Submissions
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Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines.
  • The submission has not been previously published or submitted for consideration by any other journal.
  • The submission file is in Microsoft Word.
  • Whenever possible, URLs and doi are provided for references.
  • The text has double spacing; 12 points (Times New Roman font); italics are used instead of underlining (except in URLs); and all the illustrations, figures and tables are placed in the text in the appropriate place. It is also advisable to upload the figures and tables to the platform separately in jpg or Word format.

Author Guidelines

I. Editorial focus and contributions

I.1.    Ibérica publishes research articles, research notes, interviews and reviews and is aimed at teachers, scholars and researchers interested in modern languages as applied to academic and professional purposes (LSP). Ibérica is an open access journal available twice a year (per semester): April to September (Spring issue) and October to March (Fall issue).

I.2.    Those manuscripts that report original research outcomes pertaining to LSP and further existing studies in this field shall be considered for publication as research articles or research notes. More particularly, manuscripts whose content matches the following criteria: the presentation and analysis of new and empirical data as regards specialised language and the methodology thereof, the putting into practice of new research methods, or the revision and development of specialised language teaching and learning theories. Before starting the submission process, authors should check whether their manuscript meets the following criteria (see list of basic requirements at the end of these guidelines):

1.2.1. The author(s) should present an explicit, systematic analysis of the language or discourse that forms the object of the study. The author(s) should not confine themselves to paraphrasing, summarising or mentioning aspects of this language, but should focus on specific terms, structures or strategies (e.g. lexis, grammar, rhetoric, narrative, argumentation, pragmatics, stylistics, or cognitive and communicative aspects) that are not obvious to the readers of this journal. This analysis should be based on a consistent theoretical framework, explained using the relevant specialised bibliography.

1.2.2. The author(s) should provide a thorough explanation of the real or envisaged social purpose of the research, as well as the theory, model or method proposed. In this context, the journal will give preference to those articles that have broad social implications, and those that have international and/or intra/inter/multi/ transdisciplinary scope.

1.2.3. The author(s) should base their results and conclusions on the analysis of a corpus or dataset that is manageable but representative within a qualitative or quantitative perspective. Ibérica’s statistical advisors will indicate any shortcomings or scope for improvement in the handling of quantitative data, and the reviewers will take their observations into consideration when they make their decisions.

1.2.4. The text should be organised clearly and logically, and should be written in a reader-friendly academic style, avoiding unnecessary jargon, with explanations where needed.

I.3.    Dialogues relevant for academia with an internationally renowned scholar in the field of LSP shall be considered for publication as interviews.

I.4.    Reviews of scholarly publications (research books, textbooks and multimedia software) pertaining to LSP and published no more than two years prior to the potential publication date of the review shall be considered for publication as reviews. Journals or conference proceedings shall not be subject to reviewing. 

I.5.    Ibérica publishes original and unpublished works that conform to these submission guidelines. Those manuscripts that have been submitted wholly or partially for publication in any other type of treatise, be it either printed (journal, book, conference proceedings, etc.), or electronic (online publication, blog, institutional repository, electronic journal, conference proceedings on CD-Rom, etc.) shall not be considered for publication. Likewise, manuscripts that are simultaneously being reviewed by any printed or electronic publication shall not be considered. Authors shall be required to fill in and sign the corresponding sworn statement as guarantee.

I.6.    Ibérica will be inactive from the last week in July to the first week in September inclusive. Manuscripts submitted during this period will not be processed until the second week of September.   

II. Assessment and publication procedure

II.1.   Assessment: Submissions shall be refereed by at least two peer reviewers and a blind review concerning both authors and reviewers shall be guaranteed at all times. All manuscripts shall be reviewed by specialists pertaining to the Editorial Board of the journal and/or ad hoc external reviewers depending on the specific topics addressed in the paper. A list containing the names of the external reviewers and the Editorial Board members that have acted as reviewers throughout the relevant semester shall be published in each volume.

II.2.   Acceptance criteria: In order to be accepted for publication, any work submitted shall be required to have at least two favourable reports. In case of discrepancy, another external reviewer or member of the Editorial Board shall act as a third reviewer and his/her report shall be binding. If a manuscript receives two unfavourable reports, no publication shall apply and no appeals shall be considered.

         Authors shall receive the two compulsory reports in about three months from the editor’s acknowledgement of their submission. This time might be longer if any difficulty arises concerning the availability of specialised reviewers, or if a third review is needed because of report discrepancy or unexpected contingencies. In any case, authors shall be duly informed of any delays in the reviewing process and all reports shall contain detailed assessments supporting the acceptance or non-acceptance of the work submitted.

         If one or both of the reviewers asks for major revisions to be made, this in no sense means that the article has been accepted for publication. 

         Withdrawal of articles once the blind peer review process has started shall be penalised. Authors who withdraw articles during this phase may not submit another article or review to Ibérica for two years. 

II.3.   Further revisions: Authors receiving favourable reports shall be notified of the tentative date of eventual publication and shall be required to implement any modifications suggested by the specialists in their reports and return their revised manuscripts in about a month’s time. Authors shall also have access to their edited papers (pre-prints) as well as to their first proofs so as to ensure the quality of the final publication.  

II.4. Offprints: Offprints are available electronically through Ibérica’s website in pdf format. 

III. General submission criteria

III.1.  Language: Manuscripts shall be submitted in English, and the second abstract may be in Spanish, French, German or Portuguese.

III.2.  Length: Research articles shall not exceed 8,000 words, research notes and interviews shall not exceed 3,000 words, and reviews shall not exceed 1,500 words, including abstracts, notes, appendices, list of references and bionotes.

III.3.  Submission: Authors must submit their articles or reviews on the Ibérica Platform. They will be required to submit

1) the title of their work (in English), full names, professional affiliation and email.

And

2)
• A Word document (which, in the case of articles, should be anonymised so that the author/s cannot be identified) containing the text of their article in English. Authors must follow the instructions presented in this document regarding the format and length of their article or review.

• The title of the article and an abstract of no more than 250 words in English. If the article is accepted, an abstract in Spanish must be provided.

• Five keywords in English.

III.4.  Copy and authorship rights: It is essential that all sources consulted be observed and cited. Should any type of material under the protection of the intellectual property law be reproduced, authors shall be required to demonstrate that they have obtained the corresponding permission from the copyright owners.

         The edition of Ibérica is owned and copyrighted by AELFE and authors keep their rights over their own works. Nevertheless, third parties shall be required to contact the journal editor for reproduction permits or visit URL: http://www. accesoabierto.net/es/node/4 for further information regarding copyright policies and self-archiving.

III.5.  Information for contributors: Ibérica shall promptly acknowledge receipt of submissions via e-mail and commits to keeping contributors informed about the course of their submission along the assessment process and, if appropriate, up to final publication.

         Manuscripts that exceed the maximum word length or fail to follow the style and citation rules stipulated (in the references and/or in the body of the text) will not be submitted for consideration.

IV. Specific editing guidelines for the various sections

IV.1. The guidelines below are of a general nature and applicable to the various sections of the manuscript. Contributors are encouraged to consider former volumes of the journal or address the editor of Ibérica should any further specific queries arise.

IV.2. Title: The title of the article shall be aligned left and in lower case (Times New Roman 14). It shall be written in the language of the article and also in English (or Spanish if the article has been written in English).

IV.3. Authorship: The following line shall contain the name(s) and surname(s) (in this order) of the author(s). Information regarding affiliation(s) shall be provided below the name of the author(s). This information shall be aligned on the left-hand side of the page and written in lower case type (Times New Roman 12). 

IV.4. Abstract and keywords: Research articles and research notes shall be accompanied by an abstract of around 250 words headed “Abstract”.

         The line below shall contain a list of up to 5 keywords, headed “Keywords”. These shall indicate the field or fields of research dealt with by the article – for example, genres, needs analysis, lexis, discourse analysis, syllabus design, etc.

         Both abstract and keywords shall be written in English and also in another language, which may be Spanish, French, German or Portuguese.

IV.5. Main text: The body of the text shall be presented using double spacing, wide margins, pages numbered and typeface Times New Roman 12. Paragraphs shall be initiated without tabulation. It is strongly recommended that the discourse not be divided up into too many short paragraphs nor the work as a whole into too many sections and subsections.

         The headings and subheadings of sections and subsections shall be clear and brief. If sections and subsections are to be numbered, Arabic numerals shall be used.

         The headings of the internal sections of the discourse shall be highlighted by using bold face lower case type and separated from the previous section by way of another double space. A space will be left between the section title and its corresponding text. All subheadings (those introducing a subsection) shall also appear in plain lower case type and a space shall be used to separate them from the previous subsection.

         Terms and expressions shall be highlighted as follows: double inverted commas (“”) shall be preferably used for highlighted terms in the same language as the article; single inverted commas (‘’) shall be used to highlight terms within already quoted expressions; italics shall be used to highlight terms and expressions in a language different from the language of the manuscript; italics shall also be used if the terms to be highlighted are part of a discourse example illustrating the discussion. Within the text itself, highlights using upper case capital letters, bold face, underlining or lower case capital letters (small caps) shall be avoided – with the exception of those appearing as such in literal quotations.

         Latin abbreviations (i.e., e.g., cf., etc.) shall be avoided as far as possible or have a limited use.

         Any lengthy quotes (longer than 3 lines) shall be presented separately from the main body of the text using double indent (1 cm./0.39 in.), no inverted commas and no italics. Shorter quotes shall be framed within double inverted commas and placed in the main text. Each and every literal quotation shall be provided with its full source of origin (author, publication year and page number). In the case of non-literal quotations the reference source shall include author and publication year.

IV.6. Tables and figures: Any tables and figures shall be placed in the text, be consecutively numbered, include a caption (or brief explicative title) below the table or figure, and be directly referred to in the text.

IV.7. Acknowledgements: These shall be placed after the main text and before the reference list. Should authors wish to include information related to research projects or funding, they can do so either in this section or as notes (in such a case the main title of the article shall exhibit a superscript number one for note number one).

IV.8. Bibliographical references in the text: All references quoted in the text shall appear as follows:

         (Kennedy, 2011)

(Berkenkotter & Huckin, 1995)

Skelton (2008, p. 43)

         Quirk et al. (1985, p. 12)

         (Quirk et al., 1985, pp. 12-14)

         (Gotti, 2003; Williams, 2007)

         In case of several works, these shall be ordered in chronological, not alphabetical, order. In case of more than three authors for a particular reference, et al. shall be used in the main text, but all authors shall be fully referenced in the final list. For English-written manuscripts the ampersand (&) shall only be used in the final list of references and also in the main text in the case of bracketed references. Depending on the language of the text, the appropriate conjunction shall be used (y/and/&).

IV.9. Final list of references: All the works referred to throughout the entire text shall be listed in alphabetical order in a section with the heading REFERENCES (in the language of the manuscript). The citation system to adopt is APA (American Psychological Association) 7. This list of references shall be carefully proofread to avoid typos, omissions and inconsistencies with the references in the main text. Works which have not been referenced in the main text shall not be included in this list. Some examples below illustrate the citation format for books, book chapters, journal articles, and contributions to conference proceedings:

Article in print journal

         Ferguson, G. (2009). Issues in researching English as a lingua franca: a conceptual enquiry. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 19, 117-135.

Article in electronic journal

         Skelton, J. & Richards, C. (2021). Communication for Medicine: State of the art. ESP Today. Journal of English for Specific Purposes at Tertiary Level, 9(1), 4-8. https://doi.org/10.18485/esptoday.2021.9.1.1

Book

         Hyland, K. (2005). Metadiscourse: Exploring interaction in writing. Continuum.

Edited Book

         Salager-Meyer, F. & B.A. Lewin (Eds.) (2011). Crossed words: Criticism in scholarly writing. Peter Lang.

Chapter in edited book

         Kress. G. (2009). What is a mode? In C. Jewitt (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of multimodal analysis (pp. 54-68). Routledge.

Website

         Streefkerk, R. (2019, October 11). APA 7th edition: The most notable changes. Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/apa-seventh-edition-changes/

Conference proceedings

  • Book form

Morgan, R., Meldrum, K., Bryan, S., Mathiesen, B., Yakob, N., Esa, N., & Ziden, A. A. (2017). Embedding digital literacies in curricula: Australian and Malaysian experiences. In G. B. Teh & S. C. Choy (Eds.), Empowering 21st century learners through holistic and enterprising learning: Selected papers from Tunku Abdul Rahman University College International Conference 2016 (pp. 11-19). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4241-6_2

  • Journal form

Tufts, D. (2002). A cheap and fast way to build useful translation lexicons. COLING '02: Proceedings of the 19th international conference on Computational linguistics (pp. 1-7). Association for Computational Linguistics. https://doi.org/10.3115/1072228.1072230

         Authors shall try not to include a long list of bibliographical references where these are unnecessary. They shall also make use of cross references when two or more chapters are being used from the same volume collection, as in the example:

         Belcher, D. (Ed.) (2009). English for Specific Purposes in theory and practice. University of Michigan Press.

         Hyland, K. (2009). English for Professional Academic Purposes: Writing for scholarly publication. In D. Belcher (Ed.), 83-105.

         Paltridge, B. (2009). Afterword: Where have we come from and where are we now? In D. Belcher (Ed.), 289-296.

IV.10. Notes: Notes shall be placed at the end of the text, after the list of references and before the appendices, if any. Notes shall be numbered manually and consecutively, with superscript numbers and listed under the heading NOTES (in the language of the article). Superscript numbers shall always be placed after punctuation marks. Notes shall be very few in number and shall be used only when necessary, for providing further details or with explanation purposes, but they shall not be used for providing bibliographical references.

IV.11. Appendices: If one or more appendices are provided, they shall be placed after the list and the notes (if any). Appendices might be numbered or titled and shall be exclusively used for the presentation of detailed material supplementing the text. The main body of the text shall contain the appropriate references to the appendices so as to facilitate comprehension.

V. List of basic requirements: self-evaluation checklist for authors

• Is the subject matter of my article interesting for readers of Ibérica, or is the information it presents obvious or self-explanatory?
• What is the concrete social relevance of my study?
• What importance or social impact does my study have (on a local/international level, or in terms of intra/inter/multi/ transdisciplinarity)?
• Is my study based on one or several consistent theoretical frameworks?
• Are the conclusions and generalisations based on comparable previous studies and/or on appropriate handling of data from a representative and manageable corpus?
• Is my paper organised logically and clearly?
• Is my style reader-friendly? Do I avoid unnecessary jargon and provide explanations of specialised terminology where necessary?
• If the paper is not written in my first language, have I asked someone competent in this language to check whether the style, grammar and vocabulary are appropriate?
• Have I made sure that my highlights and citations in the body of text and the final references section follow the journal’s submission guidelines?

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