Articlo
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Taylor & Francis

Prepare your manuscript for Language Matters.

Review the checklist, choose your article type, and turn your draft into a cleaner submission package.

Checked 2026-08-02
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Article types

Review
Book Review
Letter
Lectio

Readiness requirements

Review the key details below, or download the complete checklist with every stored source-backed requirement.

Abstract length

  • Keywords Below the abstract, please provide 5–8 keywords for indexing (only proper nouns should be capitalised).
  • Do not type the abstract in italics.

Keywords

  • Provide 5-8 keywords chosen by the author.
  • Distinguish between keywords/phrases with a semicolon, e.g. semantics; codeswitching; discourse; southern regions of Africa; indexicality Author names In submission versions accepted for publication, authors should only include their first name and surname.

Reference style

  • Articlo formats your supplied references in Harvard style and checks that citations match the reference list; source validity is not verified.
  • Article length Articles should be between 5 000 and 8 000 words in length (from the first word of the title to the last word of the references).
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  • Footnotes with references in Arabic numbers (1, 2, 3—do not use i, ii, iii) are allowed on condition that these are limited to essential notes that enhance the content without impeding the fluent reading of the article.
  • Single-author citations: If the author’s name appears in the text it is not necessary to repeat it, but the date should follow immediately: Malan (2014, 4) refers to this … Single author with two or more works in the same year: (Gray 2009a; 2009b) One publication with two or three authors: … contested by Smith and Jones (2013, 16).
  • Abstracts should not contain any footnotes or citations.
  • Style Do not use the ampersand (&) anywhere in the text or citations; use “and” instead.
  • Footnotes do not replace the alphabetical list of references at the end of the text.
  • et al. (not italics) Never use in the reference list.
  • Include authors cited in tables and figures in the reference list.
  • Dates of individual items should be mentioned in the text, when applicable: (in the reference list) Egmont Manuscripts.
  • Fisher Capitalisation of (South African surnames with prefixes) (South African) surnames with prefixes should be capitalised as follows when used in isolation from a given name (such as in citations and reference lists): De Vos, Le Roux, Van der Walt Acronyms Give the full name when first mentioned (with acronym in parentheses), thereafter use the acronym uniformly and consistently: Unisa; CSIR; HSRC; Sabinet/SABINET et al.
  • Electronic references (NB: The text reference must correspond with the alphabetical reference list) Author’s surname, name and initials (if available); title of article/publication. website address (URL): Macdonald, Fiona.
  • Citation Guidelines: Chicago Author-Date In text: Within the body of your text, citations are indicated in parentheses with the author's surname, publication date, and page number (if needed, as when quoting direct words), e.g. (Smith 2012, 45).
  • Do not put a full stop after the DOI—A DOI is a permanent ID that, when appended to https://doi.org/ in the address bar of an Internet browser, will lead to the source.

Figure and table rules

  • Keep every figure and table numbered, captioned, and cited in the manuscript.
  • Linguistic examples in series Series of linguistic examples should be presented neatly (as borderless tables).
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  • Captions of figures other than artworks should be short and descriptive.

Funding statement

  • Include or confirm the funding statement required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.

Competing interests

  • Include or confirm the competing interests required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.

Cover letter

  • Acknowledgements Acknowledgements appear at the end of the article, should be brief, and recognise sources of financial and logistical support and permission to reproduce materials from other sources.

Author contributions

  • Submitting authors should be prepared to submit CRediT roles for themselves and their co-authors (where applicable) as part of the submission process.

Supplementary files

  • Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
  • Do not add supplementary files with graphic content.

Title page and author information

  • In submissions accepted for publication, authors should include their affiliation or ORCID below their name, after the title of the article.
  • Do not use a dash to replace author names.

Article structure and word limits

  • The letters in ordinal numbers should not appear as superscripts (e.g., 122nd and NOT 122nd).
  • Manuscripts must be presented as: A4 pages; normal margins; 12pt Times Roman; 1.5 line spacing.
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  • Examples are: “This,” wrote George Templeton Strong, “is what our tailors can do.” 1 The bias was apparent in the Shotwell series 2 —and it must be remembered that Shotwell was a student of Robinson’s.
  • These instructions will ensure we have everything required so your paper can move through peer review, production and publication smoothly.
  • Your research funder or your institution may require you to publish your article open access.
  • Use our APC finder to view the APC for this journal.
  • The example numbers should be in parentheses and placed next to the left-hand margin.
  • All graphic material has to be positioned at the correct place in the text and should be of a good quality.
  • Book Review: Book reviews Please note the format and order of information required in metadata for book reviews: Reviewed Book, by Andy Author Unnamed University Press.
  • A note number should generally be placed at the end of a sentence or at the end of a clause.
  • Percentages should be expressed in digits followed by the unspaced percentage sign (%) throughout the text.
  • Single variables should be inserted into the text as Unicode characters.
  • Use surnames, first names (if known) and initials.
  • Use headline-style capitalisation for titles of journals and periodicals (i.e., Journal of Social Activism ).
  • Names of languages Languages should be referred to by the name listed in Ethnologue ( https://www.ethnologue.com/ ).
  • Such numbering should occur consecutively.
  • Use only three full stops for an ellipsis (A full stop is added before an ellipsis to indicate the omission of the end of a sentence, unless the sentence is deliberately incomplete).
  • A space should be used between any initials.
  • Do not type double spaces anywhere; not between words, at the end of sentences or after colons.

Preprints and prior publication

  • If you have shared an earlier version of your Author’s Original Manuscript on a preprint server, please be aware that anonymity cannot be guaranteed.

Article type and manuscript length

  • Individual examples should only be numbered if they are discussed with reference to that number in the article’s body text.
  • ISBN: 978-0-0000000-0, https://doi.org/00.000/00000000.000.0000 Reviewed by Randy Reviewer https://orcid.org/0000-0000-0000-0000 Unnamed University, Country email@email.com Footnotes Please do not place any footnote markers before the beginning of the article’s main text.

Language and text style

  • Proofing language must be set as UK English (e.g. colour—not color; travelled—not traveled; organise; organisation; organising—not -ize).
  • Italicisation should otherwise be reserved for titles and words from a language other than that of the text.
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  • Titles of standalone publications must be in headline style (significant words are capitalised) and in italics when typed in the text.
  • Do not print indented text in italics and do not use quotation marks.
  • Abbreviations Abbreviations that begin and end on the same letter as the word, do not get a full stop (Mr/Dr/Eds), but note Ed./Rev.
  • Words well known in South African English are set as roman, for example, “lobola,” “ubuntu,” “indaba.” Words/terms that need to be singled out as being “borrowed” from another author/source may be placed in double inverted commas.
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What your package checks

Paper: 8,000 words
Keywords: 5-8 keywords
References: Harvard

Source transparency

This preparation guide uses published journal-specific author requirements. Journal instructions can change, so authors should complete a final review before submission.

Open official guideline source