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There is increasing discontent with the predominant business model publishers use: The author submits the paper for free, the reviewer works for free, the editor typically works for free, but then the publisher acquires the copyright and keeps the work behind expensive paywalls. This business model is outdated. With the available technology, most of what publishers were needed for is no longer justifiable. The current publishing system is a rip-off and is bad for science. 

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So how to support open access? One way is to be involved with open access journals, whether by submitting your work to them, reviewing for them, or joining their editorial boards. Another way is to read research published in these journals and cite it in your research (if it is genuinely relevant). If you cite research published in the last two years, the journal impact factor increases.

List of Open Access Journals

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The journals below are diamond (also called platinum) open access, which means that neither the author nor the reader pays any fees. Generally, as a quality assurance measure, the journals listed below are indexed in Wed of Science (previously known as ISI), Scopus, and/or Directory of Open Access Journals. Journals indexed in Web of Science (esp. SSCI for applied linguistics; see below for explanation) are perceived to be of higher status and to have higher standards (i.e., harder to publish in). Web of Science has an additional category called Emerging Sources Citation Index, which lists journals provisionally included in Web of Science with no impact factor yet (possibly easier to publish in). 

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These journals are related to applied linguistics broadly defined (literature & translation journals are not listed). So you need to make sure that your paper fits the scope of the journal you plan to submit your paper to. These journals also publish in English, though they might additionally publish in other languages, so don't be surprised when you open the website of a journal and find it in a foreign language. Most of these journals have a button to switch to English. 

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Finally, the information in this list can change, particularly the indexing. If you spot a problem with the information or would like to suggest adding a journal, please let know. And as I mentioned above, the primary quality assurance measure I used to compile this list is indexing in Web of Science, Scopus, and/or Directory of Open Access Journals. (Don't think I have first-hand experience with every single one of these journals!) So, if you suspect that a journal is engaging in questionable practices, please let me know to remove it. Having said this, the risk that a diamond access journal is predatory is low (they aren't charging you any money to start with). The bigger risk is that their peer review may not be up to par, allowing shaky research to be published. This is where we as a community should step in and give a hand by agreeing to review to these journals and by offering constructive feedback to manuscript submitters.  

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Legend: 

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SSCI = Social Sciences Citation Index. Perceived to be the most prestigious. A service by WoS. 

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ESCI = Emerging Sources Citation Index. Conditionally accepted, no impact factor yet. A service by WoS.

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Scopus = A service by Elsevier. Offers a different set of impact factors (e.g., SJR & CiteScore). 

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  1. Across the Disciplines 

  2. Alsic. Apprentissage des langues et systèmes d’information et de communication 

  3. Alsinatuna: Journal of Arabic Linguistics and Education 

  4. Altre Modernita Scopus, ESCI

  5. Arabiyat 

  6. Asian Journal of English Language Teaching 

  7. Asp. La revue du GERAS 

  8. Atlantis Scopus, ESCI

  9. Aula Abierta Scopus, ESCI

  10. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology Scopus, SSCI

  11. Babylonia 

  12. Bahastra 

  13. BC TEAL Journal

  14. Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature Scopus 

  15. Beyond Words

  16. Boletin de Literatura Oral Scopus, ESCI

  17. CALL-EJ Scopus 

  18. Caracteres Scopus, ESCI

  19. Chi'e: Journal of Japanese Learning and Teaching

  20. Circulo de Linguistica Aplicada a la Comunicacion Scopus, SSCI

  21. CLIL Journal of Innovation and Research in Plurilingual and Pluricultural Education

  22. Communiquer Scopus, ESCI

  23. Computational Linguistics Scopus, SSCI

  24. Comunicar Scopus, SSCI

  25. Continua 

  26. Culture, Language and Representation Scopus, ESCI

  27. Current Issues in Philology and Pedagogical Linguistics

  28. DELTA: Documentação de estudos em lingüística teórica e aplicada Scopus

  29. Dialectologia Scopus, ESCI

  30. Dialektika

  31. Dialogic Pedagogy Scopus, ESCI

  32. Dialogues: An Interdisciplinary Journal of English Language Teaching and Research

  33. Dinamika Ilmu

  34. Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics Scopus, ESCI

  35. Edukasi: Jurnal Pendidikan dan Pengajaran

  36. E-JournALL: EuroAmerican Journal of Applied Linguistics and Languages

  37. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching (e-FLT) Scopus

  38. ELT Forum: Journal of English Language Teaching

  39. ELT Worldwide: Journal of English Language Teaching

  40. English Australia Journal Scopus

  41. English Community Journal

  42. English Language Teaching Educational Journal

  43. ESP Today Scopus, ESCI

  44. Estudios de Asia y África Scopus, ESCI

  45. Estudios de Lingüística Inglesa Aplicada Scopus, ESCI

  46. EuroAmerican Journal of Applied Linguistics and Languages 

  47. EuroLinguistiX 

  48. Forma y Funcion Scopus, ESCI

  49. GIST Education and Learning Research Journal

  50. Global Business Languages

  51. HOW Journal

  52. IAFOR Journal of Education Scopus

  53. Iberica Scopus, SSCI

  54. IC Revista Cientifica de Informacion y Comunicacion Scopus, ESCI

  55. Indonesian EFL Journal: Journal of ELT, Linguistics, and Literature

  56. Indonesian JELT

  57. International Journal of Arabic Teaching and Learning

  58. International Journal of Emerging Issues in Early Childhood Education

  59. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education Scopus, SSCI

  60. International Journal of English Studies Scopus, ESCI

  61. International Journal of English for Academic Purposes: Research and Practice 

  62. International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Research

  63. International Journal of Language Teaching and Education

  64. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies

  65. International Journal of TESOL Studies

  66. International Journal on Language Research and Education Studies

  67. Investigaciones Sobre Lectura

  68. Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research Scopus, ESCI 

  69. Italian at School

  70. Journal of English Language and Education

  71. Jurnal Ilmiah Bahasa dan Sastra

  72. Journal for Research on Adult Education

  73. Journal for the Psychology of Language Learning

  74. Journal of Child Language Acquisition and Development 

  75. Journal of Classics Teaching

  76. Journal of Communication Pedagogy

  77. Journal of Education for Multilingualism

  78. Journal of Education, Language, and Ideology

  79. Journal of ELT Research

  80. Journal of English Educators Society

  81. Journal of English Language Teaching in Indonesia

  82. Journal of Foreign Language Education and Technology

  83. Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, & Practice

  84. Journal of Language and Education Scopus, ESCI

  85. Journal of Language and Law Scopus, ESCI

  86. Journal of Language and Literature Education

  87. Journal of Language Contact Scopus, ESCI

  88. Journal of Language Education and Research

  89. Journal of Media Literacy Education

  90. Journal of Mother Tongue Education

  91. Journal of Research in Applied Linguistics Scopus, ESCI

  92. Journal of Research in Language & Translation 

  93. Journal of Saudi Electronic University on Digitalization 

  94. Journal of Special Education and Rehabilitation

  95. Journal of Teaching and Learning ESCI

  96. Journal of the European Second Language Association

  97. Journal of Umm Al-Qura University for Language Sciences and Literature

  98. Journal of Writing Research Scopus, ESCI

  99. Jurnal Bahasa Lingua Scientia

  100. Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa dan Sastra Indonesia Metalingua

  101. Jurnal Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan

  102. KOME Scopus, ESCI

  103. Konin Language Studies

  104. L2 Journal

  105. Laboratory Phonology Scopus, SSCI

  106. Language and Linguistics Scopus, SSCI

  107. Language & Literacy

  108. Language Development Research

  109. Language Documentation and Conservation Scopus, ESCI

  110. Language Learning & Technology Scopus, SSCI

  111. Language Teaching and Educational Research

  112. Language Value Scopus 

  113. Latin American Journal of Content & Language Integrated Learning

  114. Lenguas Modernas Scopus

  115. Lexikos Scopus, SSCI

  116. LingTera

  117. Lisanuna: Jurnal Ilmu Bahasa Arab dan Pembelajarannya

  118. LITERA, the International Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and their Teaching

  119. Literator Scopus, ESCI

  120. LLT Journal: A Journal on Language and Language Teaching

  121. Metathesis: Journal of English Language, Literature, and Teaching

  122. MEXTESOL Journal Scopus

  123. Mimbar Pendidikan: Jurnal Indonesia untuk Kajian Pendidikan

  124. Muróbbî: Jurnal Ilmu Pendidikan

  125. New Zealand Studies in Applied Linguistics

  126. NYS TESOL Journal

  127. Ocnos

  128. Onomazein Scopus, SSCI

  129. Papers in Language Testing and Assessment ESCI

  130. Parole: Journal of Linguistics and Education

  131. PASAA Scopus

  132. Pixel-Bit, Revista de Medios y Educacion Scopus, ESCI

  133. Polish Journal of English Studies 

  134. Polyglot: Jurnal Ilmiah

  135. Porta Linguarum Scopus, SSCI

  136. Problems of Onomastics Scopus, ESCI

  137. Procesamiento del Lenguaje Natural Scopus, ESCI

  138. Professional Discourse & Communication

  139. Profile: Issues in Teachers' Professional Development Scopus 

  140. Psiholingvistika Scopus

  141. Psychology of Language and Communication Scopus 

  142. Quaderns de Filologia: Estudis Literaris Scopus, ESCI

  143. RATE Issues

  144. Reading & Writing Scopus, ESCI

  145. Reading in a Foreign Language ESCI

  146. Recherches en didactique des langues et des cultures

  147. Recherche et pratiques pédagogiques en langues de spécialité. Cahiers de l'APLIUT

  148. Res Rhetorica Scopus, ESCI

  149. Research in Corpus Linguistics

  150. Research Papers in Language Teaching and Learning

  151. Researching and Teaching Languages for Specific Purposes Scopus, ESCI

  152. Revista Argentina de Ciencias del Comportamiento Scopus, ESCI

  153. Revista de Lingüística y Lenguas Aplicadas Scopus, ESCI

  154. Revista EntreLínguas

  155. Revista Espaço

  156. Revista Nebrija de Linguistica Aplicada a la Enseñanza de Lenguas

  157. Revista Signos Scopus, SSCI

  158. RLA, Revista de linguistica teorica y aplicada Scopus, SSCI

  159. Saudi Journal of Language Studies 

  160. SCENARIO Journal

  161. Scientific Journal of King Faisal University: Humanities and Management Sciences

  162. Scripta Manent

  163. SED - Journal of Art Education

  164. Sign Systems Studies Scopus; Arts & Humanities Citation Index (a service by WoS)

  165. Sintagma Scopus, SSCI

  166. Sinteze

  167. SiSAL Journal Scopus 

  168. Special Education and Rehabilitation Scopus, SSCI

  169. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus Scopus 

  170. Studies in Applied Linguistics & TESOL

  171. Studies in Language Assessment ESCI

  172. Studies in Pragmatics and Discourse Analysis

  173. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching Scopus, SSCI

  174. Sustainable Multilingualism

  175. Tabuk University Journal of Human and Social Sciences

  176. Teaching American Literature: A Journal of Theory and Practice

  177. Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders Scopus, ESCI

  178. Tejuelo

  179. TESL Canada Journal ESCI

  180. TESL-EJ Scopus

  181. TESOLANZ Journal 

  182. Texto Livre: Linguagem e Tecnologia Scopus, ESCI

  183. The Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics ESCI

  184. The Journal of Asia TEFL Scopus, ESCI

  185. The Journal of Teaching English with Technology Scopus 

  186. The Journal of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages

  187. The Literacy Trek

  188. Theory and Practice of Second Language Acquisition Scopus

  189. Tomsk State University Journal of Philology Scopus, ESCI

  190. Training, Language and Culture

  191. Vocabulary Learning and Instruction: A Journal of Vocabulary Research

  192. Westcliff International Journal of Applied Research

  193. Word and Text - A Journal of Literary Studies and Linguistics Scopus, ESCI

  194. Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft Scopus, SSCI

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In 2017, I published a paper with Joe Vitta listing applied linguistics journals (44 in total only). Our inclusion criterion in that paper was indexing in Scopus and SSCI (not open access status as in the list above). That paper received thousands of reads and a great deal of attention, which suggested to me that there is a need for a list of journals for the field. Some trivia: That paper also listed the impact factors of the journals. At that time, the mean JCR impact factor (WoS) for applied linguistics journals was 1.554 with a standard deviation of 0.76, while the mean SJR impact factor (Scopus) was 0.738 with a standard deviation of 0.65. Check out the full paper here. 

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As the indexing status can change over time, it is wise to double-check it before you decide to submit: 

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For WoS, copy and paste the journal title here. 

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For Scopus, copy and paste the journal title here. 

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And if you do spot something that needs updating, please drop me a line. 

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Open Access Journals

Open Access Book Publishers

 

Unfortunately, there aren't many diamond open access publishers (that charge neither the author nor the reader). If you come across any, please suggest it to me. Here is what is currently available: 

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  1. Applied Linguistics Press

  2. Language Science Press

  3. Open Book Publishers 

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Open Access Book Publishers
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