TACL Submission Process (2024)

This is a note from my experience in 2024. Please check the latest information from the official TACL website.

The TACL submission process is a bit complex compared to recent conference submissions on OpenReview, but the editors (and editor assistants) are very helpful and responsive.

Timeline

• We received the initial decision (B-decision) within two months after the initial submission
• The revision process is very responsive and quick. I received responses in about one week for each revision (B-Decision revision and final submission).

Initial Submission

• Refer to https://transacl.org/index.php/tacl/about/submissions.
• From 2024, we can add appendices to the paper, but we can only include (1) experimental settings such as pre-processing decisions, model parameters, feature templates or (2) complementary results (images, tables).
  • Refer to https://transacl.org/index.php/tacl/announcement/view/105.
  • (the LaTeX template is not updated for this new policy)

Preprints

• From 2024, there is no anonymity period.
• There is no embargo period in TACL https://direct.mit.edu/journals/pages/authors#reprints.

B-decision Revision

• Most accepted papers receive B-decision (conditional accept) https://www.aclweb.org/adminwiki/index.php/2022Q1_Reports:_TACL_Journal.
• You will send an email with the revised version to the editors (not on the submission system you use for the initial submission).
• There is no official format for the cover letter. I just made it by myself.

Final Submission

• Refer to https://transacl.org/ojs/index.php/tacl/author/instructions/proof.
• The final version should not have any tables or figures in the first page.

Conference Presentation

• We can present TACL papers in the ACL conferences (optional).
• Each conference has its deadline for the A-decision and final version submission. TACL does not guarantee the decisions before the conference deadlines.
  • Example: EMNLP 2024 - TACL acceptance/final-version deadlines
• After the final submission, editorial assistants will send you emails about the conference presentation after the conference deadlines.