Posting Policies



LINGUIST List is a mailing list, website, and social media presence designed for academic linguists. In general, we post only messages with substantial linguistic content or with content which will be of wide interest within the discipline. This page lists current posting topics and their guidelines, as well as LINGUIST's general posting policies.

Announcements can be posted via the online form.

Policies

All - With the exception of obituaries, the All topic is reserved for messages from LINGUIST to its subscribers.


Books and TOCs (Tables of Contents) - We are happy to post publishers' announcements of new books and journals of interest to linguists, but we ask that these announcements follow certain guidelines. If you wish to do this, visit this page. Or see this page, if you are a publisher not yet posting to LINGUIST.


Conferences - Conference announcements are meant for a whole conference or meeting. However, if the conference has multiple sessions or workshops, each of these should be posted as a separate “conference” so that each organizer can distribute their calls for abstracts / papers. Conference announcements include information such as the conference’s website, location, schedule, keynote speakers, abstract submission information, etc. Each conference announcement may be posted twice – and up to three calls for papers (CfPs) may be associated with each conference.


Conference Calls - Referred to as “Calls” on the LINGUIST mailing lists, these are announcements from meeting organizers and they may include information such as submission guidelines and deadline, as well as an address or URL for more information. Calls are limited to three per conference (see above).


Discussion - Readers may initiate a discussion with fellow linguists by submitting a message about a linguistically relevant issue. Such messages must be free from political content, personal attacks, or heated rhetoric. They may be lightly edited by the moderator, but, if more extensive editing is necessary, the message will be returned with suggestions for modification. Lengthy discussions may be ended by a "last call" notice from the moderator.


Dissertation abstracts - Scholars may post their dissertation abstracts to the list, and these will also be registered in our searchable index of dissertations. Abstracts are limited to 4000 characters (about 500 words).


FYI - FYIs inform subscribers of new information or resources, e.g., a newly available research grant, a new linguistics program, or a new resource, e.g., a corpus, website, or bibliography. FYIs include calls for papers for books, chapters, and working papers. However, calls for journal submissions are posted as Journal Calls (see below), and calls for conference submissions are posted as Conference Calls (see above), so that they can be linked to the associated conference.


Internships - Researchers and institutions may announce paid or unpaid internships available specifically to linguists. These are also listed in our searchable internships registry.


Jobs - Linguistics jobs may be posted by institutions and organizations for the payment of 250 USD per job ad. A single job posting may advertise for multiple employees, as long as the job description and qualifications remain the same. However, if these differ, a new posting must be initiated. If there is any uncertainty about this guideline, the submitter should make a note at the bottom of the submission so that the editors can determine the number of postings required.

Post-doctoral positions are also posted as Jobs for 250 USD per ad, since they have the status of professional employment in many countries. However, pre-doctoral scholarships and fellowships are announced as Support on LINGUIST and are free of charge (see below).

LINGUIST cannot post resumes or other information for job-seekers.


Journal Call for Papers - Calls for journal submissions are limited to one call per journal issue.


Media - The Media topic is reserved for announcements of linguistics in the news, e.g., a linguist’s guest appearance on a TV program, or an article or film dealing with a linguistic issue.


Queries - The Query topic is reserved for questions submitted by professional linguists (as opposed to the general public) and is designed to gather information which would aid the sender in their research. The most successful queries are those which are most specific about the information required and its research purpose. The information gathered should be summarized and submitted, along with acknowledgement of the respondents, in the form of a Summary (see below).

For non-research questions from the general public, we recommend Linguistics Stack Exchange.


Reviews - Publishers who submit book announcements may elect to have the books listed in LINGUIST’s monthly Available for Review issue. Reviewers are selected by the Review Editors from subscribers who have nominated themselves to review a specific book. Instructions on becoming a reviewer can be found here.


Software - LINGUIST announces new software that is useful to professional linguists. Software that is free to users may be announced at no cost; otherwise, a fee of 100 USD will be charged. Software submissions should include any information that will help readers assess the usefulness of the software in their research, e.g., platform compatibility, licensing restrictions, Unicode compliance, and import/export formats.


Summaries - Summaries of Query responses are encouraged and should be submitted via this form. The summary should be a synopsis of responses rather than merely a collection of reprinted messages, although individual respondents should be acknowledged. Summaries are limited to 4000 characters (about 500 words), but may be posted in multiple parts.


Summer School and Training Course Registry Institutions and organizations may announce a summer school or training course once per year, and this announcement will be listed in our searchable database of summer school announcements. One summer school announcement and one announcement as a reminder may be posted.


Support - Support postings announce scholarships, fellowships, and work-study opportunities available to pre-doctoral students to fund their education. Post-docs, by contrast, are treated as professional jobs (see Jobs above).

LINGUIST List's General Policies

We post messages with:

  • Linguistic Relevance: the message must contain substantial linguistic content; that is, it should have language as its focus, rather than, for example, literary study or teaching.
  • Global Relevance: the message should be relevant to linguists everywhere, and should not target only those in a specific locality.
  • Academic Relevance: the message should target readers who are already well-informed about language and linguistics. Content should not be too basic, redundant, or easily retrieved.

We do not post:

  • Messages which are political in nature or include calls to action of any kind. LINGUIST has subscribers from over 100 different countries, who are drawn together solely by their interest in linguistics. We try to respect that orientation by avoiding discussion of national or international politics, since such discussion not only detracts from the primary purpose of the list but also tends to be of interest only to subscribers within the affected countries.
  • Messages so heated that they may be construed as personal, as we feel that a professional tone is conducive to academic inquiry - as well as to the comfort of the greatest number of subscribers. For similar reasons, we do not post complaints against, or disparagement of, named individuals and institutions, since it is impossible for us to check the validity of negative allegations.
  • Announcements of existing linguistics programs and fellowships, since these are so numerous as to exhaust our resources. We do, however, announce new programs.

Archiving of Posted Material
The LINGUIST List is a U.S. Library of Congress registered journal (ISSN: 1068-4875) and all issues are retained in a permanent online archive.


Editor Approval and Distribution
All postings are subject to editor approval. Nothing is mailed to the subscriber list - or appears on the website - until an editor has reviewed the submission to ensure that it complies with LINGUIST policies. The accuracy of the content, however, is the responsibility of the submitter.

Most messages will be distributed within 2 business days of submission. Occasionally, a submission will be lightly edited to bring it into conformity with LINGUIST policies, since returning a message to the submitter will delay its distribution. If substantial editing or additional information is required, the post will be returned to the submitter.

Posted submissions can be changed only by an editor and only on the website. A changed submission will not be redistributed to the list. For change requests and other submission questions, please email: [email protected].


Disclaimer

The LINGUIST List site and mailing list distribute user-submitted information, which does not necessarily reflect the views of LINGUIST List; nor does LINGUIST List assume any responsibility or liability arising from the user-submitted information.