Rice, M., & Barbour, M. K. (2022, October). Meet the editors: Publishing about educational technology research and practice. Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education Interactive Conference, virtual.

1. Meet the Editors:
Publishing About
Educational Technology
Research and Practice
Mary Rice, JOLR Editor-in-Chief, maryrice@unm.edu
Michael Barbour, JOLR Associate Editor, mbarbour@touro.edu

2. Issues in publishing about
K-12 online, hybrid, and distance learning
• The historical unreflective filtering of online learning
research from higher ed in K-12 settings
• The conflation and confusion of terms for online, hybrid,
and distance learning (and more recently remote education)
• The lack of attention to vulnerable/historically underserved
populations
• The inarticulation or misarticulation of conceptual frames
and theories of learning as they pertain to the K-12 online
learning context
• The lack of coordination between K-12 online school
educators, educator preparation, and research efforts
The purpose of the
Journal of Online
Learning Research is
to address these
issues and make
space for accessible
information about
K-12 online learning
in its various forms.

3. What is the Journal of Online Learning
Research?
• Academic journal sponsored by SITE and AACE.
• Published 3 times per year
• Index in Google Scholar, LearnTechLib, and others
• 100% No Fee Open Access
• The journal focuses on K-12 online, hybrid, and distance learning
• Many of our authors are educational leaders studying their own contexts,
but articles also come from collaborations between academic researchers
and schools

4. What are the sections of JOLR?
• General section—empirical (research question-driven) articles where data
was collected and analyzed. Articles are usually 6-8,000 words.
• International section—shorter perspectives on practice specifically from
scholars outside of the U.S. Articles are usually 3-5,000 words.
• Practitioner corner—shorter illustrations of problem, data collection,
analysis, action, and evaluation from educational leaders, digital learning
organizations, and more. Articles are usually about 1,000-3,500 words.
• Special issues—guest editors develop a call, review proposals, invite
authors, and help finalize the issue

5. What is the Process for Submitting and
Publishing?
• Submit a clean, blinded (author information removed) copy through the
journal submission site. http://publish.aace.org/begin/
• The editors will review the manuscript to make sure it fits the scope of the
journal and then send it to reviewers.
• Reviewers will read and comment on the submission. This usually takes 8-
10 weeks.
• The editors will contact you with a decision. If you are invited to revise,
please do so within 6-8 weeks.
• An accepted paper will be sent to copyediting. You will approve your copy
edits.
• A copyedited paper will be sent to layout.
• The article will be published.

6. Simplified View of the Process
Submission Review
First
Decision
Revision
Final
Decision
Copyediting Layout Publication

7. Why are manuscripts rejected or sent back for
revisions?
• Do not fit the scope of the journal (e.g., not about K-12 online,
hybrid, or distance learning?)
• The authors are unwilling to make requested revisions
• The foundational literature cited is insufficient
• Too much dated literature or only very recent work
• Studies cited are largely not from online learning or K-12 framing
• Not enough citations (for general articles, there should be more; for shorter
pieces, fewer is fine).
• The methods are not properly explained
• There is no discussion about what was learned

8. Article Examples from the Most Recent Issue
Link to the Full Issue (http://www.learntechlib.org/c/JOLR/)
Simmons, D. (2022). Lessons from COVID-19: Four Reasons School
Communities Should Embrace K-12 Online Learning. Journal of Online
Learning Research, 8(2), 235-258.
https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/219534/
Zweig, J., Stafford, E., & Hanita, M. (2022). Enrollment Timing in
Supplementary Online Courses: Do Students Who Enroll On-Time Have
Better Course Outcomes?. Journal of Online Learning Research, 8(2),
163-180. https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/220665/

9. How can we help you get started?
• What JORL sections are you
interested in?
• What ideas do you have?
Other ways to Support JOLR
-Sign up to be a reviewer through the
my.site.aace.org ”Journal” portal
-Cite articles from the journal
https://www.aace.org/pubs/jolr/
-Read the journal and share it via social
media