Focus and Scope
Section Policies
Peer Review Process
Open Access Policy
Acknowledgements
Focus and Scope
CONSTRUCTIONS+ offers a forum for linguistic research concerned with the structure, use, function, and development of ‘constructions’ in language and linguistics. The journal aims at a balanced integration of both notional, informal approaches to constructions in general and more formal treatments, as for example, within the framework of construction grammar. One of the long-term goals is to establish contact between researchers from various perspectives. The term ‘construction’ as understood in this journal is deliberately chosen to have a broad extension and not be limited to any specific definition or linguistic orientation. Constructions is not restricted to any particular language or language family, and aims at combining theoretical, empirical, and applied issues.
CONSTRUCTIONS+ is published as an open access, peer-reviewed electronic journal. As such, it departs from traditional print journals in at least three important ways:
- Online availability: Constructions will only be available online, through a freely accessible online content system. Articles may be printed by subscribers for private use only. Copyright generally remains with the author(s).
- Speedy publication: To ensure a timely publication of current research, Constructions aims at publishing submitted manuscripts within a period of no more than six months. It will not be published in volume and issue form, but throughout the year, as articles become ready for publication. Constructions was originally launched as part of a large scale project initiated by the Ministry of Science and Research of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, to establish digital peer publishing as an alternative to print journals (http://www.dipp.nrw.de).
- Innovative formats: The online platform will also allow for new and innovative publication formats, as for example the publication of research materials and comprehensive data sets in digital format, including audio-visual material, online presentations, and electronic data bases.
Constructions works with a high-class specialized editorial board. All submitted articles will be subjected to the usual double-blind peer reviewing process.
Section Policies
Articles: Open Submissions – Indexed – Peer Reviewed
Reviews Invited Submissions – Indexed – Peer Reviewed
Peer Review Process
Please use the following criteria when assessing a paper in your review.
Structure & presentation
- How clearly is the research question stated, and how clearly is the argument developed?
- Is the length of the contribution reasonable in relation to its content, merit, potential impact?
- Is the paper well accessible also to non-experts in the field?
- Does the English need improvement/correction (the aim is a clear and grammatical variety of ‘Global (academic) English’ rather than a perfect specimen of British or American English)?
Content
- How does the paper contribute to a better understanding of ‘constructions’?
- How ‘original’ and innovative is the contribution?
- How does the paper
… relate to theoretical questions?
… include empirical data? (And if so, how do you judge the methodology chosen?)
… relate to applied issues? - Would you regard this paper as a potential lead article for discussion/peer commentaries?
Final judgement:
(a) publish
(b) publish with minor revisions
(c) publish with major revisions
(d) revise and resubmit
(e) reject
If you are, for any reason, unable to review a particular article, please let us know as soon as possible. In this case, it would be very helpful if you could suggest another suitable reviewer.
Reviews are due within 6 weeks. This is a very strict deadline in order to safeguard timely publication. In other words, if we haven’t heard from you by then, the article will automatically go to another reviewer.
Open Access Policy
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank the following outside referees for their assistance:
Barddal, Johanna
Bergen, Benjamin
Booij, Gert
Brinton, Laurel
Broccias, Cristiano
Davidse, Kristin
Delbecque, Nicole
Detges, Ulrich
Diessel, Holger
Dodge, Ellen
Eskildsen, Søren Wind
Gries, Stefan
Heine, Lena
Huumo, Thomas
Karimi, Simin
Kaufmann, Ingrid
Kittilä, Seppo
König, Ekkehard
Kortmann, Bernd
Leino, Jaakko
Maldonado, Ricardo
Marandin, Jean-Marie
Müller, Stefan
Pedersen, Johan
Porzel, Robert
van Gelderen, Elly
Ziem, Alexander