Entry requirements
BAAL offers an annual prize for an outstanding book in the field of Applied Linguistics. Books (monographs, textbooks, edited volumes, reference books etc.) in any field of applied linguistics are eligible for the prize. Eligibility is not restricted to books published in the United Kingdom.
Entries must bear a copyright notice for the calendar year prior to the year of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) where the prize is to be awarded (e.g. 2025 copyright for the AGM in 2026). New editions of previously published books are not eligible.
Nominations for the BAAL Book Prize are made by the publishers of the book and must be accompanied by an e-book or two sets of access codes for the nominated volume and an administration fee of £40 for each title submitted. At least two print copies will be requested if the nominated volume is shortlisted.
For general queries, please contact admin@baal.org.uk
Submitting books for the prize
The closing date for nominations this year is 5th January 2026.
A shortlist is generally drawn up before the end of June each year and the prize is awarded at the AGM in August / September at the annual conference.
Nominations from publishers (e.g. Associate Members of BAAL, see (3) below) should be sent to admin@baal.org.uk and the BAAL Publications Secretary by email (Dr Sal Consoli). BAAL would strongly encourage publishers to abide by transparent internal nomination procedures. Once a decision on the book(s) to be nominated has been made, publishers should communicate their decision to authors, explaining the criteria and procedures adopted in such internal selection. Please state the book title(s), whether the book is the author’s first book or not, instructions on how to access the e-book and invoicing/payment (£40 per title) details. Please also provide a brief paragraph (up to 300 words) written by the publisher outlining the rationale for nominating the title (see the criteria in (6) below) and explaining the internal selection process. We encourage publishers to consider new authors alongside established authors while making their nominations. Please also refer to our equality, diversity, and inclusion statement (https://www.baal.org.uk/baal-statement-on-equality-diversity-and-inclusion-within-applied-linguistics/).
Judging of titles
(1) All entries to the BAAL Book Prize will be considered by a panel of expert reviewers. The panel will recommend titles for the shortlist. BAAL conflict of interest procedures will be strictly adhered to in all stages of the competition. While there is no separate category for the final winner, we encourage entries that belong to the “first book” category. This category is created to give recognition of outstanding first books for the 2025 cycle. Please provide such information where applicable when submitting nominations.
(2) The shortlisted titles will be considered by a second panel of judges who are themselves experienced researchers and authors and well known in the field.
(3) Eligibility is not restricted to UK-based publishers/authors. We welcome nominations from publishers outside the UK. However, we request that nominating publishers be associated with BAAL (i.e., an associate member of BAAL) to encourage ongoing dialogues with our community. Exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis for emerging publishers or publishers based in OECD developing countries for whom the cost of affiliation can be challenging to meet. Please get in touch with the Publications Secretary if you wish to discuss such an exception.
(4) The process of selection and judging is designed to bring nominated titles to the attention of staff and students in a wide range of institutions. Even where nominations are not shortlisted, we publicise nominated titles through our newsletter, website announcements and on social media. Publishers are encouraged to coordinate their nominations as we ask publishers to limit the number of entries to 5 each year.
(5) The definition of ‘applied linguistics’ is to be interpreted in a wide sense. Please refer to What is applied linguistics on the BAAL website. If you are in doubt about the eligibility of a title, please contact the Publications Secretary (Dr Sal Consoli).
(6) Judges are requested when making their decisions to take account of a range of criteria, including originality, potential contributions to the field (applied linguistics or a subfield), coverage (in terms of topics), rigour, the production quality of the book, readability and the style of presentation and language.
(7) Details of the short-listed titles are posted on the BAAL website before the AGM, along with selected extracts from the comments submitted by the reviewers.
(8) The publishers of the winning title may use the phrase ‘BAAL Book Prize + RELEVANT DATE’ or ‘Winner of the BAAL Book Prize + DATE’ in the publicity for the book. Publishers of short-listed titles may use the phrase ‘Short-listed for the BAAL Book Prize + DATE’ in their publicity.
Reviewing books
Please contact Sal Consoli at sal.consoli@ed.ac.uk if you wish to review books for the prize.
