G&L (PRINT) ISSN 1747–6321 Gender G&L (ONLINE) ISSN 1747–633X and Language Editorial In this editorial we reflect on and celebrate the first five years of the journal, provide our annual profile of contributors, announce important changes to the editorial structure, and describe some up-coming changes to the journal to respond to its continuing expansion and development. Five years of Gender and Language Although the journal Gender and Language has been publishing now for five years, the earliest discussions of the journal occurred over a decade ago. When a number of us first discussed the proposal for the journal at the International Gender and Language Association (IGALA) conference in Lancaster in 2002, there was a debate there that echoes a long-standing one in women and gender studies – the debate about whether a separate journal would constitute a significant forum for work otherwise not fully represented, or a ghetto. Ultimately most of us decided the former. It is worth continuing to think about which kinds of articles on language and gender are submitted to or published in this journal, and which are submitted and published elsewhere. However, one of the significant accomplishments of the journal is creating space, in the kind of peer-reviewed format that counts most heavily in hiring, promotion, and tenure, for scholarship on language and gender. Our journal alone now publishes about ten articles a year, and that number is about to increase (see up-coming changes, below). In our early discussions about the journal, some scholars noted that if we were to start such a journal, we needed to use it to raise the bar on language and gender scholarship. To this end, we have devoted considerable amounts of time to editing articles, with some articles going through two, three or four iterations. This form of mentorship is markedly unlike that of other journals – and perhaps ultimately not sustainable, as the number of contributions to the journal continues to grow. What raising the bar might mean, and how to engage in a conversation of this kind with the wider community of gender and language scholars (including the organization, board and reviewers), continues to deserve discussion. Which bodies of scholarship to ask people to be responsible to is a question that is even more important, and more vexed, when one considers the international mission of the journal. G&L VOL 5.1 2011 167–173 doi: 10.1558/genl.v5i2.167 © 2011, EQUINOX PUBLISHING www.equinoxpub.com 168 Bonnie MCElhinnY, Ann Weatherall anD EliZabeth StoKoe In the inaugural issue of Gender and Language we asked contributors to address the theme of ‘Unanswered Questions and Unquestioned Assumptions’ in the study of language and gender. Some of the questions raised in that issue have been taken up more fully than others over the course of the past five years. An issue we would like to bring to the fore here is globalization and what that means for gender and language research, IGALA and Gender and Language. Challenging matters include how to ensure wider circulation of scholarly work to ever more diverse audiences and what being ‘international’ means. Global representation in all aspects of the journal is a commendable goal but difficult to accomplish in practice. Further discussion is clearly needed. The journal has seen a number of significant changes over the past five years. We moved to an on-line submission system when Equinox Publishing chose our journal as the first one in their list to implement a free-ware on-line system. In our original proposal for the journal we proposed the occasional special issue. In fact, the journal has evolved as a key site for the publication of thematic issues, with approximately every other issue now being published in this format. But special issues come at a cost. Publishing them means delaying the publication of issues of individual articles. With special issues (and edited books) there are concerns with quality of scholarship and coverage – sometimes a slightly weaker paper nonetheless addresses an important area hitherto unaddressed in the field. In a number of different editorial sites, editors are flagging up the need for additional financial support for the enormous amount of work that a journal requires. Gender and Language is a relatively small journal, published by a relatively small organization with a relatively small publisher, but its work is no less significant for all that. Editorial assistants have been subsidized by the publisher, Equinox, as well as by personal stipends from the editors’ institutions. We need to continue to ask how to provide appropriate and adequate financial support for the journal, from contrib- utors, board members, and IGALA members. Annual profile of contributors and decisions made In this section, we present the annual update on submissions. Since the journal’s launch, it has gone from strength to strength, with a number of significant achievements. The journal now attracts about 50 submissions per year, from a wide range of countries, although the USA and UK still provide the highest number of submissions. Gender and Language has evolved as a key site for the publication of individual articles on language and gender but also, in a way not anticipated seven years ago, as a key site for publishing special issues. EDitorial 169 The overall number of manuscripts submitted since November 2010 (so just under a year’s worth) is 67, a substantial increase on the last year. Table 1, below, gives detailed information. Table 1: Author’s Country of Affiliation Country Number of Authors United Kingdom 17 United States of America 18 Greece 1 Spain 5 Sweden 3 Denmark 3 Switzerland 1 Japan 2 Serbia/Montenegro 1 Finland 2 China 1 Pakistan 3 Georgia 1 Egypt 1 France 1 South Africa 2 Canada 2 New Zealand 2 Hong Kong 1 TOTAL 67 Of these publications, 18 (27%) were authored by men, with 49 (73%) by women. Currently, 32% of these have been accepted; 10% have been rejected, with the remaining 58% being currently under review. Bonnie McElhinny Ann Weatherall Editorial transition and changes to the journal In our first issue of the journal, we noted a commitment to regular rotation of editors, to ensure that a range of voices and perspectives will be represented in the journal. With this issue, the term of Bonnie McElhinny, the second of our two founding co-editors (the other was Sara Mills), comes to a close. Our thanks to those members of the editorial board and of IGALA who agreed to serve on the search committee for this replacement. We are pleased to announce that Elizabeth Stokoe agreed to accept the position of co-editor, effective July 1, 2011, for a three-year term. The new editorial 170 Bonnie MCElhinnY, Ann Weatherall anD EliZabeth StoKoe team proposes a number of revisions to the journal, in light of on-going experiences and developments. Elizabeth Stokoe will work with Ann Weatherall, who replaced Sara two years ago. Elizabeth is Professor of Social Interaction in the Department of Social Sciences, Loughborough University, UK. She has worked in the gender and language field since beginning her PhD in 1993 and, like Ann, her disciplinary background is in social psychology. Her research interests are in conversation analysis, membership categorization, and discursive psychology. She has worked across numerous everyday and institutional settings, including classroom interaction, police interviews, mediation, speed-dating, and everyday talk between friends. She has published over 70 articles and book chapters; written Discourse and Identity (2006, with Bethan Benwell), and co-edited Conversation and Gender (2011, with Susan Speer). She has held Economic and Social Research Council grants to support her work on neighbour disputes and mediation. As well as sitting on several other editorial boards, for the past two years Elizabeth has been one of a team of Associate Editors at the British Journal of Social Psychology. Elizabeth’s experience at British Journal of Social Psychology has prompted our decision to adopt a revision of the editorial structure at Gender and Language. We have appointed three Associate Editors to broaden the scope and expertise of the Editors, as well as ensure that incoming papers are dealt with smoothly and efficiently. As a team of five editors, we are all committed to promoting the journal and ensuring its success. We are delighted to welcome three new Associate Editors: Paul Baker, Lia Litosseliti, and Louise Mullany, who will work with us to process incoming papers. Paul Baker is Reader in Corpus Based Discourse Studies in the Department of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University, UK. He is also the commissioning editor for the journal Corpora and has published ten books including Sexed Texts (2008), Using Corpora for Discourse Analysis (2006) and Public Discourses of Gay Men (2005). His research interests include corpus linguistics, language, gender and sexuality, and critical discourse analysis. He has recently had Economic and Social Research Council grants examining the representation of Muslims and refugees in UK newspaper data. Lia Litosseliti is a Senior Lecturer in linguistics in the Department of Language and Communication Science at City University London, UK. In addition to numerous articles and book chapters, Lia is the author of Gender and Language Theory and Practice (2006); Using Focus Groups in Research (2003); co-editor of Discourse Analysis and Gender Identity (2002, with Jane Sunderland), co-editor of Gender and Language Research Methodologies (2008, with Kate Harrington, Helen Saunston and Jane Sunderland), and EDitorial 171 co-editor of Research Methods in Linguistics (2010). Her research interests are in the discursive construction of gender identities. Currently, she is researching gender issues in speech and language therapy.