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Policies

Contents

Philosophy of Dimensions

For more information, please see Dimensions Aims and Scope page.

Who Can Submit?

Anyone may submit an original article to be considered for publication in Dimensions provided he or she owns the copyright to the work being submitted or is authorized by the copyright owner or owners to submit the article. Authors are the initial owners of the copyrights to their works (an exception in the non-academic world to this might exist if the authors have, as a condition of employment, agreed to transfer copyright to their employer).

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General Submission Rules

1. In order to be considered for publication, a paper must conform to the following policies:

  • The article should be submitted by August 1 of the current year. (Deadline extensions are occasionally provided by the editor based on topic relevancy and journal space limitations.)
  • The article must be written in English. Examples within the article may be written in other languages, but English translations of examples or quotations in languages other than English are required. Please italicize all examples or quotes in languages other than English.
  • The article must conform to the style and format outlined in communications from the co-editors.
  • The article must present original work that has not previously been published and that is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere. The editor will attempt to make decisions regarding the manuscripts submitted in a timely fashion so that the authors of articles not chosen for inclusion in Dimensions will be able to submit their manuscripts elsewhere.

2. All articles accepted for publication are subject to editing. There is a relatively fast turn-around time between when the author(s) receive the manuscript with comments, suggestions, and recommendations and when it is to be returned to the editor.
3. Time constraints may make it impossible to furnish galley proofs to authors.

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Publishing Timeline

  • August 1: Preferred deadline for receipt of article for review for Dimensions.
  • Mid-September: Author(s) notified of Editorial Board recommendation — acceptance, acceptance pending revisions, or rejection.
  • Mid-December: Deadline for revisions of articles to be resubmitted.
  • Mid-January: Dimensions sent to publisher.

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    Submission and Publishing Workflow

    If an author would like to submit an article, they must notify the editor at dimensions@scolt.org and submit the article by August 1. Manuscript submissions after the August 1 deadline may be considered for review upon editor consent. Please do not hesitate to contact the editor directly with questions.

    Prospective authors must also submit a statement indicating that the manuscript…

    • relates to teaching or learning foreign languages;
    • is an original work;
    • is not published in another publication; and
    • is not under consideration for publication in any other source.

    All submissions will be read and evaluated by at least three persons: the editor and selected members of the Editorial Board of Reviewers. The reviewers represent as many areas of the foreign language teaching profession as possible. Every attempt is made to send the article to reviewers who have some expertise in the subject addressed in the article.

    Submission of an article for publication does not guarantee that it will be a part of the volume. Reviewers will be asked to make one of three recommendations regarding each article:

    1. publish as is [a rare occurrence];
    2. publish after revision/rewriting;
    3. do not publish.
    When all reviewers’ ratings have been received, the editor makes the final decision regarding which articles will be published (in discussion with co-editor, when present). The decision may be based on considerations such as balance among articles of various types and their assessment of the article’s interest to both SCOLT conference attendees and the larger audience that Dimensions reaches. The decision to accept an article is based primarily on the ideas presented in the article. However, papers that follow the policies and guidelines are given preference.

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    Formatting Requirements

    Dimensions has rules governing the formatting of the final submission. See Author Guidelines for details. While initial submissions are not required to be formatted at time of submission for consideration, papers that follow the policies and guidelines are given preference.

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    Rights for Authors and DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University

    As further described in our submission agreement (the Submission Agreement), in consideration for publication of the article, the authors assign to DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University all copyright in the article, subject to the expansive personal--use exceptions described below.

    Attribution and Usage Policies

    Reproduction, posting, transmission or other distribution or use of the article or any material therein, in any medium as permitted by a personal-use exemption or by written agreement of DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University, requires credit to DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University as copyright holder (e.g., DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University © 2025).

    Personal-use Exceptions

    The following uses are always permitted to the author(s) and do not require further permission from DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University provided the author does not alter the format or content of the articles, including the copyright notification:

    • Storage and back-up of the article on the author's computer(s) and digital media (e.g., diskettes, back-up servers, Zip disks, etc.), provided that the article stored on these computers and media is not readily accessible by persons other than the author(s);
    • Posting of the article on the author(s) personal website, provided that the website is non-commercial;
    • Posting of the article on the internet as part of a non-commercial open access institutional repository or other non-commercial open access publication site affiliated with the author(s)'s place of employment (e.g., a Phrenology professor at the University of Southern North Dakota can have her article appear in the University of Southern North Dakota's Department of Phrenology online publication series); and
    • Posting of the article on a non-commercial course website for a course being taught by the author at the university or college employing the author.

    People seeking an exception, or who have questions about use, should contact the editors.

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    General Terms and Conditions of Use

    Users of the DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University website and/or software agree not to misuse the DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University service or software in any way.

    The failure of DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University to exercise or enforce any right or provision in the policies or the Submission Agreement does not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any term of the Submission Agreement or these policies is found to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Submission Agreement and these policies remain in full force and effect. These policies and the Submission Agreement constitute the entire agreement between DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University and the Author(s) regarding submission of the Article.

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