Adult Learning

Published in association with American Association for Adult and Continuing Education

Editors
Davin Carr-Chellman	University of Dayton, USA
Lilian H. Hill	University of Southern Mississippi, USA
Carol Rogers-Shaw	University of Dayton, USA
Editorial Assistant
Dorca Kisare-Ressler	University of Minnesota, USA
Reflections Editor
Catherine A. Cherrstrom	Texas State University, USA
Resources Editor
Kelly McKenna	Colorado State University, USA

 

Inquiries

For questions: AdultLearningjournal@gmail.com

To submit online: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/al
 

Articles for Submission

Adult Learning is an important voice in the scholarship of adult learning and teaching. As a practitioner-oriented journal, it is committed to advancing the practice of adult education through innovative articles with a problem- solving emphasis. Published articles address the most current challenges in educating adults across various contexts, including, for example, adult basic education, adult literacy, workplace learning, health care, government, community and nonprofit organizations, higher education, and business and technology. The audience includes those who teach adults; design, manage, and evaluate programs; and researchers on adult learning, development and teaching practices.

We seek a variety of articles that make current research, theoretical issues, and literature reviews relevant to practitioners. We also seek thoughtful descriptions of innovative practices in teaching, programming and administration. Submissions should follow the Style & Formatting guidelines below. Prospective authors are welcome to contact the editors, Davin Carr-Chellman, Lilian H. Hill & Carol Rogers-Shaw at adultlearningjournal@gmail.com.

Note that the word length includes references, but it does not include the abstract & keywords. The title page must include a brief author biography. The editors will not send a submission to peer review if it is over the word length, does not include author biographies on the title page, or lacks specific adult education references. 

Original Articles (Double-anonymize Peer Review) include two formats:

Research articles and literature reviews published are qualitative and/or quantitative studies or literature reviews that have direct implications for the education of adults. They are written so that readers can apply the findings to their own practice of educating adults. 4,000 – 5,000 words

Conceptual and theoretical articles explore current issues and challenges in the education of adults. Their purpose is to contribute to developing new or critiquing existing theory and concepts. 4,000-5,000 words.

Innovations in Practice (Double-anonymize Peer Review) presents innovative and cutting-edge teaching and learning practices in the education of adults. They provide enough detail and evidence of effectiveness that practitioners can use them to inform teaching, program planning, or adult education administration. 2,000-3,000 words.

Personal Reflections (Editorial Review) are thoughtful reflections on and discussions of important learning and teaching issues in adult education. They may be first-person narratives of thought-provoking experiences in teaching adults or examinations of taken-for-granted practices about adult learning, teaching, program design and management in adult education. 1,200-1,500 words.

Resources (Editorial Review)  Reviews evaluate books, YouTube videos, TEDtalks, 99 Percent videos, RSA animations, documentaries, software, resource manuals and workbooks that are useful to teaching adults. Full reviews are 500-750 words and notices of new resources are no more than 200 words.

Special Issues

The Adult Learning editors welcome your suggestions for special issues. Past special issues have been varied, e.g. workforce education, mentoring, older adult learners, adult literacy, adult development, adult learners with disabilities, instructional technology, intercultural education, learning to learn, and the philosophy of adult education. Special issue editors work with authors on the content and form of manuscripts. Submit special issue inquiries and proposals to the editors, Davin Carr-Chellman, Lilian H. Hill or Carol Rogers-Shaw at adultlearningjournal@gmail.com. 

Electronic Manuscript Submission

Adult Learning uses an online submission and review platform. Manuscripts should be submitted electronically to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/al. Authors set-up an online account on the Sage Track system powered by ScholarOne, provide the required information (author name(s) and contact information, abstract, keywords, etc.) and upload the "title page" (with author information) and "main document" (with no author information) separately to ensure the manuscript is ready for a anonymize review. The site contains links to an online user's guide (Get Help Now) for help navigating the site.

Formatting Guidelines

• Use current 7th Edition APA guidelines, including one-inch margins, Times Roman 12 pt. font, and double spacing.
• On a separate title page, include your name, address, telephone number(s), e-mail address, and a two- to three- sentence biography.
• Place the title of the article, but no author information, on the first manuscript page, followed by an up to 250- word abstract and three to five key words.
• Upon acceptance, submit a completed Journal Contributor Publishing Agreement, as detailed in the Exclusivity section, below.
• Do not use identifying information (such as the name, or initials of the author) to name the manuscript, table, figure, or any other uploaded supplemental document.
• Anonymize the author’s name, program/institutional affiliation, and any other identifying features.  If the author’s work is cited, it should be anonymized as (AUTHOR, 2013) or (AUTHORs et al., 2013). It should be included in the references the same way without the article information as “AUTHOR, 2013.”

Photos and Illustrations

Photos and figures to illustrate the article are accepted in the following file formats: TIFF, EPS, Word, or Excel. Scans/photos must be at least 300 dpi. Rules/tick marks should not be smaller than 1 point. Photos and figures must be production-ready and be anonymized to protect the author’s identity.

Copy Editing

Manuscripts accepted for publication will be edited for grammar, punctuation, APA style, and readability.

Exclusivity

Manuscripts should not be under consideration for publication by other periodicals, nor should they have been published previously, except as a part of a presentation at a meeting. Upon final acceptance of your manuscript, you will be prompted to complete a Journal Contributor Publishing Agreement online at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/al.

Publication Ethics

AL is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway. Authors will be asked to provide details of authorship, ethics committee approval, clinical trial registration documentation, and conflict of interest forms and statements.

Authorship

All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis. The Corresponding Author will take primary responsibility for communication with the journal during the manuscript submission, peer review, and publication process. The corresponding author will sign the publishing agreement on behalf of all of the authors and list contact details are included on the article. They should be available after publication to respond to critiques of the work and cooperate with any requests from the journal for data or additional information should questions about the paper arise after publication.

Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

Peer Review Policy

AL follows a double-anonymize peer review process for (a) Original articles and (b) Innovations in Practice. Articles submitted to AL typically receive 2 to 3 reviews per manuscript. An editorial review process is used for Personal Reflections and Resources articles.  Please note that as part of the submission process you may be asked to provide the names of a number of peers who could be called upon to review your manuscript. Recommended reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Please be aware of any conflicts of interest when recommending reviewers. Examples of conflicts of interest include (but are not limited to) the below:

• The reviewer should have no prior knowledge of your submission
• The reviewer should not have recently collaborated with any of the authors
• Reviewer nominees from the same institution as any of the authors are not permitted

Please note that the journal’s editors are not obliged to invite any recommended/opposed reviewers to assess your manuscript.

Peer Review Guidance

AL asks our peer reviewers to utilize the Resources for Reviewers guide prior to completing their review. 

For more information, please refer to the Sage Manuscript Submission Guidelines.