The mission of the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research is to publish peer-reviewed, empirical research in the areas of normal and disordered speech, language, and hearing. The journal provides new information and theoretical approaches important for understanding normal processes involved in speech, language, and hearing and to the clinical management (e.g., screening, diagnosis, habilitation, or rehabilitation) of communication disorders. The journal also advances evidenced-based practice by disseminating the results of new experiments as well as critical reviews and meta-analyses of existing experimental work.
Contributed manuscripts may take any of the following forms:
Research Article: Full-length articles presenting important new research results. Research articles include an abstract, introduction, methods and results sections, discussion, and relevant citations. These are typically limited to 40 manuscript pages including citations, tables, and figures. Large data sets and other supplementary materials are welcome for inclusion in the online publication.
Research Note: Brief manuscripts presenting pilot, preliminary, and/or exploratory findings or a new method for the collection or analysis of data. The scientific findings should be explained and documented concisely. These articles should include a short abstract and introductory paragraph and may be written as continuous text in order to keep them as succinct as possible. These are typically limited to 20 manuscript pages, including citations, tables, and figures.
Review: A comprehensive overview of an area of speech, language, or hearing sciences and/or disorders (i.e., systematic review or meta-analysis). Reviews should be accessible to knowledgeable readers not expert in the subject area. They should be prepared with the same rigor as a research article reporting specific results. These are typically limited to 40 manuscript pages including citations, tables, and figures.
Tutorial: Educational expositions covering recent literature on topics of interest to clinicians and other scholars. These are typically limited to 40 manuscript pages including citations, tables, and figures.
Research Forum: The purpose of a research forum (RF) is to provide a concentrated focus on a special topic deemed to be of high interest to the readership. An RF contains a series of empirical studies centering on a key aspect of speech, language, hearing, or swallowing science and/or disorders. RFs may also comprise a set of scholarly papers presented at a scientific conference.
Letter to the Editor: Opinions about material previously published in the journal or views on topics of current relevance. A letter relating to work published in the journal will ordinarily be referred to the author(s) of the original item for a response, which may be published along with the letter. Letters are typically limited to 15 manuscript pages, including citations, tables, and figures.
Special Report: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) journals may publish manuscripts on cross-disciplinary issues that have been previously published or that are being simultaneously published in two or more journals. Acceptance is contingent on approval of the manuscript by the editor in consultation with at least one associate editor and the chair of the Publications Board. Such exceptional content will be included under the heading of "Special Report." A note shall appear on the title page of the article indicating that it was not subject to the journal's normal peer review process.
Supplement: Contact the editor for information about the publication of material in the form of a supplement to this journal.
All manuscripts (except Special Reports; see above) are peer reviewed, typically by at least two reviewers with relevant expertise, an associate editor responsible for manuscripts in a given area, and the editor. Correspondence between authors and editors is expected to be professional in tone. If correspondence is not conducted in a professional manner, an editor has the option to bring the matter before the chair of the Publications Board. After consultation with the Publications Board chair, the editor may terminate the peer review process for that submission. The author has the right to appeal to the Publications Board.
Manuscripts that have not received a final decision at the time of an editor transition (November 15 of her/his final year) will continue the peer review process under the same associate editor and reviewers wherever possible to preserve consistency.
The principal criteria for acceptance are significance of the topic or experimental question, conformity to rigorous standards of evidence and scholarship, and clarity of writing. ASHA membership is not a factor in selection. No manuscript that has been published (including in an electronic form) or is under consideration elsewhere may be submitted.
Clinical studies appearing in ASHA journals must meet recognized standards for reporting. Articles reporting randomized clinical trials must follow the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT), nonrandomized clinical evaluations must follow the Transparent Reporting of Evaluations with Nonrandomized Designs (TREND) statement, and studies of diagnostic accuracy must meet the Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy (STARD). Authors should find these standards useful as guides in designing and implementing their studies; however, it is recognized that the standards apply directly to the reporting of studies rather than to their implementation.
It is ASHA policy to bill authors for page charges when articles and letters exceed five published journal pages. Payment of these charges is voluntary and does not affect the publication of the article or letter.
Once a paper has been accepted and forwarded to the Publication Office, the staff will edit further for style, clarity, and consistency, and will format for publication. Authors are sent page proofs for final proofreading. Only minimal alterations are permissible on page proofs.
The ASHA Publications Board has recently updated and clarified its policy on corrections.
Authors are expected to follow the style specified in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). To purchase a copy, visit www.apastyle.org.
For information about the publication Concise Rules of APA Style, visit http://www.apa.org/pubs/books/4210004.aspx. For a resource list of other APA style handbooks, visit http://www.apastyle.org/index.aspx.
ASHA policy requires the use of nonsexist language. Authors are encouraged to read the guidelines on person-first language and to use person-first language in preparing manuscripts.
Before submitting a manuscript to an ASHA journal, authors whose first language is not English may choose to have their manuscript professionally edited. Such editing will check for grammar, spelling, and punctuation; improve clarity and word choice; and ensure that the tone and style is appropriate for the journal.
For the convenience of authors, ASHA has partnered with The Charlesworth Group to offer an external language editing service. Author Services From The Charlesworth Group helps researchers to improve the quality, clarity, and readability of their written English and to increase the effectiveness of their manuscripts in communicating the process, findings, and importance of their research.
The Charlesworth Group employs highly skilled, native-English speaking editors who have university degrees in the areas in which they edit. They will correct and improve written English, help clarify meaning and improve the readability of your manuscript, and reduce the risk of your manuscript being rejected because of concerns about writing quality or readability. This assistance is suggested either before an article is submitted for peer review or before it is revised.
Visit the Author Services website for more information or to submit a manuscript for their language polishing service.
ASHA receives a referral fee from The Charlesworth Group for this service, but it is entirely the author's choice to use this or any other language service. ASHA makes no guarantees as to whether use of such services will have a material impact on a peer review decision.
A guideline of 40 pages (including title page, abstract, text, acknowledgments, references, appendixes, tables, and figures) is suggested as an upper limit for manuscript length. Longer manuscripts, particularly for critical reviews and extended data-based reports, will not be excluded from review, but the author(s) should be prepared to justify the length of the manuscript if requested to do so.
A system of blind review is available to contributors who choose such a review. Authors who wish to remain anonymous to the reviewers during the review process should contact the Editorial Administrator at jslhr{at}asha.org prior to submission.
ASHA journals publish scholarly papers ranging from data-based research reports to reviews and tutorials that present no new data. Notwithstanding the differences in these types of papers, they all must contain an abstract (see the APA Publication Manual, 6th ed., pp. 25-27). The abstract (no longer than 200 words) must include the following sections.
Purpose: The Purpose section must include a concise statement of the specific purposes, questions addressed, and/or hypotheses tested. Lengthy descriptions of rationale are not necessary or desirable.
Method: The Method section must describe characteristics and numbers of participants and provide information related to the design of the study (e.g., pre-post group study of treatment outcomes, randomized controlled trial, multiple baseline across behaviors; ethnographic study with qualitative analysis; prospective longitudinal study) and data collection methods. If the participants have been assigned randomly to study conditions, this must be noted explicitly, regardless of the design used. If the article is not data-based, information should be provided on the methods used to collect information (e.g., computerized database search), to summarize previously reported data and to organize the presentation and arguments (e.g., meta-analysis, narrative review).
Results: The Results section should summarize findings as they apply directly to the stated purposes of the article. Statistical outcomes may be summarized, but no statistics other than effect sizes should be provided. This section may be omitted from articles that are not data-based.
Conclusions: The Conclusions section must state specifically the extent to which the stated purposes of the article have been met. Comments on the generalizability of the results (i.e., external validity), needs for further research, and clinical implications often are highly desirable.
All authors of studies involving human subjects are required to include in the Method section wording indicating that they have received approval for the research from their institutional review board or its equivalent.
Authors are encouraged to provide information about their participants� race, ethnicity, gender, age, language(s) spoken, country of origin when it is not the USA, and indicators of socio-economic status.
Citation of grant or contract support of research must be given in an Acknowledgments section at the end of the article (before the References). If any part of the research was supported by an institution not named on the title page, that institution should be acknowledged in this section. Individuals who assisted in the research may be acknowledged. Do not name individuals (editors and reviewers) who participated in the review process.
All literature cited in the text, as well as test and assessment tools, ANSI and ISO standards, and specialized software, must be listed in this section. References should be listed alphabetically, then chronologically under each author. Journal names should be spelled out and italicized. Pay particular attention to accuracy and APA style for references cited in the text and listed in the References.
Each table or figure should appear on its own page (i.e., don't put more than one figure or table on the same page). Use arabic numerals to identify both tables and figures, and do not use suffix letters for complex tables. Instead, simplify complex tables by making two or more separate tables. Table titles and figure captions should be concise but explanatory. The reader should not have to refer to the text to decipher the information. Keep in mind the width of a column or page when designing tables and figures. In other words, consider whether legibility will be lost when reductions are made to fit a column or page width. Avoid "special effects" in figures (e.g., three-dimensional bar graphs) because they distort, rather than enhance, the data and distract the reader.
Acceptable file formats include plain text (.txt), HTML (.html, .htm), JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg), GIF (.gif), QuickTime video (.mov), MPEG movie (.mpg), Microsoft AVI video (.avi), Adobe PDF (.pdf), and Microsoft Excel (.xls). Files should be no more than 5 MB in size and no more than 5 in number. Any files for supplemental materials should be submitted at the same time as the manuscript and will be subject to the normal peer review process. Please indicate clearly that the material is intended as supplementary, and be sure that it is referred to within the text of the manuscript. Also, please provide a concise (1- or 2-sentence) description for each file supplied.
The material must be original content that has not been previously published. Where possible, the material will be copyedited. Please note: Recordings or images that involve identifiable participants require permission from those individuals. Please secure and provide that signed consent.
During manuscript submission, answers to a number of disclosures will be required. The corresponding author:
Requests that the manuscript be considered for publication.
Affirms that all of the authors listed in the byline have made contributions appropriate for assumption of authorship, have consented to the byline order, and have agreed to submission of the manuscript in its current form.
The primary author is responsible for ensuring that the list of authors includes all and only those persons who have played significant roles in writing the manuscript, designing the study, preparing and executing the plan for data collection, and/or interpreting the results in preparation for publication. Before submitting the manuscript for publication, the corresponding author must ensure that each author has read the latest version of the manuscript, accepts responsibility for its contents, and agrees on the order of authorship.
Affirms that all applicable research adheres to basic ethical considerations for the protection of human or animal participants in research.
Humans in Research. All research to be submitted for publication in ASHA journals in which human participants are used must adhere to the basic ethical considerations for the protection of human participants in research. Where applicable by law or institutional affiliation, authors must provide assurance of approval by an appropriate institutional review board or equivalent review process. The basis for these considerations can be found in The Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects (1979).
Animals in Research. All research to be submitted for publication in ASHA journals in which animal subjects are used must ensure that animals have been treated humanely with appropriate consideration of their comfort and health. Where applicable by law or institutional affiliation, authors must provide assurance of approval by an appropriate institutional animal care and use committee. The basis for these considerations can be found in the statement of the American Physiological Society regarding use and care of animals in research.
Affirms that there is no copyrighted material in the manuscript or includes a copy of the permission granted to reproduce or adapt any copyrighted material in the paper.
All previously copyrighted material that is to be reproduced in the article, including material from the web, must be accompanied by a note acknowledging that the copyright holder has granted permission to publish. It is the responsibility of the author to obtain letters granting such permission. These letters must be submitted at the time the article is submitted for peer review. No article can be published without the necessary permission.
Affirms that the manuscript has not been previously published in the same, or essentially the same, form.
ASHA journal editors will neither review nor consider for publication reports of work that has already been published in the same, or essentially the same, form elsewhere. Authors who are modifying or extending work that has previously been published must notify the editor of the possible previous publication of their submission and provide rationale for considering the new work as substantially different from the original. They must also clearly acknowledge these prior publications in their manuscript.
This policy is meant to apply to all types of previously published materials, including conference proceedings and book chapters that have been offered for public sale. It does not necessarily apply to manuscripts that previously have been abstracted for proceedings of a conference or by a dissertation/thesis abstracting service. It also may not apply to duplications or revisions of work previously published in a form such as a university or government report that has limited circulation or availability. Articles previously published on websites may still be published by an ASHA journal, but the authors must remove the article from the website at the time the article is sent out for review. In cases in which this cannot be done (e.g., due to regulations of a funding agency), authors must assure the editor of the ASHA journal that the article will be removed once it has been accepted for publication. In all such cases, ASHA must hold the copyright; however, ASHA acknowledges that authors funded by the National Institutes of Health retain the right to provide, upon acceptance for publication, a copy of the final manuscript to NIH for public archiving in PubMed Central. Authors must specify 12 months as the postpublication embargo period when uploading their manuscript file to PubMed Central.
In some unclear cases, a decision must be made to determine whether a manuscript represents original or duplicate work. This decision always rests with the editor of the ASHA journal, who may consult with the chair of ASHA's Publications Board as part of the decision process.
Affirms that the manuscript is not currently under review elsewhere.
Discloses information about any previous public presentation of the data reported in the submitted manuscript, including at a scientific meeting or in conference proceedings, book chapters, websites, or related media.
Discloses any real or potential conflicts of interest that could be seen as having an influence on the research (e.g., financial interests in a test or procedure, funding by an equipment or materials manufacturer for efficacy research).
Potential Conflicts of Interest. Sources of outside support for research, including funding, equipment, and supplies, must be named in the cover letter. In addition, the author must disclose any financial or other nonprofessional benefit(s) that might result from the publication of the manuscript and that reviewers or readers might consider to have affected the conduct or reporting of the work.
If the author is uncertain about what might be considered a conflict of interest, he or she should err on the side of full disclosure by reporting the potential conflict in the cover letter. Information about conflicts of interest may be made available to reviewers at the editor's discretion. The role(s) of the support organization, if any, in the collection of data, in its analysis and interpretation, and in the right to approve or disapprove publication of the finished manuscript also must be described in the cover letter. In the event the support agency requires the right to approve/disapprove publication, the author should have completed this process by the time of manuscript submission.
If, in the editor's judgment, the author has a real or potential conflict of interest, information concerning such conflict of interest and right of review may be acknowledged when the manuscript is published. Authors will be informed of this decision before publication.
Supplies his or her business address, phone and fax numbers, and e-mail address.
Manuscripts cannot be processed without this information. It should be noted that disclosures made in Items 7 and 8 typically do not preclude publication. Therefore, whenever an author has a question about concerns on these items, he or she should err on the side of full disclosure.
ASHA's online peer review system collects copyright forms electronically in the beginning stages of peer review instead of by fax after acceptance.
Authors will be asked to complete electronic copyright transfer agreements after the paper is forwarded to the Editor for peer review. Each author will receive an e-mail request to submit an electronic copyright transfer agreement through the online system. Authors who have not received this request a week after submission should first check their spam folders for the notice before contacting the journal office at jslhr{at}asha.org.
Submission of all copyright forms enables the Editor to render a decision on your manuscript when one is ready. Neither assistants nor other authors can sign on someone else�s behalf. By completing the copyright transfer agreement, you are entering a digital signature affirming that you've read and understood the form and agree to the terms and conditions set forth. You can also print a copy for your records.
In the event that the manuscript is not subsequently published by ASHA, the corresponding electronic copyright transfer agreement will be considered null and void, with copyright reverting back to the authors. You can direct questions to jslhr{at}asha.org.
To submit a manuscript, use a web browser to access http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/asha. Complete instructions are available. Direct specific inquiries to the Editorial Administrator at jslhr{at}asha.org.
