Global Scholar Submission Guidelines

Inviting Scholars From Across the Globe

 

Thinking of submitting from beyond the United States or on work that takes a transnational or transcultural perspective? Wondering if TCR is the right journal for your work? We invite your submissions!

 

Here are some context and guidelines to help you prepare your manuscript.

 

History and Focus of TCR

The Teachers College Record (TCR) is a peer-reviewed journal of research, analysis, and commentary in the field of education. It has been published continuously since 1900 by Teachers College, Columbia University, making it one of the oldest journals of education in the world. In addition to a monthly print version, TCR prepublishes content online to support interactive discussion of issues important to scholars, practitioners, policy makers, and community stakeholders.

 

The editors may invite contributions from particular authors and about specific topics, but most material appearing in the journal is submitted for anonymous peer review by scholars from around the world. All topics related to the field of education, broadly conceived, are welcomed. For example, TCR has a long and distinguished history in publishing empirical and theoretical scholarship related to education policy, the teaching profession and teacher education, higher education, the sociocultural foundations of schooling, and diversity and equity in education. We welcome work on these topics, and, seeking to represent the breadth and depth of innovative educational research being done by scholars around the world, we also encourage you to submit work that addresses topics or theoretical perspectives less frequently seen in the journal. These include, but are not limited to, international and comparative education, human capabilities, rural education, actornetwork theory, arts-based education, the Ubuntu approach to education, environmental and sustainability education, social movements, community and family engagement and perspectives, (digital) classroom practice and experiences, and theoretically innovative work.

 

In addition, recognizing both the interconnectedness of our world and its knowledge flows, and the contribution that well-contextualized local studies can make to discussion of broader educational issues, we are enthusiastic about receiving submissions that expand the diversity of contexts, regions, and perspectives covered in TCR. As such, we highly encourage both U.S.-based scholars or practitioners and those working beyond the U.S. or on research that addresses educational issues from multinational or transcultural perspectives to submit their work.

 

TCR Submission Types

While feature articles, which follow the format of a typical paper, are the most common content type of TCR, there are other impactful ways to contribute to the journal. For instance, TCR also publishes shorter format research notes and original essays in the form of commentaries, which help to generate timely discussions among different members of the educational community. See the following section or look here for more detailed descriptions of submission options.

 

A. Feature Articles

Feature articles are typically full-length papers running 30 pages or more in length, with a maximum of 10,000 words, including references. Both empirical and theoretical papers are considered, but papers that combine well-developed theoretical frameworks with careful empirical work are particularly appreciated. Feature articles may contain research, analysis, and commentary. The editor invites submissions using all methods of inquiry, and all topics related to the field of education, broadly conceived, are welcome. Feature articles are considered for both online and print publication. Online features can take advantage of the variety of media made possible through electronic publishing, including the use of audio, video, complex or dynamic graphic displays, interactive sessions, performances, and other means to improve the communication of scholarly work. Features may be presented as a single article or in serial form.

 

B.    Special Issues

TCR accepts proposals for special issues of the journal from well-qualified educational researchers and educators. All special issue proposals should identify the theme of the proposal and discuss why it is important for the advancement of education or educational research and how it addresses equity issues. Proposals that identify a theme with the expectation that the journal will publish an open call for papers on that theme should include a draft of the call statement. Proposals that identify a theme and a set of possible papers and authors should include at least the titles, authors, and abstracts of the papers. Proposals that identify a theme and a set of papers that have already been produced should include at least the titles, authors, and abstracts of the papers. All proposals for special issues should include CVs for the proposed editors.

 

C.    Special Section

TCR accepts proposals for special sections of an issue (four to six articles) from educational researchers and educators. Special section proposals should identify the theme of the section and discuss why it is important for the advancement of education or educational research. Additionally, proposals should include the titles, authors, and abstracts of the papers to be included in the special section. Finally, all proposals for a special section should include CVs for the proposed section editors.

 

D.    Commentaries

Dialogue, discourse, and debate are essential to a vibrant and engaged educational community in an interconnected, global society. We welcome commentaries from scholars, practitioners, policy makers, community-based organization members, K12 teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders who share in our commitment to education for the public good. Commentaries are original essays that address topics, issues, or events that are relevant to the field of education. We encourage diverse perspectives and questions that sustain deliberation and engage multiple audiences and stakeholders to address educational and societal inequities. The commentaries are generative and lead to conversations across multiple communities to have broad impact in the field and beyond. Commentaries are reviewed internally by Teachers College Record editorial staff and published on our website soon after acceptance and copy editing. Submissions typically run between 1,000 and 1,500 words.

 

E.    Research Notes

Research notes focus on key aspects of current studies for timely online publication and run between 2,000 and 3,000 words. A research note could describe some aspect of a method used in a study that might benefit other research and so should be more widely known. Other types of research notes highlight key results of major studies of interest to a large audience or offer empirical analyses of timely topics in education.

 

F.    Book Reviews

TCR publishes new book reviews every week on its website. All reviews are invited by the editors and involve books of interest to educators and educational researchers in all areas of education. TCR does not accept unsolicited reviews, but interested scholars may suggest books for review and volunteer to review them in their areas of expertise on the Book Reviews page of the TCR website.

 

Language, Formatting, and Style

In addition to demonstrating strong methods and theoretical and/or analytical development, all submissions to TCR should be written in clear and concise English and follow the citation and reference formats of the current edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA). References should be up to date and include recent research, and descriptions of related research should be paraphrased or quoted. Manuscripts should be accompanied by an abstract of no more than 200 words. Submissions should provide sufficient contextual background for a general reader, particularly if the author(s) are reporting on research in specific international or national contexts. Background information is necessary to situate the reader within the social, historical, political, and/or cultural context(s) so they may understand the works significance within the field of education. Overall, the background information must be relevant to the study and not too broad. Though not required, author(s) might also consider explicitly addressing the implications or connections of their work to broader educational concerns that cross national boundaries.

 

It is important to us that language not be an insurmountable obstacle to publication. The TCR team encourages writers from a variety of language backgrounds or who are multilingual to submit manuscripts. At the same time, we also recognize that scholars have varying degrees of experience writing for publication in English. As such, we recommend consulting the following resources about writing for publication in English:

 

●      APA Formatting

APA Guidelines: 7th edition (from Purdue University Owl site)

APA Guidelines for research & publication: 7th edition (from the official site of the American Psychological Association Publication Manual)

●      TCR’s Writer’s Guide

https://www.tcrecord.org/Authors.asp

●      Teachers College, Columbia University’s Graduate Writing Center Resources

https://www.tc.columbia.edu/graduate-writing-center/writing-resources/helpful-websites/

 

In addition, it is advisable for all submitters to ask a trusted friend or colleague to copy edit your manuscript for clarity, English grammar, and style before submission. While the writing does not have to be perfect (copy editors can take care of typos), it does need to follow formatting guidelines and be clear enough for readers to understand its argument and contributions.

 

Submission and Review Process

All submissions to our journal must be uploaded through our online submission platform. Manuscripts are accepted for review with the understanding that they are original material; they should not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. After submission, manuscripts undergo an internal review process to determine whether they will be sent to external/peer review. All submissions (aside from book reviews) are reviewed in a double-blind review process, meaning that authors identities remain unknown to reviewers, and vice versa. Therefore, before submitting, please make sure to remove any information from the manuscript that might identify the authors. During the review process, the manuscript might be sent back to authors with comments and recommendations for revision, to which the authors must reply with a memo detailing the revisions made. If accepted, a manuscript will be copy edited by TCR and published online and in print after author approval. The time from submission to publication for feature articles is typically about a year; the turnaround time for commentaries and research notes is shorter.

 

Before-You-Submit Checklist:

Before you submit your manuscript, make sure you have completed all of the following:

❏    Ask a trusted friend or colleague to read over your manuscript for grammar and English language clarity.

❏    Remove any author-identifying information from submission documents (e.g., author name[s] in in-text citations and reference entries).

❏    Format text, in-text citations, and references according to APA standards.

❏    Include an abstract of up to 200 words; include three to five keywords, which will help us select reviewers.

❏    Submit files in Microsoft Word (doc/docx) format with notes included at the end of the manuscript.

❏    Tables should be prepared using the MS Word table feature, with each table on a separate page.

❏    Figures and graphics should be provided in grayscale TIF format with minimum resolution of 300 dpi. Figures and graphs should be included in the Word file, with each figure/graphic on a separate page

❏    Keep figures and tables as simple as possible.

❏    If necessary, you may send more than one file (such as graphic or video files), but one file per submission is preferred.

❏    Carefully read the TCR copyright policy, which is in the submission platform.

❏    Include a cover letter addressed to the editors that briefly summarizes the significance or contribution of your manuscript.

 

 

Cite This Article as: Teachers College Record, Date Published: March 26, 2021 https://www.tcrecord.org ID Number: 23642, Date Accessed: 10/29/2021 4:57:54 PM Purchase Reprint Rights for this article or review

There are no related articles to display