What does EJOLTs publish?

The Educational Journal of Living Theories (EJOLTS) is committed to publishing living-educational-theory (often shortened to living-theory) accounts of practitioner-researchers from a wide range of global, social, cultural and professional contexts. We welcome submissions from all engaged in Living Educational Theory Research (often shortened to Living Theory) who wish to contribute rigorous and valid accounts of their living-educational-theories to improving educational knowledge. Guidance to our publication criteria are accessible from here. Please note, EJOLTs will not consider multiple submissions or redundant publications.

Guidance for authors submitting a paper to EJOLTs

Authors are strongly advised to read all of this page carefully as they work on their paper and prepare to submit it to EJOLTs. We hope you find the structure on 'advice for authors' and downloadable as a WORD file helpful.

Preparing an article to submit to EJOLTs is not complicated but you do need to take care. Check that it conforms to the format and reference guidance. Details of how and what to submit are given at the bottom of this page. Authors are encouraged to read all of this page before submitting and to check their paper carefully against the indicative publishing criteria.

When you have thoroughly checked your paper please submit using the e-submission form and sending, as an attachment and a note to the EJOLTs Editor, at [email protected]

If you are not experienced or confident as a journal author we encourage you to visit the author advice page. If you are new to Living Educational Theory Research or want to check that you are as up-to-date as possible then you will find a visit to the EJOLTs homepage and author advice page invaluable.

Publishing Criteria

Guidelines

a. General guidance

b. Ethical/copyright considerations

c. Language

d. Multimedia

e. Format

What happens when you have submitted your article?

1. Double-blind review

2. Papers that successfully pass the double-blind review stage

3. Papers that do not successfully pass the double-blind review stage

 

Publishing criteria

Before submitting your paper check that your paper:

1. Is of a high academic and scholarly quality. It provides a well-reasoned argument and demonstrates that you have creatively and critically engaged with your own thinking and the thinking of others and made appropriate use of references (see Bibliography, Referencing and avoiding the pitfalls of ‘genuflection', ‘sandbagging' and 'kingmaking')
2. Clearly includes the distinguishing qualities of a Living Educational Theory methodology and/or the contribution it makes to the field of Living Theory research.  These must include clarification of the values that form the explanatory principles and evaluative standards of judgment in explanations of educational influence in learning.
3. Includes a clearly written description and explanation of the context(s), purposes, processes and outcomes of the research.
4. Can be understood by practitioners from diverse fields of practice, research and cultural contexts as well as experienced Living Educational Theory researchers.
5. Has all claims supported by appropriate evidence.
6. Communicates clearly how knowledge claims are validated.
7. Provides sufficient details of the normative background of your research.
8. Abstract is no more than 230 words, and paper is at least 5,000 and no more than 12,000 words long in total (including references and appendixes). (Shorter papers are more likely to be read than longer papers.)             
9. Is written in English of a standard appropriate for an international academic journal, has been thoroughly checked to ensure that English spelling and grammar has been used throughout, all references are correct in both the text and references list and all images are referred to in the text.
10. Conforms to the format guidelines (only papers that do will be sent out for review).

return to submission guidelines

 

Guidelines

a. General guidance

Authors are expected to include a clearly written description and explanation in English of the context(s), purposes, processes and outcomes of their inquiry. Papers are normally between 5,000 and 12,000 words, including references, bibliography and appendices.                                          return to submission guidelines 

 

b. Ethical/copyright considerations

1. Authors are responsible for copyrights and any ethical consequences of the publication of any particular contribution (written or in the form of multimedia).
2. Authors must ensure that they have any necessary ethical approval, copyright and permissions for all images, videos, artwork etc. that are included in the paper.
3. It is authors responsibility to ensure all people providing sources of data referred to in the paper have given their informed consent and that no one involved in the processes of the research has been coerced into co-operation or is unknowingly being co-opted. Authors must ensure that they have followed all ethical guidelines relevant to research in their field of practice and educational research, such as those of BERA (British Educational Research Association) or the BPS (British Psychological Society).
4. Authors must acknowledge all contributions of individuals and groups and their affiliations (see Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement), as well as their own.                                                                                  return to submission guidelines

 

c. Language

• We require accounts to be as jargon-free as possible and expressed in ways that will be comprehensible to as wide an audience as possible. Please explain technical terms clearly as you go along.
• Unfortunately we do not have the capacity to accept papers other than those written in English. However, we will try to help authors whose first language is not English with the linguistic clarification of particular concepts they highlight as needing attention. We do publish translations created and supplied by authors, along with the English version.
• English spelling and grammar should be used throughout.  All papers should be very carefully proof read before submission. Remember to check that all references in the version you are submitting are correct in both the text and references. return to submission guidelines

 

d. Multimedia

• EJOLTS encourages submission of multimedia accounts, which include text, still images, audio, and video that help to communicate meanings of the energy-flowing values and practice that form the practitioner-researcher’s explanatory principles and standards of judgement in the paper. Where appropriate and possible, you are encouraged to include full URLs in the text linked to the papers, videos, image etc. referenced.
• We recognise that different workplaces and geographical locations have access to different levels of technology; consequently, we will not penalise contributors who are not able to make use of hi-tech resources. We simply wish to emphasise here our openness to the multiple forms of representation that are acceptable as descriptions and explanations of practice.
• Remember EJOLTs is published online so it is advised that photographs, representational artwork, etc. included in the paper are first saved in jpeg format in as low a resolution as low as possible that still allows images to be clear when published on the web. Then ‘insert’ images (do not ‘copy and paste’).  This helps to keep the files size as small as possible and so makes it easier for readers to download the paper. return to submission guidelines

 

e. Format

• Accounts can be submitted in MS WORD (*.doc or *.docx) or in Open Document Format (*.odt).
• Video and audio files should be externally hosted, via sites such as YouTube and SoundCloud. URLs should be included in the main text as well as the reference list. You must ensure, as far as possible, that these links will continue to be accessible for the life of the journal and the published paper.
• Further information can be found here

 return to submission guidelines

First page should contain (only):

1. The title of the paper,
2. Name(s) of the author(s),
3. The institution, affiliation or location of each author and their ORCID iD
4. The name and email of the corresponding author
5. An abstract (maximum 230 words)
6. Keywords (maximum of 5). (Keywords enable your paper to be found by web search engines)

Second page should begin with

• the title of the paper,
• the abstract and
• the keywords.

The paper should that follows be between 5,000 and 12,000 (including references and appendixes). Keep in mind the shorter the paper the more likely it is to be read.

Headings:

1. a) Level A Heading – Use Title Case, Bold, 14pt. Arial.
2. i) Level b heading – Use sentence case, bold, 12pt arial.
3. a) Level c heading – Use sentence case, italics, 12pt. arial.

Main text:

• 12pt. Calibri. Justified left, fully justified.
• Paragraph spacing one hard return.
• Quoted passages shorter than 20 words are contained within the main text and within "...." quotation marks.
• Quoted passages longer than 20 words as separate paragraph, indented and within "...." quotation marks.
• Put terms minted/invented by the author or used in a novel context in '...' quotation marks e.g. The 'respectful editor'.
• Use ellipsis ( ... ) with space either side; 'en-dash'  –  also with space either side.
• 'et al' and 'ie'  to be written as – i.e. and et al.
• Only include images and video that are referred to in the text.
• All Figures, Tables, Illustrations, Images, captioned as Figure 1. Title of image 12pt. Calibri.
• All Videos, Audio files – include full url.
• Use APA 6th Edition format for all references and in text citations. The easiest way of getting it right is to use one of the numerous free citation generators available on the web.  This is one https://www.citethisforme.com/ which is free and works well.

     ​return to submission guidelines

Submitting your paper to EJOLTs

When you have thoroughly checked your paper please submit the WORD file as an attachment and a note to the Editor at [email protected].  

Copyright and Licensing Terms:

Authors retain the copyright and full publishing rights without restrictions. All articles published in EJOLTS are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-NC) 4.0 International license agreement and published open access, making them immediately and freely available to read and download. Under this license authors retain copyright and full publishing rights without restrictions, and unrestricted reuse of the content is allowed as long as proper attribution is given to the original author of the work.

CC BY-NC: This license allows re-users to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for non-commercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. It includes the following elements:
Credit must be given to the creator
Only non-commercial uses of the work are permitted

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

What happens when you have submitted your article?

1. Double-blind review stage:

Papers submitted are first sent by the Editor for double blind review. Reviewers focus on how well the papers meets the overarching criteria:

1. Be of high academic and scholarly quality;
2. Include distinguishing qualities of a Living Educational Theory research methodology and/or;
3. Make a contribution to the field of Living Educational Theory research. 

and other aspects of the publishing criteria. 

The reviewers will be asked to send the Editor a completed 'guidance for reviewers and authors' sheet with a clear recommendation that either:

a)   The paper meets all the publishing criteria. The reviewer indicates any (minor) revisions needed on the guidance sheet for the author to address in the open review author with support from a review team in the open review stage.

or

b)    The paper doesn’t meet all the criteria and requires major revision, which reviewers indicate on the guidance sheet. 

The Editor brings a summary of the outcome of the double blind review stage to the Editorial Board for their decision as to whether the paper passes to the next review stage or not and then informs the author/s accordingly.

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2. Papers that successfully pass the double-blind review stage

Author/s are informed that either:

• their paper will be passed directly to the Editorial Board to decide whether or not to publish in EJOLTs

or

• further work is needed before the Editorial Board will consider the paper for publication.

If further work is required, the author will be sent a summary of the improvements required before publication will be considered. They will be invited to engage in an online conversation in the Virtual Space of Cooperation with a peer-review team with the aim of strengthening the paper and working towards publication. If the author wishes, they can nominate someone on the peer-reviewer list for the team of three organised by the Editor.  A guidance sheet is provided to guide the conversation ­ described on the 'review process' page.

When the appointed team advises the Editor that the paper is of appropriate quality to be considered for publication, the Editor sends the paper to the Editorial Board. The Editorial Board then decides whether to publish the paper in EJOLTs. The Editor informs the author of the decision.                                                                                  return to top

 

3. Papers that do not successfully pass the double-blind review stage

The author/s will be informed that the paper does not meet the criteria for publication but, should they wish to revise it by using the responses from the reviewers to guide them, they could resubmit the paper. If the paper is judged not to be within the scope of EJOLTs, then they will be advised to consider submitting to another journal.  return to top