Submission Guidelines
MINNEWITESOL JOURNAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
The MinneWITESOL Journal is a professional, refereed journal produced by the Minnesota and Wisconsin TESOL affiliates, MinneTESOL and WITESOL. The journal invites the submission of previously unpublished articles on topics of significance to individuals concerned with the teaching of English as a second language in multiple contexts: Pre-K through 12, adult, college, or EFL.
SUBMISSION TOPICS
A specific issue of the journal may have a special topic; see the Call for Papers for more information at www.minnewitesoljournal.org. Below are examples of topics that are appropriate for the journal, but this list is not exhaustive.
Do not hesitate to contact the editors for input and feedback on any idea, including something that is not listed below:
- research on language learning, teaching and methodology with implications for ESL
- curriculum design and development; instructional methods, materials, and techniques
- testing, assessment and evaluation in ESL
- grammar usage studies
- professional preparation and standards
- professional development and teacher learning
- learner perspectives about language learning
- sociopolitical issues in ESL
Submission Categories
Full-length articles: The following factors are considered when evaluating the suitability of a full-length article manuscript for publication in the MinneWITESOL Journal:
- The manuscript appeals to the general interests of the MinneWITESOL readership.
- The manuscript strengthens the relationship between theory and practice: Practical articles must be anchored in theory, and theoretical articles and reports of research must contain a discussion of implications or applications for practice.
- The manuscript reflects sound scholarship and research design with appropriate, correctly interpreted references to other authors and works.
- The manuscript is well written and organized and conforms to the specifications of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.).
Contributors are strongly encouraged to submit manuscripts of approximately 7,000 words (including references, notes, and tables). Articles should include an abstract of about 200 words.
Brief Reports: Short reports on any aspect of theory or practice in the profession. Manuscripts that either present preliminary findings or focus on some aspect of a larger study are encouraged. The discussion of issues should be supported by empirical evidence collected through qualitative or quantitative investigations or supported by current research.
Submissions to this section should be approximately 3,400 words (including references, notes, and tables). Reports should include an abstract of about 100 words.
Practitioner Voices: Short articles that share teaching practices or perspectives. This could include instructional activities or teaching experiences that would be valuable and of practical use to other teachers. This should also include reflections on these experiences and how you feel this has resulted in your own growth as a teacher.
In order to be useful to other practitioners, each Practitioner Voices manuscript should include the following sections:
1. Framing the Issue: Explain what this article is about and why this topic/issue is important to you. Briefly, include connections to current literature to ground your experiences in theory and to assure readers that you are aware of recent research or theory. This section should also include a brief description of the context and the participants so a reader has a sense of your context and learners.
2. Narrative: Document your procedures or experiences in a way that will be meaningful to readers. Share a perspective or an example of your own learning in the classroom, highlight a specific instructional activity or experience, and provide enough detail that others can connect this to their own experiences or classrooms.
3. Reflection: Reflect on the value and meaning of the experience. What happened in the classroom? How did the students respond? What might you do differently next time? What have you learned as a result of the whole process? How are you changed by the experience? What is the potential impact on learners?
4. Extension: Include a few final thoughts about your activity or experience and what this could mean for others.
Submissions to this section should be approximately 3,000 words. Practitioner Voices should include an abstract of about 100 words.
Reviews: Evaluations of books or materials on professional development or teaching English as a second language. Reviews should provide a descriptive and evaluative summary and a brief discussion of the significance of the work in the context of current theory and practice.
Submissions should generally be no longer than 500 words.
MinneWITESOL Journal | www.minnewitesoljournal.org
MINNEWITESOL JOURNAL FORMATTING GUIDELINES
Please use the following formatting guidelines when formatting your manuscript.
Style: All submissions should conform to the requirements of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed) http://www.apastyle.org excepting spacing/heading/reference guidelines outlined below.
Examples: Check last year’s Journal for examples at www.minnewitesoljournal.org This is a great place to start to get a sense of what the manuscript formatting should look like.
Microsoft Word: All submissions should be submitted via email as an attached Microsoft Word file to the editor you are working with.
Permissions and Edits: It is understood that manuscripts submitted to MinneWITESOL Journal have not been previously published and are not under consideration for publication elsewhere. The editors may also suggest or make minor changes in the manuscript to enhance clarity or style before publication. If there are graphics or copyrighted text from another source used in the paper, you must get permission from the holder of the copyright to use it, and provide the written permission to MinneWITESOL Journal.
Informed Consent Guidelines: Authors submitting publications should adhere to ethical and legal standards for work with human subjects, i.e.,
- You have informed participants in your study, sample, class, group, or program (a) that you will be conducting research in which they will be the participants or (b) that you would like to write about them for publication.
- You have obtained from each participant (or from the participant’s parent or guardian) a signed consent form that sets out the terms of your agreement with the participants.
3. You have obtained required IRB approval from a university and/or a school district as per their guidelines.
Headers for Articles and Reports:
MAIN HEADER (Title): center, bold, all caps
Section headers:
LEVEL 1—left, bold, all caps,
Level 2—left, bold, upper & lower case,
Level 3—left, italic, upper & lower case
Main header for articles and reports
Example:
COLLABORATIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN ONE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: A FOCUS ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
Tina Scott Edstam
Constance L. Walker
Main header for reviews
Example:
ENGLISH L2 READING: GETTING TO THE BOTTOM (2ND ED.) BY B. BIRCH
Birch, B. (2007). English L2 Reading: Getting to the Bottom (2nd Ed.) Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. List price: $31.95.
Reviewed by Amy Frederick and Paul Kroshus
Font: Times New Roman, 10 point; footnotes, endnotes, footers and headers in 9 point Times New Roman
Footnotes: Generally footnotes are preferred to end notes if it is a brief note (such as a clarification), however end notes are OK if there is a long note with information that may be of interest to some readers. Endnotes and footnotes should be in 9 point Verdana font.
Paragraphs: No indent, 1 blank line before each paragraph, single spaced within each paragraph
References: Same as Paragraph format (no hanging indent)
Examples:
Bigelow, M. & Tarone, E. (2004). The role of literacy level in second language acquisition: Doesn’t who we study determine what we know? TESOL Quarterly, 38(4), 689-700.
Brod, S. (1999). What non-readers or beginning readers need to know. Denver, CO: Spring Institute.
Footer: See footer of this document. All italics. Website link in blue. 9 point.
Page numbers: Top right corner of header, Verdana, 10 point.
Order of information at beginning of the article:
- title
- author (left, regular font)
- abstract
Order of information at end of the article:
- author info
- acknowledgements
- references
- appendices
Table headings: Table n. Name of Table, no italics.
Example:
Table 2. Five most frequently taught courses.
Figure headings: Figure n. Name of Figure, no italics
Example:
Figure 3. Primary classroom challenges identified in open-ended responses; 1,215 total responses
Pagination: Do not include any pagination. This will be added by the editors in the final formatting stages of the Journal.
Author bios:
AUTHORS in bold, caps, space, then paragraph form
No bold on authors name
Use ‘REVIEWERS’ for reviews, ‘AUTHORS’ for articles and reports
Examples:
AUTHOR
Julia Reimer is an Assistant Professor at the Center for Second Language Teaching and Learning at Hamline University. She has taught ESL in Minnesota and Spain. She received her MAT in ESL from the School for International Training.
REVIEWER
Catherine Clements is a graduate student in the MA-ESL Program at the University of Minnesota and teaches ESL at the Minnesota English Language Program.
(Updated November 2011)
