International Journal of Bilingualism
| Ad Backus | University of Tilburg, Netherlands |
| Zhu Hua | UCL Institute of Education, UK |
| Jeanette Altarriba | State University of New York at Albany, USA |
| Peter Auer | International Labour Office (ilo), Switzerland |
| Bene Bassetti | University of Birmingham, UK |
| Raphael Berthele | University of Fribourg, Switzerland |
| Ellen Bialystok | York University, Canada |
| Prof Ross Brown | University of St Andrews, UK |
| Kees De Bot | Groningen University (RuG), Netherlands |
| Annette M. B. De Groot | University of Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Annick De Houwer | University of Erfurt, Germany |
| Jean-Marc Dewaele | Birkbeck College, University of London, UK |
| Roberto Filippi | University College London, UK |
| Fred Genesee | McGill University, Canada |
| David Green | University College London, UK |
| Pedro Guijarro-Fuentes | Universitat de les Illes Balears, Spain |
| Monica Heller | OISE, Toronto, Canada |
| Kenneth Hyltenstam | Stockholm University, Sweden |
| Judith Kroll | University of California, Irvine, USA |
| Elizabeth Lanza | University of Oslo, Norway |
| Jeff MacSwan | University of Maryland, College Park, USA |
| Marilyn Martin-Jones | Birmingham University, UK |
| Nick Miller | Newcastle University, UK |
| Pieter Muysken | Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands |
| Elena Nicoladis | University of Alberta, Canada |
| Loraine K. Obler | CUNY - City University of New York, USA |
| Lourdes Ortega | Georgetown University, USA |
| Johanne Paradis | University of Alberta, Canada |
| Shana Poplack | University of Ottawa, Canada |
| Ben Rampton | King's College, London, UK |
| Jason Rothman | UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway and University Nebrija, Spain |
| Antonella Sorace | University of Edinburgh, UK |
| Jeanine Treffers-Daller | University of Reading, UK |
| Virginia Yip | Chinese University of Hong Kong, China |
| Hugo Baetens Beardsmore | Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium |
| Li-Rong Lilly Cheng | San Diego State University, USA |
| Eve Clark | Stanford University, USA |
| Nancy Dorian | Bryn Mawr College, USA |
| John Edwards | St Francis Xavier University and Dalhousie University, Canada |
| Howard Giles | University of California, Santa Barbara, USA; The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia |
| Wolfgang Klein | Max Planck Inst of For & Int Crim Law, Germany |
| George Ludi | University of Basel, Switzerland |
| Paul Meara | University of Wales Swansea, UK |
| Carol Myers-Scotton | Michigan State University, USA |
| Michel Paradis | McGill University and Université de Montréal, Canada |
| Stephen Pinker | Harvard University, USA |
| Suzanne Romaine | University of Oxford, UK |
| Dan I. Slobin | University of California, USA |
| Catherine E Snow | Harvard University, USA |
| Bernard Spolsky | Bar-Ilan University, Israel |
Manuscript Submission Guidelines: International Journal of Bilingualism
This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics
Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/IJB to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.
Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of International Journal of Bilingualism will be reviewed.
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.3 below.
As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.
Please see our guidelines on prior publication and note that International Journal of Bilingualism may accept submissions of papers that have been posted on pre-print servers; please alert the Editorial Office when submitting (contact details are at the end of these guidelines) and include the DOI for the preprint in the designated field in the manuscript submission system. Authors should not post an updated version of their paper on the preprint server while it is being peer reviewed for possible publication in the journal. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to the journal's author archiving policy.
If your paper is accepted, you must include a link on your preprint to the final version of your paper.
If you have any questions about publishing with Sage, please visit the Sage Journal Solutions Portal
- What do we publish?
1.1 Aims & Scope
1.2 Article types
1.3 Writing your paper - Editorial policies
2.1 Peer review policy
2.2 Authorship
2.3 Acknowledgements
2.4 Funding
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests - Publishing policies
3.1 Publication ethics
3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
3.3 Open access and author archiving - Preparing your manuscript
4.1 Formatting
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
4.3 Supplementary material
4.4 Reference style
4.5 English language editing services
4.6 Other Conventions - Submitting your manuscript
5.1 ORCID
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
5.3 Permissions - On acceptance and publication
6.1 Sage Production
6.2 Online First publication
6.3 Access to your published article
6.4 Promoting your article - Further information
Before submitting your manuscript to International Journal of Bilingualism, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.
The International Journal of Bilingualism publishes original research on the linguistic, psychological, neurological and social issues emerging from language contact,. While stressing interdisciplinary links, the focus of the Journal is on the language behaviour of the bi- and multi-lingual individual. Preference will be given to research articles which are firmly baswed on empirical evidence and which seek to develop innovative analytic modesl and/or to gorge new links between established fields.
The Journal considers the following kinds of article for publication:
- Original research articles
- Forum. The Editors wish to encourage exchanges between researchers on key theoretical and methodological issues;
- Case study reports of laboratory experiments and field observations, and short scholarly notes
- Book Reviews.
Full papers are generally restricted to a maximum of 7,000 words, including all elements (title page, abstract, notes, references, tables, biographical statement, etc.). We are reluctant to burden our referees with very long manuscripts. Authors who suspect that their articles will have to be cut anyway should make the required deletions before submitting.
Manuscripts are accepted for review with the understanding that the same work has not been and will not be published, nor is presently submitted, elsewhere; that all persons listed as authors have given their approval for the submission of the paper; and that any person cited as a source of personal communication has approved such citation.
Manuscripts submitted to the International Journal of Bilingualism require a structured abstract containing six obligatory areas:
- Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions,
- Design/Methodology/Approach,
- Data and Analysis
- Findings/Conclusions,
- Originality, and
- Significance/Implications.
Limitations is an optional area.
Abstracts should normally be no more than 300 words.
Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions
What are the reason(s) for writing the paper. What are the aims and objectives of the research? What are the research questions the research aims to address?
Design/Methodology/Approach
How are the objectives achieved? What is the scope of the research? What are the main method(s) used for the research? What is the methodological approach to the topic?
Data and Analysis
What is the database for the research, including sample size? How are the data analyzed?
Findings/Conclusions
What are the key findings of the research? What conclusions can be drawn from the research?
Originality
What is new or different in the paper in terms of theory, method and/or finding?
Significance/Implications
What is the theoretical value of the research? What are the methodological implications of the research? What are the implications for policy and practice, if applicable?
Limitations (Optional)
What are the limitations of the research? What suggestions for future research can be made?
Authors must supply a structured abstract with the above sub-headings. Failure to do so will result to the return of the submission to the author.
The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources.
1.3.1 Make your article discoverable
When writing up your paper, think about how you can make it discoverable. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article through search engines such as Google. For information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords, have a look at this page on the Gateway: How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online
International Journal of Bilingualism operates a strictly anonymous peer review process in which the reviewer’s name is withheld from the author and, the author’s name from the reviewer. The reviewer may at their own discretion opt to reveal their name to the author in their review but our standard policy practice is for both identities to remain concealed. Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two referees. All manuscripts are reviewed as rapidly as possible, and an editorial decision is normally reached within (eg) 6-8 weeks of submission.
As part of the submission process you will be asked to provide the names of [X no.] peers who could be called upon to review your manuscript. Recommended reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Please be aware of any conflicts of interest when recommending reviewers. Examples of conflicts of interest include (but are not limited to) the below:
- The reviewer should have no prior knowledge of your submission
- The reviewer should not have recently collaborated with any of the authors
- Reviewer nominees from the same institution as any of the authors are not permitted
You will also be asked to nominate peers who you do not wish to review your manuscript (opposed reviewers).
Please note that the Editors are not obliged to invite/reject any recommended/opposed reviewers to assess your manuscript.
All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis.
Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.
Any acknowledgements should appear first at the end of your article prior to your Declaration of Conflicting Interests (if applicable), any notes and your References.
International Journal of Bilingualism requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
International Journal of Bilingualism encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the Sage Journal Author Gateway
Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway
3.1.1 Plagiarism
International Journal of Bilingualism and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.
3.1.2 Prior publication
If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.
3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway
3.3 Open access and author archiving
International Journal of Bilingualism offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.
4. Preparing your manuscript for submission
The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines
Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For specifically requested colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article.
This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplementary files
International Journal of Bilingualism adheres to the APA reference style. View the APA guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.
4.5 English language editing services
Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.
Examples: Examples should be set in italic and numbered consecutively. Examples in languages other than English should be set in Romanized script, if available, and in italics; any gloss should be aligned, followed by the English translation in single quotation marks, as in example (11) below. For bi-/multi-lingual examples, use italics for one language, CAPITALS and underlining for the others (in that order), as in example (12):
(11) Ta shibushi yijin shidao le nage NEWS?
he BE not BE already know PERF. that MEASURE news?
'Has he heard the news already?'
(12) Women shi FRIEND, si?
we BE friend, yes?
'We are friends, right?'
Fonts and symbols: 'Times New Roman', 12 point, should be used for general text and 'Symbol' font where required. Phonetic transcription should only be used when the article addresses phonetic issues as its theme, in which case the new 'DoulosSIL' font corresponding to IPA (latest revision) is required (please do NOT use earlier 'SIL' fonts). Any specific language fonts used must conform to the Unicode convention.
Style: With electronic submissions, do NOT use underline to indicate italic style. Instead , use whatever style you intend to appear in the final publication.
Footnotes and Endnotes: Footnotes are discouraged and should only be used for acknowledgements, grant numbers, or other credits. Endnotes should be used sparingly and indicated by consecutive numbers in the text.
Citations: Double quotation marks should be used throughout, except in linguistic examples as shown above, or for enclosing quotations within quotations. Words from languages other than English or words intended to be emphasized should be in italics. The names of all authors should be given when first mentioned in text. For subsequent citations, 'et al.' should be used. Citations of two or more works within the same parentheses should be made in alphabetical order by the first author's surname. Below are examples:
Muysken (1995) proposed a model...;
The matrix language (Myers-Scotton & Jake, 1995, p. 983);
The process of shift across languages (Clyne, 1982, 1985; Fishman, 1966; Gal, 1979; Li, Milroy, & Pong, 1992).
International Journal of Bilingualism is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/IJB to login and submit your article online.
Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you carefully read and adhere to all the guidelines and instructions to authors provided below. Manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.
IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.
If you are a new user, you will first need to create an account. Submissions should be made by logging in and selecting the Author Center and the 'Click here to Submit a New Manuscript' option. Follow the instructions on each page, clicking the 'Next' button on each screen to save your work and advance to the next screen. If at any stage you have any questions or require the user guide, please use the ‘Online Help’ button at the top right of every screen.
As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities ensuring that their work is recognised.
The collection of ORCID IDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID ID you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID ID will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID ID is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.
If you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).
Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway
6. On acceptance and publication
Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be sent by PDF to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.
Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.
6.3 Access to your published article
Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.
Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.
Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the International Journal of Bilingualism editorial office as follows:
Professor Ad Backus,
International Journal of Bilingualism,
Department of Culture Studies,
Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences,
Warandelaan 2,
5037 AB Tilburg
Netherlands
Email: A.M.Backus@uvt.nl