Guidelines for Authors

Guidelines he submission of a manuscript implies that the paper is not being considered for publication elsewhere, and acceptance of a paper for publication in Analysis and Applications implies that the author has transferred the copyright to IM&E journal . The manuscript, including full addresses, and e-mail addresses of the authors, the abstract, keywords (less than 10 words), running head (less than 50 characters), references, tables, figure captions and figures, must be typed clearly with double-spacing and ample margins. must accompany each submitted article. Each section and each page should be numbered with Arabic numerals. Notation should be legible, compact, and conform to current practice. Each symbol must be clear and superscripts and subscripts must be properly aligned. Footnotes should be indicated in the text with superscript letters: a, b, c, etc. Headings, such as Proposition, Theorem, Proof, and Lemma, should be in boldface, and the statements of theorems, lemmas, and corollaries should be in Italics. References can be cited in the text either by author(s) and number, e.g., Amundsen and Benney , or simply by number, References should be listed after the text in alphabetical order by the first author's names and numbered. Use standard abbreviations for journal titles.. Figures should be numbered in arabic numerals in the order of appearance in the text. Every figure must have a caption. Tables should be numbered with arabic numerals in the order of appearance. Every table must have a caption, which should be typed above the table. Every submitted paper will be acknowledged and refereed by two referees. Accepted manuscripts must be submitted in electronic form.

Authors of accepted papers will be contacted by the Editors-in-Chief about sending an electronic version of their manuscript.

Publication Guidelines

Peer Review Guidelines

The following peer reviewer guidelines provide detailed information to assist reviewers in the thorough and systematic review of manuscripts submitted for potential publication in IM&E journal : A Journal of Scholarly Teaching.

IM&E journal is a peer-reviewed publication highlighting the scholarly contributions of post-secondary faculty; as is the nature of refereed journals, acceptance and publication of original manuscripts is a competitive process. As a reviewer, your task is to provide a complete, fair, thoughtful evaluation of manuscripts to ensure all published articles are of acceptable quality.

The primary mission of the journal is to provide an avenue for the dissemination of practical, teaching-oriented pieces; as such, your review and recommendations should emphasize the value of all work for the enhancement of teaching and learning. The goals of IM&E journal is to:

showcase faculty work in the scholarship of teaching and learning (with particular focus on theoretical pieces, case studies, classroom activities/examples, and instructional resources); and provide a resource and guide for faculty exchange of ideas that may be used across the disciplines.

Scope & Focus

The goal of  IM&E journal is to feature theoretical and empirically-based research articles, critical reflection pieces, case studies, and classroom innovations relevant to teaching, learning and assessment. While a broad range of topics and issues are applicable for publication in IM&E journal, all manuscripts should be supported with brief theoretical justification, evidence, and/or research (all methods and approaches relevant to qualitative and quantitative research are acceptable); all manuscripts must be appropriately grounded in a review of existing literature.

Audience

IM&E journal emphasizes the enhancement of post-secondary education through the professional exchange of scholarly approaches and perspectives applicable to the enrichment of teaching and learning. IM&E journal values scholarly contributions to the enhancement of classroom instruction via the dissemination of practical, applicable information to facilitate instructional practices. As such, manuscripts should be geared toward post-secondary faculty and administrators; included in this audience are full-time and adjunct faculty; face-to-face, hybrid and online faculty; tenure and non-tenure track instructors; trainers in corporate, military, and professional fields; adult educators; researchers; and other specialists in education, training, and communications. Recognizing the cross-disciplinary readership of IM&E journal, manuscripts should present material with relevance to post-secondary instructors from a range of disciplines.

Review Process

All submissions are evaluated by a double-blind, peer-review process. As a reviewer, you will be anonymously evaluating manuscripts submitted by post-secondary faculty. The task of each reviewer is to provide impartial evaluation, feedback and decisions concerning the quality and relevance of each manuscript. Manuscripts will be coded and sent electronically to all reviewers. Reviewers then have 4 weeks to complete evaluations and return to the Editor.

Peer Review Board

The Peer Review Board consists of faculty, administrators and professionals selected by IM&E journal for their commitment to post-secondary teaching and learning. Reviewers for IM&E journal commit their time and expertise to the fair, conscientious, and thorough review of all submitted manuscripts. The IM&E journal Peer Review Board hasve the higher standards ,present a clear decision regarding publication; support the recommendation with a detailed, comprehensive analysis of the quality and coherence of the study’s conceptual basis, methods, results, and interpretations, offer specific, constructive suggestions to authors, and maintain the confidential nature of all submitted material.

Focus of the Review

Prior to dissemination to reviewers, the IM&E journal Editor will have conducted a preliminary appraisal for content, substance, and appropriateness to the journal; reviewers will not receive any manuscripts that are clearly inappropriate to the journal. Manuscripts will be electronically sent to a minimum of two reviewers for blind evaluation. While the Editor will attempt to match manuscripts and reviewers according to content, interests, and topical relevance, the IM&E journal broad focus of the journal dictates that papers be written for applicability to a wide audience. As such, reviewers may not be content experts in a relevant, matching academic discipline.

The manuscript must be reviewed and evaluated according to the following dimensions:

Relevance – The most important feature of a manuscript is its relevance; the decision to accept or reject a manuscript is typically based on the substantive core of the paper. As such, manuscripts should introduce the substance of the theoretical or research question as quickly as possible and follow the main theme throughout the article in a coherent and explicit manner. In recognition of the teaching-centered nature of IM&E journal, the emphasis of the review should focus on the relevance of manuscripts for promoting the scholarship of teaching and practical application for instructional enhancement.

Significance – Related to relevance, significance refers to the value of a manuscript for substantially impacting the enhancement of post-secondary education relevant to the target topic. Significant manuscripts will clearly highlight the value, importance and worth of a relevant topic within a context relevant to the teaching oriented mission of Park University.

Practical Utility – As highlighted previously, the goal of IM&E journal is to enhance teaching and learning through the exchange of scholarly ideas. With this purpose in mind, all manuscripts should emphasize the practical value, relevance or applicability of information to teaching and learning.

Originality – The most effective articles are those that inspire other faculty through innovative practices, approaches and techniques or via the thoughtful self-reflection of the purpose, value and function of educational strategies. Thus, manuscripts that highlight original approaches or perspectives will be given priority. Per the nature of published work, all contributions should be the original work of the author or provide explicit credit for citations.

Scholarship of Teaching – Contributions to the enrichment of teaching and learning should be grounded in relevant theoretical concepts and empirical evidence. As such, articles should be free from flaws in research substance/methodology and theoretical interpretation. All empirical-based studies be substantiated with theoretical or practical applications; personal classroom experiences and critical reflections should be framed within a structure of existing literature.

Generalizability – The broad goals and varied audience of IM&E journal mandate that manuscripts be written for consumption across a range of disciplines that allows generalizability of findings and implications. Thus, while classroom techniques may be developed, tested and reported for a specific discipline or student population, the manuscript should go on to highlight the implications for other populations.

Clarity – All manuscripts must be written in a clear, professional manner free from grammatical flaws and errors in writing style. The purpose of the manuscript should be clearly defined, relevant and supported by the evidence provided. All manuscripts should be structured in a manner that promotes a clear, cohesive understanding of the information presented. Be sure that manuscripts are free from organizational, stylistic or “sloppiness” barriers that would prevent effective communication of the work.

Review Outcomes

Based upon the feedback and recommendations of the anonymous reviewers, the Editor will make a final publication decision. Decisions fall into the following categories:

Reject – Rejected manuscripts will not be published and authors will not have the opportunity to resubmit a revised version of the manuscript to IM&E journal. All rejections will be handled in a courteous manner that includes specific reasons for rejection.

Accept Pending Revisions – A manuscript accepted-pending-revisions meets all the major requirements for publication but may need improvements in substantive, mechanical or methodological issues. Once these issues are adjusted for, the manuscript will receive an additional review by the Editor prior to publication. Very rarely is an article accepted with no changes required; as such, most manuscripts are accepted in this category.

Accept – Accepted manuscripts will be published “as-is” with no further modifications required.

Review Tips and Guidelines

There is mandatory format for IM&E journal articles; authors should organize and present information in a manner that promotes communication and understanding of key points. The organization and style of the manuscript will be largely dictated by the type of submission (e.g., theoretical, empirical, critical reflection, case study, classroom innovation, etc.). Thus, accepted manuscripts should utilize clear, effective communication that highlights the significance and implications of the work to post-secondary teaching and learning in relation to the target topic.

Within the body of a manuscript, information should be organized and sub-headed in a structure that facilitates understanding of key issues. Since there is not a mandatory format, authors should use professional guidelines within their discipline to present information in a manner that is easily communicated to readers. For example: Empirical investigations should be organized according to the traditional format that includes introduction (purpose, literature review, hypothesis), method (participants, materials, procedures), results, and discussion (implications).

Theoretical articles and literature reviews should include an introduction (purpose), subheadings for the relevant perspectives and themes, and a detailed section(s) on conclusions (applications, recommendations, implications, etc.).

Classroom innovation and critical reflections should be organized via an introduction (purpose, problem, or challenge), relevant background literature, project description, evaluation of effectiveness (may include student feedback, self-reflections, peer-insight, etc.), and conclusions (applications, implications, recommendations, etc.). If describing classroom-based work, please include copies of relevant assignments, handouts, rubrics, etc. as appendices.

The limited length of journal articles requires authors to focus on the most significant, relevant factors and implications. Relevant to this issue, authors should select references carefully to ensure that citations include the most current and relevant sources; preference should be given to published sources that have proven pertinent and valuable to the relevant investigations.

Journal Reviewer Gateway

Welcome to IME’s Reviewer Gateway. At IME we value the work done by peer reviewers in the academic community, who provide an essential service to the process of publication excellence, driving research within their fields of expertise.

The peer review process is essential to the development of research across all subject areas. Authors and researchers benefit from having their paper improved and their knowledge developed. Reviewers also benefit from being able to read cutting edge research prior to publication and before anyone else in the field. They also have the satisfaction of knowing that they are contributing directly to the development of their chosen field.

We hope that the following pages will provide you with information and resources to help you when you are taking part in this essential process

Ethics and Responsibility

We are committed to upholding the integrity of the work we publish. We encourage our authors, editors and reviewers to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) website. COPE has published a set of Guidelines for Peer reviewers that we recommend reading prior to carrying out the process, these guidelines can be found, along with other sets of guidelines, on the COPE website.

IM&E journal takes issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of our journals against malpractice.  Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article (removing it from the journal); taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author’s institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; banning the author from publication in the journal in question or all SAGE journals, or appropriate legal action.

IM&E journal recommends that if reviewers suspect any of the following problems with any article that they are reviewing that they contact the journal editor to discuss the situation without delay. Reviewers should keep all information about such matters confidential and not discuss them with colleagues other than the journal editor.

• If you suspect that the paper has been either published or submitted to another journal.
• If you suspect that the paper is duplicating the work of others.
• If you suspect that there might be problems with the ethics of the research conducted.
• If you suspect that there might be an undeclared conflict of interest attached to the paper (editors might have more information about this than you do so it is best to check).

IM&E journal recommends that reviewers should think carefully about their own potential conflicts of interest relating to the paper before undertaking the review. They should also notify the editor if they become aware of the identity of the author during blind peer review. Additionally, reviewers should be careful not to make judgments about the paper based on personal, financial, intellectual biases or any other considerations than the quality of the research and written presentation of the paper.

How to Review Articles

For the inexperienced or first time reviewer the peer review process can seem like a daunting one. Below we present some advice and guidance about how to conduct a review and put together a reviewer report that will be effective and beneficial to authors. Also see this guide that has been published by the team at Sense about Science examining the peer review process, which reviewers should find useful and informative.

We are grateful for the support of all of our referees in helping authors to enhance and develop their papers. Please visit Reviewer Rewards page to learn more about discounts and FREE JOURNAL ACCESS offered to reviewers of articles for IM&E journal.

Etiquette

Timeliness - We understand that our reviewers are busy so it won’t always be possible for invitations to be accepted. Please let us know as soon as possible if they need to refuse a review or if a problem arises after the invitation has been accepted. Most journal editors are grateful to receive suggestions about someone else that might be suitable to do the review if you have to decline the invitation.

Conflict of Interest - it is important to highlight to the journal editor any conflict of interest that you feel might occur if you review the paper. Please do so as discretely and as quickly as possible.

Discussion - it is important to discuss with the journal editor any concerns that you have about the paper or their specific requirements for review if you are being invited to review for the first time. Editors are usually open to discussing their expectations and journal requirements with reviewers.

Ethics - please see the Ethics page of this Reviewer Gateway for more information about ethics matters related to peer review.

Individual Journal Reviewer Guidelines
It is usually the case that the best reviews are the ones that provide a thorough analysis of the content and discuss how it contributes (or maybe doesn’t contribute!) to the specific field. Some journals carry specific reviewer guidelines, so please check the journal’s website before embarking on your report. These guidelines will sometimes include a list of questions and will usually offer the reviewer the chance to make general comments.

If a journal does not offer a structured questionnaire or form for reviewers, it can be useful to think about the following things as you read the paper to help you structure your report:

What to look out for and comment on

• Read the paper very carefully.

• Relevance to the publication (most editors will reject at submission those articles that do not match the aims and scope of the journal, but it is worth considering this as you read the paper).

• Significance of the research within the field.

• Originality of the work conducted. It is also important to consider whether the author has ever published a substantially similar paper elsewhere (if you suspect the work may not be original, please view our ethics page for information about how to deal with a variety of situations).

• The methodology employed during the research.

• Technical accuracy.

Structure and Communication

• Accuracy of references.

• Structure of the paper overall, communication of main points and flow of argument.

• Quality of written language and structure of the article.

• Effectiveness of the article abstract and introduction (some journals will request that authors write structured abstracts, so it may be useful to consult other published papers or the manuscript submission guidelines to help you judge the effectiveness of this section of the paper).

• Whether the argument is clear and logical and the conclusions presented are supported by the results or evidence presented.

• Whether the title of the article is suitable or effective.

• Whether the abstract is a good summary of the article.

• Whether the work meets with the article types accepted by the journal.

• The accessibility of the paper to a broad readership.

• Whether the paper is internally consistent.

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