Review of Educational Research
The Review of Educational Research (RER, quarterly, begun in 1931; approximately 640 pp./volume year) publishes critical, integrative reviews of research literature bearing on education. Such reviews should include conceptualizations, interpretations, and syntheses of literature and scholarly work in a field broadly relevant to education and educational research. RER encourages the submission of research relevant to education from any discipline, such as reviews of research in psychology, sociology, history, philosophy, political science, economics, computer science, statistics, anthropology, and biology, provided that the review bears on educational issues. RER does not publish original empirical research unless it is incorporated in a broader integrative review. RER will occasionally publish solicited, but carefully refereed, analytic reviews of special topics, particularly from disciplines infrequently represented.
The Review of Educational Research publishes critical, integrative reviews of research literature bearing on education. Such reviews should include conceptualizations, interpretations, and syntheses of literature and scholarly work in a field broadly relevant to education and educational research. RER encourages the submission of research relevant to education from any discipline, such as reviews of research in psychology, sociology, history, philosophy, political science, economics, computer science, statistics, anthropology, and biology, provided that the review bears on educational issues. RER does not publish original empirical research, and all analyses should be incorporated in a broader integrative review. RER will occasionally publish solicited, but carefully refereed, analytic reviews of special topics, particularly from disciplines infrequently represented. The following types of manuscripts fall within the journal’s purview:
Integrative reviews pull together the existing work on an educational topic and work to understand trends in that body of scholarship. In such a review, the author describes how the issue is conceptualized within the literature, how research methods and theories have shaped the outcomes of scholarship, and what the strengths and weaknesses of the literature are. Meta-analyses are of particular interest when they are accompanied by an interpretive framework that takes the article beyond the reporting of effect sizes and the bibliographic outcome of a computer search.
Theoretical reviews should explore how theory shapes research. To the extent that research is cited and interpreted, it is in the service of the specification, explication, and illumination of a theory. Theoretical reviews and integrative reviews have many similarities, but the former are primarily about how a theory is employed to frame research and our understandings, and refer to the research as it relates to the theory.
Methodological reviews are descriptions of research design, methods, and procedures that can be employed in literature reviews or research in general. The articles should highlight the strengths and weaknesses of methodological tools and explore how methods constrain or open up opportunities for learning about educational problems. They should be written in a style that is accessible to researchers in education rather than methodologists.
Historical reviews provide analyses that situate literature in historical contexts. Within these reviews, explanations for educational phenomena are framed within the historical forces that shape language and understanding.
Commissioned reviews and thematic issues. The editors may commission and solicit authors to review areas of literature. In all other respects, commissioned reviews are subject to the same review process as submitted reviews. The editors also encourage readers to propose thematic topics for special issues and, as potential guest editors, to submit plans for such issues.
In addition to review articles, RER will occasionally publish notes and responses which are short pieces of no more than 1,200 words on any topic that would be of use to reviewers of research. Typically, they point out shortcomings and differences in interpretation in RER articles and policy.
The standards and criteria for review articles in RER are the following:
1. Quality of the Literature. Standards used to determine quality of literature in education vary greatly. Any review needs to take into account the quality of the literature and its impact on findings. Authors should attempt to review all relevant literature on a topic (e.g., international literature, cross-disciplinary work, etc.).
2. Quality of Analysis. The review should go beyond description to include analysis and critiques of theories, methods, and conclusions represented in the literature. This analysis should also examine the issue of access—which perspectives are included or excluded in a body of work? Finally, the analysis should be reflexive—how does the scholars’ framework constrain what can be known in this review?
3. Significance of the Topic. The review should seek to inform and/or illuminate questions important to the field of education. While these questions may be broad-based, they should have implications for the educational problems and issues affecting our national and global societies.
4. Impact of the Article. The review should be seen as an important contribution and tool for the many different educators dealing with the educational problems and issues confronting society.
5. Advancement of the Field. The review should validate or inform the knowledge of researchers and guide and improve the quality of their research and scholarship.
6. Style. The review must be well written and conform to style of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition). Authors should avoid the use of unexplained jargon and parochialism.
7. Balance and Fairness. The review should be careful not to misrepresent the positions taken by others, or be disrespectful of contrary positions.
8. Purpose. Any review should be accessible to the broad readership of RER. The purpose of any article should be to connect the particular problem addressed by the researcher(s) to a larger context of education.
We also encourage all authors interested in submitting a manuscript to RER to read our Editorial Vision for more information on our publication aims.
Mildred Boveda | Pennsylvania State University, USA |
Karly Sarita Ford | The Pennsylvania State University, USA |
Erica Frankenberg | The Pennsylvania State University, USA |
Francesca López | The Pennsylvania State University, USA |
Melanie Acosta | Florida Atlantic University, USA |
Brittany Aronson | Pennsylvania State University, USA |
Laura Bofferding | Purdue University, USA |
Jessica DeCuir-Gunby | University of Southern California, USA |
Sherman Dorn | Arizona State University, USA |
Carlton J. Fong | Texas State University, USA |
ChanMin Kim | Pennsylvania State University, USA |
Daniel D. Liou | Arizona State University, USA |
Jameson Lopez | University of Arizona, USA |
Edna Tan | University of North Carolina, Greensboro, USA |
Adai Tefera | University of Arizona, USA |
Federico R. Waitoller | University of Illinois, Chicago, USA |
Dor Abrahamson | University of California, Berkley |
Patricia Alexander | University of Maryland, USA |
Jasmine Alvarado | University at Buffalo - SUNY, USA |
Ryan Baker | University of Pennsylvania, USA |
Brian Belland | Pennsylvania State University, USA |
Elizabeth Bettini | Boston University, USA |
Paulo Blikstein | Columbia University, USA |
Melissa Braaten | University of Colorado Boulder, USA |
Saskias Casanova | University of California, Santa Cruz, USA |
Clark Chinn | Rutgers University, USA |
Geraldine Cochran | Ohio State University, USA |
Dionne Cross | University of North Carolina, USA |
Eric Dion | University of Quebec, Canada |
Susan Faircloth | Colorado State University, USA |
Erin Furtak | University of Colorado Boulder, USA |
Steve Graham | Arizona State University, USA |
Jeffrey Greene | University of North Carolina, USA |
Kris D. Gutiérrez | University of California, Berkeley |
Daniel Hickey | Indiana University, USA |
Megan Holland Iantosca | University at Buffalo - SUNY, USA |
Bryant Jensen | Brigham Young University, USA |
Matthew Kelly | Pennsylvania State University, USA |
Suneal Kolluri | University of California, Riverside, USA |
Jill Koyama | Arizona State University,USA |
María Ledesma | San Jose State University, USA |
Robb Lindgren | University of Illinois, USA |
Endia Lindo | Texas Christian University, USA |
David Lubinski | Vanderbilt University, USA |
Erica McCray | University of Florida, USA |
Kathryn McDermott | University of Massachusets, Amherst, USA |
Susan McKenney | University of Twente, Netherlands |
Emma Mercier | University of Illinois, USA |
Nicole Mirra | Rutgers University, USA |
Jens Möller | University of Kiel, Germany |
Laura Muñoz | University of Nebraska - Lincoln, USA |
Justin C. Ortagus | College of Education, University of Florida, USA |
Leigh Patel | University of Pittsburgh, USA |
Peng Peng | University of Texas-Austin, USA |
Joshua Polanin | American Institutes for Research, USA |
Raquel Rall | University of California, Riverside, USA |
Joshua Rosenberg | University of Tennessee, USA |
Brian Smith | Boston College, USA |
Catherine Snow | Harvard University, USA |
Jon Star | Harvard University, USA |
Andrei Streke | Mathematica, USA |
David Stroupe | University of Utah, USA |
Iris Tabak | Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel |
Katie Taylor | University of Washington, USA |
Sharon Tettegah | University of California, Santa Barbara, USA |
Antar Tichavakunda | University of Cincinnati, USA |
Tracy Arámbula Turner | University of Vermont, USA |
Jan Van Driel | University of Melbourne, Australia |
Adriana Villavicencio | Texas State University, USA |
Catherine Voulgarides | Hunter College, USA |
Andrea Weinberg | Arizona State University, USA |
Camille Wilson | University of Michigan,USA |
Suzanne M. Wilson | University of Connecticut, USA |
Susan Yoon | University of Pennsylvania, USA |
Manuscript submission guidelines can be accessed on Sage Journals.