Guide for Authors

Guide for Authors

Advances in Engineering Education is a peer-reviewed, online journal published by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), 1818 N Street, NW, Suite 600, Washington, D.C. 20036.

Types of Articles Published

Advances primarily publishes unsolicited articles on a wide variety of topics that present documented advances in engineering education practice; i.e., improve learning or satisfaction in or out of the classroom. Topics for unsolicited articles may include but are not limited to innovations in course and curriculum design, teaching, and assessment both within and outside of the classroom that have led to improved student learning.  Relevant overviews of pertinent literature may be published.  All unsolicited articles will first be evaluated by the editors to determine suitability and fit, prior to undergoing a full peer review.

The editors may invite a guest editor to develop a special issue around a topic of broad interest.  The guest editor will typically solicit as well as invite authors for papers.  All papers published in a special issue will undergo the same review process under the same criteria as unsolicited articles.

We also publish a limited number of opinion pieces, typically identified by the editors as being topical and of interest to our readers.

Looking Ahead

In addition, to fully developed papers, we will publish a limited number of short, Looking Ahead articles that describe work-in-progress that has the potential to be of substantial interest to the engineering education community.  These 1000 word papers are both solicited and invited.  All will undergo a peer review prior to publication.

Manuscript Requirements

Unsolicited articles are expected to fully document the innovation(s) of interest and be based on a sound body of evidence by the author(s) and/or as reported in the literature. Of particular interest are those advances that are best presented through the creative use of multimedia (e.g., text, audio, graphics, animation, and video) to enhance the readers’ understanding. As noted work-in-progress reports that offer the clear promise of significant advances may be published as short Looking Ahead pieces.

What we do not Publish

We do not publish articles that describe a research or pilot study.  Our interest is in the successful implementation of that research.  Relevant research that supports the author’s “advance” may be included as part of the background section.  We also do not publish papers that are primarily focused on a particular discipline and would not be of interest to the larger engineering education community.  Finally we do not publish papers that would be better suited for a conference proceeding.

Submission of Manuscripts

Manuscripts must be submitted in electronic form only through the journal’s website: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/advances. Successful submissions are confirmed by e-mail. The editor evaluates manuscripts for compatibility with the journal’s mission and review criteria and normally informs the author of the decision within one month of submission. If deemed compatible and innovative, the manuscript is forwarded to one of the journal’s associate editors, who in turn initiates the peer review process. The journal is normally able to complete the peer review process and inform the author of the outcome within two to four months. Authors need not be members of ASEE.

Note: Authors should avoid predatory journals with similar titles that promise rapid publication with insufficient time for rigorous peer review.

Submitted Paper Format – Unsolicited Article:

• The body of the paper should be approximately 5,000 words (not including abstract, references, and biosketches). Papers that consist of an excessive number of words may be returned to the authors unreviewed.
• List each co-author and affiliation on title page; AEE does not use double-blind review.
• Include a short abstract summarizing paper, its contribution and conclusion (200 to 300 words)
• Select three keywords from the Taxonomy for Engineering Education Research (http://taxonomy.engin.umich.edu/taxonomy/)
• Use New Times Roman, 12 pt., double-spaced, single column.
• Do not use section numbers; rather main sections are all caps, bold and centered; next is left justified, first letters cap and bold; then indented, italics; first letters cap and bold.
• Use Chicago Manual of Style for citations; see http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-2.html
• Unless otherwise instructed, the body of the paper should be between 20 to 30 double-spaced pages (not including abstract, references, figures, tables, authors’ biosketches, acknowledgements and appendices.
• The paper should emphasize its “advance” or innovation.
• The paper should begin with an introductory section that summarizes the applicable literature. Descriptions of the authors’ research to meet the challenge may be included as part of background. The paper should describe what has been implemented and evaluated to document that it is in fact effective.
• Because AEE is an online publication, multi-media (e.g., video, audio, and animation) that adds to the readability of the paper is encouraged.
• Include URLs for all referenced material that is available to the public (not password protected).
• Include a short biosketch of each co-author and a high resolution digital photo. We invite authors to include their preferred pronouns as part of the biosketch.
• Submit the paper directly through Manuscript Central, specifically: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/advances

In submitting a paper, authors should also include:

• Note to editor indicating that this is an original paper (i.e., has not been published elsewhere); if the paper is for a special issue please indicate it.
• Authors may provide the names of a few preferred reviewers (optional)
• Authors may provide the names of any non-preferred reviewer (optional)
• Address any questions to Dr. Holly Matusovich, editor-in-chief, Advances for Engineering Education, matushm@vt.edu.

Manuscripts submitted must not have been published as copyrighted material elsewhere.  This includes ASEE Conference Proceedings.  Manuscripts under review by the Journal should not be submitted for consideration by another publication. By submitting a manuscript, the author(s) agree that the copyright will be transferred to ASEE if the manuscript and associated multimedia are accepted for publication. The author(s) retain the rights to the fair use (i.e., teaching and nonprofit uses) of the published material.

Submitted Paper Format: Looking Ahead articles

• The paper should be considered as an extended abstract.  The body of the paper should consist of no more than 1,000 words (not including references and biosketches).
• The focus should be on research and/or a pilot study that leads to implementation, but not on research per se.
• The paper must consist of four sections: Introduction, Methods, Preliminary Results, Next Steps in addition to references.  Authors may wish to include a brief acknowledgement section.
• All other applicable criteria for unsolicited papers.

Review Criteria

The journal seeks to obtain at least three reviews on all manuscripts. Manuscripts are evaluated according to criteria established by the editorial board. Such criteria relate to the article’s scholarly content, significance, quality of text and supporting multimedia (where appropriate). In general, articles published should: have relatively wide appeal and address issues of importance to the larger engineering education community. Innovations should be supported by prior educational research (as documented in the literature). Where appropriate, multimedia (e.g., text, audio, graphics, animation or video) should be used creatively as a means to enhance the understandability and better convey information to the reader. However, the use of multimedia is not a requirement for publication.

Each paper will be initially reviewed by the editor (and guest editors for special issues) to determine if it is suitable for the journal and ready for peer review.  Those not acceptable will be returned to the authors with comments.  Acceptable papers will go through the full peer-review process; at least two reviewers and an editor will provide reviews.  Review criteria will include:

• Relevance and appeal
• Significance and originality
• Sufficient literature review
• Assessment and documentation of the advance
• Quality of writing
• Coverage, organization and completeness
• Use of multimedia as appropriate

Decisions

Accept – accept paper with possible minor revisions required by the author as noted by reviewers and/or Associate Editor.  Typically less than five percent of papers are accepted on the first review; approximately a third of papers are accepted after first revision; approximately two-thirds of papers are accepted after second revision.  Almost all papers that undergo a third revision are accepted.  Overall acceptance rate is between 20 to 25 percent.

Minor revisions – author should make certain revisions that will be reviewed by Associate Editor prior to acceptance; revised paper may be sent out for further review at Associate Editor’s discretion.

Major revisions – paper requires rewriting as detailed by reviewers’ concerns.  The revised paper typically will require a full review.

Reject – For various reasons and author will be so informed, including

1. Topic is not appropriate for AEE; better fit for a discipline focused journal
2. Paper is essentially a description of a research study without an application (i.e., implementation) of innovative pedagogical techniques or evidence of their effectiveness
3. Substantial part of paper has been published elsewhere (e.g., ASEE conference proceedings)
4. Methodology is acutely flawed
5. Paper is not a contribution to literature, major revision not recommended

Charge Policy

Authors of accepted manuscripts are asked to pay a publication charge of $250 per paper. Questions regarding the journal should be directed to ASEE: voice (+1) 202-331-3500; fax (+1) 202-265-8405. Permission to reprint material published in the journal should be directed to ASEE.

Editorial Office

Editorial questions and inquiries should be directed to the editor: Dr. Holly Matusovich, e-mail: matushm@vt.edu.