Call for Papers
LESLI publishes Research Articles, Policy Papers, and Research Requests. All Research Articles, Policy Papers and Research Requests must be written so that both linguists and non-linguists will find the material useful in legal, security and intelligence contexts. Linguistic theory and statistical procedures should be explained for both the technical reader and layperson. LESLI follows the APA Style Guide, one of the options in Microsoft Word Formatting Palette, but attorneys may opt to use Harvard Law Review’s A Uniform System of Citation (“Bluebook form”).
Research Articles
We invite articles reporting empirical research results. Research Articles can range from 2,500 to 8,000 words and cover topics such as:
- identification of author, speaker, writer and language,
- text classification of relevant genres and registers including threats, suicide notes, deception, linguistic profiling,
- translation and interpretation,
- cryptography,
- trademark and patent infringement,
- text recycling and textual similarity measures,
- social-media-based reputation protection for executive and corporate security,
- interviewing and interrogation techniques,
- and other topics relevant to forensic linguistics.
Articles must use standard, generally accepted linguistic approaches grounded in current linguistic theory, with results supported by validation testing. Standard methods include phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, discourse analysis, pragmatics, psycholinguistics, computational linguistics, and textual data mining.
Policy Papers
We invite policy papers which describe well-reasoned arguments for specific policy and standards in forensic sciences related to linguistics, security and intelligence. Policy papers can range from 2,500 to 6,000 words and cover topics such as:
- training, certification and educational degree programs
- standards in forensic linguistics
- ethics in forensic linguistics
- data management and database development
- human subjects protection
- validation testing standards
- translation and interpretation standards
- criminal, security and intelligence investigation
Resources
We invite articles that describe resources for conducting research in forensic linguistics. Resource articles range in from 1,000 to 2,500 words and cover such topics as:
- datasets
- text analysis tools
- phonetic analysis tools
- annotated bibliographies
- case law reports
- websites
Research Requests
We invite Research Requests, authored by attorneys, security analysts, intelligence analysts, digital forensic examiners, investigators, law enforcement and other consumers of forensic linguistic research, to outline the specific needs and situations where linguistic research and solutions are required. Research Requests can range from 500 to 2,000 words.
Book and Software Reviews
We invite even-handed and intelligent reviews of books, including academic theses and dissertations, and software relevant to forensic linguistic evidence. Although these reviews are not put through blind peer review, they are reviewed by the editorial staff for clarity, tone, fairness and argumentation.