The Journal of the European Second Language Association (JESLA) invites members to submit a proposed call to the Journal for our fifth thematic Guest-Edited Special Collection. Calls are invited on an annual basis, with an expected timeline of about 12-18 months to publication. For the 2027 call, proposals should be submitted by Friday 15th January 2027, 5pm GMT.
At least one Guest Editor should be a member of EuroSLA of good standing, in line with JESLA practice (i.e. current members who are expected to have attended at least one EuroSLA conference in the last four years). However, submissions from contributing authors can be accepted from non-members. Each Collection is expected to have around 8-10 papers, including an introduction from the Guest Editor(s). Each article has a word limit of around 8000 words including references. As JESLA is a Diamond Open Access publication, there are no article-processing charges incurred by authors.
Themed Special Collection proposals are welcome from across the full range of second language research areas and paradigms, whether empirical, theoretical and methodological, in line with JESLA’s research breadth. No specific theories or approaches are given preference, but articles must meet JESLA’s standards of academic rigour and requirements for original research, and cannot be published elsewhere. Work from early career researchers is encouraged.
Special Collections would be an ideal format for publications arising from a themed research workshop or colloquium (e.g., those funded by EuroSLA or from other similar network activities) or as a way of sharing current developments in an area for the benefit of open science.
Guest editors should directly invite their contributors. However, they might also want to put out a ‘rapid-response’ open call, to ensure that they are gathering the best of the relevant field. The call can be distributed round the EuroSLA membership list and social media, alongside other routes that guest editor(s) can use via their existing networks. So please spread the word as widely as you can!
Proposals should include: a general description of the issue and its potential contribution to the field (maximum 800 words); a list of proposed contributors and article abstracts (300-400 words each abstract); an indicative timeline; the name(s) and qualifications of the guest editor(s), including relevant editing experience (maximum 300 words per editor).
Guest editors are expected to work with the JESLA editorial team through initial scrutiny of submitted abstracts and will take responsibility for suggesting suitable reviewers and assisting with prompt reviews. Editors are responsible for ensuring that articles are submitted in line with the Journal’s formatting guidelines and other information on the Journal’s webpages (https://euroslajournal.org/about/submissions). Papers will go out to review through the journal platform in line with standard publications, and the editorial team will review the final collection before publication.
Note that one of JESLA’s principal values is to offer speedy turnaround. Once a proposal is accepted, we anticipate the publication to come out within 12-18 months. Thus, a realistic timescale for this kind of turnaround should be included in the proposal.
For more information, please visit the JESLA website https://www.euroslajournal.org/ or email the Journal Editor, Sarah Liszka, s.a.liszka@greenwich.ac.uk.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Sarah and the JESLA Editorial team