Currents in Teaching & Learning

Currents in Teaching and Learning is now inviting submissions for Volume 17, Issues 1 and 2.

Submissions may take the form of:

• Brief reports that provide a concise but complete account of new teaching methods or materials that will be of broad interest to college and university instructors (750-1250 words)
• Medium-length teaching and program reports on classroom/curricular practices (2500-5500 words)
• Longer research or theoretical articles related to current issues in teaching and learning in higher education (5500-7000 words)

All submissions must be original, previously unpublished work and, if based in a particular academic discipline, must explicitly consider their relevance and applicability to other disciplines and classroom settings. The inclusion of specific teaching artifacts and/or a method to evaluate the effectiveness and significance of a particular pedagogical approach are highly encouraged. Co-authored pieces are also welcome.

Submissions received after the deadlines will be considered on a rolling basis and for the following issue.

To submit a manuscript, email the submission as a Microsoft Word document to currents@worcester.edu. Please do not mail a hard copy.

Manuscripts are accepted for consideration with the understanding that they are original material and are not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

After your manuscript has been accepted, please fill out and submit a Copyright Transfer Form for each author. Authors who wish to use their published manuscript in an edited book or other compilation of articles may do so, but first must obtain written permission from Currents.

Manuscripts can be take the form of a short report (suggested length: 10 to 20 pages; word count: 2,850-5,700 words) or longer article (suggested length: 20 to 25 pages; word count: 5,700-7,125 words). Texts of a length exceeding this will be considered as interest warrants and space permits.

Manuscripts should be prepared following guidelines established in the publication manual of the American Psychological Association.

Articles may include graphics and hyperlinks to online multimedia objects or other online materials, where the latter are indicated and linked using the hyperlink tool provided in MS Word. Authors should ensure that all links are active at the time of submission.

Submissions should include:

1. Title page with full title, full name of each author with current affiliation, position held and full address/phone/fax/email details plus short biographical note of about 50 words. A second title page should be included without identifying information for peer review.
2. Pages should be numbered consecutively in the upper right hand corner, beginning with the title page.
3. Manuscripts should be double spaced in entirety, with 1-inch margins on all sides.
4. Include an abstract of 100-150 words.
5. List keywords and/or phrases beneath the abstract.
6. Text should be clearly organized, with a clear hierarchy of headings and subheadings, and quotations exceeding 40 words displayed, indented, in the text.
7. Abbreviations and acronyms should be spelled out at first mention.
8. Words to be set in italics (contrary to the rules of the style manual) should be set in italics, not underlined; sentence structure should be used to create emphasis.
9. References are cited in the text as follows: (author(s), year of publication).
10. The purpose of tables and figures is to present data to the reader in a clear and unambiguous manner. The author should not describe the data in the text in such detail that illustration or text is redundant.
11. Figures and tables should be keyed to the text. Tables should each be typed on a separate sheet and placed at the end of the manuscript (after the references).
12. Tables and figures should be numbered sequentially (e.g., Table 1, Table 2, and Figure 1, Figure 2) and include descriptive titles.

Overarching criteria that reviewers will be asked to evaluate for each submission:

1. Content: originality, usefulness in classroom, subject of ‘current’ importance/interest?
2. Relevance across disciplines: if the piece is written from a particular disciplinary home, does it address explicitly its potential applicability to other disciplines and in other settings? Are the study’s findings too limited to that one specific field?
3. Style: quality of writing, clarity, elegance, freedom from jargon, definitions of key terms, attention to the Currents submission guidelines, including APA format?
4. Appropriateness of methodology and theoretical framework.
5. Relevance of the sources/references and determination if they are “current.”
6. Length: compatible with the type of submission and appropriate to the subject and scope of the piece?

Once the editors determine that the manuscript’s format and content are appropriate for the journal, the manuscript is then sent through a blind peer-review process. Names of reviewers will not be released to authors, nor will reviewers know the identities of authors whose work they review. The review process will take 8-10 weeks. Authors will be notified of the recommendations of the review panel and will be provided copies of the reviewers’ comments.

Currents has adopted the COPE position statement on “Authorship and AI Tools,” which you can read in full here: https://publicationethics.org/cope-position-statements/ai-author.