Focus and Scope

Themes in e-Learning is a scholarly journal that publishes research, evaluation, and development studies addressing new issues, ideas and challenges faced in the design, development, implementation and evaluation of e-learning programs and interventions. The journal aims to promote research and scholarship on the integration of various applications of e-learning, ICTs and digital media in K-12 education, higher education, professional development, open learning and life-long learning.

The journal provides a forum for exchanging new ideas and approaches and bridging the gap between research and educational practice. Contributions are invited from academics, educators, researchers and professionals whose ideas and experiences come from different educational contexts around the globe.

Themes in e-Learning publishes original, peer-reviewed articles from throughout the world dealing with a variety of topics and research methods, including papers on innovation and development, scholarly research reports, review articles, position papers and book reviews. Authors from all over the world are invited to submit their research work for possible publication.

Strong emphasis is placed at applicable and interdisciplinary research relevant to educational practice guided by educational realities in schools, colleges, universities and informal learning organizations. Priority is given to papers that reveal novel and emerging conceptions of broad interest to the e-learning research community.

Themes in e-Learning also publishes articles that seek to stimulate research in emerging areas as those created by technology developments, innovation, educational policy shifts, and future trends regarding 21^st century education.

Special issues devoted to topics of major interest and importance, guest-edited by acknowledged experts, are also featured.

 

Peer Review Policy

Themes in e-Learning welcomes previously unpublished manuscripts that advance understanding of e-learning technologies in a wide range of educational settings. All published articles have undergone rigorous peer review based on initial editor screening and anonymized reviewing by at least two anonymous referees of the International Review Board, and other experts in fields specifically matching the various topics.

The reviewers are required to provide the authors with comments intended to improve argumentation, content, presentation of ideas and other issues, which can contribute to the overall quality of the article.

 

Evaluation criteria

Themes in e-Learning considers manuscripts that present qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods studies, critical reviews or analyses, and theoretical positions. Submitted manuscripts are expected to be well written, as they will not be edited for English expression while under review.
In addition to clearly presenting the background of the study and the results, authors must pay attention to the following evaluation criteria:

•  Value and significance of the study and how it advances knowledge in the field
•  Consistency with existing literature
•  Adequacy of the research design (including a description and justification of the approach, the research objectives, questions or hypotheses, theoretical or conceptual framework, etc.)
•  In the case of empirical studies, detailed presentation of the methodology, recruitment or sampling, data collection and analysis
•  Presentation and interpretation of the findings
•  Discussion of the results and/or theoretical ideas in light of the research focus and in the context of the existing literature
•  Inclusion of conclusions and appropriate implications for practice and policy
•  Discussion of the limitations of the study and potential future research directions
•  Overall clarity of ideas and expression
•  References to relevant existing literature.

 Submissions that do not meet these criteria will be returned to authors after an initial editorial review.

 

Ethics

Themes in e-Learning is committed to upholding the integrity of the scientific record. The journal will follow the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines on how to deal with potential acts of misconduct. Maintaining integrity of the research and its presentation can be achieved by following ethical issues and rules of good scientific practice, which include:

•  Submission: The manuscript has not been submitted to more than one journal for simultaneous consideration.
•  Authorship of the paper:Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, implementation or analysis of the reported study.
•  Originality and plagiarism:The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works. If the authors have used parts of the work and/or words of others, this has to be appropriately cited or quoted.
•  Important note: The journal may use software to screen for plagiarism.
•  Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication:An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. The journal does not view the following forms of a work as prior publication: a) publication in the form of an abstract, b) publication as an academic thesis (MSc or PhD), c) publication as an electronic preprint.
•  Acknowledgement of sources:Proper acknowledgment is required.
•  Disclosure and conflicts of interest:All submissions must include disclosure of all relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest.
•  Data access and retention:Authors may be asked to provide relevant documentation or data in order to verify the validity of the results. This could be in the form of raw data, samples, records, etc. Sensitive information in the form of confidential proprietary data is excluded.
•  Fundamental errors in published works:When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.
•  Hazards and human subjects:Statements of compliance are required if the work involves procedures or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, or if it involves the use of human subjects.
•  Use of patient images or case details:Studies on patients or volunteers require ethics committee approval and informed consent, which should be documented in the paper.