The editors work to bring together a group of authors for the issue in a community of research and writing practice. Editors and authors collaborate for about 18 months in total, following an overall timeline like this:
| Year | Period | Stage | Who / Role | Collaborative Process |
| YEAR 1 | July-September | ONE | Co-editors | Draft and develop a Call for Proposals/ Contributions / CfP/C (articles, interviews, book reviews and so on) |
| YEAR 2 | October-January | TWO | Potential contributors | CfP/C sent out to various lists (co-editors may respond to inquiries and give feedback on draft proposals) |
| YEAR 2 | February | THREE | Co-editors | Review of proposals and selection |
| YEAR 2 | March – April | FOUR | Contributor to contributor / Editors to contributors | Research development: Puzzles, questions, outlines, plans, ideas |
| YEAR 2 | July – September | FIVE | Contributor to contributor | Peer sharing and feedback on complete first drafts |
| YEAR 2 | October – November | SIX | Review Network to contributors | * Reviewer feedback (with possible assistance from editors) on first drafts |
| YEAR 2- YEAR 3 | December-February | SEVEN | Editors to contributors | Editor feedback and re-drafting (with possible assistance from reviewers; could involve multiple revised drafts) |
| YEAR 3 | March | EIGHT | Contributors to editors | Final draft |
| YEAR 3 | April-July | NINE | (a) Editors & Review Network | Proofreading; finalisation of abstracts in English and Japanese; key words |
| (b) Editors | Writing introduction piece | |||
| (c) Guest expert(s) | Writing closing commentary | |||
| [(d) Book reviewers | Writing relevant reviews] | |||
| YEAR 3 | July-September | TEN | Design and layout team | Finalisation for publication |
| YEAR 3 | October | ELEVEN | Website team | Publication |
The Learner Development Journal 