SiLA Submission Guidelines

Studies in Language Assessment is published online annually or biannually. Submissions can be made at any time throughout the year and should be emailed to the Editorial Assistant as an attachment. Correspondence on editorial matters should be addressed to the Editor and emailed to the Editor.

SiLA accepts the following types of submissions, with maximum word lengths as specified:

  • Original research papers (max. 8,000 words)
  • Essays/discussion papers on theory (max. 5,000 words)

SiLA also publishes test and book reviews, which are commissioned by the reviews editor. Unsolicited reviews are not normally accepted for consideration. Maximum expected word lengths are:

  • Book reviews (1,000-2,000 words)
  • Test reviews (2,000-4,000 words)

Manuscripts should be prepared according to the following guidelines:

  • Include the author(s)' contact details, academic title and affiliation.
  • Research papers/discussion papers should be preceded by an abstract of no more than 200 words and by up to five key words.
  • Sections of articles should be headed, but not numbered.
  • Referencing should conform to APA style as set out in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), 7th ed. An example of a guide to APA 7 can be found at APA Style Introduction/Purdue Writing Lab
  • Please use double quotation marks for short quotations.
  • Quotations of 40 words or more should be indented.
  • Tables should be numbered consecutively, and figures should be numbered in another consecutive series.
  • Each table and figure should have a brief explanatory title.
  • Table titles should be placed above the table, and figure titles should be placed below the figure.