Two possible reactions

[dr_whom]

I'm reading a dialectology paper in Journal X, a linguistics journal that does not specialize in sociolinguistics.

1. ...Hm, I should remember not to submit dialectology papers to Journal X. There are enough elementary factual errors here that it's clear that the journal editors don't know how to find reviewers who know anything about dialectology.

2. ...On second thought, maybe I should submit dialectology papers to Journal X. Clearly they have low standards in that regard and are more likely to accept them.

Comments

[dr_whom]

There are at most about 12 tenure-track positions in sociolinguistics a year in North America. Obviously there are more in linguistics at large.

Sociolinguistics job applications are probably chiefly evaluated by non-sociolinguists, yes. A department that has more than one sociolinguist already is unlikely to be hiring another.