About LD&C

What is LD&C?
Language Documentation & Conservation (LD&C) (ISSN 1934-5275) is a double-blind peer-reviewed, online diamond open-access journal sponsored by the National Foreign Language Resource Center and published exclusively since 2007 in electronic form by the University of Hawai‘i Press. We are indexed by the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), ERIC, Open Science Press, and, as of 2016, by Scopus. We are indexed by Scimago and have an impact factor of .73 (see Resurchify). LD&C is also listed as a green OA journal by Sherpa Romeo. In December 2018 we were accepted as members of the Free Journal Network.

What does LD&C publish?
LD&C publishes papers on all topics related to language documentation and conservation, including, but not limited to, the goals of language documentation, data management, fieldwork methods, ethical issues, orthography design, reference grammar design, lexicography, methods of assessing ethnolinguistic vitality, archiving matters, language planning, areal survey reports, short field reports on endangered or underdocumented languages, reports on language maintenance, preservation, and revitalization efforts, plus software, hardware, and book reviews.

In addition, we include articles in the following sections of LD&C: Notes from the field; Opinion pieces; and Collection overviews (which provide a guide to an archived collection).

Articles submitted to LD&C should reference where the data is archived and cite primary data, like example sentences, to allow readers to access the primary records.

There is no charge to authors or readers.

How often is LD&C published?
We produce one volume per year along with occasional special publications. LD&C employs a “publish upon acceptance” system, taking advantage of our online status to upload four times a year. We do not publish complete issues once per year, but instead upload articles and reviews as they become ready for publication after the review and editing processes.

Why is LD&C necessary?
While no reliable data exist concerning the level of documentation of the world’s languages, a plausible estimate is that fewer than 10% are well-documented, meaning that they have comprehensive grammars, extensive dictionaries, and abundant texts in a variety of genres and media. The remaining 90% are, to varying degrees, underdocumented, or, for all intents and purposes, undocumented. Moreover, the languages of the world are now faced with an extinction crisis, the magnitude of which may well prove to be very large. Consequently, there is an evident and urgent need to document the many under/undocumented languages of the world, and, where appropriate, to assist in their ongoing use and creation and preservation of records. LD&C is exclusively dedicated to serving the needs of linguists and language activists engaged in this essential work.

Why is LD&C published as an online, open-access journal?
LD&C is a 21st-century journal. It was designed as an online journal to ensure that the contributions of its authors are accessible to the largest audience possible. It was created as an open-access journal — that is, as a free journal — to ensure that it is available to all readers, without concern for cost. Further, by employing an electronic format, LD&C can include audio and video content, thus transcending the limitations of conventional paper journals.

How did LD&C get started?
The initial planning for LD&C took place at a meeting held at the East-West Center in Honolulu on April 7–8, 2006. This meeting was attended by 28 linguists and academics involved in the field of language documentation and conservation. The participants came from Japan’s National Museum of Ethnology, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California at Santa Barbara, the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, the University of Melbourne, the University of Minnesota, the University of Oregon, and the University of Toronto.

How is LD&C archived?
It is critically important that a journal is hosted by an institutiton with a commitment to longevity. A website alone is not sufficient for hosting a journal. Further, persistent identifiers, in the form of a digital object identifier or handle, must be provided by the journal. If you do not see these in the journal you are considering then you should choose another journal to submit to, as there is a real risk that all articles will be lost once the website closes. For more information on how to choose a journal see this page: https://beckerguides.wustl.edu/c.php?g=648201&p=4545483

LD&C uses handles to identify each article which is electronically archived by the ScholarSpace system of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Library. All content can be found here: https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/312

Usage stats are available here: http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/statistics/handle/10125/1221.