Журнал «Language in Africa»

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About the journal

The journal “Language in Africa” is co-founded by the Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) and by the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg).

The journal is primarily focused on African linguistics, including ethno- and sociolinguistics, but also on literature, folklore, written and oral traditions.

Papers in English, as well as in French and in Russian are accepted. The journal is peer-reviewed and follows the standard double-blind reviewing procedure.

The audience of the journal is the international community of scholars working on African languages and related fields, and publishing is open to all scholars working in these spheres. Another aim of the journal is to provide international access to the Russian tradition of African studies which is often unknown internationally due to the language barrier. However, submissions of scholars working on African languages all over the world are welcome!

Archive

History

There is a long and rich tradition of African studies, and especially African linguistic studies in Russia, mainly concentrated in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The Department of African languages of the Institute of Linguistics RAS has for decades been publishing a book series ‘Studies in the languages of Africa’. Its focus and topics are close to those of “Language in Africa”, but the series was not truly periodical and not international.

The Department of Ethnography of Africa of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography in cooperation with Department of African Studies in St. Petersburg State University published a biennial series ‘African Collection’. These volumes have wider focus on African languages and cultures, although linguistics has always played a significant role there.

In 1990s, the St. Petersburg Journal of African Studies appeared, where linguistics occupied a central place.

Starting from 2019, we join the efforts of two leading centers of African Studies in Russia (Moscow and St. Petersburg) and launch a joint journal targeting a more intensive integration of Russian African studies into the international network and creating opportunities for international cooperation.

Editorial board

Editors-in-chief

Editorial board

  • Dmitry Bondarev (Hamburg, Germany)
  • Denis Creissels (Lyon, France)
  • Artem Davydov (St. Petersburg, Russia)
  • Mikhail Gromov (Nairobi, Kenya)
  • Nelli V. Gromova (Moscow, Russia)
  • Bernd Heine (Cologne, Germany)
  • Larry Hyman (Berkeley, USA)
  • Maria Konoshenko (Moscow, Russia)
  • Maria Kosogorova (Moscow, Russia)
  • Anastassia Lyakhovich (St. Petersburg, Russia)
  • Nadezhda Makeeva (Moscow, Russia)
  • Tatiana Nikitina (Paris, France)
  • Doris Payne (Eugene, USA)
  • Viktor Ya. Porkhomovsky (Moscow, Russia)
  • Konstantin Pozdniakov (Paris, France)
  • Monika Urb (Moscow, Russia)
  • Martine Vanhove (Paris, France)
  • Rainer Vossen (Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
  • Valentin Vydrin (Paris, France / St. Petersburg, Russia)
  • Lynell Zogbo (Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire)

Secretary

  • Tatiana Korol

Submitting manuscripts

Submissions should be sent as e-mail attachments to the journal’s address LanguageInAfrica@iling-ran.ru

Attachments should be in .doc, .docx or .rtf formats, a .pdf version is also obligatory if non-standard symbols or diacritics are used. Unicode fonts should be used (such as the newest versions of Times New Roman, Charis SIL or Doulos SIL) in examples. If non-standard fonts are used, they should be attached.

A manuscript should be written in clear and good English, French or Russian. Having it proofread by a native speaker is the authors’ responsibility.

All manuscripts should contain an abstract (up to 200 words) in English. If a paper is in Russian or French, an abstract in the language of the paper should also be provided. If a paper in English is submitted, an abstract in Russian or in French is also welcome, but not obligatory. Up to 7 key words should follow the abstract in whatever language.

All phrasal examples should be numbered and glossed; it is strongly preferable to use tables with no borders for interlinear alignment. Please follow Leipzig glossing rules where possible. A list of abbreviations used in the paper should be included.

The reference list should contain all published and unpublished works cited in the paper and should not contain uncited works.

Papers should be structured, sections should be numbered starting from 1.

Please keep figures as separate graphic files.

Concerning further stylesheet issues we ask you to follow this stylesheet file. See also the Generic Style Rules for Linguistics for more detailed recommendations.

All submissions are subject to the standard double-blind reviewing procedure. After reviewing, the editorial board takes a decision whether the paper should be (a) accepted, (b) accepted with revisions, (c) revised and resubmitted, or (d) rejected.

When submitting your paper, please do not include your name, acknowledgments (including grants references) and other fragments that deanonymize it. All the necessary information can be added after acceptance when the final version is submitted.

In the body of your message provide your full name(s), affiliation(s) and contact information.

Only new original papers are published in the journal. A submission that repeats an already published paper is automatically rejected. In some cases revised and elaborated English versions of papers earlier published in languages other than English and French can be accepted.

Contact information

LanguageInAfrica@iling-ran.ru

Registration

ISSN 2686-8946
The journal is registered by Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media.
Date of registration: December 24, 2018
Registration number: ПИ №ФС77-74658