Special volumes of Lingvisticae Investigationes

Lingvisticae Investigationes (LI) invites researchers in linguistics and language resources to propose special volumes.

LI is a thirty year old international journal founded by Maurice Gross. It is published and distributed by John Benjamins Publishing Company. It is listed in the European Reference Index for the Humanities (ERIH) for Linguistics, published by the European Science Foundation (ESF).

What are the conditions to publish a special volume?

A public call for papers is issued and widely disseminated, at least in English, and at least on a web site or on international diffusion lists.

The special volume has a scientific committee, whose members are in charge of reviewing the anonymous submitted papers, and selecting among them for publication in the special volume. The selection of the papers for publication is made on full versions of the papers: the final versions should not be significantly longer than or different from the papers originally submitted. The names of the reviewers are publicly announced in the call for papers. The reviews transferred to authors are anonymous.

A special volume can be linked to a conference or not. (If it is, there are two rounds of selection. The first round selects the papers to be presented at the conference, and the second one aims at publishing a selection of them in the special volume. The first round follows a public call for papers.)

A proposal for a special volume must be sent to the editors or secretary of LI. The criteria for validating proposals are:

• the scientific relevance and opportunity of the theme;
• the relevance of the theme with regard to the scope of LI;
• the scientific competence and size of the scientific committee.

Once a proposal for a special volume is accepted by the editors of LI, the authors of the proposal become guest editors of the volume. They are responsible for the dissemination of the call for papers, the observance of the rules for the selection of submitted papers, the fulfillment or modification of the time schedule, the relations with the reviewers and authors, and the delivery of the final versions of the papers to LI. The number of accepted papers should take into account the size of a volume of LI, which is 175 journal pages. This size corresponds to approximately 133 usual A4 pages, due to the difference in page size.

How to propose a special volume?

Please provide the following information in your proposal for a special volume.

• A description of the theme of the future volume, in the form of a text which will serve as call for papers if the proposal is accepted by the editors of LI.
• The list of members of the scientific committee.
• A time schedule for the preparation of the volume, with deadlines for the following events:

  public call for papers	T0 + 2 months (T0 = date of the proposal of the special volume)
  submission of papers	T0 + 8 months
  notification to authors	T0 + 9 months
  final version of papers	T0 + 10 months
  publication	T0 + 12 months

• If the proposal for a special volume is combined with a conference, there are two rounds of selection. The first round selects the papers to be presented at the conference, and the second one aims at publishing a selection of them in the special volume. The first round follows a public call for papers. Both rounds follow the other rules above: publication of the list of members of the scientific committee; submission of anonymous, full versions of papers.

  public call for papers	T0 + 2 months (T0 = date of proposal)
  submission for conference	T0 + 5 months
  notification to authors	T0 + 6 months
  final version for conference	T0 + 8 months
  conference	T0 + 10 months
  submission for journal	T0 + 13 months
  notification to authors	T0 + 14 months
  final version for journal	T0 + 16 months
  publication	T0 + 18 months

How to write the call for papers?

The call for papers describes the theme of the future volume. It should also state

• in which languages papers can be submitted (English and French, or only English);
• the maximum size of submissions;
• the typographical conventions to be respected, if different from the usual LI conventions.

The call for papers should point out that submission is anonymous, and that the selection of the papers for publication is made on full versions of the papers: the final versions should not be significantly longer than or different from the papers originally submitted.

Next special volumes of LI scheduled

Maintenance : Éric Laporte.