Mission statement

EL Publishing is a platinum free open-access publication platform that aims to produce international quality publications on endangered and minoritised languages concerning language documentation and description, sociolinguistics, language revitalisation and support, language policy, and applied linguistics.  We publish eBooks, and multimedia. All publications are double-blind peer reviewed, free to download under a CC-BY licence, and are produced at no cost to authors.

ELPub builds upon extensive editorial and publishing experience of the Founding Editors, including 11 years of engagement with the journal Language Documentation and Description (LDD), published annually since 2003 and anonymously peer-reviewed since 2011. Peter K. Austin has been editing books and journal special issues since 1983. David Nathan has been a book editor and multimedia author since 1994. Former Founding Editor Julia Sallabank was commissioning editor at Oxford University Press for applied linguistics and language teaching methodology for 16 years (1990-2006) and has edited and co-edited books and journal special issues since from 2011 to 2022.

History

EL Publishing’s roots lie in the establishment and publication of the journal Language Documentation and Description (LDD) beginning in 2003. In 2015 we expanded operations as a platinum free open access platform for the journal, as well as publishing book-length collections of papers, and multimedia. In 2022, the journal moved to Aperio at the University of Virginia, to broaden its scope, increase sustainability, and bring new talent and energy to its future. There is a new editorial team with Professor Lise Dobrin as the Managing Editor. All issues of the journal are now available at www.lddjournal.org.

Developments

In September 2022 EL Publishing widened the scope of its operations to publication of:

  • eBooks and multimedia
  • teaching and training materials
  • other non-traditional language and cultural materials such as interactive dictionaries and apps
  • curated collections of web links for diverse types of content, including Language Contexts, and Language Snapshots

We also provide support for researchers and communities by hosting several websites.