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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 This business model is outdated.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. This is like "conditionally accepted." 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. Arboles y Rizomas 

  7. Asian Journal of English Language Teaching 

  8. Asp. La revue du GERAS 

  9. Atlantis Scopus, ESCI

  10. Aula Abierta Scopus, ESCI

  11. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology Scopus, SSCI

  12. Babylonia 

  13. Bahastra 

  14. BC TEAL Journal

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

  16. Beyond Words

  17. Boletin de Literatura Oral Scopus, ESCI

  18. CALL-EJ Scopus 

  19. Caracteres Scopus, ESCI

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

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

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

  23. Communiquer Scopus, ESCI

  24. Computational Linguistics Scopus, SSCI

  25. Comunicar Scopus, SSCI

  26. Continua 

  27. Culture, Language and Representation Scopus, ESCI

  28. Current Issues in Philology and Pedagogical Linguistics

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

  30. Dialectologia Scopus, ESCI

  31. Dialektika

  32. Dialogic Pedagogy Scopus, ESCI

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

  34. Dinamika Ilmu

  35. Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics Scopus, ESCI

  36. Edukasi: Jurnal Pendidikan dan Pengajaran

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

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

  39. ELT Forum: Journal of English Language Teaching

  40. ELT Worldwide: Journal of English Language Teaching

  41. English Australia Journal Scopus

  42. English Community Journal

  43. English Language Teaching Educational Journal

  44. ESP Today Scopus, ESCI

  45. Estudios de Asia y África Scopus, ESCI

  46. Estudios de Lingüística Inglesa Aplicada Scopus, ESCI

  47. EuroAmerican Journal of Applied Linguistics and Languages 

  48. EuroLinguistiX 

  49. Forma y Funcion Scopus, ESCI

  50. GIST Education and Learning Research Journal

  51. Global Business Languages

  52. HOW Journal

  53. IAFOR Journal of Education Scopus

  54. Iberica Scopus, SSCI

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

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

  57. Indonesian JELT

  58. International Journal of Arabic Teaching and Learning

  59. International Journal of Emerging Issues in Early Childhood Education

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

  61. International Journal of English Studies Scopus, ESCI

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

  63. International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Research

  64. International Journal of Language Teaching and Education

  65. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies

  66. International Journal of TESOL Studies

  67. International Journal on Language Research and Education Studies

  68. Investigaciones Sobre Lectura

  69. Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research Scopus, ESCI 

  70. Italian at School

  71. Journal of English Language and Education

  72. Jurnal Ilmiah Bahasa dan Sastra

  73. Journal for Foreign Languages Scopus

  74. Journal for Research on Adult Education

  75. Journal for the Psychology of Language Learning

  76. Journal of Child Language Acquisition and Development 

  77. Journal of Classics Teaching

  78. Journal of Communication Pedagogy

  79. Journal of Education for Multilingualism

  80. Journal of Education, Language, and Ideology

  81. Journal of ELT Research

  82. Journal of English Educators Society

  83. Journal of English Language Teaching in Indonesia

  84. Journal of Foreign Language Education and Technology

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

  86. Journal of Language and Education Scopus, ESCI

  87. Journal of Language and Law Scopus, ESCI

  88. Journal of Language and Literature Education

  89. Journal of Language Contact Scopus, ESCI

  90. Journal of Language Education and Research

  91. Journal of Linguistics Research

  92. Journal of Media Literacy Education

  93. Journal of Mother Tongue Education

  94. Journal of Multilingual Education Research

  95. Journal of Research in Applied Linguistics Scopus, ESCI

  96. Journal of Research in Language & Translation 

  97. Journal of Saudi Electronic University on Digitalization 

  98. Journal of Special Education and Rehabilitation

  99. Journal of Teaching and Learning Scopus, ESCI

  100. Journal of the European Second Language Association

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

  102. Journal of Writing Research Scopus, ESCI

  103. Jurnal Bahasa Lingua Scientia

  104. Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa dan Sastra Indonesia Metalingua

  105. Jurnal Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan

  106. KOME Scopus, ESCI

  107. Konin Language Studies

  108. L2 Journal

  109. Laboratory Phonology Scopus, SSCI

  110. Language and Linguistics Scopus, SSCI

  111. Language & Literacy

  112. Language Development Research

  113. Language Documentation and Conservation Scopus, ESCI

  114. Language Learning & Technology Scopus, SSCI

  115. Language Teaching and Educational Research

  116. Language Value Scopus 

  117. Latin American Journal of Content & Language Integrated Learning

  118. LACLIL

  119. LEARN Journal: Language Education and Acquisition Research Network Scopus

  120. Lenguas Modernas Scopus

  121. Lexikos Scopus, SSCI

  122. LingTera

  123. Lisanuna: Jurnal Ilmu Bahasa Arab dan Pembelajarannya

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

  125. Literator Scopus, ESCI

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

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

  128. MEXTESOL Journal Scopus

  129. Mimbar Pendidikan: Jurnal Indonesia untuk Kajian Pendidikan

  130. Muróbbî: Jurnal Ilmu Pendidikan

  131. New Zealand Studies in Applied Linguistics

  132. NYS TESOL Journal

  133. Ocnos

  134. Onomazein Scopus, SSCI

  135. Papers in Language Testing and Assessment ESCI

  136. Parole: Journal of Linguistics and Education

  137. PASAA Scopus

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

  139. Polish Journal of English Studies 

  140. Polyglot: Jurnal Ilmiah

  141. Porta Linguarum Scopus, SSCI

  142. Problems of Onomastics Scopus, ESCI

  143. Procesamiento del Lenguaje Natural Scopus, ESCI

  144. Professional Discourse & Communication

  145. Profile: Issues in Teachers' Professional Development Scopus 

  146. Psiholingvistika Scopus

  147. Psychology of Language and Communication Scopus 

  148. Quaderns de Filologia: Estudis Literaris Scopus, ESCI

  149. RATE Issues

  150. Reading & Writing Scopus, ESCI

  151. Reading in a Foreign Language ESCI

  152. Recherches en didactique des langues et des cultures

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

  154. Res Rhetorica Scopus, ESCI

  155. Research in Corpus Linguistics

  156. Research Papers in Language Teaching and Learning

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

  158. Revista Argentina de Ciencias del Comportamiento Scopus, ESCI

  159. Revista de Lingüística y Lenguas Aplicadas Scopus, ESCI

  160. Revista EntreLínguas

  161. Revista Espaço

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

  163. Revista Signos Scopus, SSCI

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

  165. Saudi Journal of Language Studies 

  166. SCENARIO Journal

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

  168. Scripta Manent

  169. SED - Journal of Art Education

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

  171. Sintagma Scopus, SSCI

  172. Sinteze

  173. SiSAL Journal Scopus 

  174. Special Education and Rehabilitation Scopus, SSCI

  175. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus Scopus 

  176. Studies in Applied Linguistics & TESOL

  177. Studies in Language Assessment ESCI

  178. Studies in Pragmatics and Discourse Analysis

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

  180. Sustainable Multilingualism

  181. Tabuk University Journal of Human and Social Sciences

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

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

  184. Tejuelo

  185. TESL Canada Journal ESCI

  186. TESL-EJ Scopus

  187. TESOLANZ Journal 

  188. Texto Livre: Linguagem e Tecnologia Scopus, ESCI

  189. The Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics ESCI

  190. The Journal of Asia TEFL Scopus, ESCI

  191. The Journal of Teaching English with Technology Scopus 

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

  193. The Literacy Trek

  194. The International Journal of Arabic Linguistics

  195. Theory and Practice of Second Language Acquisition Scopus

  196. Tomsk State University Journal of Philology Scopus, ESCI

  197. Training, Language and Culture

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

  199. Westcliff International Journal of Applied Research

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

  201. 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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