| name | lang-submission |
| description | Use when running the final pre-submission preflight for Language (LSA) via the Cambridge University Press ScholarOne portal — double-anonymous anonymization, the section and word-limit rules (General Research Article ≤18,000 words; Review Article ≤5,000), the abstract, Leipzig glossing, IPA, the Language Style Sheet, figure alt text, and open-access status. Final checks; it does not draft content. |
Submission Preflight (lang-submission)
The last check before you press submit on Cambridge University Press ScholarOne — the portal for
Language since January 2026, when the journal moved to CUP and became fully open access from
Volume 102. Language is double-anonymous, so the most common avoidable failures are an
under-anonymized manuscript and self-citations that unmask the author. Also verify the section and
word limits, the Language Style Sheet citations, and the Leipzig glossing / IPA before upload.
Verify all volatile items on the live CUP/LSA author pages immediately before submission.
When to trigger
- "Submitting tomorrow" — last pass before upload
- Unsure which section, files, or metadata ScholarOne expects
- Confirming anonymization, word count, abstract, glossing, style, and alt text are all handled
Process facts (verify volatile items on the official page)
- Publisher / portal: Cambridge University Press; submit via ScholarOne (since Jan 2026).
An Overleaf template is available; ScholarOne accepts LaTeX and Word workflows — confirm current
accepted formats.
- Access: fully open access from Volume 102 (2026); check the current APC / waiver and any
read-and-publish agreement on the CUP page.
- Review model: double-anonymous — remove author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, and
identifying self-references; every effort must prevent authors and reviewers from identifying each
other.
- Editors: Shelome Gooden and Michael Putnam (verify the current masthead before naming an editor
in any submission-facing document; editorship rotates).
- Sections & limits:
- General Research Article — up to 18,000 words inclusive of notes, charts, tables, and
appendices but excluding references; submissions over 12,000 words are assessed for
appropriateness and may face more stringent review.
- Research Report — a smaller, targeted contribution (shorter; confirm the current cap).
- Review Article — up to 5,000 words (excluding references).
- Discussion Notes, Reviews/Book Notices, and the four online-only sections (Perspectives,
Phonological Analysis, Language and Public Policy, Teaching Linguistics).
- Abstract: required; short (target ~150 words — confirm the current limit on the author page).
- House style: the Language Style Sheet / Unified Style Sheet for Linguistics (author-date);
not APA or Chicago.
- Examples: numbered; Leipzig interlinear glossing; IPA in a Unicode font.
- Figures: provide alt text / descriptive captions; vector where possible.
- Data: include a data-availability statement; share analysis data/code where ethical (see
lang-data-and-transparency).
Preflight checklist
Section & length
Anonymity (double-anonymous)
Content & format
Avoidable-failure triage (what bounces a submission, and the fix)
| Failure at submission | Fix before upload |
|---|
| Author identity leaks (names, acknowledgments, metadata, unmasking self-cites) | anonymize text + strip metadata + neutralize self-references |
| Over the word limit / unearned length past 12,000 | cut to the section cap; earn every page |
| APA/Chicago references | convert to the Language/Unified Style Sheet |
| Misaligned glosses / faked IPA | fix Leipzig alignment; use a Unicode IPA font |
| Descriptive data dump, no theoretical stakes | frame the general claim (route to lang-theory-building) |
Calibration (Language-specific posture, hedged)
Reflects Language's house and culture, not universal rules; confirm on the live pages. The most
common avoidable failure is an under-anonymized file under double-anonymous review; the second is a word
count that misreads the inclusive General Research Article rule (notes and tables count; references
do not). Illustrative: a 12,800-word General Research Article catches three triage issues at preflight —
an acknowledgments footnote naming a grant and a collaborator, references still in APA from a prior
subfield-journal attempt, and two figures with no alt text — and after fixes the file is anonymous,
Style-Sheet-conformant, and within a defensible length.
Anti-patterns
- Leaving author identifiers in the text, acknowledgments, or file metadata (breaks double-anonymous)
- Miscomputing the inclusive word limit or pushing past 12,000 without earning it
- APA/Chicago references instead of the Language/Unified Style Sheet
- Submitting a descriptive data dump with no theoretical claim (a desk return)
- Submitting while the paper is under review at another journal
Output format
【Section】General Research Article / Research Report / Review Article / other
【Length】within cap on the inclusive rule; earned past 12,000? [Y/N]
【Anonymized】text + self-cites + metadata clean? [Y/N]
【Abstract】present, within limit, states question/data/finding? [Y/N]
【House style】Language/Unified Style Sheet (NOT APA/Chicago)? [Y/N]
【Glossing/IPA/alt text】examples, transcription, figures conform? [Y/N]
【Data statement】accurate, not over-stated? [Y/N]
【Next】lang-review-process → lang-rebuttal on R&R
Supplementary resources
