Academic Journals in Education: A Comprehensive Guide
Education research is a scientific field dedicated to the examination of education and learning processes. It encompasses understanding how learning unfolds throughout a person's life and how different educational environments impact learning. For instruction librarians in academic settings, staying current with teaching and learning scholarship is invaluable. This article provides a selective list of teaching and learning journals that focus on instructional strategies in higher education, which is updated every three years. These journals can assist librarians in keeping up with scholarship and identifying potential publishing venues.
Core Education Research Journals
Several journals form the bedrock of educational research, each with a specific focus and scope:
The American Educational Research Journal (AERJ): As the flagship journal of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), AERJ publishes original, peer-reviewed analyses that advance the empirical, theoretical, and methodological understanding of education and learning. It spans all subfields and disciplines within education research, covering all levels of education and forms of learning throughout the lifespan.
Educational Researcher (ER): This journal aims to make major programmatic research and new findings of broad importance widely accessible. ER publishes feature articles, reviews/essays, and briefs, addressing a wide range of topics relevant to the education research community.
Review of Educational Research (RER): This quarterly publication provides critical, integrative reviews of research literature bearing on education. RER includes conceptualizations, interpretations, and syntheses of literature and scholarly work in fields relevant to education, such as psychology, sociology, history, and economics.
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Review of Research in Education (RRE): Published annually, RRE offers a forum for analytic research reviews on selected education topics of significance to the field. Each volume addresses a topic of broad relevance to education and learning, critically examining diverse literature and bodies of knowledge across relevant disciplines and fields.
The American Journal of Education: This journal seeks to bridge and integrate the intellectual, methodological, and substantive diversity of educational scholarship and to encourage a vigorous dialogue between educational scholars and policymakers.
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis (EEPA): This journal publishes rigorous, policy-relevant research of interest to those engaged in educational policy analysis, evaluation, and decision making. It is a multidisciplinary journal that considers original research from multiple disciplines, theoretical orientations, and methodologies.
Specialized Journals in Education
Beyond the core journals, numerous specialized publications cater to specific areas within education:
Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
Active Learning in Higher Education: This international journal provides a platform for publishing research about effective teaching, learning, and assessment across higher education disciplines. It is devoted to publishing accounts of research covering all aspects of learning and teaching concerning adults in higher education.
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Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence [OA]: A bi-annual publication by Utah State University that provides practical and experience-based insights from higher education professionals.
Journal of College Orientation, Transition, and Retention [OA]: Publishes theoretical and empirical articles, how-to articles, and reviews related to the matriculation, orientation, transition, and retention of college students of up to 30 pages.
Journal of Postsecondary Student Success [OA]: Publishes interdisciplinary peer-reviewed theory, research, policy, and practice related to student success in higher education.
Journal of The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition: Publishes empirical studies of up to 30 pages on student transitions within post-secondary education.
Studies in Higher Education: This leading international journal publishes research-based articles dealing with higher education issues from either a disciplinary or multi-disciplinary perspective. It considers empirical, theoretical, and conceptual articles of significant originality.
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The Journal of Higher Education: Founded in 1930, this journal publishes original research reporting on the academic study of higher education as a broad enterprise. It publishes the highest quality empirical, theoretically grounded work addressing the main functions of higher education and the dynamic role of the university in society, welcoming scholarship from a wide variety of theoretical perspectives and disciplinary orientations.
STEM Education
The International Journal of STEM Education: This multidisciplinary journal focuses on the study of teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). It promotes research and educational development in the rapidly evolving field of STEM education around the world, providing a unique platform for sharing research regarding the design and implementation of technology-rich learning environments, innovative pedagogies, and curricula in STEM education.
Journal of Science Education and Technology: This interdisciplinary forum publishes original peer-reviewed research articles that address the intersection of science education and technology with implications for improving and enhancing science education at all levels across the world.
Science Education: This journal publishes original articles on the latest issues and trends occurring internationally in science curriculum, instruction, learning, policy, and preparation of science teachers with the aim to advance our knowledge of science education theory and practice.
Chemistry Education Research and Practice (CERP): This journal is for teachers, researchers, and other practitioners at all levels of chemistry education.
Journal of Chemical Education: This journal publishes peer-reviewed articles and related information as a resource to those in the field of chemical education and to those institutions that serve them.
Journal of Biological Education: This journal aims to bridge the gap between research and practice in biology education and examines advances in biology research and teaching.
CBE-Life Sciences Education (LSE): This free, online quarterly journal, is published by the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB). LSE publishes peer-reviewed articles on life science education at the K-12, undergraduate, and graduate levels.
The American Biology Teacher (ABT): This is an award-winning, peer-refereed professional journal for K-16 biology teachers.
Literacy and Reading
Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy [POA]: Publishes original research, literature and media reviews, commentaries, and discussions on theory and practice of teaching literacy.
Journal of Research in Reading [POA]: Publishes empirical research and review articles that focus on the psychological and educational approaches of reading, spoken language and writing.
Reading Psychology: Publishes original research, experiential or philosophical explorations, theoretical pieces, practitioner accounts, and literary or humorous pieces encompassing the fields of reading, literacy, and associated psychology disciplines.
Problem-Based Learning and Community Engagement
Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem Based Learning [OA]: Hosted by Indiana University, this journal provides an outlet for research on all aspects of problem based learning in both K-12 and higher education settings.
Journal of Problem-Based Learning [OA]: This interdisciplinary journal contains articles on both PBL and related approaches to learning, including research on theory, curriculum design and implementation.
International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement [OA]: Published annually by the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement.
Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship [OA]: Published by the University of Alabama Division of Community Affairs.
Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement [OA]: Quarterly publication from the University of Georgia.
Other Specialized Areas
Cognition and Instruction: This journal's distinctive niche is a rigorous study of foundational issues concerning the mental, socio-cultural, and mediational processes and conditions of learning and intellectual competence.
Computers & Education: This journal aims to increase knowledge and understanding of ways in which digital technology can enhance education, through the publication of high-quality research, which extends theory and practice.
Journal of Educational Psychology®: The main purpose of this journal is to publish original, primary psychological research pertaining to education across all ages and educational levels.
Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics: This journal provides an outlet for papers that are original and useful to those applying statistical approaches to problems and issues in educational or behavioral research.
Journal of the Learning Sciences (JLS): This journal provides a multidisciplinary forum for research on education and learning that informs theories of how people learn and the design of learning environments.
Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education (JMBE): As ASM'S first open-access education journal, JMBE offers original, previously unpublished, peer-reviewed articles that foster scholarly teaching, and provide readily adoptable resources in biology education at the undergraduate, graduate, professional (e.g., medical school), K-12 outreach, and informal education level.
Learning and Instruction: As an international, multi-disciplinary, peer-refereed journal, this journal provides a platform for the publication of the most advanced scientific research in the areas of learning, development, instruction, and teaching.
Research in Higher Education: This journal publishes studies that examine issues pertaining to postsecondary education.
International Journal of Educational Research: This journal publishes research manuscripts in the field of education.
International Journal of Science Education, Part A: Early Years: This journal publishes scholarly papers that focus on the teaching and learning of science in school settings ranging from early childhood to university education.
Organizations and Their Publications
Professional organizations often host conferences and publish journals related to education. A few examples include:
American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE): ASEE hosts a variety of conferences focused on engineering education in K-12 and higher education settings, providing a platform for publication on PBL and active learning as related to engineering or scientific educational settings.
Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR): CUR's mission is to support and promote high-quality mentored undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative inquiry.
The Evolving Landscape of Science Education Research
The field of science education research is continuously evolving to address contemporary challenges. There's a growing emphasis on preparing communities and society to respond to societal and environmental issues. This involves promoting equitable science education that equips individuals and communities with the tools for productive scientific sensemaking, ultimately fostering a more sustainable and just world.
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