinical training in serious mental illness

(DHHS Publication No. ADM 90-1679). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Conference Proceedings

Schnase, J. L., & Cunnius, E. L. (Eds.). (1995). Proceedings from CSCL '95: The First International Conference on Computer Support for Collaborative Learning. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Article from an Online Periodical

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Online Periodical, volume number(issue number if available). Retrieved from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/