Research activities fall into two categories: obligatory and elective.

Obligatory Research Activities

All students are required to have at least three papers published in Hungarian or international journals, edited volumes or books. At least two of the papers are to be published in English, the rest may be written in any other language that falls within the competence of the Programme Council. At least one of the three papers is to be single authored and at least two are to be published in peer-reviewed journals or volumes. To summarize:

All three papers are to be based on original theoretical or empirical research on a topic in language pedagogy or applied linguistics, i.e., book reviews or conference reports are not accepted in this category. For possible forums of publication see the Journals page. Beware of predatory journals. Not to be confused with good quality open access journals that might also charge a publication fee (though typically not a submission fee!), predatory journals focus on earning money. To attract authors, they usually offer publication in an unrealistically short time, peer review is promised but not provided and the quality of their publication is low. They often publish articles even outside of their generally very broad spectrum of topics. Publications in these journals will not be awarded any credits. The best way to check that the journal you intend to publish in is not a predatory journal is to check its profile on MTMT (https://mtmt.hu) under 'keresés az adatbázisban' (select 'folyóirat'). The predatory/non-predatory status is indicated for every journal. All fora of publication accepted by MTMT are regarded as trustworthy, and these publications will be awarded credits. If you wish to publish in a journal not on the MTMT records, please consult your supervisor and if they find it a trustworthy forum, submit an inquiry to the Programme Director or the Director of Studies before choosing to publish in it. Please note that book publishers may also operate on a predatory basis and in that case are to be avoided.

Credit may only be granted for papers that have already been published or have been officially accepted for publication and appear in your list of publications in MTMT. The number of credits awarded depends on whether the publication is peer-reviewed or not and where it appears. Please see the summary of the credit points that can be earned for publications and different research activities on the Neptun Codes and Credits page.

It is also required to present at least one research based conference paper on a topic in language pedagogy or applied linguistics in English at a conference where papers are screened on the basis of an abstract and application does not ensure automatic acceptance. The compulsory conference paper has to be given by a single presenter. Please note that a poster presentation cannot be accepted as a compulsory conference presentation. Credits for a poster presentation can be awarded after the compulsory presentation has been given credits.

Elective Research Activities

To obtain further credits, students can choose from the activities listed below:

• paper presented at a conference either in English or in any other foreign language,
• paper presented at a conference in the student’s mother tongue,
• papers (other than the 3 compulsory publications) published under the same conditions as specified in the previous section. Co-authored papers may also be accepted.
• editorial work (proof of the work must be provided),
• compiling (published or unpublished) course material or lecture notes (proof of the work must be provided),
• other academic activity (working as a research assistant, performing research tasks, conference organization, administrative duties within the programme, etc.).

The procedure for claiming credits is described in detail in the Procedures for claiming the credits for research and teaching activities, publications and papers section on the Neptun codes and credits page.