MATSDA Folio

Guidelines for authors

Click here for a printable version (requires Microsoft Word)

:: Content

Articles must concern some aspect of materials development for language teaching.

Articles should preferably be in the region of 1000 to 2000 words.

Please provide (a) a title and subtitle (if appropriate), (b) section headings and sub-headings, (c) full bibliographic references, and (d) a brief autobiography.

Letters, responses to FOLIO articles and book reviews are also welcome.

Articles from teachers, publishers, teacher educators, trainee teachers, researchers, materials writers, students of applied linguistics, language education policy makers and administrators are very welcome.

:: Folio Sections

Practical Perspectives: materials that teachers can try out in their classroom
Research Perspectives: articles based on research relevant to materials development
Individual Perspectives: articles describing a point of view or experience of individuals or groups of individuals related to materials development.
Publishing Perspectives: articles related to commercial materials development
Reviews: analysis and evaluation of published materials
Spotlight on a Materials Writer: Ten probing interview questions put to an established materials writer

:: Formatting

Italics
Italics are used for titles of published works and may be used for emphasis in quotations. In the manuscript, text to be italicised should be single underlined, not italicised.

Bold
Bold is used for emphasis and to mark headings.

Underlining
Underlining may occasionally be required, e.g. to mark individual words in sample sentences. To distinguish from italics (see above), text to be underlined should be double underlined in the manuscript.

Other
No double spaces after punctuation.
No double tabs - set one tab at required point.
No boxes or other non-text elements.
No tables.

Where necessary, include layout instructions in square brackets [ ], in red type. Try not to use [ ] for anything else, unless required by conventional notation.

Illustrations/photos: provide originals for scanning.

N.B. © permission must be obtained for any reproductions from a printed work. This is the author's responsibility.

:: Punctuation

Full points - e.g. i.e.

Where the final letter of the abbreviation is the final letter of the word, no full point, e.g. Mrs, Ltd and vs.

:: Quotation marks

Use single quotes '…'. For quotes within quotes, use "…".

:: Bibliography

e.g.

Palencia, R. & Thornbury, S. (1998). Over to Us!. Harlow: Addison Wesley Longman.

Goshn, I. (2002). "Four good reasons to use literature in Primary ELT." ELT Journal 56:2.

:: File format

Save as Word.

:: Pictures

If you can scan, send as black-and-white GIF or JPEG, or a Mackintosh format, e.g. PICT or TIFF.