This page enlists the main guidelines to promote a trustworthy and reliable repository that aims at creating an open source where all researchers and practitioners interested in LLLL (Later-Life Language Learning) can resort to, as well as share valuable insights regarding methods, research contexts, or participant groups in conducting research with older adults. This repository is meant for sharing practical methodological and procedural issues that are not typically discussed in academic papers. Thus, not necessarily to discuss theory.
The repository 4L-CARE operates much in the same way as Wikipedia, in the sense that any page can be updated by anyone; anyone is free to create a new page on the repository that adheres to the two overarching concepts of "research" and "education" or change an existing page that already exists.
It will be possible to register an account, if desired and to do so anonymously. The procedure itself is very simple: 1) choose a username, 2) choose a password, 3) a confirmation email will be sent to the new user through which it will be possible to verify the newly made account.
To make the threshold for participation in the repository as low as possible, the authors will initially not make registration mandatory for viewers or users who want to edit pages. However, we strongly encourage users to register, as seeing who has made an edit also makes further conversation about a topic easier.
While the repository aims to give information about practical matters found out during the course of one’s research, these discussions can often be strengthened by attributing them to a source. This source can be another academic publication (e.g., one showing that eye-tracking research can be done in people with glaucoma), but it can also be unpublished data (e.g., response accuracy before and after implementing a longer fixation duration from a pilot study). This will also help to avoid plagiarism.
Smaller changes that are not likely to be controversial (e.g., copy-editing a sentence, adding onto an existing section without removing content that is already present) can be made freely. However, sometimes a contributor may disagree with the contents of an existing article. In those cases, it is advisable to use a discussion board that is tied to a specific page beforehand in order to confer with the other contributors.