Author Guidelines

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Originality: Manuscripts submitted to the International Journal of Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics (IJMAL) should be original contributions to their field and should only be the work of the stated author(s).

Manuscripts should not be under consideration for any other publication at the same time, or that has been published.

Language: International Journal of Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics (IJMAL) accepts manuscripts written in English or Malay. The author may use either English or American spelling preferences, provided that only one style is used (consistently) throughout the manuscript (exclusive of bibliography). It is imperative that the author(s) ensure the quality of the written language by seeking professional editing services if necessary. The Managing Editor can provide information with regard to editing. For papers written in languages other than English and Malay, writers are required to submit an English version of the full paper.

Manuscript: Articles should be written in more than 4000 words but not exceed 7000 words (about 15 to 25 pages). Innovation reports should fall between 3000 and 4000 words (about 10 to 15 pages). The number of words does not include tables, figures and annexes. The authors are requested to follow the template and to submit files in MS Word format. Authors may download the template HERE.

The journal follows a double-blind policy for the review of submitted manuscripts. To facilitate the review process, the author`s details are not to be included in the manuscript. Please attach a separate page which carries the following information:

1. Name of the author(s).
2. Title of the article. Where articles are submitted in languages other than English, the title should also be provided in English.
3. Abstract of the article (200 – 250 words max). Where articles are submitted in languages other than English, an abstract should also be provided in English.
4. Institutional address.
5. Author(s) email(s) and contact details.
6. 5-6 relevant keywords.
7.  A short author biographical note (50 words max). 
8. Statement of the exact length of the article.

Quotations: Quoted words, phrases and sentences should be enclosed in double quotation marks. Quotations within quotations should be enclosed in single quotation marks. Italicize non-English terms or phrases in manuscripts written in English, and italicize non-Malay terms or phrases in manuscripts written in Malay. Quotations may be either run-in or, in the case of quotations which are four lines or longer, set off from the text as block quotations.

References, Notes and Citations:  Notes should be kept to a minimum. Use endnotes, not footnotes. All notes should be numbered in sequence 1, 2, 3…, and double spaced. In-text citation should be in the form of endnotes.  It is the author`s responsibility to ensure the accuracy of the reference.  For all articles, a list of references cited must be supplied at the end of the manuscript in the form of a bibliography. When the bibliography lists several works by the same author, his or her name should not be repeated.

If there is more than one work published by the same author, these works should be listed in chronological sequence. If there is more than one work published by the same author in the same year, these works should be distinguished by an `a`, `b`, `c`, etc. after the year (the order of the work).

International Journal of Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics (IJMAL) is using APA 7th Referencing Style. Please refer to some of the examples below:

Monographs or Books:

Chanintira na Thalang, & Eun, Y.-S. (2024). Global International Relations in Southeast Asia. Taylor & Francis.

Keohane, R. O. (1989). International institutions and state power : essays in international relations theory. Routledge.

Nordin Hussin. (2009). Trade and society in the Straits of Melaka : Dutch Melaka and English Penang, 1780-1830. Nus Press ; Copenhagen S, Denmark.

Chapters in Edited Books

McCormack, B., McCance, T., & Maben, J. (2013). Outcome evaluation in the development of person-centred practice. In B. McCormack, K. Manley, & A. Titchen (Eds.), Practice development in nursing and healthcare (pp. 190-211). John Wiley & Sons.

Article in a journal:       

Carlsnaes, W. (1992). The Agency-Structure Problem in Foreign Policy Analysis. International Studies Quarterly, 36(3), 245. https://doi.org/10.2307/2600772

Moorthy, R., & Benny, G. (2012). Is an “ASEAN Community” Achievable?. Asian Survey, 52(6), 1043–1066. https://doi.org/10.1525/as.2012.52.6.1043

Newspaper/Magazines Article

Rogers, O. (2021, July 9). Why naming race is necessary to undo racism. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/who-am-i-who-are-we/202107/why-naming-race-is-necessary-undo-racism 

Online References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Preventing HPV-associated cancers. https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/hpv/basic_info/prevention.htm/

SUBMITTING A PAPER

Authors are required to submit their paper electronically via URL http://myjms.mohe.gov.my/index.php/ijmal. Please register online as author and follow the five steps of submission process. 

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

International Journal of Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics (IJMAL) is an open access journal. All articles are published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY). This licence permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction provided that the authors, citation details and publisher are clearly identified. For any reuse or distribution, users must make clear that the article is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution license. 

If an article is accepted for publication in this journal, copyright of the article including abstract will be vested to International Journal of Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics and Universiti Teknologi MARA. This enables us to ensure full copyright protection and to disseminate the journal internationally.

If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the Author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article.

PRIVACY STATEMENT

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

ETHICS STATEMENT

This is the statement of ethics for International Journal of Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics,  published by Akademi Pengajian Bahasa Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam. 

DUTIES OF PUBLISHER

• Publisher is required to support all the hard work of the authors.
• Publisher is responsible to ensure the process of publishing runs smoothly.

DUTIES OF EDITOR

• Editor should acknowledge the author’s submission within 7 working days.
• Editor should disclose and proofread the manuscript in confidentiality.
• Editor should not proceed to process any manuscript if there is any conflict of interest.
• Editor should not share any information relating to the manuscript with a third party.
• Editor has the right to reject any manuscripts which do not fit the aim and scope of the journal.
• Editor should not force or threaten authors to cite the journal as the means of accepting the manuscript for publication.
• Editor should not use any data or information from the unpublished manuscript in his or her research.
• Editor is responsible to address any unethical complaints made against any submitted manuscript and it should be followed by a formal letter with the necessary correction made to the manuscript.

DUTIES OF REVIEWERS

• Reviewer is required to revert immediately if he or she is not qualified or unable to meet the due date of reviewing the manuscript given.
• Reviewer is required to report immediately if there is any conflict of interest involved regarding the manuscript that he/she is reviewing.
• Reviewer is required to review discreetly.
• Reviewer is required to review the manuscript objectively.
• Reviewer is prevented to use any of the data or information of the submitted manuscript in his or her research.
• Reviewer is required to report if the reviewed manuscript shows any similarities with any other previously published research from any other publication or is suspected of containing any plagiarised content.

DUTIES OF AUTHOR

• Author is not allowed to submit the same manuscript to any other publication once it is submitted to this journal.
• Author is not allowed to submit a published manuscript to this publication.
• Author may submit original research presented at conferences but a considerable amount of changes must be done to the manuscript prior to submission.
• Author is required to submit original research. Any plagiarised research or any unethical publishing misconduct will result in necessary editorial action such as rejection of the manuscript.
• Author is required to cite all the sources used in the research and any conflict of interest should be declared.
• Author is required to acknowledge all main contributors to the research and they must be regarded as co-authors.
• Author is required to inform the journal editor of any errors in his or her manuscript and be prepared to do corrections accordingly.
• Author should read the “Submission Guidelines” on the journal’s page before making a submission. The manuscript should be prepared according to the style and specifications of the journal’s policy. Author may download the template HERE. 
• All authors should approve the final version of the manuscript prior to submission. Once a manuscript is submitted, it is therefore assumed that all authors have read and given their approval for the submission of the manuscript.
• Submissions should be made online at: https://myjms.mohe.gov.my/index.php/ijmal/about/submissions
• Authors may submit their inquiries to the Chief Editor at haidaumiera@uitm.edu.my

PLAGIARISM

• Authors should submit only original work that is not plagiarized, and has not been published or being considered elsewhere.  Appropriate softwares will be used by the editorial office to check for similarities of submitted manuscripts with existing literature. Inclusion of fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements are unacceptable. Work and/or words from other publications must be appropriately cited or quoted.

REPORTING

• Authors should state their results clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification or inappropriate data manipulation.The methods used in the work should be clearly and unambiguously described so that the findings can be repeated and confirmed by other researchers.
• Authors should state the data availability statement in his/her manuscript.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

• Author must include a statement on conflict of interest in the manuscript if author receives any support that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed. 

AUTHORSHIP AND COLLABORATION

• Name of authors listed in a paper should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the report. Only those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the work must be acknowledged or listed as contributors. It is the duty of the corresponding author to ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper.  All co-authors must approve the final version of the paper and agree to the version of the paper before submission.
• Author must state the the contribution of each authors in the manuscript. 

MULTIPLE OR REDUNDANT

• Authors should not publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research output in more than one journal or primary publication. A similar manuscript should not be submitted to more than one journal concurrently as this constitutes as unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

IJMAL EDITORIAL AND PUBLISHING PROCESS (PEER REVIEW STATEMENT)

• All submissions are initially reviewed by the Chief Editor to ensure relevance to the journal and will be checked for plagiarism using Plagiarism Checker Software. Then the manuscripts will be double-blind reviewed. Results will be notified within 1-2 months.
• International Journal of Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics (IJMAL) operates a strict double-blind peer review process for all research articles. The goal of this process is to help the Editor-in-Chief make informed decisions and, through communication with the authors, to improve the quality of the papers.
• During the double-blind review, both the authors and reviewers are kept anonymous. The average review period lasts for 4-8 weeks.
• Based on the reviewer's comments and the Section Editor's final opinion, the Editor-in-Chief decides to accept the paper, accept it with revisions, ask for resubmission, or reject it. If accepted, an acceptance letter is sent to the author and the manuscript is sent to production. If revisions are necessary, the authors are given the opportunity to update their manuscript and resubmit it for further evaluation. In the event of rejection, a rejection letter is sent and the manuscript is archived.
• The next step is for the manuscript to be edited by the Copy Editor, who ensures the manuscript adheres to the correct referencing system and journal style and layout. Once this is complete, the Copy Editor proceeds to format the manuscript into an article, adding necessary links and preparing it in both PDF and HTML formats. The final step is for the Copy Editor to review the manuscript and confirm it is ready for publication.
• The editorial team takes care to maintain the objectivity and quality of the reviews and will assign additional reviewers if there is any doubt regarding their objectivity. 
• The manuscript submission and the peer review process workflow is attached HERE.