Research syntheses in the international journal, Language Testing

Abstract

Against the backdrop of growth of research syntheses in Applied Linguistics, the international journal, Language Testing , introduced new article submission categories for “Systematic reviews” and “Meta-analyses” in 2022 (

). In 2024, in an effort to more clearly define research syntheses, increase the consistency of their reporting, and improve reporting standards, Language Testing introduced dedicated author guidelines for the “Systematic reviews” article type (Sage Publications, 2025). We consider “systematic reviews” to be a broad category encompassing meta-analyses, bibliometric analyses, scoping reviews, and other forms of research syntheses that include a systematic search strategy, screening, and selection process. In this chapter, we first describe how and why Language Testing encouraged the submission of more research syntheses and describe the development of expanded author guidelines, underpinned by a desire to catalyze improvements in reporting quality. After outlining the expectations, and requirements of the author-facing guidelines and growth trajectory of the research syntheses in the journal, we conclude by discussing next steps.