Articlo
Format a manuscript

Stellenbosch University

Prepare your manuscript for Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus.

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

Checked 2026-07-19
Check readiness freePrepare this manuscript

Article types

Research Article
Review
Perspective
Letter

Readiness requirements

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

Abstract length

  • Provide an author-written abstract of no more than 300 words.
  • If the article is in a language other than English, an English translation of the abstract must accompany the manuscript (for certain special issues an extended English abstract of 1500 words may be required).
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  • A list of up to six key words must be placed below the abstract.
  • The abstract and keywords should also be added to the metadata when making the initial online submission.

Keywords

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

Reference style

  • Articlo formats your supplied references to the journal's stored style and checks that citations match the reference list; source validity is not verified.
  • DOIs for all references, where available, should be provided.
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  • When the source is not a bibliographical reference but is the name of a text or corpus (perhaps unpublished), the source is given in square brackets and the article must contain a special section at the end where more information about the sources is given.
  • The references should be left-aligned.
  • References must follow the following structure: Surname, Initial(s).
  • Titles of works written in a language that readers cannot be expected to know should be accompanied by a translation, given in brackets: Copyright Notice Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access ).
  • If in-text citations cannot be used, a source can be cited as part of a note.

Figure and table rules

  • Keep every figure and table numbered, captioned, and cited in the manuscript.
  • These should make a substantial contribution to knowledge and understanding in the subject matter and should be supported by relevant figures and tabulated data.
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  • Tree diagrams should be treated as examples, not as figures.
  • Abbreviations of uncommon expressions are not used in headings or captions, and they should be avoided at the beginning of a chapter or major section.
  • For this reason, do not refer to tables and figures using the words “following”, “below” or “above”, as the final placement of your table or figure may be different from where you placed them in your manuscript; rather, refer to tables and figures as “Table 2” or “Figure 4”.
  • Appendices are used only for presenting linguistic data, linguistic transcripts, tables and figures, and other supplementary documents that cannot be incorporated in the text in a natural way.

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.

Ethics statement

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

Blinded manuscript

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

Supplementary files

  • Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.

Preprints and prior publication

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

Other submission requirements

  • Submissions Submissions should be made electronically through this website.
  • Research Article: Article types Research articles Research articles must describe the outcomes and application of unpublished original research.
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  • Manuscripts accepted as Akkers will not be required to propose a solution to problems they address as long as their relevance to theoretical issues is made clear.
  • Paragraphs must be justified, with no indentation of the first line.
  • The title should not contain any capitalisation apart from the first word and words that need capitals in any context.
  • First names should not include only initials.
  • More than three levels of subsections should only be used in special circumstances.
  • Linguistic material (i.e. sentences, phrases, words, morphemes, sounds) presented as part of a statement in the text must be italicized.
  • Such material must not be enclosed in inverted commas.
  • Works that do not fit easily into these types should be assimilated to them to the extent that this is possible.
  • Titles of books, journals, and larger works should be italicized, while titles of chapters, articles, and theses/dissertations are not italicized.
  • For sources obtained through the internet, that are not regular scientific publications, this should be treated like a book, to the extent that this is possible.
  • Submission Preparation Checklist As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
  • Do not leave any track changes, comments or highlighting in the document.
  • We assume no responsibility, and shall not be liable for any breaches of agreement with other publishers/hosts.
  • Add automated page numbers.
  • Place: Publisher.
  • Journal titles may not be abbreviated.

Title page and author information

  • Affiliations need to include: the Unit (where applicable), Department/School, University, City (unless indicated in the name of the University) and Country.
  • The names of all authors, affiliations, contact details, biography (optional) and the corresponding author details must be completed online as part of the submission process but should NOT be added to the submitted files until AFTER editorial acceptance.

Article type and manuscript length

  • Articles must have the main text prefaced by an abstract of no more than 300 words summarising the main arguments and conclusions of the article.

Manuscript structure

  • If a (sub-)section has (sub-)subsections, there must be minimally two of them, and they must be exhaustive.
  • This means that all text in a chapter must belong to some section, all text within a section must belong to some subsection, and so on.
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  • Footnotes should be used only where crucial clarifying information needs to be conveyed.
  • The appendix itself must have a descriptive heading.
  • Use of footnotes /endnotes.
  • Use footnotes rather than endnotes.
  • Section headings do not end with a period and have no special capitalization.

Language and text style

  • In numbered examples, do not use italics to highlight particular parts of the example; use bold instead.
  • The abbreviation should be given in the text when it is first used.
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  • Titles of works written in a language that readers cannot be expected to know should be accompanied by a translation, given in square brackets.
  • Examples from languages other than English must be glossed (with word-by-word alignment) and translated (cf. the Leipzig Glossing Rules recommended as basic guidelines here).
  • Abbreviations used in glossed examples should be listed in a separate section following the conclusions.
  • Titles of works written in a language that readers cannot be expected to know should be accompanied by a translation, given in brackets: Copyright Notice Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

Authorship and originality

  • Titles of works written in a language that readers cannot be expected to know should be accompanied by a translation, given in brackets: Copyright Notice Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
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What your package checks

Abstract: 300 words
Paper: 300 words

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