Open Qualitative L2 Research [Call for Papers]

This is a post about an a publishing opportunity in 2025. The content of this post is no longer current, but I have retained it here as part of the historical record of this blog.

In recent years, open scholarship —sometimes referred to as “open science” or “open research”— has gained significant traction across many fields, including second language (L2) research. However, much of the discourse surrounding openness has largely centered on quantitative methodologies. This focus may have overlooked the crucial role that qualitative research plays in advancing deep, nuanced understandings of language learning and use. A new special issue in Studies in Second Language Acquisition (SSLA), to be guest edited by Meng Liu (Beijing Foreign Studies University), Ali H. Al-Hoorie (Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu) and Phil Hiver (Florida State University), aims to redress this imbalance.

The Special Issue

The special issue, “Open Qualitative L2 Research: From Tensions to Transformative Opportunities”, aims to explore how open scholarship principles can apply to qualitative research and how qualitative methods can redefine what openness means in academic settings. This exploration highlights the benefits of open scholarship and encourages researchers to discuss the ethics and responsibilities involved. By bringing together different viewpoints, it invites language education researchers to work together to create a more inclusive and ethically conscious vision for the future. This vision focuses on transparency and accessibility while recognizing the complexities of qualitative L2 research, ultimately leading to a richer and more equitable knowledge landscape in the field.

In the guest editors’ words:

We invite researchers across all paradigms to engage with this discussion, reflect on their own practices, and join us in redefining what “openness” means in light of rich, situated meanings and potent ethical implications. Such contributions might include qualitative researchers reflecting on transparency, mixed methods scholars navigating multiple paradigms, or quantitative researchers adapting reflexive concepts from qualitative inquiry to enrich open scholarship.

Suggested Topics

While the focus of the guest issue is on qualitative research, this is understood in an inclusive way, which encompasses any research that incorporates qualitative elements, rather than purely qualitative studies.

A non-exhaustive list of potential topics includes the following:

• Conceptual frameworks for open qualitative research
• Secondary analyses or syntheses of open qualitative research
• Impacts of open practices on qualitative research processes and outcomes
• Tensions between qualitative research epistemologies and open scholarship principles
• Ethical considerations in open qualitative research
• Challenges and solutions in sharing qualitative data openly
• Replication and qualitative research
• Inclusion and equity in open qualitative research
• Transparency in qualitative data analysis methods
• Tools and platforms for open qualitative research
• Quality indicators for open qualitative studies
• Researcher perspectives on open qualitative research
• Open qualitative research and its relevance to L2 research
• Citizen science and public participation in qualitative research
• Decolonization of knowledge in the context of open qualitative research
• How tools and frameworks from qualitative traditions can enrich and benefit open scholarship in general

The editors welcome proposals for any of the article types that appear in SSLA, namely Research articles, Critical commentaries, Research reports, Replication studies, Methods forum contributions, and State-of-the-Scholarship Reviews. You can find out more about the requirements of each type in the link below.

How to contribute

As a first stage towards submitting, the editors invite interested authors to prepare an initial abstract (250-350 words, excl. references) for preliminary consideration. The abstract should contain the following information:

Abstracts should be submitted directly to the editors at mengliu [at] bfsu.edu [dot] cn by 23rd May 2025.

Important dates

Milestone	Date
Deadline for abstract submission	23 May 2025
Notification of tentative acceptance	31 May 2025
Deadline for article submission	31 August 2025
Notification of article acceptance	15 June 2026

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