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Russian Language Journal

Author Guidelines and Formatting Requirements

This document provides details on typesetting and layout requirements pertaining to final manuscript submission to Russian Language Journal.

Article Length

Manuscripts between 7000-7500 words in the first submission are preferred. Authors interested in submitting longer manuscripts are encouraged to contact the Editor to discuss article length and subject matter prior to submission.

Formatting Requirements

  • Do not include a title page or abstract. (Begin the document with the introduction; a title page, including the abstract which you will enter in the submission page, will be added to your paper by the editors at a later stage.)
  • Write your article in English or in Russian.
  • Include an English language title and abstract of no longer than 250 words in the submission form; Russian-language submissions must include an English-language title and abstract.
  • Submit your manuscript, including tables, figures, appendices, etc., as a single Microsoft Doc File (.docx); other formats are not accepted.
  • Page size should be 8.5 x 11-inches.
  • All margins (left, right, top and bottom) should be 1.5 inches (3.8 cm), including your tables and figures.
  • Double space your text.
  • Use a single column layout with left margin justified and the right margin ragged.
  • Pagination: Include the page number in running headers on each page of the document.
  • Font:
    1. Main Body—12 pt. Times or the closest comparable font available
    2. Footnotes—10 pt. Times or the closest comparable font available
  • If figures are included, use high-resolution figures and images.
  • Copyedit and carefully proofread your manuscript before submission.

Additional Recommendations

Indenting, Line Spacing, and Justification

Indent all paragraphs except those following a section heading. An indent should be at least 2 em-spaces.

Do not insert extra space between paragraphs of text with the exception of long quotations (block quotes), examples, etc. These should be set off from the surrounding text by additional space above and below as per APA formatting guidelines.

All text should be left-justified (i.e., flush with the left margin—except where indented), with ragged right margins. Please do not use flush right margins, as this results in awkward intra- and inter-word spacing.

Language & Grammar

All submissions must be in English or Russian.

Authors should use proper, standard American English grammar and follow the style guidelines of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th Edition) (see also APA's online Style and Grammar Guides , with the exception of headers, about which more below.

The following details should receive special consideration:

Numerals

Numbers less than 10 and all numbers that begin a sentence should be written out.

Language Abilities and ACTFL Proficiency Levels

When referring to official ACTFL proficiency ratings, please capitalize the ratings, as follows Novice, Novice Low, Intermediate, Intermediate Mid, Advanced, Advanced High. Otherwise use the words in the lower case when referring more broadly to class or learner level (as in "students in advanced Russian classes").

Colored text

Set the font color to black for all of the text. Color in the production of figures, images, maps, etc. may be used.

Please ensure that there are no colored mark-ups or comments in the final version, unless they are meant to be part of the final text. (You may need to "accept all changes" in track changes or set your document to "normal" in final markup.)

Emphasized text

In general, avoid using italics for emphasis and use italics only to highlight a particular term. Instead, rewrite your sentence to provide emphasis. For example, place important words or phrases at the beginning or end of a sentence, rather than in the middle, or break long sentences into shorter sentences. However, do use italics rather than underlining, if the emphasis may otherwise be lost. Do not use color to emphasize text.

Font faces

Except, possibly, where special symbols are needed, use Times or the closest comparable font available.

Font size

The main body of text should be set in 12pt. Avoid the use of fonts smaller than 6pt.

Foreign language translations and transliterations

  • Any quotation, reference title, or other text appearing in a language other than English must be italicized and translated by the author; the translation should appear in brackets following the text or, for longer translations, below the original text. For example, Сколько времени? [What time is it?]
  • Do not transliterate Russian terms (that is, render them in Latin). If citing terms in languages other than Russian that use a non-Roman alphabet, please transliterate the terms using the simplified Library of Congress Romanization Tables . Italicize the transliterated foreign word or phrase, and include the translation in brackets. For example Sain uu [Hello].

    • Headings

    Instead of APA headings, please use multilevel numbered headings. Top-level headings should be numbered 1, 2, 3, 4. (for example, 1. Introduction). Second-level headings are numbered 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and third-level headings, 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3. There should be space above and below headings. Note that this is the one variation from APA style. Russian-language quotations should be in Russian, followed by English translation in brackets or, for longer translations of block quotes, below the original text; citations and references should be transliterated following the simplified U.S. Library of Congress system.

    Main text

    The font for the main body of text must be black and, if at all possible, in Times or closest comparable font available.

    Titles

    Whenever possible, titles of books, movies, etc., should be set in italics rather than underlined.

    Footnotes

    Footnotes should appear at the bottom of the page on which they are referenced rather than at the end of the paper. Footnotes should be in 10 pt. Times or closest comparable font available, they should be single spaced, and there should be a footnote separator rule (line). Footnote numbers or symbols in the text must follow, rather than precede, punctuation. Excessively long footnotes are probably better handled in an appendix.

    Tables and Figures

    To the extent possible, tables and figures should appear in the document near where they are referenced in the text. Each table and figure should be assigned a number in the manuscript (e.g., Table 1.1, 2.1. etc.). Large tables or figures should be put on pages by themselves. Avoid the use of overly small type in tables. In no case should tables or figures be in a separate document or file. All tables and figures must fit within 1.5" margins on all sides (top, bottom, left and right) in both portrait and landscape view. It is the author’s responsibility to obtain and document permission to include copyrighted illustrations in the work. Any illustrations (including tables and charts) must be submitted in camera-ready format. If this is not possible, the costs involved for any graphics preparation will be the author’s responsibility. The author will cover the costs associated with any requested changes made to submissions already typeset. The page size in RLJ is 7x10 inches. This might affect the way tables and images look on a page. Contributors should consider designing images, tables and graphs that will fit on this size of a page and remain legible. While a soft copy can be enlarged on the screen, consider a possibility of your article being printed by some readers on paper.

    References

    It is the author's obligation to provide complete references with the necessary information. For each work cited in the article, there should be a separate reference entry in the References. After the last sentence of your submission, please insert a page break. References should appear right after the end of the document. Please consult the current version of the APA manual ( http:/www.apastyle.org) for information on how to format references for documents of different types, e.g., anthologies, journal articles, books, book chapters, newspapers or newsletters, unpublished material, online sources, and publications with differing numbers of authors.

    Foreign language materials in non-Latin script should follow the following format. Titles and names must be transliterated before translating and citing. In-text citation must contain the last name and the year of publication in parentheses, e.g., (Nabokov, 1955). In the reference list a transliterated title must be followed by an English translation in square brackets. Names should be transliterated (not translated) and arranged in "Western" order, e.g., ordered by the last name. Conference presentation must provide the names of the presenters, the full dates of the conference, describe the presentation in square brackets after the title, provide the name of the conference or meeting and its location. If video of the conference presentation is available, include a link at the end of the reference.

    Within the text of your manuscript, use the APA method of citation.