Number of copies: First versions of articles should be sent by e-mail only.
Typing: Articles submitted for publication must be typed with broad margins, pages numbered, and double spaced throughout.
Length: The recommended length is 7000 words, including footnotes and references with an abstract of up to 150 words and up to 10 key words.
Titles: Titles and section headings should be clear and brief.
Quotations: Lengthy quotations (over 40 words) should be displayed, indented, in the text, without quotation marks. Short quotations in the text itself should be marked as such, either with quotation marks or by italics.
Language and Spelling: Only papers in English are published. Quotations of text fragments in other languages should be followed by an English translation. Consistent UK or US spellings may be used.
Tables and figures: Tables and figures should have short descriptive titles and all artwork should be at least 300 dpi.
Notes: Essential notes should be indicated by superscript numbers in the text and typed at the end of the text.
Abstract & Keywords: The paper should be preceded by a short (max. 200 word) abstract summarizing the main aims, theoretical framework, methods and results of the paper, followed by (max. 20) keywords.
References: References cited in the text should read: Brown (1987: 63-4), Brown and Smith (1984, 1989). Use 'et al.' for more than two authors. The letters a, b, c, etc., should be used for different works by the same author in the same year. All text references should be listed alphabetically after the notes, as follows: Books: Van Dijk, T. A. and Kintsch, W. (1983) Strategies of Discourse Comprehension. New York: Academic Press. Articles: Billig, M. (1988a) 'Rhetorical and Historical Aspects of Attitudes: The Case of the British Monarchy', Philosophical Psychology 1(1): 191-217.
Biography: Authors should supply an auto-biography of 50-100 words - which should be included in the same file as the paper.
Cover sheets: The paper should have a cover sheet with the following information: full name; institutional, private and email address; address for proofs and offprints; telephone and fax numbers; short title and size in words and bytes. The cover sheet should be part of the same file as the paper.
Offprints: Authors receive both proofs and offprints by e-mail as .pdf files.
Discussion section: Contributions to this section of the journal should be 1000 words maximum with a short descriptive title (not 'Comments on . . .') and a cover sheet with details listed above for article submissions. Proofs will not be sent.
Mailing instructions and editorial address: First versions of papers should be sent by e-mail only, in one file (including cover page, abstract, bionote, figures, tables, and appendices) preferably in WORD (formats .doc or .rtf), to the editor at the following address: journals[at]discourses.org. Please write on the subject line: Paper for DISCOURSE & COMMUNICATION. The file should be attached to an accompanying message, in which you should identify yourself with your full name and address, and address the editor by name. This is one of the ways to distinguish your submission from -- unfortunately all too frequent -- SPAM. For the same reason, it is also strongly recommended that you add your full name to your e-mail address in the header of your message when that address does not clearly identify who you are; if necessary please edit the settings of your e-mail program accordingly. Do not attach your paper to an empty message or a message without a personalized letter to the editor.
Questions and information: For questions about submissions and editorial policy, write to the editor: journals[at]discourses.org.
Preferred articles
Contributions that share (more) of the following criteria will be preferred:
1. Systematic communication study. Discourse & Communication is first of all a journal for the global community of communication scholars. Its articles should therefore primarily deal with current theories, aims, issues and problems of communication in their social, political and cultural contexts.
2. Systematic discourse analysis. Discourse & Communication is at the same time a discourse analytical journal. That is, articles should provide a detailed, systematic and theoretically based analysis of communication 'messages' defined in terms of text, talk, verbal interaction or semiotic practices. It is insufficient to merely quote, summarize or paraphrase such discourse, or to comment only on their 'content' without paying attention to any kind of non-trivial discourse structures. The journal aims to contribute significantly to the study of communication issues through an analysis of the discourses involved in communication. At the same time, such a contribution will be relevant for our understanding of the roles and functions of discourse in communication and society.
3. Empirical basis. Papers in Discourse & Communication feature detailed and systematic discourse analysis of a specific corpus of discourses. D&C does not publish exclusively theoretical papers, although each paper should of course feature a prominent theoretical section and a critical review of the relevant literature as a foundation for empirical research. Theoretical notes or short discussion pieces are welcome for the D&C Forum/Discussion section. It goes without saying that both theory and analysis should make an original contribution to the field.
4. Explicit social analysis. Discourse & Communication stimulates and welcomes articles that critically study the social, political and cultural contexts of discourse and communication, and that focus on specific social issues and problems.
5. A sizeable corpus of data. Articles are preferred that are based on a sizeable corpus of interesting discourses collected by the author(s) themselves, and not merely on a single or few discourses. Authors are expected to have a thorough knowledge of, and experience with, the corpus, domain or genre of discourse being analyzed, for instance as a result of an extended research project, so as to facilitate empirical generalizations. Analyses should be illustrated by several extracts quoted in the text.
6. Multidisciplinary, multicultural, international. The study of the relations between discourse and communication takes place in several disciplines, in many countries and by women and men from many different cultural backgrounds. Discourse & Communication highly values this diversity and particularly invites contributions which reflect such diversity in their authorship, theories, methods, data and the use of scholarly literature.
5. Accessibility. Discourse & Communication aims to be accessible to readers from a broad range of disciplines, and of various levels of specialization and expertise, especially including students. For theoretical, methodological, pedagogical and social reasons, therefore, contributions should be well-organized, have a clear style, avoid esoteric jargon, and explain unfamiliar or new technical concepts.
Editorial address
Manuscripts should be submitted by e-mail attachment to the editor, Teun A. van Dijk, at the following address: journals[at]discourses.org.
English Language Editing Services: Please click here for information on professional English language editing services recommended by SAGE.
Discourse & Communication operates a conventional single-blind reviewing policy in which the reviewer's name is always concealed from the submitting author.
