Submission Preflight (lang-submission)

The last check before you press submit on Cambridge University Press ScholarOne — the portal for Language since January 2026, when the journal moved to CUP and became fully open access from Volume 102. Language is double-anonymous, so the most common avoidable failures are an under-anonymized manuscript and self-citations that unmask the author. Also verify the section and word limits, the Language Style Sheet citations, and the Leipzig glossing / IPA before upload. Verify all volatile items on the live CUP/LSA author pages immediately before submission.

When to trigger

• "Submitting tomorrow" — last pass before upload
• Unsure which section, files, or metadata ScholarOne expects
• Confirming anonymization, word count, abstract, glossing, style, and alt text are all handled

Process facts (verify volatile items on the official page)

• Publisher / portal: Cambridge University Press; submit via ScholarOne (since Jan 2026). An Overleaf template is available; ScholarOne accepts LaTeX and Word workflows — confirm current accepted formats.
• Access: fully open access from Volume 102 (2026); check the current APC / waiver and any read-and-publish agreement on the CUP page.
• Review model: double-anonymous — remove author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, and identifying self-references; every effort must prevent authors and reviewers from identifying each other.
• Editors: Shelome Gooden and Michael Putnam (verify the current masthead before naming an editor in any submission-facing document; editorship rotates).
• Sections & limits:
  • General Research Article — up to 18,000 words inclusive of notes, charts, tables, and appendices but excluding references; submissions over 12,000 words are assessed for appropriateness and may face more stringent review.
  • Research Report — a smaller, targeted contribution (shorter; confirm the current cap).
  • Review Article — up to 5,000 words (excluding references).
  • Discussion Notes, Reviews/Book Notices, and the four online-only sections (Perspectives, Phonological Analysis, Language and Public Policy, Teaching Linguistics).
• Abstract: required; short (target ~150 words — confirm the current limit on the author page).
• House style: the Language Style Sheet / Unified Style Sheet for Linguistics (author-date); not APA or Chicago.
• Examples: numbered; Leipzig interlinear glossing; IPA in a Unicode font.
• Figures: provide alt text / descriptive captions; vector where possible.
• Data: include a data-availability statement; share analysis data/code where ethical (see lang-data-and-transparency).

Preflight checklist

Section & length

• Correct section selected (General Research Article / Research Report / Review Article / other)
• Within the section's word limit; General Research Article word count computed on the inclusive rule
• Over 12,000 words only if the length is genuinely earned

Anonymity (double-anonymous)

• No author names, affiliations, or acknowledgments in the manuscript
• Self-citations worded to avoid unmasking ("Author 2020", neutral phrasing)
• Identifying file metadata stripped; a separate title page if the portal requires it

Content & format

• Abstract present, within the current word target, states question + data + finding
• Language Style Sheet citations and reference list (NOT APA/Chicago)
• Numbered examples, aligned Leipzig glosses, abbreviations listed, correct IPA
• Figure alt text / descriptive captions
• Data-availability statement accurate (no over-stated mandate)
• Not under review elsewhere (concurrent submission violates publishing ethics)

Avoidable-failure triage (what bounces a submission, and the fix)

Calibration (Language-specific posture, hedged)

Reflects Language's house and culture, not universal rules; confirm on the live pages. The most common avoidable failure is an under-anonymized file under double-anonymous review; the second is a word count that misreads the inclusive General Research Article rule (notes and tables count; references do not). Illustrative: a 12,800-word General Research Article catches three triage issues at preflight — an acknowledgments footnote naming a grant and a collaborator, references still in APA from a prior subfield-journal attempt, and two figures with no alt text — and after fixes the file is anonymous, Style-Sheet-conformant, and within a defensible length.

Anti-patterns

• Leaving author identifiers in the text, acknowledgments, or file metadata (breaks double-anonymous)
• Miscomputing the inclusive word limit or pushing past 12,000 without earning it
• APA/Chicago references instead of the Language/Unified Style Sheet
• Submitting a descriptive data dump with no theoretical claim (a desk return)
• Submitting while the paper is under review at another journal

Output format

【Section】General Research Article / Research Report / Review Article / other
【Length】within cap on the inclusive rule; earned past 12,000? [Y/N]
【Anonymized】text + self-cites + metadata clean? [Y/N]
【Abstract】present, within limit, states question/data/finding? [Y/N]
【House style】Language/Unified Style Sheet (NOT APA/Chicago)? [Y/N]
【Glossing/IPA/alt text】examples, transcription, figures conform? [Y/N]
【Data statement】accurate, not over-stated? [Y/N]
【Next】lang-review-process → lang-rebuttal on R&R

Supplementary resources

• templates/checklist.md — printable preflight checklist
• templates/manuscript_template.md — Language-conformant manuscript skeleton
• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — CUP/LSA submission, style, and open-access sources