About the Journal

Phonological Data and Analysis publishes original, high-quality research papers distinguished by a particularly detailed examination of phonological patterns. The journal’s aim is to encourage scholarship grounded in substantive data that contributes to the revelation, clarification, and testing of phonological generalizations, or of the theories designed to account for them. Papers appropriate for Phonological Data and Analysis (PDA) include those that use rich data sets to document sound patterns in individual languages; that draw typological conclusions from a carefully assembled cross-linguistic database; that explore probabilistic generalizations in corpora; that examine and elucidate the assumptions of phonological theories; and that test phonological predictions with computational models or experimental methods. 

Content

The primary content is self-contained papers reporting original research. The majority of articles published by PDA range from 9,000 to 18,000 words in length, although additional space may be allocated for the presentation of extensive data. Shorter articles will also be considered for publication. These shorter contributions might take the form of squibs or remarks that build on an earlier paper in PDA by providing additional data or proposing an alternative interpretation or analysis of data advanced in a prior article. Finally, PDA will publish original data sets that take the form of self-contained phonology problems which can serve as a valuable resource for both phonological research and the teaching of phonology.

Open Access and support

The PDA team is committed to open-access publishing and participates in the LOCKSS archival system to ensure content preservation. Access is free to all, and publishing is free, with the proviso that at least one author must be a current member of the LSA at the time of publication. However, open access publishing is not cost-free: we rely on financial support from the LSA and the editors’ home institutions. All peer reviewed journals are also supported by the editors and reviewers who generously volunteer their time and share their expertise. However, the production of published articles incurs costs which may not be fully covered by our resources. Donations in support of the journal’s running costs may be made to the LSA's Open Access Publications Fund.

Journal policies and the peer review process

All manuscripts are submitted through the journal’s open submission process and are peer-reviewed.  Submissions should adhere to PDA’s guidelines for authors (see the link "For Authors" in the menu to the right).

Submissions are reviewed by 2-3 external reviewers and one of the senior editors. Reviews are based on criteria in the guidelines for reviewers. We aim to complete the review process (from submission to decision) within four months. To keep publishing costs low, authors of accepted articles provide publication-ready pdf versions of their papers in accordance with the PDA stylesheet.

Structure of the journal and publication frequency

PDA has a volume and number structure for citation purposes, with each article generally being a separate number of an annual volume. Articles are published on a continuous schedule.