Welcome to the web pages of Studies in Second Language Acquisition
A Publication of Cambridge University Press

Manuscript Policies and Timeline

Manuscripts received: We receive approximately 60 unsolicited manuscripts each
    year (as opposed to invited manuscripts for thematic issues and for state-of-the-art
    articles). These are acknowledged (usually via e-mail), and files are made for each
    submission. Double submissions will be rejected.

Inhouse evaluation: The inhouse committee consists of the editor and the two editorial
    assistants. The committee discusses the paper in terms of content, methodology, and
    appropriateness. If the paper seems suitable for external evaluation, readers are
    selected. If the paper does not merit external evaluation, the committee discusses the
    content of the rejection letter.

Rejection after inhouse evaluation: If the paper is to be rejected at this point, a
    rejection letter is sent out and the file is closed.
    External evaluation: If the paper is to be sent out, we generally select 4 or 5 external
    reviewers from the list of readers. It usually takes from 6 to 8 weeks before all the
    evaluations have been received. However, sometimes the process takes longer if, for
    instance, evaluators do not respond in a timely manner.

Rejection after external evaluation: If the majority of the evaluations are negative,
    the paper is generally rejected. We always send copies of the evaluations to the author,
    and we send each external evaluator copies of the other reviewers' comments as well.
    Request extensive revisions: If the evaluations are mixed, we often ask the authors
    to thoroughly revise the manuscript and resubmit it. In these cases, the revision is
    sent out for a second round of evaluation, with one previous evaluator and at least one
    new evaluator reading the manuscript.

Rejection after 2nd round of evaluation: If the revised version still receives negative
    or mixed evaluations, it will most likely be rejected.

Acceptance after external evaluation: If all of the evaluations (or at least the vast
    majority) are positive, we usually accept the paper contingent upon completion of a
    final revised version based on the comments provided by the evaluators.
    Form corrections: After the manuscript has been accepted, and after it has been
    scheduled to appear in a particular future issue, the editorial assistants go through the
    paper and make corrections in terms of (a) APA editorial guidelines, (b) reference
    accuracy, (c) overall organization, and (d) overall readability. The corrected
    manuscript is then sent back to the author for corrections and final submission of a hard
    copy and a diskette.

Submission to Cambridge University Press: When an issue has been compiled
    (articles, book reviews, book notices, publications received),we submit it to the
    Production Controller at CUP. Submission is 6 months before publication (i.e., the
    September issue is submitted in March). The manuscripts go through further
    proofreading at this stage and are then sent to the typesetters.

Author proofs: About 3 months after submission to CUP, author proofs are sent out.
    Each author is required to read through the proofs, answer queries provided by the
    typesetters, and return them to the Bloomington office. The editorial assistants transfer
    all modifications to a master set of proofs and return them to the production
    coordinator.

Second proofs: About 3 or 4 weeks after the proofs are returned, second proofs are
    sent to the Bloomington office (but not to authors). These are checked, final changes are
    requested, and they are returned to Cambridge University Press.

Publication: SSLA is published four times a year (March, June, September, and
    December). The June issue is usually a thematic issue. Authors receive offprints of
    their published articles from Cambridge University Press.