Research Papers in Education has developed an international reputation for publishing significant research findings across the discipline of education.
The distinguishing feature of the journal is that we publish longer articles than most other journals, to a limit of 12,000 words. We particularly focus on full accounts of substantial research endeavours that have important implications for policy and/or practice.
Our word limit gives researchers the opportunity to describe larger studies, undertake critical and complex analyses of data, interrogate longstanding assumptions and/or engage deeply with theory. We expect articles to create substantial new knowledge which has widespread utility for academics, students, policymakers or educational practitioners.
We have a general readership and authors are encouraged to make their writing accessible for those outside their immediate field or methodological space. Our readership is international, so we require that authors provide adequate explanation of the relevant context(s). We welcome work that is interdisciplinary, while studies that engage across national borders are particularly valued. Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods studies are equally regarded on their own terms.
Overall, we are interested in publishing work that makes significant original contributions to knowledge, grounded in rigorous methodologies and situated within the existing corpus of theory and literature. This might include:
- Empirical studies that present and analyse a substantial corpus of new data and that engage with theory.
- Critical and/or comparative analyses of regional, national or supranational education policy.
- Articles that seek to develop new theory, including ‘think pieces’ that break new ground in the understanding of education.
- Systematic or critical reviews of the literature that develop new empirical, theoretical or conceptual insights.
- Meta-analyses that offer new insight by synthesising the findings of multiple quantitative studies.
Conversely, we do not ordinarily publish:
- Studies with limited scope to generate substantial new knowledge – e.g. small pilot studies or descriptive case studies.
- Articles with insufficient methodological explanation or that lack a discussion of ethical implications.
- Studies that do not adequately establish their originality or significance to practitioners or policymakers.
- Large-scale descriptive surveys that do not critically engage with theory or develop new theorisation.
- Studies that we do not feel are relevant to our international readership or that are inaccessibly written.
Peer Review Policy:
All research papers submitted to Research Papers in Education undergo a rigorous review process. On receipt, each paper is allocated to an Editor or Associate Editor. They first undertake a review of the paper against the journal’s Aims and Scope, as outlined above, which may lead to rejection at this point. If appropriate, the paper is then sent anonymously to two referees. At least one referee is usually chosen from the Editorial Board. The referees’ reports are then considered by the Editor or Associate Editor, who seek further opinions on the paper, if necessary, before coming to a decision. Authors may be asked to make amendments to their paper before publication.
Authors can choose to publish gold open access in this journal.
Read the Instructions for Authors for information on how to submit your article.
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