Publishers and Authorial Voice in Applied Linguistics Research Articles: A Corpus-Based Study.

This article investigates differences in the use of stance-driven authorial voice in applied linguistics research articles published by three major international publishers: Taylor & Francis, Elsevier, and Wiley-Blackwell. Analyzing a corpus of 248 articles (1.5 million words) from 2000 to 2021, the study found significant variations among publishers in the frequency of overall stance markers, attitude markers, and self-mention markers, with Elsevier's articles exhibiting higher frequencies than the others; no significant differences were observed for hedges and boosters. The findings suggest that these differences may stem not only from author characteristics but also from the influence of publishing industry actors (editors, reviewers, copyeditors, proofreaders) and publishers' language policies. The study highlights the importance for academic writers, instructors, and publishing professionals to consider the role of publishers in shaping authorial voice and encourages further research across disciplines and publishing contexts.