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American Speech

A Quarterly of Linguistic Usage

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For Authors

For information on how to submit an article, visit submission guidelines. See ethics and policies.

Journal

Current Volume: 101

Frequency: Quarterly

Academic Editors: Jennifer Cramer and Derek Denis

A Quarterly of Linguistic Usage published on behalf of the American Dialect Society.

American Speech has been one of the foremost publications in its field since its founding in 1925. The journal is concerned with any aspects of all languages and dialects in North America (as well as associated islands in the Pacific and Atlantic) and in the Caribbean Basin, and the languages that influence them: spoken, signed, or written, modern or historical, Indigenous or introduced, common or rare. The journal is not committed to any particular theoretical framework, and issues often contain contributions that appeal to a readership wider than the linguistic studies community. Regular features include a book review section and a “Miscellany” section devoted to brief essays and notes.

Annual membership in the American Dialect Society includes a subscription to American Speech as well as the society’s annual monograph series, Publication of the American Dialect Society (PADS). Members also receive electronic access to all back issues of American Speech and PADS at read.dukeupress.edu (AS 2000–; PADS 1944–) and JSTOR (AS 1925–1999). Members can access the journal's JSTOR content by logging in and then clicking the Member Access authentication link.

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Subscriptions include membership in the American Dialect Society.

Price: $70.00

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Information

Editors

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Editorial Office:
American Dialect Society Publications
Duke University Press
905 W. Main St., 18B
Durham, NC 27701
919-687-3670
919-688-5595 (fax)
amspeech@dukeupress.edu

Editors:
Jennifer Cramer, University of Kentucky
Derek Denis, University of Toronto Mississauga

Associate Editor for Book Reviews:
Katie Carmichael, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Associate Editor, Pedagogical Section:
Jeffrey Reaser, North Carolina State University 

Associate Editor, Among the New Words:
Kelly Elizabeth Wright, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Managing Editor:
Charles E. Carson, Duke University Press 

Assistant Editor:
Lynn Zhang (张笛菲) 

Editorial Assistant:
MacKenzie Blaylock, University of Kentucky

Editorial Advisory Committee:
2024–26
Michael Adams, Indiana University at Bloomington
Elaine Chun, University of South Carolina
Jack Grieve, University of Birmingham
Sonja Lanehart, University of Arizona
Jim Wood, Yale University

2025–27
Allison Burkette, University of Kentucky
J. Daniel Hasty, Coastal Carolina University 
Nicole Holliday, University of California, Berkeley 
Paul Reed, University of Alabama
Nicole Rosen, University of Manitoba

2026–28
Gabriela Alfaraz, Michigan State University
Marisa Brook, Saint Mary’s University
Aaron Dinkin, San Diego State University
Josef Fruehwald, University of Kentucky
Erik Thomas, North Carolina State University
 
 

For Authors

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EDITORIAL POLICY

American Speech is concerned principally with any aspect of all languages and dialects used or found in North America (as well as associated islands in the Pacific and the Atlantic) and in the Caribbean Basin, and the languages that influence them: spoken, signed, or written, modern or historical, Indigenous or introduced, common or rare. American Speech is not committed to any particular theoretical framework, but preference is given to articles that are likely to be of interest to a wide readership.


MANUSCRIPTS FOR SUBMISSION
To submit manuscripts of articles for American Speech, visit https://mc04.manuscriptcentral.com/dup-asp and click Create an Account. Once you've logged in, navigate to your Author Center to start a submission.

Send proposals for monograph length studies for the Publication of the American Dialect Society series to american.speech@duke.edu.

Books for review should be e-mailed to managing editor Charles E. Carson at american.speech@duke.edu.

Send items for possible inclusion in "Among the New Words" to woty@americandialect.org

Manuscripts should be prepared in conformity with the style guide and The Chicago Manual of Style (18th ed., 2024). Documentation must be given parenthetically in the text using the author-date system (chap. 15), with a list of references at the end prepared in the humanities style.”. Substantive notes should appear at the end of the article before the references list. Figures, tables, and graphic materials may be placed within the manuscript at their first mention or on separate pages at the end of the manuscript.

Citation forms are to be italicized and glosses enclosed in single quotation marks, without intervening punctuation (e.g., hushpuppy 'fried corn bread'). Technical terms and emphasized words should be indicated by double underlining for small capitals, rather than by italics. Phonetic and phonemic transcriptions should be restricted to the symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet. Word lists should be prepared in accordance with the "Style Sheet for Glossaries" (American Speech 45 [1970]: 141–51).


ETHICS AND POLICIES

Authors are expected to review Duke University Press’s Author Responsibilities and adhere to all the policies contained therein, including regarding originality and the use of AI, intellectual integrity and property, disclosure of conflict of interest, data sharing, and errors and corrections. Any disclosures should be made in the author’s cover letter.

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Abstractors & Indexers

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Indexed/abstracted in the following: Academic ASAP, Academic OneFile, Academic Search Alumni Edition, Academic Search Complete, Academic Search Elite, Academic Search Premier, America: History and Life, ArticleFirst, Arts and Humanities Citation Index, Biography Index: Past and Present (H.W. Wilson), Book Review Digest Plus (H.W. Wilson), Book Review Index Plus, Communication & Mass Media Complete, Communication Abstracts, Communication Source, Current Abstracts, Current Contents, Education Research Complete, Education Source, Educator's Reference Complete, Electronic Collections Online, European Reference Index for the Humanities (ERIH) PLUS, Expanded Academic ASAP, General OneFile, Historical Abstracts (Online), Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective: 1907-1984 (H.W. Wilson), Humanities Abstracts (H.W. Wilson), Humanities Index (Online), Humanities Index Retrospective: 1907-1984 (H.W. Wilson), Humanities International Complete, Humanities International Index. Humanities Source, Humanities Source Ultimate, IBZ - Internationale Bibliographie der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Zeitschriftenliteratur, InfoTrac Custom, Language Teaching (Online), Library & Information Science Source, Linguistic Bibliography (Online), Linguistics Abstracts (Online), Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (Online), Core, Linguistics Collection, MLA International Bibliography (Modern Language Association), OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson), Poetry & Short Story Reference Center, Professional Development Collection, Professional ProQuest Central, ProQuest 5000, ProQuest Central, PubMed, Research Library, Russian Academy of Sciences Bibliographies, Scopus, Social Science Premium Collection, Social Sciences Citation Index, Social Sciences Index Retrospective: 1907-1983 (H.W. Wilson), SocINDEX, SocINDEX with Full Text, The Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL), TOC Premier (Table of Contents), Ulrichsweb, Web of Science.

Online Access

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Individual Access Instructions

To activate online access to your subscription, please follow these instructions:

  1. Go to read.dukeupress.edu/my-account/register. (Please ignore the message "Already have a Duke University Press account?" if your previous account was created before November 20, 2017.)

  2. Complete the form to activate your access. Enter your customer number. You can find your customer number on the mailing label of the journal or on the renewal notice. If you are unable to find your customer number, please contact Customer Service.

  3. Click “Register.” You should now have access to your journal.

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Issue 102:1 (February) – October 30, 2026
Issue 102:2 (May) – Junuary 27, 2027
Issue 102:3 (August) – May 1, 2027
Issue 102:4 (November) – July 30, 2027

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Additional Information

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ISSN: 0003-1283

e-ISSN: 1527-2133