•  
  •  
 

Submission Types, Policies & Guidelines

This page provides details on submission types accepted, typesetting, layout, footnote, and citation requirements for final manuscript submissions to Current Issues in Emerging eLearning.

Contents


Philosophy of Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

For more information, please see Current Issues in Emerging eLearning Mission and Scope page.


Manuscript Submission Rules and Submission Types Sought

The journal accepts a wide variety of submission types in accordance with our intentionally eclectic mission. We seek submissions from all education sectors including the K-12 community, higher education, corporate training and the public sphere. Given the broad readership of the journal, we ask that all discipline-specific jargon be defined clearly or omitted.

Submitted articles cannot have been previously published, nor be forthcoming in an archival journal or book (print or electronic). Please note: "publication" in a working-paper series does not constitute prior publication. In addition, by submitting material to Current Issues in Emerging eLearning, the author is stipulating that the material is not currently under review at another journal (electronic or print) and that he or she will not submit the material to another journal (electronic or print) until the completion of the editorial decision process at Current Issues in Emerging eLearning. If you have concerns about the submission terms for Current Issues in Emerging eLearning, please contact the editors.

The following are categories of submission accepted for this journal:

  • Research Articles: Scholarly articles that feature theory, research, and/or best practice in eLearning. Typically these research articles should include a review of current literature bearing on the topic(s) under discussion and include explicit discussion of goals, methods, and implications for further research.
  • Field Notes: Short works (averaging 2000 words) describing new or novel eLearning developments, use cases, or applications explored through observation, data analysis, interviews, etc., typically including reflection and discussion.
  • Book Reviews: Brief opinion pieces and reviews (averaging 1000 words) describing and assessing recently published scholarly books on topics relevant to eLearning.
  • Case Studies: Descriptions of unique eLearning programs, courses, delivery models, design practices, etc. that contribute to the development and dissemination of eLearning best practices. Case studies should examine exemplary or unique interventions that address common or complex issues in eLearning pedagogy and should evaluate the effectiveness and/or impact of the interventions under review. Works in this category typically address current literature bearing on the topic and provide a discussion of solutions to problems or challenges with reference to evaluation methods employed.
  • Concept Papers: Proposals of new models or frameworks relevant to eLearning. These papers generally review and relate relevant literature to the proposed schema. Typically concept papers do not include evaluation data, but include discussion of implications and/or directions for further research.
  • Position Papers: Logical argumentation or essay work that provides novel points of view, clarifications, explanations, understandings or elucidations regarding eLearning design, administration, policy, practice or research.
  • Wildcards: This category accommodates non-traditional research presentation forms that do not necessarily fit into established categories of research dissemination. (Example: An excerpt from a dissertation written in the genre of a graphic novel.) The wildcard category also covers software and website reviews and other forms not described explicitly, above.

Formatting Requirements

  • Because the e-publication format of this is ‘elastic,’ in nature, we do not provide length recommendations for most submission categories and will review and consider work of any reasonable length.
  • Submissions should be written in formal, Standard English.
  • Please adhere to the most recent APA style (currently 6th Edition) for almost all aspects of formatting including your citations, references, footnotes, tables and figures. However, please note directly below specific aspects of APA Style excluded from the journal style sheet to accommodate the constraints and affordances of ePublishing in Scholarworks (our platform).
  • Please do not include a separate title page or abstract in your manuscript submission (despite the fact that APA style requires these formatting features). Instead, please begin your manuscript with the introduction. (The editors will add your title page and include your abstract in the e-publication, for you.)
  • Please exclude page numbers, headers, or footers from your manuscript (despite the fact that APA style requires these formatting features). These the editors will add to the e-publication, for you.
  • Please do include all tables, figures, appendices, etc., within your manuscript.
  • Please submit your entire manuscript as a single file in either MS Word or RTF format.
  • Please use a page size of 8.5 x 11-inches.
  • Please set the margins (left, right, top and bottom) of all pages to 1.5 inches (3.8 cm). Please be sure to use these margin settings even for pages that contain tables and figures.
  • Please single space manuscripts throughout, using a single column layout with both left and right margins justified.
  • Please use high-resolution figures (if you include figures). Preferably encode figures as encapsulated PostScript (eps).
  • Please copyedit your manuscript carefully. Our volunteer editorial board members love following your thinking and providing revision suggestions but are not involved with the journal for copy editing experience, per se.

Additional Formatting Recommendations

Indenting, Line Spacing, and Full Justification

Please indent all paragraphs except those following a section heading. An indent should be at least 2 em-spaces.

Please do not insert extra space between paragraphs of text with the exceptions being long quotations, theorems, propositions, special remarks, etc., which should be set off from the surrounding text using additional space above and below these specialized instances.

Please do not "widow" or "orphan" text (i.e., ending a page with the first line of a paragraph or beginning a page with the last line of a paragraph).

Please use full justification (both left and right justified text). NOTE: The editors reserve the right to adjust (condense or expand) character spacing of specific lines in which full justification creates severe instances of poorly spaced characters, and may resort to the use of ragged right margins, in extreme cases.

Font Face and Sizes

Please use Times font (or the closest comparable font available to you) throughout your manuscript, except in cases which require special symbols. The main body of text should be set in 12pt. Footnotes should be set in 10pt. Please avoid the use of fonts smaller than 6pt, even for specialized purposes.

Caveats Regarding Colored Text and Markup

Please set your font color to black for the majority of the text. Please avoid the use of colors in situations in which the translation of the color(s) to black and white would render the material illegible or incomprehensible.

Please ensure that there are no colored mark-ups or comments in the final manuscript submission, unless they are meant to be part of the final text.

Emphasizing Text

Whenever possible use italics rather than underlining to indicate text you wish to emphasize. We discourage the use of color to emphasize text.

Formatting Titles

Please set the titles of books, movies, etc., in italics rather than underlining.

Avoiding Foreign Terms

Except for common foreign words and phrases, please avoid the use of foreign language terms. Whenever possible, foreign terms should be set in italics rather than underlined.

Formatting Headings

Headings (e.g., start of sections) should be distinguished from the main body text by using small caps in Times 12pt font (or the closest comparable font available). Please use the same font face for all headings and indicate the hierarchy by reducing the font size. Please place space above and below headings.

Footnote Locations and Formatting

Please locate each footnote at the bottom of the page on which the footnote is referenced rather than at the end of the paper. Footnotes should be in 10pt. Times or closest comparable font available, and should be single spaced. Please place a footnote separator rule (line) above the footnote on pages using footnotes. Footnote numbers or symbols in the text must follow, rather than precede, punctuation. Excessively long footnotes are probably better handled in an appendix. All footnotes should be left and right-justified (i.e., flush with the right margin), unless this creates awkward spacing.

Table and Figure Placement and Formatting

To the extent possible, please locate tables and figures near the referencing text. Please put large tables or figures on pages by themselves. Please avoid the use of overly small type in tables. Please do not submit tables or figures in a separate document or file. Please be sure that all tables and figures fit within the 1.5" margins on all sides (top, bottom, left and right) of pages and avoid the use of landscape view for page formatting.

Formatting of Mathematical Symbols and Equations

Please italicize Roman letters used as variables in mathematical expressions. However, Roman letters used as part of multi-letter function names should not be italicized. Whenever possible, subscripts and superscripts should be a smaller font size than the main text.

Please type short mathematical expressions inline. However, longer expressions should appear as display math. Also expressions using many different levels (e.g., such as the fractions) should be set as display math. Important definitions or concepts can also be set off as display math.

Please number equations sequentially. You may position the equation numbers on the right or left of each equation, but please use a consistent placement for your equation numbers.

Please avoid the use of unusual fonts for symbols and notation to insure clarity and prevent poor display across multiple browser platforms. Especially when submitting manuscripts in PDF format, please proof your document careful to be sure mathematics (especially symbols and notations in non-standard fonts) reproduce correctly.


Rights for Authors and ScholarWorks at UMass Boston

As further described in our submission agreement (the Submission Agreement), in consideration for publication of the article, the authors assign to ScholarWorks at UMass Boston all copyright in the article, subject to the expansive personal--use exceptions described below.

Attribution and Usage Policies

Reproduction, posting, transmission or other distribution or use of the article or any material therein, in any medium as permitted by a personal-use exemption or by written agreement of ScholarWorks at UMass Boston, requires credit to ScholarWorks at UMass Boston as copyright holder (e.g., ScholarWorks at UMass Boston © 2023).

Personal-use Exceptions

The following uses are always permitted to the author(s) and do not require further permission from ScholarWorks at UMass Boston provided the author does not alter the format or content of the articles, including the copyright notification:

  • Storage and back-up of the article on the author's computer(s) and digital media (e.g., diskettes, back-up servers, Zip disks, etc.), provided that the article stored on these computers and media is not readily accessible by persons other than the author(s);
  • Posting of the article on the author(s) personal website, provided that the website is non-commercial;
  • Posting of the article on the internet as part of a non-commercial open access institutional repository or other non-commercial open access publication site affiliated with the author(s)'s place of employment (e.g., a Phrenology professor at the University of Southern North Dakota can have her article appear in the University of Southern North Dakota's Department of Phrenology online publication series); and
  • Posting of the article on a non-commercial course website for a course being taught by the author at the university or college employing the author.

People seeking an exception, or who have questions about use, should contact the editors.

{ top }

General Terms and Conditions of Use

Users of the ScholarWorks at UMass Boston website and/or software agree not to misuse the ScholarWorks at UMass Boston service or software in any way.

The failure of ScholarWorks at UMass Boston to exercise or enforce any right or provision in the policies or the Submission Agreement does not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any term of the Submission Agreement or these policies is found to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Submission Agreement and these policies remain in full force and effect. These policies and the Submission Agreement constitute the entire agreement between ScholarWorks at UMass Boston and the Author(s) regarding submission of the Article.

{ top }