Articles submitted for publication in the Interconnected Learning and Teaching International Journal for Foreign Languages (ILT International Journal) must be sent to the editorial office e-mail address: interconnected.learning.teaching@gmail.com. Please mention "Article for ILT Journal" in the subject of the e-mail.
For the current number of the journal please send your articles until 15 September 2025.
We welcome articles dealing with the topic of foreign language didactics, in a variety of languages (English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Norwegian). Before submitting the article, please read the style guide below.
ILT International Journal - Style Guide
The style guide for Interconnected Learning and Teaching. International Journal of Foreign Languages (ILT) is the Apastyle Guideline (https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples). In addition, we use an ILT house style, which includes specific spellings and conventions relevant to the journal’s main areas of publication. The journal requires American (NOT British) spellings and punctuation. For contributions in other languages, see the link to German / French / Italian / Spanish / Russian / Polish / Norwegian style sheet on the journal website.
Full compliance with the Apastyle and IJILT house style is not required for initial submission and review. However, final acceptance of articles for publication is contingent upon full compliance with the CMS and ILT house style. Please consult the following description to familiarize yourself with style conventions and citation rules.
• Template for title (bold, no italics, flush left), author name, and abstract:
Title of Article
First and Last Name (without title or institutional affiliation), one blank line
ABSTRACT (all caps) followed by (next line) max. 100-word abstract, one blank line
Text of Article
• In case of subheading: flush left (no bolds, no italics). Use chapter subheadings sparingly; if you do, use descriptive titles rather than Roman numerals. Add one blank line before subheadings, with first line after subheading flush left (i.e., not indented).
• The complete bibliography (comprising of works cited in the body of the article) is placed at the end (see guidelines below);
• The direct references (to quotes and ideas) will be mentioned in the body of the text either in parenthetical or narrative form (see the guidelines below)
• The author may use footnotes for further comments or additional information (relevant but not essential to the aspects discussed in the body of the article). Please keep the footnotes to a minimum.
PLEASE REMEMBER TO ANONYMIZE YOUR ARTICLE FOR THE REVIEW PROCESS! This includes removing your name from the title and deleting all reference to your own work in the text.
FORMATTING
• Maximum length: 7,000 words (including footnotes and abstract). Minimum length: 3,000 words (including notes and abstract)
• MS Word version: .docx (preferred)
• DIN A4
• Times New Roman 12 point throughout, with 1.15 line spacing
• Times New Roman 10 point for footnotes, headers, and quotations
• Margins 2 cm (top, bottom), 2.5 cm (left, right)
• Spaces: only one space (NOT two) after all punctuation marks (period, colon, etc.).
• Indent first line of paragraphs by .5 inches except for the first line of abstract, main text, and paragraph after subheading. Also indent first line of all footnotes by .5 inches.
• No equalized margins, no centering
• No footers, no headers
• Paginated, with page numbers in the lower middle section (centred)
• Footnotes for comments and additional information ONLY (created with MS Word References tool, not separate .docx file). In Arabic numerals (1,2,3), not Roman (i, ii, iii).
• Double-spaced throughout, including longer quotes and footnotes
• No extra space between paragraphs and individual footnotes
• Quotes longer than five lines: set off .5 inches with one blank line above and below
• Acknowledgements should be placed in the footnotes section before the first footnote, without an asterisk or any other special marking.
SPELLING AND PUNCTUATION CONVENTIONS
• Abbreviations and acronyms: The names of journals, organizations, etc. should be spelled out in full the first time mentioned in the text or footnotes; it is permissible to abbreviate or use an acronym (without periods) in subsequent mentions of familiar words (e.g., Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung à FAZ). Unfamiliar acronyms should not be used; instead, use a shortened version of the name.
• Anglicization: the names of German universities should be Anglicized in English language texts (Free University of Berlin).
• Brackets: use brackets only inside parentheses. Exception: when insert or altering words in a direct quotation, as in [sic!]
• Capitalization: keep capitalization to a minimum: artistic, literary, and political movements are not capitalized (realism, expressionism, romanticism, existentialism) except if they are based on proper names (e.g., Stalinism, Fordism). Older cultural periods are capitalized (e.g., Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Baroque, the Enlightenment).
• Commas: use a comma before “and” (apples, pears, and peaches).
• Dashes: Use m-dashes for appositive phrases and close up: “The man—he was strange—stood outside.” Use n-dashes, and not hyphens, for numbers in a range: 123–145 (NOT 123-145), or 1893–1907 (not 1893-1907).
• Dates: use the month-day-year format: e.g., June 20, 2014.
• Ellipses: Use three points (periods), with single spaces before, after, and between. If the ellipsis appears at the end of a full sentence ending with a period, this appears as four dots, with no space before the first one. Do not use the ellipsis at the beginning of a quoted passage, and do not enclose the ellipsis points in brackets or parentheses.
• Hyphenation: keep hyphenation to a minimum. Most compound nouns should be closed: anticommunism, postwar, precondition, reenactment, and postmodernism.
• Italics: all book and film titles in italics; unfamiliar foreign words/phrases in italics (with non-italic transliteration following in parentheses). Familiar loan words NOT in italics (e.g., raison d’être, a priori, circa). Exception: the Latin sic (use to indicate misspellings in quotations) should be italicized and set in brackets. Foreign proper nouns are also NOT in italics (e.g., Einsatzgruppe, Bundesarchiv, Wehrmacht, Bundeswehr).
PLEASE NOTE: universities, museums, institutes, associations etc. are not in italics!
• Numbers: Spell out whole numbers one through one hundred (e.g., twenty-four); thereafter you may use digits (exceptions: percentages should use digits for all amounts [e.g., 5 percent; use digits in fractional numbers [e.g., 13.4]) Plural numbers (e.g., twenties) and centuries (e.g., twenty-first, nineteenth) should be spelled out. Spell out million, billion, etc. following basic number rule (e.g., three billion; 220 million). For currency amounts, use period between dollars/pounds/euros and cents. See the Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition, for further number conventions.
• Possessives: all singular nouns ending in –s or –ss should be made possessive by adding ’s to the end. This holds for proper nouns and for nouns in which the final –s is silent (e.g., Jesus’s, Strauss’s, business’s, Descartes’s).
QUOTATIONS
• Use “smart,” not "straight" quotation marks.
• For in-text quotations, use double quotes; use single quotes for quotation within a quotation (nested quotes).
• Always place commas and periods inside of closing quotation marks (“example,” / “example.”), whether quotation marks are single (‘example,’), double (“example,”), or both together (“‘example,’”). Colons and semicolons are always outside the closing quotations marks (“example”:). Question marks and exclamation points are also outside closing quotation marks unless they are part of the quoted material.
• A colon should introduce a quotation of more than one complete sentence; a comma is used to separate an introductory phrase from a quotation of one sentence or less.
• Single quotes are only used in nested quotes; whenever words need to be emphasized as words, please stick to italics. And “scare quotes” are always double quotes and should be used sparingly.
A COMMENT ON FOREIGN AND ENGLISH QUOTES:
In English-language texts, the preference is for all non-English quotes to be translated in the text; do not provide original quotes in the body of the text or in the notes. Please provide English translations for unfamiliar foreign terms; also provide translations (in parentheses) for all filmic and literary texts the first time they are mentioned; you may refer to original titles thereafter. Use available English translations whenever possible and, if applicable, add a statement in the footnotes that all translations are your own.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
Please always include the following with your original submission:
· - Bio Blurb: submit a 50-word biographical blurb (with e-mail address in parenthesis after your name) together with your article. PLEASE INCLUDE IT IN A SEPARATE FILE. This will appear in a separate Contributors section.
· - Abstract (ENGLISH ONLY): include a 100-word abstract at the beginning of your article between the title of article and name of author and the main body of text.
· - Illustrations: provide illustrations in .JPG format (larger than 300 DPI) and mark their position in the text as follows (on separate line, flush left): . For in-text references to illustrations, please format them thus: (Figure 1). Provide captions in separate .docx file. You are responsible for all copyright-related permissions and fees and required to use an English-language permissions form.
· - Tables: provide tables in separate files, clearly labeled with captions in separate file.
APA STYLE GUIDE
For more details and many more examples, see Apastyle Guideline https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples
PLEASE NOTE: Do not use ibid. or Ebenda; for examples on how to reference texts for the first time and thereafter, see examples below. Always provide exact range of page numbers (i.e., 140 - 145 instead of 140-45 or 140ff.). Use colons for separating title and subtitle in English-language titles; use periods for this purpose in German-language titles.
Book / E-book Reference (Monographies):
Bibliography:
Jackson, L. M. (2019). The psychology of prejudice: From attitudes to social action (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000168-000
Sapolsky, R. M. (2017). Behave: The biology of humans at our best and worst. Penguin Books.
Svendsen, S., & Løber, L. (2020). The big picture/Academic writing: The one-hour guide (3rd digital ed.). Hans Reitzel Forlag. https://thebigpicture-academicwriting.digi.hansreitzel.dk/
In-text reference:
Entire edited volumes:
Bibliography:
Hygum, E., & Pedersen, P. M. (Eds.). (2010). Early childhood education: Values and practices in Denmark. Hans Reitzels Forlag. https://earlychildhoodeducation.digi.hansreitzel.dk/
Kesharwani, P. (Ed.). (2020). Nanotechnology based approaches for tuberculosis treatment. Academic Press.
Torino, G. C., Rivera, D. P., Capodilupo, C. M., Nadal, K. L., & Sue, D. W. (Eds.). (2019). Microaggression theory: Influence and implications. John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119466642
In-text reference:
Several volumes of a multivolume book:
Bibliography
Harris, K. R., Graham, S., & Urdan T. (Eds.). (2012). APA educational psychology handbook (Vols. 1–3). American Psychological Association.
In-text reference:
Chapter in an Edited Book/E-book References:
Bibliography:
Aron, L., Botella, M., & Lubart, T. (2019). Culinary arts: Talent and their development. In R. F. Subotnik, P. Olszewski-Kubilius, & F. C. Worrell (Eds.), The psychology of high performance: Developing human potential into domain-specific talent (pp. 345–359). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000120-016
Dillard, J. P. (2020). Currents in the study of persuasion. In M. B. Oliver, A. A. Raney, & J. Bryant (Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research (4th ed., pp. 115–129). Routledge.
Thestrup, K. (2010). To transform, to communicate, to play—The experimenting community in action. In E. Hygum & P. M. Pedersen (Eds.), Early childhood education: Values and practices in Denmark. Hans Reitzels Forlag. https://earlychildhoodeducation.digi.hansreitzel.dk/?id=192
In-text reference:
Journal article:
Bibliography:
Grady, J. S., Her, M., Moreno, G., Perez, C., & Yelinek, J. (2019). Emotions in storybooks: A comparison of storybooks that represent ethnic and racial groups in the United States. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8(3), 207–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000185
In-text reference
Abstract of a journal article from an abstract indexing database:
Bibliography
Hare, L. R., & O'Neill, K. (2000). Effectiveness and efficiency in small academic peer groups: A case study (Accession No. 200010185) [Abstract from Sociological Abstracts]. Small Group Research, 31(1), 24–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/104649640003100102
In-text reference
Original material in a classroom course pack, with author:
Bibliography:
Elders, M. (2019). Neighborhood watch: Social media in the community. In M. Elders (Ed.), POL 241: Politics and activism in the 21st century (pp. 34–41). American University.
Young, U., & Sikder, T. (2019). Taking a neighborhood canvasing approach to social media. In M. Elders (Ed.), POL 241: Politics and activism in the 21st century (pp. 34–41). American University.
In-text reference
Original material in a classroom course pack, no author:
Bibliography:
Diagram of the tibia–basitarsis joint in Apis melifera. (2015). In B. Haave (Ed.), NEU 451: Movement and perception (pp. 44–45). St. Ambrose University.
In-text reference: