Publications and Conferences

There is a growing body of scholarship on service-learning and community-based research. WCU faculty are encouraged to explore and engage with the resources below.

Publications

Social Work

The British Journal of Social Work
Acceptance Rate: 10%
Publishing Time: 8 times/year
Length: 7,000 words maximum
Impact Factor: 1.027
Published for The British Association of Social Workers, this is the leading academic social work journal in the UK. It covers every aspect of social work, with papers reporting research, discussing practice, and examining principles and theories. It is read by social work educators, researchers, practitioners and managers who wish to keep up to date with theoretical and empirical developments in the field.

Journal of Social Work Education
Acceptance Rate: 25%
Publishing Time: Quarterly
Length: 15-25 pages
Impact Factor: 0.578
The Journal of Social Work Education is a refereed professional journal concerned with education in social work, and social welfare. Its purpose is to serve as a forum for creative exchange on trends, innovations, and problems relevant to social work education at the undergraduate, masters, and postgraduate levels.

Education

AASA Journal of Scholarship and Practice
Acceptance Rate:  18-20%
Publishing Time: Quarterly
Length: 16-20 pages
Impact Factor: none
Additional Topics. School & District Leadership; School Leadership & Reform; Superintendents

The AASA Journal of Scholarship and Practice is a refereed, blind-reviewed, quarterly journal with a focus on research and best practices that advance the profession of education administration.

The mission of the AASA Journal of Scholarship and Practice is to provide peer-reviewed, user-friendly, and methodologically sound research that practicing school and district administrators can use to take action and that higher education faculty can use to prepare future school and district administrators. The Journal publishes accepted manuscripts in the following categories: (1) Evidence-based Best Practice, (2) Original Research, (3) Research-informed Commentary, and (4) Book Reviews.

The scope for submissions focuses on the intersection of five factors of school and district administration: (a) administrators, (b) teachers, (c) students, (d) subject matter, and (e) settings. The Journal encourages submissions that focus on the intersection of factors a-e. The Journal discourages submissions that focus only on personal reflections and opinions.

Active Learning in Higher Education
Acceptance Rate: 95%
Publishing Time: 3 Times/Year
Length: 16-20 pages
Impact Factor: 1
Active Learning in Higher Education is an international, refereed publication for all those who teach and support learning in higher education (HE) and those who undertake or use research into effective learning, teaching and assessment in universities and colleges. The journal is devoted to all aspects of development, innovations and good practice in higher education teaching and learning, including the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and issues concerning the management of teaching and learning. Non-discipline specific in nature, it comprises accounts of research by those engaged in the field of learning and teaching across all areas of the curriculum in higher education. There is an overt aim to improve the practice of learning and teaching in higher education.

  • Disseminate current and relevant research in learning and teaching in higher education in the UK and internationally, including the use of Information and Communication and Technologies (ICTs) for learning and teaching and issues concerning the management of teaching and learning.
  • Publish articles that build on existing scholarship and research into learning and teaching and foster the growth of research and theory-based practice, both individual and collaborative.
  • Disseminate the outcomes of collaborative research into learning and teaching.
  • Provide a forum for discussion on key topics in higher education.
  • Provide a conduit for active scholarship about teaching and learning.
  • Review books and packages about learning and teaching in higher education.

Arts and Humanities in Higher Education
Acceptance Rate: 60%
Publishing Time: Quarterly
Length: 4,000-7,000 words
Impact Factor: none
Arts and Humanities in Higher Education seeks to:

  • Publish high quality articles that bring critical research to the fore and stimulate debate
  • Serve the community of arts and humanities educators internationally, by publishing significant opinion and research into contemporary issues of teaching and learning within the domain. These will include inquiries into policy, the curriculum and appropriate forms of assessment, as well as developments in method such as electronic modes of scholarship and course delivery.
  • Publish articles characterized by profound thought about both the interface between research and teaching in the subject in question and the transformational purposes of a higher education.
  • Promote re-conceptualization of arts and humanities disciplines in ways that reflect, and reflect upon, teaching.

The journal will not publish purely descriptive accounts of data collection or uncritical reports of teaching and course delivery methods.

Academy of Management Learning & Education
Acceptance Rate: 10%
Publishing Time: Quarterly
Length: 30+ pages
Impact Factor: 2.458
The Academy of Management Learning & Education (AMLE) advances the knowledge and practice of management learning and education. It does so by publishing theoretical models and reviews, qualitative and quantitative research, critique, exchanges, and retrospectives on any substantive topic that is conceived with, and draws implications for, learning and the educational process and context. AMLE is an interdisciplinary journal that broadly defines its constituents to include scholars, educators, program directors, deans, and other administrators at academic institutions, as well as consultants, policy makers, and practitioners in private or public organizations in which management learning and education are of central concern.

Action in Teacher Education
Acceptance Rate: 15%-20%
Publishing Time: Quarterly
Length: 30 pages maximum
Impact Factor: none
Action in Teacher Education is published as a service to members of the Association of Teacher Educators and others concerned with teacher education. It serves as a forum for the exchange of information and ideas related to the improvement of teacher education at all levels. Articles focus upon concepts, practices and research which have implication and applicability for practitioners involved with teacher education.
Action in Teacher Education is an official publication of the Association of Teacher Educators. Manuscripts are subject to a double blind review by members of the editorial consultants board. Points of view and opinions are those of individual authors and are not necessarily those of the Association. Published manuscripts are the property of the Association. Permission to reproduce articles must be requested from the editors.
Thematic and non-thematic issues are published. Issues contain articles and special sections that review relevant research and summarize dialogue between university and K-12 educators.

Adult Education Quarterly
Acceptance Rate: 12%
Publishing Time: Quarterly
Length: 7,500 words maximum
Impact Factor: .0789
The Adult Education Quarterly (AEQ) is an international, scholarly, refereed journal committed to advancing the understanding and practice of adult and continuing education. The journal strives to be inclusive in scope, addressing topics and issues of significance to scholars and practitioners concerned with diverse aspects of adult and continuing education across the globe. AEQ publishes research employing a variety of methods and approaches, including (but not limited to) survey research, experimental designs, case studies, ethnographic observations and interviews, grounded theory, phenomenology, historical investigations, and narrative inquiry as well as articles that address theoretical and philosophical issues pertinent to adult and continuing education. Innovative and provocative scholarship informed by diverse orientations is encouraged, including (but not limited to) positivism, post-positivism, constructivism, critical theory, feminism, race-based/Africentric, gay/lesbian, and poststructural/postmodern theories. AEQ aims to stimulate a problem-oriented, critical approach to research and practice, with an increasing emphasis on inter-disciplinary and international perspectives. The audience includes researchers, students, and adult and continuing education practitioners of many orientations including teachers, trainers, facilitators, resource persons, organizational developers, community organizers, and policy designers.

Advances in Health Sciences Education
Acceptance Rate: 11%-20%
Publishing Time: 5 Times/Year
Length: AHSE has no page limit, in order that each paper can be accompanied by a critical review of related research, and the discussion can highlight how the study findings add to knowledge.
Impact Factor: 2.462
Advances in Health Sciences Education is a forum for scholarly and state-of-the art research into all aspects of health sciences education. It will publish empirical studies as well as discussions of theoretical issues and practical implications. The primary focus of the journal is linking theory to practice, thus priority will be given to papers that have a sound theoretical basis and strong methodology.
The journal will accept articles on topics such as admissions, problem-based and self-directed learning, faculty development, achievement testing, motivation, curriculum development, curricular comparisons, program evaluation, expertise development, clinical reasoning, continuing education, community-based education, and communication skills (the list is intended as illustrative, not exhaustive). All rigorous methodologies, both quantitative and qualitative, are encouraged. It is aimed at all those committed to the improvement of health professions education: researchers and educators in the fields of medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, nutrition and related disciplines.
An important criterion for acceptance is educational significance. Studies may be methodologically strong, and effects may be statistically significant, but that does not equate to importance. From the perspective of internal validity, small effects and associations, as are typically observed in studies of personality or learning style, may well achieve statistical significance with large samples but have little educational importance. Similarly, self-assessed measures of confidence or competence may well appear to show large differences in response to an educational intervention, but are themselves weak surrogates for actual achievement.
From the perspective of external validity, it is critical that authors place their study in a theoretical and empirical context. AHSE has no page limit, in order that each paper can be accompanied by a critical review of related research, and the discussion can highlight how the study findings add to knowledge. Authors are encouraged to explore their study from multiple analytical perspectives, to include multiple converging studies if possible, and to specifically state how the study findings add to knowledge in the field. The editors will not consider studies where the only outcome is a person’s opinion or perception. Again, from the perspective of educational importance, studies of a single course or program with weak evidence of effectiveness, such as student ratings, are discouraged as they are unlikely to add to generalizable knowledge, unless the study permits empirical test of theoretical predictions.

American Journal of Distance Education
Acceptance Rate: 11%-20%
Publishing Time: Quarterly
Length: 6,000-8,000 words
Impact Factor: none
The American Journal of Distance Education (AJDE) is internationally recognized as the journal of record of research and scholarship in the field of American distance education. Established in 1987 with the mission of promoting research and disseminating information about distance education in the Americas, AJDE explores explores topics about all teaching-learning relationships where the actors are geographically separated, and communication takes place through technologies. Past volumes (available online) report on education through radio and television, teleconferences and recordings, printed study guides, and multimedia systems. such as audio and video broadcasts, teleconferences and recordings, printed study guides, and multimedia systems. The principal technology of contemporary distance education is the Internet, and thus most articles now report on learning, e-learning, distributed learning, asynchronous learning, and blended learning.
 With distance education having moved from the margins to the mainstream at all levels of education and training, and increasing numbers of individuals and institutions becoming involved, The American Journal of Distance Education provides a unique depository of previous research as well as the most recent research-based knowledge about all aspects of the pedagogy of the field. Peer reviewed articles provide reports on the latest findings in such areas as:

  • building and sustaining effective delivery systems;
  • course design and application of instructional design theories;
  • facilitating interaction between students and with instructors;
  • factors influencing student achievement and satisfaction;
  • the changing roles of faculty and changes in institutional culture; and
  • administrative and policy issues including cost-effectiveness and copyright.

The AASA Journal of Scholarship and Practice
Acceptance Rate: 18%-20%
Publishing Time: Quarterly
Length: 16-20 pages
Impact Factor: none
The AASA Journal of Scholarship and Practice is a refereed, blind-reviewed, quarterly journal with a focus on research and best practices that advance the profession of education administration.
The mission of the AASA Journal of Scholarship and Practice is to provide peer-reviewed, user-friendly, and methodologically sound research that practicing school and district administrators can use to take action and that higher education faculty can use to prepare future school and district administrators. The Journal publishes accepted manuscripts in the following categories: (1) Evidence-based Best Practice, (2) Original Research, (3) Research-informed Commentary, and (4) Book Reviews.
The scope for submissions focuses on the intersection of five factors of school and district administration: (a) administrators, (b) teachers, (c) students, (d) subject matter, and (e) settings. The Journal encourages submissions that focus on the intersection of factors a-e. The Journal discourages submissions that focus only on personal reflections and opinions.

Health

Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research
Acceptance Rate: 21%-30%
Publishing Time: 6 Times/Year
Length: 25 pages maximum
Impact Factor: 2.415
Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research aims to improve the effectiveness of mental health and related human service programs by advancing research on services and the practice and process of administration in the mental health setting. This journal publishes peer-reviewed, original empirical research articles and administrative and policy notes, which are commentaries, observations, and/or opinions that are briefer and less research-oriented than articles. Manuscripts on children and adults are equally welcome. While substance abuse is not a priority for the journal, those studies on co-occurring disorders are gladly received. Reviews, especially meta-analyses are welcome. Letters to the editor are acceptable as well essays that present theoretical or conceptual frameworks or discuss current policy issues are desirable.

Advances in Medical Education and Practice
Acceptance Rate: 57%
Publishing Time: Continuously On-Line
Length: 3,000-7,500 words
Impact Factor: none
Advances in Medical Education and Practice aims to present and publish research on Medical Education covering medical, dental, nursing, and allied health care professional education.
The journal covers undergraduate education, postgraduate training, and continuing medical education including emerging trends and innovative models linking education, research, and health care services. The main focuses are curriculum development, teaching methodology, student assessment, curriculum evaluation, career planning, teachers’ training, and continuing professional development. The journal is published as a peer reviewed, open access journal to provide information on education and research to be immediately available to learners, educators, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders who can access and utilize the evidence to improve the quality of education and services.

Advances in Physiology Education
Acceptance Rate: 60%
Publishing Time: Quarterly
Length: 11-15 pages
Impact Factor: 1.723
Advances in Physiology Education promotes and disseminates educational scholarship in order to enhance teaching and learning of physiology, neuroscience and pathophysiology. The journal publishes peer-reviewed descriptions of innovations that improve teaching in the classroom and laboratory, essays on education, and review articles based on our current understanding of physiological mechanisms. Submissions that evaluate new technologies for teaching and research, and educational pedagogy, are especially welcome. The audience for the journal includes educators at all levels: K-12, undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs.

Aging and Mental Health
Acceptance Rate: 44%
Publishing Time: Monthly
Length: 5,000 words maximum
Impact Factor: 1.861
Aging & Mental Health provides a leading international forum for the rapidly expanding field which investigates the relationship between the aging process and mental health. The journal addresses the mental changes associated with normal and abnormal or pathological aging, as well as the psychological and psychiatric problems of the aging population. The journal also has a strong commitment to interdisciplinary and innovative approaches that explore new topics and methods.

Aging & Mental Health covers the biological, psychological and social aspects of aging as they relate to mental health. In particular it encourages an integrated approach for examining various biopsychosocial processes and etiological factors associated with psychological changes in the elderly. It also emphasizes the various strategies, therapies and services which may be directed at improving the mental health of the elderly and their families. In this way the journal promotes a strong alliance among the theoretical, experimental and applied sciences across a range of issues affecting mental health and aging. The emphasis of the journal is on rigorous quantitative, and qualitative, research and, high quality innovative studies on emerging topics.

The journal is directed at an international audience, with editors in London and North America. The readership of the journal is drawn from many disciplines, with particularly strong representation from psychiatrists and psychologists working with the elderly. Its strong scientific foundation makes it of considerable interest to basic scientists interested in the biological, psychological and social aspects of aging and mental health.

American Journal of Health Promotion
Acceptance Rate: 35%
Publishing Time: Bi-Monthly
Length: 21-25 pages
Impact Factor: 2.033
The American Journal of Health Promotion is a peer-reviewed journal on the science of lifestyle change. The editorial goal of the American Journal of Health Promotion is to provide a forum for exchange among the many disciplines involved in health promotion and an interface between researchers and practitioners.

The Art of Health Promotion is a newsletter for practitioners published in each issue that provides practical information to make programs more effective.

American Journal of Public Health
Acceptance Rate: 22%
Publishing Time: Monthly
Length: 16-20 pages
Impact Factor: 4.138
The American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) is dedicated to publication of original work in research, research methods, and program evaluation in the field of public health. The Journal also regularly publishes editorials and commentaries and serves as a forum for health policy analysis. The mission of the Journal is to advance public health research, policy, practice, and education. Each month, national and international public health professionals turn to AJPH for the most current, authoritative, in-depth information in the field.

The goals of both the online and the print versions of the Journal, published monthly by the American Public Health Association, are:

  • To publish the best scientific research in the field of public health
  • To serve as a forum for diverse viewpoints on major public health issues and policies
  • To promote diverse public health practice models
  • To increase public and professional understanding of public health problems and their solutions through delivery channels relevant to different audiences and their needs
  • To work in concert with the 3 main priorities of the American Public Health Association, namely to develop universal coverage, eliminate health disparities, and rebuild the public health infrastructure

BMC Health Services Research
Acceptance Rate: 68%
Publishing Time: Continuously On-Line
Length: No Limit
Impact Factor: 1.606
BMC Health Services Research is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of health services research, including delivery of care, management of health services, assessment of healthcare needs, measurement of outcomes, allocation of healthcare resources, evaluation of different health markets and health services organizations, international comparative analysis of health systems, health economics and the impact of health policies and regulations.

It is journal policy to publish work deemed by peer reviewers to be a coherent and sound addition to scientific knowledge and to put less emphasis on interest levels, provided that the research constitutes a useful contribution to the field.

Community Mental Health Journal
Acceptance Rate: 21%-30%
Publishing Time: Bi-Monthly
Length: 16-20 pages
Impact Factor: .979
Community Mental Health Journal focuses on the improvement of public sector services for people who are affected by or at risk of severe mental disorders, serious emotional disturbances, and/or addictions. Papers of interest to the Journal's readers include nationally representative epidemiological projects as well as intervention research involving benefit and risk comparisons between service programs. While not a priority for the Journal, manuscripts that address methodology (such as instrumentation) pertinent to public sector behavioral health evaluation or research will also be considered. Articles that only describe local surveys, case series, or service programs lacking comparison groups will not be accepted.

Evaluation & the Health Professions
Acceptance Rate: 20%
Publishing Time: Quarterly
Length: 40 pages maximum
Impact Factor: 2.17
Evaluation & the Health Professions is a peer-reviewed journal that provides health-related professionals with state-of-the-art methodological, measurement, and statistical tools for conceptualizing the etiology of health promotion and problems, and developing, implementing, and evaluating health programs, teaching and training services, and products that pertain to a myriad of health dimensions. It is designed to provide a forum for keeping health professionals abreast of the latest technological advances in evaluation research methods through practitioner friendly articles, as well as provide the results of important evaluations. Further, the Journal is designed to provide a forum for debate of timely evaluation issues in health research and evaluation.

Conferences

Global Service-Learning Summit

Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement Meeting

Gulf South Summit

IMPACT National Conference

Seminar in International Service Learning

Service Unites