What we do
‘Researching Education’ (ISSN 2752-3101) offers accessible summaries of recently published and peer-reviewed research findings that concern educational practice. They are published online and written by the original research investigators. Subscription is open and free but most likely to appeal to practicing teachers. Subscribers receive periodic emails with topic headlines that link to the online article summaries. Those articles are also posted on the website. Publication is overseen by academic staff from the School of Education at the University of Nottingham, UK. ‘Researching Education’ is free from advertising or commercial sponsorship.
Our aims
New research findings can be slow to reach practitioners. Original reports are hard to find – or may sit behind publisher firewalls. There are services that summarise and review research (e.g., Impact). However, contributions to Researching Education take the reader closer to the research process. Short but accessible accounts of individual projects invite an exploration of research practice itself: how does it gain authority, how are findings derived, what were the constraints, etc.
This service should therefore be of special interest to you if you are a practitioner contemplating research, or currently registered on a postgraduate programme, or simply wishing to nurture interests previously acquired on such programmes.
Contributions will be accessible: brief yet written in clear English. Moreover, each article could be a starting point to explore a topic. For they will include web links to other sources that develop related ideas. Finally, each article comes with an invitation for reader comments. In this way, articles can be focal points for feedback and discussion.
For authors: The preferred format for contributions
Researching Education publishes short articles that summarise research projects that have recently been published in full within peer-reviewed academic books or journals. The consequence of a positive review already being in place (on the ‘parent’ report) means we do not need to apply further review – beyond respecting the format outlined below and advice on sound English expression where appropriate. (This also means that turnaround can be quick.) Terms and conditions that apply to potential authors are here. While editorial policy endeavours to be flexible, the following expectations may be useful in explaining to potential authors our aims and, thereby, advising them on content and format of submissions:
- Articles should be based on findings from (‘parent’) empirical research projects recently published in peer-reviewed outlets
- The author(s) of submitted articles should be one (or more) of the named authors on the ‘parent’ publication(s) to which the article relates
- Submission should be with the approval of any co-authors on the parent article, even if they are not named on the present contribution
- Declared authorship may include original co-authors, if that is preferred
- Articles should normally be around 2000 words in length (or by arrangement if a longer piece seems more appropriate)
- Their content should be written in a style accessible to practitioners
- Articles may include embedded images
- Where possible, hyperlinks to useful related material are welcomed
- There should be some critical reflection on the chosen method and methodology – perhaps as a ‘postscript’
- There should be a brief reflection on the message of the project for educational practice
Your main readership is likely to be practitioners (particularly readers who have subscribed). So, many scholarly writing practices fit less well here. Certainly, links to accessible contextualising material can be very useful: so please consider doing this through hyperlinks. However, attaching multiple references to your various claims is not really appropriate. Many readers will be unable to follow them up. While readers who are embedded in mainstream scholarship (e.g. teachers in postgraduate study) can locate such sources by going to your original paper – which they will probably have library access to. Similarly, there may be specialised methodologies that you might casually mention (structural equation methodology, authoethnography etc). But readers may not recognise these. This can sometimes make writing about your study design quite challenging. Because conveying in text the general strengths (and limitations) of your chosen methodology will always be useful.
For authors: attributing authorship
Authorship is evidently attributed to whoever wrote the contribution. However, the original article summarised in the contribution may have had more than one author. In which case, one of these three formats may be chosen for attribution and citation purposes:
- Single author attribution: If one of those original authors has written the Researching Education contribution alone, then the co-authors may consider its ownership lies with that author – perhaps reasoning that they remain acknowledged on the original published paper. [Example].
- Shared authorship: Co-authors of the original article may wish to share attribution and so they are jointly acknowledged for citations of the Researching Education contribution. Order of authorship perhaps depending on their degree of collaboration in writing it. [Example].
- Acknowledged involvement: One author has written the Researching Education contribution and is identified as such for citations. However, co-authors are acknowledged in the ‘authorship box’ that is attached to the text. [Example].
Whichever format is preferred, it is expected that any co-author would have approved the final submission.
For authors: The submission processes
Articles may be submitted as Microsoft Word files as attachments to an email sent to our website or to other email addresses that might be agreed in correspondence. It is understood that submitting authors will have read and agreed to our terms and conditions which they should confirm by personal email. Published articles will be included as links in mailings to subscribers; they will also be listed as ‘issues’ on the service website. A citation format will be suggested and a DOI allocated.
For authors: the editorial process
Authors may make personal submissions, or they may be approached by members of the editorial team. Articles should be around 1500-2000 words in length. Writing should conform to the following principles referred to above. The publication model is very close to that adopted by ‘The Conversation’. Articles conforming to the above specifications can be sent to researchingeducation@nottingham.ac.uk.
For subscribers: How to join for occasional email summaries
Subscription is open to valid personal email addresses. No additional details of subscriber identity are required. Subscriber correspondence is limited to occasional emails that list titles of recently published articles along with links to their web address. Go here to subscribe and unsubscribe.