Advice for Authors

Guidelines for paper submission to EducationalFutures

The e-journal’s editorial board welcomes for consideration all manuscripts which concern themselves with the study of education in its broadest sense, both in the UK and internationally.

All articles that are submitted for publication are refereed anonymously by two peer reviewers who are experts in the field of Education Studies.

Manuscripts for future editions of the journal should be submitted via the submissions form. For queries relating to submissions, please contact the Managing Editor, Joe Gazdula (J.Gazdula@open.ac.uk).

Authors should expect a decision about their article from the Managing Editor within four months of submission as:

  • accept
  • accept with minor change
  • accept with major changes or
  • reject

In the event of further enquiries, the Managing Editor’s decision, having consulted with the Editorial Board, is final.

A paper may be in the form of a report on empirical research or a desktop analysis of ideas and concepts. It may be based on work that has been produced for course assessment, but only when the assessment has been completed. Papers will be published on the understanding that the material is original and has not been published or submitted for review elsewhere. Where figures or tables are reproduced from other publications, evidence of permission from the original author should be provided.

In the spirit of the Association, the editor and reviewers will do everything to support authors’ efforts to gain publication. However, work that is judged to be unsuitable in content or does not attempt to meet the following formatting guidelines will be returned without review for resubmission.

Format

Using the online submission form, a manuscript should be uploaded as a simple Word document in the following format:

  • 12-point Arial font
  • 1.5 line-spacing with space after paragraph
  • Main title in 16-point bold
  • Level 1 headings in 14 point-bold
  • Level 2 headings in 14-point bold italic.
  • No headers or footers, only a page number at the bottom of the page
  • No footnotes: all should be included in the main text
  • Single inverted commas for quotes from the literature
  • Double inverted commas for speech quotations, e.g. from interview data

The main body of text should not normally exceed 7,000 words, including references. The abstract should not normally exceed 250 words.

A separate title page should be included with the author’s name and institution and with an email address for contact.

Figures or tables with their captions below should be included at suitable points in the text. Tables should be in simple Word format. Inserted text boxes should not be used.

Authors should pay careful attention to the details of the required Harvard system of referencing (see below). Punctation of the references list should follow exactly the required format. Submissions which fail to meet the format will be returned.

Manuscripts should be free from gender and ethnic bias.

Referencing

The Harvard (author-date) system of referencing has been adopted and should be followed using following format.

Reference-managing software such as ‘Endnote’ should not be used. All references should be an integral part of the Word text.

Referencing in the text

(Smith, 2013).  When there is a quote: (Smith, 2013: 22-3). (No page numbers if no quote.)

If two authors: (Smith and Jones, 2013).

More than two authors: (Smith et al., 2013) (et al. in italics with full-stop.)  All the authors’ names should be in the references list.

Quotes of less than 45 words keep within the paragraph with single inverted commas.

Quotes of 45 words or more should be indented from the left with no inverted commas. 

Avoid citing too many references that can disrupt the flow of the text and add to the word count. Cite only those that are essential in showing the existing knowledge in the area, or that are needed to support the argument. It is suggested that there be no more than two citations for any single point.

List of references

Use the following format, taking care to use the correct punctuation.

For books. Upper-case initials for main title and lower-case for subtitle. Give place of publication (a city or town). No full-stop after the date.

Brown, Z. (Ed.) (2016) Inclusive Education: Perspectives on pedagogy, policy and practice. Abingdon: Routledge.

For journal articles the name of the journal is italic, article title non-italic. The journal volume in bold with the edition non-bold in brackets. Give the page range.

McRobbie, A. (2008) Young Women and Consumer Culture. Cultural Studies, 22(5), pp. 531-550.

If the journal is published do not give the URL. If the journal is only online and there is no page range, then the URL should be cited.

For a chapter in a book:

Bourdieu, P. (1997) The Forms of Capital. In A.H. Halsey, H. Lauder, P. Brown and A.S. Wells (Eds) Education: Culture, Economy, Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Do not give page numbers for the chapter. Note that the editors’ initials occur before the surname.

If citing with a URL, give the date last accessed. Note the format for the date.

Fawcett Society (2014) The Changing labour Market 2: Women, low pay and gender equality in the emerging recovery. London: the Fawcett Society. Online. Available at:  http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/The-Changing-Labour-Market-2.pdf (Accessed 30 May 2020).