Overview
Editor-in-Chief: Kylie Hillman
Published in association with SAGE Publications
Three issues per year: April, August, November
The Australian Journal of Education, established in 1957, is an international peer-reviewed journal publishing research conducted in Australia and internationally to inform educational researchers, as well as educators, administrators and policy-makers, about issues of contemporary concern in education.
The Australian Journal of Education welcomes the following article types:
Original Research
The large majority of articles in the AJE report original research carried out by the researcher, either individually or as part of a research team. The research may use primary data, may involve secondary analyses of available data sets or synthesise evidence by way of meta-analyses or systematic reviews. In giving their advice to the editor, reviewers judge the merit of the research on the significance of its findings and the rigour with which the research is conducted and reported.
Preference will be given to studies using well-designed and implemented quantitative methodologies (e.g. secondary analyses, analyses using longitudinal data, structural equation modelling, hierarchical linear modelling, systematic reviews with meta-analyses etc). Articles that are based on the author's personal experiences, reflections or small case studies that have limited generalisability are unlikely to be considered for publication.
Research Reviews
To be suitable for publication in the AJE, a review of research such as a systematic review or a literature review needs to do more than summarise what is known. It should address clearly articulated questions and lead to conclusions that have the potential to change the way readers think about the field under review. To be considered for publication, authors of research and literature review manuscripts need to have completed a PRISMA or PRISMAS-ScR checklist and documented where manuscripts are unable to cover the requested information.
Policy Analyses
The AJE considers articles for publication that reflect on the consequences of past education policy decisions, and articles that analyse issues raised by current educational policies. The matters addressed need to have relevance to an Australian readership, either because they relate to Australian state, territory or national education policies, or because they draw conclusions from other countries that have clear implications for education policymakers in Australia. To be considered for publication in the AJE, such articles need to address matters of enduring importance, offer some new evidence, review existing evidence in a detailed way, or probe theoretical perspectives of the issues. Issues that are likely to be resolved in a matter of weeks or even months are more suited to newspapers and magazines than to a journal of record such as the AJE. Articles of this type should be no longer than 2000 words in length, including references.
Comments and Rejoinders
Where appropriate, the AJE may include a section called 'Comments and Rejoinders'. This section is intended to provide an avenue by which readers may respond to or comment on issues raised by articles published in the AJE. Contributions in this section are limited to a maximum of 1,000 words and the acceptance or rejection of such contributions is at the sole discretion of the editor (please direct emails to ajed@acer.org). Authors of articles that are the subject of comments and rejoinders may be consulted by the editor, and may, at the discretion of the editor, be invited to respond.
Book Reviews
From time to time, the AJE publishes book reviews. Usually these are at the invitation of the editor, but expressions of interest and proposals for reviews are always welcome (please direct emails to ajed@acer.org). Book reviews should be about 800 words in length.
Special Issues
The AJE also publishes special issues, each containing a set of invited articles focused on a particular topic. The decision to publish a special issue is taken by the editor, who works with a guest editor to determine the content, all of which is subject to review in similar manner to regular AJE content, as specified above. Proposals for special issues should be sent to the editor, allowing at least one year's lead time for negotiation of content, writing and review (please direct emails to ajed@acer.org).
For more information about the Australian Journal of Education, please visit https://journals.sagepub.com/home/aed
Contact the Editorial Office by email ajed@acer.org
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