Journal of African Languages and Cultures Studies 

CAll for Papers

Journal of African Languages and Cultures Studies is a biannual and bilingual (Chinese, English) academic journal sponsored by Beijing Foreign Studies University (School of African  Studies) and published by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. The journal focuses  on African languages, literature, societies and cultures, and publishes outstanding academic  papers on the related studies of Chinese and foreign scholars, with special focus on topics including studies of African indigenous languages, African language teaching & acquisition,  language policies and planning in African countries, literature in African indigenous languages, English, French, Arabian and Portuguese, cultures of traditional African societies, comparative studies of Chinese and African cultures, and cross-cultural communication between China and  Africa. The journal has the following columns: African Languages and Literature, African  Societies and Cultures, Translation and Book Review, etc. Experts and scholars at home and  abroad are welcomed to submit academic papers. 

I. Submission Requirements 

1. The submitted papers should be original, academic and theory-based. Enriched content, novel viewpoints, rigorous logic, sufficient evidence, reliable data and concise language are expected from the submissions.

2. Submissions should comply with the style and formatting guidelines and have all  necessary elements. Articles for general columns should be between 8,000 to 12,000 words, and book reviews are expected to be 4,000 to 6,000 words, inclusive of the title, abstract, keywords  and reference.

3. Books reviewed for the Book Review column should be academic publications on African languages, literature, societies and cultures published within three years.

4. All submissions should comply with relevant academic standards. Sources of directly quoted argumentations and opinions should be cited with clear page numbers. Plagiarism and  repeated content should be avoided. Sources of key ideas or opinions that are indirectly quoted should also be cited. Excessive quotation of second-hand literature should be avoided.  

II. How to Submit and Other Issues 

1. Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Please send your manuscript to  jalcs@bfsu.edu.cn.

2. Please keep the original manuscript since the journal will not return it.

3. Review process and response: Submitted papers will be first reviewed by two peer experts anonymously. If the two reviews differ widely, a third reviewer will be invited. The author will be informed the final decision within three months after the journal receives the paper. If there is no response after three months, the author may submit the paper to other journals, but please do not do so within three months, otherwise the author will be held accountable for consequences.

4. The author takes sole responsibility for the submitted paper, but the editorial board reserves the right to make necessary modifications to fit the text to the layout.

5. Submission deadline (1st batch): December 31, 2020.

6. The journal will send two print copies to the author for free if the article is accepted.

7. Contact of the Editorial Office: +86 10-88816484

III. Style Guidelines 

1. Structure

(1) Author details (on one single page): Full name, postal address, phone number, email  address and 100-200 words of biography should be provided for each author. The biography  should include the author’s real name, affiliation, academic title, position and main academic  interests.

(2) English title, abstract (200-300 words) and keywords (separated by semicolons).

(3) Main text, references and appendices.

(4) All notes should be footnotes.

2. Formatting Guidelines

(1) Please submit in Microsoft Word format. The font of the main title should be size 15pt. The first-level heading should be in 14pt, second-level heading 12pt, and third-level heading and main text 10.5pt. The English text should be typed in Times New Roman in single line spacing.

(2) Numbering of section headings

The hierarchy of section headings should not exceed three levels, and all headings should  stick to the left without spacing. The headings of different levels should be numbered as 1, 1.1,  1.1.1, and so on. Include one single space after each sequence number before the heading text.  Numbering of example sentences in the main text should be Arabic numerals in parentheses, like  (1), (2) and (3).

(3) Figures and tables

All figures and tables should be numbered consecutively throughout the text. Figure captions should be placed below the figures, while table captions must be placed above the tables.  Examples include: Figure 1: Descriptive Caption, and Table 1: Descriptive Caption.  

3. References

Referencing should be compliant with relevant standards. Citations in the text and at the  end of an article should be strictly consistent. The authors should verify every reference at the  end of the article before submitting, so as to avoid erroneous or missing information. References  in English and other languages should be placed in the front, followed by Chinese references.  Please see examples below.

1. To reference journal articles 

Carstens, V. 2005. Agree and EPP in Bantu [J]. Natural Language and Linguistic  Theory 23 (2): 219–279. 

陆俭明，2018，再谈语言信息结构理论 [J]，《外语教学与研究》（2）：163- 172。

2. To reference theses in theses collections

Chomsky, N. 2000. Minimalist inquiries: The framework [A]. In R. Martin, D.  Michaels & J. Uriagereka (eds.). Step by Step: Essays on Minimalist Syntax in  Honor of Howard Lasnik [C]. Cambridge, MA.: The MIT Press. 89-156. 

刘丹青，1996，东南方言的体貌标记 [A]。载张双庆(编)，《动词的体》[C]。香港：香港中文大学中国文化研究所吴多泰中国语文研究中心。9-33。

3. To reference monographs 

Chomsky, N. 1995. The Minimalist Program [M]. Cambridge, MA.: The MIT Press. 

徐烈炯，2008，《中国语言学在十字路口》[M]。上海：上海教育出版社。

4. To reference translation works 

Nedjalkov, V. P. (eds.). 1983/1988. Typology of Resultative Constructions, trans.  Bernard Comrie [C]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.  

赵元任，1968/1980，《中国话的文法》（A Grammar of Spoken Chinese）[M]， 丁邦新译。香港：香港中文大学出版社。

5. To reference conference proceedings

Aelbrecht, L. 2008. Dutch Modal Complement Ellipsis and English VPE [R]. Talk  presented at CGSW 23, United Kingdom, June 12 - 13, 2008. 

宁春岩，2018，形式语言学、语言获得、语言障碍及神经语言学间的通约问题 [R]。北京语言大学语言学系成立仪式暨语言学前沿国际论坛论文，北京， 2018 年 10 月 29-30 日。

6. To reference degree dissertations/theses

Huang, C.-T. J. 1982. Logical Relations in Chinese and the Theory of Grammar [D].  Ph.D. Dissertation. Cambridge, MA.: MIT.  

张天伟，2012，基于形式句法的现代汉语省略限制研究[D]。博士学位论文。北 京：中国传媒大学。

7. To reference compilations/theses collections

Giacalone, A. & P. J. Hopper (eds.). 1998. The Limits of Grammaticalization [C].  Amsterdam: John Benjamins.  

北京语言学院语言教学研究所（编），1992，《现代汉语补语研究资料》[C]。北京：北京语言学院出版社。

8. To reference web content 

Jiang, Yan. 2000. The Tao of verbal communication: An Elementary textbook on  pragmatics and discourse analysis [OL]. http://www.polyu.edu.hk/～cbs/ jy/teach.htm (access 30/04/2006). 

王岳川，2004，当代传媒中的网络文化与电视批评[OL]，http://www.blocchina. com/new/display/58592.htm (2005 年 11 月 18 日读取)。

9. To reference newspapers Machanick, Philip. 2020. Covid logic beats ‘irrational’ human logic [N]. Mail &  Guardian. 2020-7-29. 

田志凌，2005，《魔戒》的尴尬与文学翻译的危机[N]，《南方都市报》， 2005-8-24.