The editorial mission of The Modern Language Journal is to publish “research and discussion about the learning and teaching of foreign and second languages.” The MLJ is an international refereed journal that is dedicated to promoting scholarly exchange among researchers and teachers of all modern foreign languages and English as a second language. The journal is particularly committed to publishing high quality work in non-English languages. Its publication focus is further defined by linking the findings of research to teaching and learning in a variety of settings and on all educational levels. Article contributions are expected to meet the highest standards of scholarly excellence, advance theoretical knowledge, and explore clearly stated and well supported implications for teaching.

In each of the four regular issues that comprise a volume, The Modern Language Journal publishes 8-10 research studies. At times, a regular issue may also be guest edited, in which case it focuses on a particular topic. A supplementary issue of the journal, usually published in January, offers a variety of formats, from guest edited issues to monograph-length publications. Guidelines for proposing guest edited issues and monographs are posted here on the journal’s Web page.

The MLJ also offers Perspectives, a column that appears in the summer issue and presents timely professional concerns for discussion from various perspectives. From time to time, the MLJ also publishes invited critical review essays that consider topically related publications written in any language (e.g., monographs, edited volumes, empirical research articles, essays, reports, policy documents) by placing them into a broad context of scholarly inquiry.

The journal is indexed in “Linguistics” and “Education and Educational Research.”