LANGSCAPE

Language Education and Multilingualism – The LANGSCAPE Journal (LEM)

ISSN (online) 2570-2432

Language Education and Multilingualism – The LANGSCAPE Journal (LEM) is an open-access, double-blind, peer-reviewed, online journal published on behalf of LANGSCAPE.

Originating in Europe, LANGSCAPE is an international research network engaging in multi- and plurilingualism, language education and language learning.

LANGSCAPE responds to the tendencies of linguistic, cultural, and methodological diversification in further language research by strengthening plurilingualism and diversity, and by giving special consideration to the social impact of mobility, migration, class, and gender as expressions of linguistic/cultural empowerment and integration. The general research concept of LANGSCAPE projects beyond disciplinary and geographic boundaries.

Language Education and Multilingualism – The LANGSCAPE Journal focuses on research topics from language and communication studies as well as from interdisciplinary and international educational contexts, relating inter alia to linguistic, cultural, sociological, political, and psychological fields.

Targeted researchers work in disciplines such as further language education and policy, linguistics, applied linguistics, language acquisition, cultural studies, sociology, translation studies, pedagogy and psychology.

The epistemological and methodological spectrum comprises empirical and hermeneutic approaches, realized in both conceptual and empirical studies, i.e. quantitative, qualitative, or multi-methods research studies.

Contributions are accepted in English, French, Spanish, and German. Further languages may be considered according to editorial and peer-review capacities. LEM pursues an adaptive language policy allowing for a publication practice in several languages.

LEM appears annually. The volumes are thematic and include a varia section, and a book-review section, available from volume six. LEM welcomes both original research (conceptual, theoretical, empirical) and theory-driven applied research. The publication is free for authors. Unsolicited proposals are welcome.

Instructions for Authors

Proposals for contributions should respond to the relevant Call for Proposals (CfP). They should clearly refer to the current CfP thematic and comply with its specifications. All other proposals for publication and unsolicited manuscripts must be located recognizably within to the thematic scope and direction of the journal and meet the highest standards for research quality and academic compliance.

Authors are required to disclose any conflict of interest. Also, authors must ensure and declare that their contribution does not breach third party copyrights.

We ask authors to follow the LEM stylesheet for all submissions and to use the LEM template which can be downloaded from the LEM website.

Full manuscripts should be accompanied by an anonymized version for review-purposes.

Peer review process

All submissions to the journal are pre-assessed by the journal editors for thematic relevance and general academic standards and quality. Submissions considered relevant for the journal are subject to a double-blind peer-review process. Authors usually receive feedback within eight weeks after submission to inform them about acceptance for publication (acceptance, qualified acceptance, rejection). Authors may be invited to submit a revised version which takes into consideration requests for changes. The final decision about the acceptance will be made by the editors of LEM.

Research Ethics statement / Disclosure of conflict of interest

Language Education and Multilingualism – The LANGSCAPE Journal (LEM) upholds the highest ethical standards and supports transparency and openness. By submitting work to this journal, authors commit to the following ethical principles:

1. 1. Originality and Attribution: All submissions must represent original work by all the signing authors, and all sources should be properly cited in accordance with the LEM stylesheet. The submitted manuscript must not be under consideration for publication by any other journal or book.
   2. Affiliations: Authors should list their affiliation(s) to those institutions with which they have or had a formal relationship at the time of the research and/or the preparation of the publication.
   3. Respect for Sources and Communities: Authors must represent their sources accurately and ethically, and the rights of all participants must be respected. Statements that harm the reputation of individuals, groups, or organisations will not be accepted.
   4. Academic Misconduct: Fabrication, falsification, manipulation, or misrepresentation of evidence is unacceptable. Any instances of suspected misconduct will be investigated following best practices in publishing ethics. Any legal or ethical concerns will be taken seriously and will be investigated by the general editors of the journal. LEM fully abides by the COPE Core Practices.
   5. Retractions and Corrections: Retractions or correction of errors in published manuscripts will be issued when necessary and should always be written and approved by the editorial team and by all authors of the original article or book review.
   6. Conflicts of interest: Authors and reviewers are required to declare any potential conflicts of interest in the publishing process and disclose any financial, institutional, or personal relationships that could influence the submitted manuscripts.

Statement on plagiarism / Plagiarism check

Plagiarism involves using someone else’s words, concepts, methods, or findings without permission or proper acknowledgment, in a way that may falsely suggest the work is original. It can be deliberate or stem from an unintended mistake, insufficient understanding of publishing standards, or poor decision-making. Regardless of the cause, plagiarism is a serious offense that can damage an author’s reputation and career, and may also lead to legal action, particularly when copyright is breached.

It should be clear to readers which parts of a journal article are original, and which are not. When content from another author’s work is used, appropriate credit must be given to ensure proper attribution. This aligns with international copyright regulations and established ethical standards in scholarly publishing.

LEM does not accept plagiarism and reserves the right to sanction attempted plagiarism. All submissions for publication may be subject to plagiarism checks.

Re-publishing the same content, known as duplicate publication or self-plagiarism, happens when authors submit the same or significantly similar work more than once without clear justification or proper citation. This applies across languages as well. Substantial content overlap may be accepted if prior editorial consent has been granted, the original source has been cited and acknowledged, and such reuse enhances the scholarly conversation.

AI Compliance statement

Potential authors may use AI tools to: improve readability and style (grammar, syntax, translation, clarity); assist in literature review (summarizing research, identifying gaps, organizing references); support drafting (structuring ideas, generating outlines, refining language).

These AI tools uses are tolerated under the following conditions: AI must be used under continuous human oversight; AI-generated content must be verified, adapted, and validated by the authors; tools must comply with data privacy, security, and copyright standards; AI may not be used to create or modify images, figures, or visual data, except in justified cases (e.g., AI research). AI-generated images raise concerns about copyright, reproducibility, and scientific ethics.

The following AI tools uses are prohibited: authorship, i.e. AI cannot be credited as an author; data or result fabrication, i.e., AI must not be used to generate or alter research data, images, or results, unless this is part of the research methodology (e.g., AI-assisted data analysis). In such cases, the methodology must be fully documented and reproducible in the methods section.

Any AI tools use must be declared in a dedicated section (e.g., "Declaration of AI Use"), specifying the tool, version, and purpose, as indicated in the following example declaration:

"During the preparation of this work, the author(s) used [Tool Name] (version X) to [describe use, e.g., improve text clarity/translate sections]. The author(s) reviewed and edited the AI-generated content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the publication."

As general recommendations regarding the use of AI tools, potential authors are invited to: prefer AI tools licensed by institutions (e.g., university-approved tools) and review their terms of use (copyright, confidentiality); keep records of tools, versions, and changes made; cross-check AI-generated content with reliable sources and correct any errors or biases.

Open Access statement

Language Education and Multilingualism – The LANGSCAPE Journal (LEM) is an open access journal. This means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users have unlimited access to read, copy, distribute, print, search in, refer to and use full text versions in any other legal way they like - without hitting financial, legal or technical barriers. The copyrights of the authors are not affected because for users, referencing authors is a self-evident obligation. This is in accordance with the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities.

Works published in LEM are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 deed (CC-BY-NC-ND). No publication fees are charged to authors or their institutions.