*excluding abstract, keywords, references, Tables, and captions.

A. If authors have already published a research document (eg, conference paper, working paper, discussion paper, technical report, and so on) prior to submission to the JCALS, the submitted manuscript must:

 1. Have at least 30% new material/content.

2. Discuss the pre-published document and cite it in the manuscript.

3. Inform the editorial team of the pre-publication in any form at the time of submission.

4. Have a new title.

5. Have a new abstract.

6. Have a new theory or a new idea.

7. Include information in the JCALS Authorship Form and the Acknowledgements section that the manuscript is based on a pre-published document, and provide a link to the pre-published document.

B. If authors decide to publish a research document (eg, conference paper, working paper, discussion paper, technical report, and so on) while their work is under review at the JCALS, they need to address the following points:

1. Inform JCALS editorial team of their decision and describe clearly the purpose of pre-publication.

2. Provide the link of pre-publication server (where they want to publish the research document) to the JCALS office.

3. Provide the draft of research document to the JCALS office.

4. Make sure the content of research document is at least 30% different from the manuscript under review at the JCALS.

5. Cite the research document in the JCALS article at the later stages of the peer-review process if the manuscript is not rejected. 

Ethics in Publishing

Please visit our full ethics guidelines in the Publication Ethics page. 

Language (usage and editing services)

All JCALS publications are in English. Authors whose first language is not English should make sure their manuscript is written in standard English before submission. Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). No language and copy-editing services are provided by the JCALS. Hence, authors who feel their manuscript may require editing to eliminate possible grammatical or spelling errors are encouraged to obtain such services prior to submission.

Submission Declaration and Verification

By submitting an article, you ensure that your work has not been published previously, except in the form of a conference abstract or as part of a published lecture or thesis for an academic qualification (please see the Pre-publication Guidelines). This implies that the manuscript is not under consideration for publication elsewhere and its submission is approved by all authors and responsible authorities where the work was carried out. It is highly important that if an acceptance is offered, your work will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other languages, including electronically without the written consent of Gonbad-Kavous University(GKU) as the Publisher. Authors should not submit the same manuscript, in the same or different languages, simultaneously to more than one journal. 

 

Manuscript Submission

Submission to this journal occurs online. Manuscripts submitted via email are not processed. Please read the following instructions carefully and follow them closely to ensure that the review and publication of your article is as efficient and quick as possible. Journal of Critical Applied Linguistics as an international journal only considers the materials submitted in electronic form via the journal's online submission system. The editorial office reserves the rights to return manuscripts that are not in accordance with the JCALS instructions for authors. Once you have prepared your manuscript according to the instructions below, you can then submit your work via our online submission platform.

During the online submission process, authors are asked to provide:

1) Manuscript Type: please see the details from here

2) Manuscript Title: authors need to insert the main and running title

3) Journal section: 

4) Abstract: please see the details from here  

5) Keywords: please see the details from here  

6) Related Subjects: authors need to insert the related subject

7) Additional Comments: authors can mention any concern or issue that editorial office need to know in this section

8) Suggested Reviewers: authors can provide the names and email addresses of potential reviewers. Please note that the editors retain the right to decide whether or not the suggested reviewers are invited

9) Attach Files: authors MUST upload the following four mandatory files and forms:

          a) Title Page: please find details from here

          b) Main Manuscript: please find details from here 

          c) Authorship Form: please find details from here

          d) Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form: please find details from here

Note: uploading the supplementary files (eg, excel sheets) are optional. Please find the details from here.

10) Cover Letter & Checklist: uploading cover letter is optional

11) Finish Submission: authors need to review the submission before clicking the submit button.

All manuscripts submitted to the JCALS are checked by the editorial office for conformance to the JCALS instructions. Non-conforming manuscripts are returned to authors.  

Please find the JCALS Submission Tutorial from here. 

Title Page

The title page should include:

1. Manuscript Type: please find details from here

2. Manuscript Title: please use initial upper case

3. Authors’ Information: please add the authors’ information according to the Authorship Form (find it from here).

4. Disclaimers

5. Source(s) of Support:  Authors are requested to clearly identify sources who provided financial support for the conduct of research and/or preparation of the manuscript. Authors have to briefly describe the role of the funder/sponsor in any part of the work including design and conduct of the study, data collection, data management, data analysis and interpretation, preparation, review and approval of the manuscript. The following rules should be followed:  

      - The sentence should begin with: ‘This work was supported by …’.

      - The full official funding agency name should be given, i.e. ‘the Linguistics Society of Iran’ not ‘LSI'. 

      - Grant numbers should be complete and accurate and provided in brackets as follows: ‘[grant number ABX CDXXXXXX]’

      - Multiple grant numbers should be separated by a comma as follows: ‘[grant numbers ABX CDXXXXXX, EFX GHXXXXXX]’

      - Agencies should be separated by a semi-colon (plus ‘and’ before the last funding agency)

6. Word Count: Please see the details in Table.

7. Disclosure of Relationships and Activities: This form must be completed by the corresponding author only. Please report the authors' relationships/activities/interests based on the instruction provided on form and upload it once you submit the manuscript.

8. Ethical Issues: Please identify the ethics committee/board that has approved the research. If the manuscript is Original Article or Short Communication this field should be filled.

9. Acknowledgements

10. Authors’ Contributions

You can submit your title page using the Sample Word Template provided here. 

Important Note: While submitting your manuscript please bear in mind to upload the Authorship From.  This form must be completed by the corresponding author and signed digitally by all authors. Please find the instructions below:

 

Authorship

All contributing authors should qualify for authorship. The order of authorship should be a joint decision of the co-authors. Sufficient participation in the work is of utmost importance. Authorship credit should be based on substantial contribution to conception and design, execution, or analysis and interpretation of data. All authors should be involved in drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content, must have read and approved the final version of the manuscript and approve of its submission to the JCALS. Any change in authorship following initial submission would have to be agreed by all authors as would any change in the order of authors.

Important Note: The Authorship Form (please find it from here) should be signed digitally by ALL AUTHORS.

 

Changes to authorship

This statement concerns the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship of submitted manuscripts as described below:

During the peer-review process if any change/s in the authorship is requited, the corresponding author should send a request to add or remove an author, or to rearrange the author names of the submitted manuscript. The corresponding author must include: (a) the reason the name should be added or removed, or the author names rearranged and (b) a signed JCALS Change to Authorship Form by all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. Requests that are not sent by the corresponding author will be forwarded by the Journal Managing Editor to the corresponding author, who must follow the procedure as described above. No authorship change is allowed after acceptance and publication of the manuscript. 

 

Multiple First and Corresponding Authors

Authors are allowed to designate maximum two first authors or two corresponding authors. In such cases, the lead corresponding author has to justify the reason. Please find more details below:

 

Co-first Author

If two first authors have equal contribution, authors can be indicated the joint first authors by using ¶ symbol with the caption ‘Both authors contributed equally to this paper’ immediately under the address list in the Title Page. More than two first authors are not allowed. Authors have to decide on the order of the two first authors (e.g. alphabetically).

Please see the sample Title Page from here. 

Co-Corresponding Author

If two co-authors have equal contribution, authors can be indicated the co-corresponding authors by using * symbol with the caption ‘Both authors contributed equally to this paper’ immediately under the address list in the Title Page and provide the email and full address of both. More than two corresponding authors are not allowed. Only one of the corresponding authors, who is designated at the time of submission as the lead corresponding author, should accept the contact responsibility. The Disclosure Form should be completed by the lead corresponding author.

Please see the sample Title Page from here.  

Main Manuscript

 

File Format

Acceptable manuscripts' file formats include Microsoft Word and WordPerfect. Please do not submit your manuscripts in PDF format.

 

Text Style

Use A4 size. Text should be left-justified. Use 12-point font size. Use preferably Times and New Romans font. Use 1.5 line spacing. Use line and page number. Use Initial Upper Case for Title, Headings and Subheadings, Keywords. Make the titles, headings and subheadings bold or use different colour. Use footnote at the end of manuscript before references (no footnote for each page). Make the files anonymous; please find the guide for Office below:

Open your word file-- Clink on “File” button—“Check for Issues” section-- Select “Inspect Document”-- Click on “Inspect” button-- Click “Remove All” next to Document Properties and Personal Information-- Finally save the changes.

 

Main Manuscript Sections

The manuscript should follow through these sections: Abstract, Key Messages (only for Original Articles), Keywords, Background, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, and References. However, it may be appropriate to combine the discussion and conclusion sections in some articles. Tables and Figures should be inserted within the text as close as possible to where they are referenced. Authors should not upload them as separate files. Please add page numbers and line numbers for your manuscript.

 

- Abstract

Include a structured abstract of no more than 300 words for original articles and reviews. The abstract should state briefly and clearly the purpose and setting of the research, the principal findings and major conclusions, and the article's contribution to knowledge. Abstracts should be prepared in JCALS style including background, methods, results, and conclusion. For other manuscript types (see Table), include an unstructured abstract of no more than 250 words that summarizes the objectives and background, main points and conclusions of the article. Abstracts are not required for correspondence and letters to editor. 

 

- Key Messages (only for Original Articles)

In line with the knowledge translation activities of the JCALS, authors of original articles MUST include the following two sections after abstract: 

1. Implications for practitioners

 

- Keywords

Authors need to add up to 6 keywords separately into the online system during submission, and should accurately reflect the content of the article. Abbreviations/acronyms could be used with their expansions. The keywords will be used for indexing purposes. 

Please prepare the keywords according to the following instructions:

• 3-6 Keywords (single or phrases with no more than 3 words)
• Contain words and phrases that suggest what the topic is about
• Use variants terms or phrases that readers are likely to use
• If the article focuses on a particular region (context), use that as a keyword
• Use specific phenomena or issues as keywords

You can submit your Original Article using the Sample Word Template provided here. 

 

- Formulas 

• Equations must be typed only in MathType.
• Graphical objects should not be used.
• Your equations should be editable.
• If you have used built-in equation editing tool in Microsoft Word, the equations will become unusable during the typesetting process. To resolve this problem, please re-key your equations using MathType.
• Long equations should be set off from the text and numbered sequentially.
• If you cannot avoid using many equations or schemes, you can collect them in a table of equations and shot them as a framed figure to avoid typesetting errors.   

 

- Tables 

• Should be cited in numerical order upon their first mention.
• Should be prepared left to right and cell-based (i.e., created in Word with the Tables tool).
• Table number and caption always appear above the table. Leave 2 line spaces between the table and the caption.

 

• Should be editable and upright on the page, not on sideways.
• Should be prepared with real rows and columns and not aligned with tabs, returns, or spaces.
• Multi-part tables with varying numbers of columns or multiple footnotes should be organized as separate tables.
• Should be plain with NO colors, shading, or graphics.
• Should not contain inserted text boxes, tables within tables or cells within cells.
• Symbols and abbreviations should be defined immediately below the table, followed by essential brief description.
• All tables should be inserted within the text as close as possible to where they are referenced. Authors should not upload them as separate files. 

 

- Figures/illustrations 

• All figures/images must be cited within the main text in numerical order.
• All figures/images must be centered. Figure number and legend always appear below the figure. Leave 2 line spaces between the figure and the legend.
• Figures must be prepared in one of the following formats: Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) for photography or microscopy, Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) for illustrations or diagrams, Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), EPS, or PS. Files prepared with Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw or Adobe Photoshop should be uploaded in these native file formats.
• All digitized images must be of high quality; that is, resolutions of at least 300 dpi for color figures, 600 dpi for greyscales and 1200 dpi for line arts.
• Histograms should be prepared in a simple, two-dimensional format, with no background grid.
• Make sure that any specific patient/hospital details are removed or blacked out (e.g., X-rays, MRI scans, etc).
• If photographs of patients are used, they should not be identifiable. However, do not use a black bar to obscure a patient’s identity.
• Original data from which the images were prepared should be available, as the editors may request to see these data (e.g., Office, SPSS and other line art images).
• Lettering in figures (e.g., labeling of axes) should be in lower-case type, with the first letter capitalized and no full stop. All text should be in a sans-serif typeface, preferably Arial with size 8 pt.
• Avoid using the touch-up tools, such as cloning and healing tools in Photoshop, or any feature that deliberately obscures manipulations.
• Graphics downloaded from Web pages should not be used.
• Please remember that vector drawing data is absent from these files: png, jpeg, tiff, or bmp. Subsequently resaving any of these files as a PDF or EPS will not produce a vector drawing in these files. Please supply the original EPS, Ai, or PDF file versions of artwork.
• Figures/images should be inserted within the text as close as possible to where they are referenced. Authors should not upload them as separate files.

  

- References  

• Arrange references as a simple list at the end of your manuscript based on our EndNote and Mendeley style which is downloadable through JCALS EndNote Style and JCALS Mendeley Style.
• Authors are responsible for the accuracy of cited references and these should be checked before the manuscript is submitted.
• Only one publication can be listed for each number.
• Published conference abstracts, numbered patents and preprints on recognized servers may be included in reference lists, but grant details and acknowledgements may not be cited in the text.
• Cite references in the text, tables, or figures in consecutively numerical order by means of superscript Arabic numerals. It is acceptable for a reference to be cited only in a table or a figure legend and not in the text if it is in sequence with references cited in text.
• Use Arabic superscript numerals outside periods and commas, inside colons and semicolons.
• Two references are cited with a comma and no space. Three or more consecutive references are cited in a range with dashes.
• References in tables, figures, and panels should be in numerical order according to where the item is cited in the text.
• Please note that if references are not cited in order the manuscript may be returned for amendment before it is passed on to the Editor for assessment.
• Only articles published or in press should be included in the reference list. Personal communications or unpublished data must be cited in parentheses in the text with the name(s) of the source(s) and the year. Authors should request permission from the source to cite unpublished data.  
• Please do not use footnotes or endnotes as a substitute for a reference list.
• In reference list: List the surnames and initials of first names of all authors if there are 6 or fewer; otherwise list the first 3 and add ‘et al.’ Use one space only between words up to the year and then no spaces. The journal title should be in italic and abbreviated according to the style of PubMed. If the journal is not listed in PubMed, then it should be written out in full. Check journal abbreviations using PubMed.

 

NOTE: JCALS follows APA style (Publication Manual of American Psychology Association, the 6th edition, 2010). 

In-text Citations
Citations in the text should follow the referencing style used by the American Psychological Association. You are referred to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition. References should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must be identified by the letters 'a', 'b', 'c', etc., placed after the year of publication.

References
Examples
Reference to a journal publication:
Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J. A. J., & Lupton, R. A. (2010). The art of writing a scientific article. Journal of Scientific Communications, 63 (1), 51–59.
Reference to a book:
Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (2000). The elements of style. (4th ed.). New York: Longman.
Reference to a chapter in an edited book:
Mettam, G. R., & Adams, L. B. (2009). How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In B. S. Jones, & R. Z. Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the Electronic Age (pp. 281–304). New York: E-Publishing Inc.
Reference to a website:
System. An International Journal of Educational Technology and Applied Linguistics. Retrieved from www.elsevier.com Accessed 11 Oct. 2017.

 
- Abbreviations and Symbols
1. Use only standard abbreviations such as ELT, WE, ESL, TESOL.
2. Do not use non-standard abbreviations unless they appear at least 3 times in the text.
3. Avoid abbreviations in the title of the manuscript. 
4. The spelled-out abbreviation followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis should be used upon first appearance in the text unless the abbreviation is a standard unit of measurement.  
5. Keep abbreviations to a minimum.

Supplementary File Guideline
Authors should provide the Supplementary Information (SI) as supplementary files once they submit the main manuscript. Authors are not allowed to change the content of supplementary files following acceptance. The supplementary files will be published exactly as they are received from the authors without any editing or reformatting. JCALS does not take responsibility for any information provided in the supplementary files. Please prepare the supplementary files based on the following instructions:
- Content
Each supplementary file should include:
1. Article title
2. Journal name
3. Authors information including author names, affiliation, and email address of the corresponding author.
4. Main content such as tables, figures, description method.
5. We suggest not adding references to the supplementary files since we do not activate the links and they are not counted as citation. However, if you need to insert the references within the supplementary file, they should be cited in order following the references in the main text as per JCALS style. Please find the JCALS style for references from here.
6. Please insert page number for all supplementary files.
- Numbering
1. Please use separate numbering system for tables and figures eg, Table S1, Table S2.
2. Please cite all supplementary files’ material in the main manuscript based on the numbering order.
- Captions
Please provide a concise, descriptive caption for each supplementary material eg, Tables and Figures.
- Format
1. Please choose an appropriate title (precise and concise) for each supplementary file eg, Supplementary File 1. Search Strategy.
2. We accept .pdf, .doc, .xls and .ppt formats.
- Size
Please decrease the files’ size as small as possible so that they can be downloaded easily.
 
Please see the sample Supplementary File from here.  

 
How to Submit the Revision
The corresponding author should submit the revisions via the JCALS portal according to the following instruction: 
Please go to your profile (Author section)--"Submissions Needing Revision" section--Click on your manuscript ID--Upload the correct version and delete any old versions (you can change all information eg, title, abstract, etc.)--and push the "submit" button. 
Please Do NOT start a New Submission and Do NOT send the revisions via email. 

Proofs
Corresponding author will be sent page proofs (as PDF files) by email. These should be checked immediately and corrections, as well as answers to any queries, returned to the journal as an annotated PDF via email within 3-5 working days (further details are supplied with the proof). It is the author's responsibility to check proofs thoroughly. You will need to download Adobe Reader version 11 available free from Adobe or Foxit Reader. 
We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately. Therefore, it is important to ensure that all of your corrections are sent back to us in one communication. Please note that rephrasing sentences, additions, or omissions are not allowed at the proof stage.
Important Note: Authors should approve the PDF proof and provide us with the corrections in due time. Not meeting the deadline and a long delay to respond could lead to withdraw of the manuscript at this stage. Please note that NO further edits/corrections are accepted after publication. Authors MUST check the PDF proof very carefully.

Video Summary Guideline (not part of submission process)
As another JCALS knowledge translation activity, we invite authors of selected publications to prepare a video summary of their articles to be published on the JCALS YouTube Channel.
Note: Video summary is not part of submission process. Only after publication, editors select some articles and invite authors for a video summary, which is optional and authors can decline the invitation.
Our video summaries present the summary of our recently published articles, filmed by articles’ authors. By video summaries we aim to help both academics and non-academics to scan the literature promptly and understand quickly the key themes of an article without going through pages of an article. We hope that our video summaries will help our articles to be more visible, reachable, and discoverable. We also hope to provide a personalized forum for our authors to simply convey their article messages to the JCALS global readership. 
To prepare video please kindly consider the following points:

• The length of video should be maximum 4 minutes.
• The video should present the summery of article.
• The authors are encouraged to use images, animations, and slides to increase visibility of their videos.
• The speaker should seat at the center of the frame.
• The camera or the smart phone must be at the same level as the speaker, not higher or lower.
• The space at both top and bottom of the screen should be 20 cm.
• The speaker should leave enough pauses (5-6 seconds) before starting and after finishing the talk.
• To avoid camera shake, we recommend using a tripod.
• The speaker should not seat in a place with a window at the background; we recommended seating in a place with a wall at the background.
• The speaker should keep the noise down at the time of recording.
• We recommend using the MP4 format.
• We recommend a landscape mode with the frame size of 1280*720 pixels
• JCALS Copyright Statement is applied for the use and distribution of video summaries. 

 
How to share the video with JCALS :

• Authors can upload the video in Dropbox and share the link with us via ... .
• Once we receive your video, it will be checked and if there is no technical problem, we will edit and then publish it on the JCALS YouTube channel and also our videocast page.

You can watch our published videos by visiting JCALS YouTube Channel and also by clicking here. 

Additional Resources
Pleases download the additional resources for further consideration. These include:
Authorship Form
Change Authorship Form
JCALS EndNote Style
JCALS Mendeley Style
Title Page Word Template
Original Article Word Template

Author Enquiries
For inquiries relating to the submission of articles please contact the editorial office at: 
E-mail: ... or ...

Phone: +98-17-33263664
You can also follow us on: 
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