Voices of Practitioners Manuscript Guidelines

Overview
Who should submit manuscripts to Voices of Practitioners: Teacher Research in Early Childhood Education?
Content
Format
Permissions
Submitting a manuscript
Review process
From acceptance to online publication

Overview

NAEYC is pleased to present Voices of Practitioners: Teacher Research in Early Childhood Education, a feature focusing on teacher research in early childhood education. New articles in the series will appear on this Web site periodically. Barbara Henderson and Daniel Meier (both of San Francisco State University) are coeditors of this feature.

Teacher research is grounded in the daily lives of children, with insights from the teachers who work with them. The purpose of Voices of Practitioners is to provide both a vehicle for publishing the work of early childhood teachers, who are often underrepresented as authors in the educational research arena, and a forum for dialogue.

Teacher research benefits the field of early childhood education by making a unique contribution to the knowledge base of how young children develop and learn and the teacher’s role. Teachers provide the critical insider perspective through systematic study and reflection on the ongoing reality in classrooms for young children. This feature also serves as a clearinghouse for teacher researchers in early childhood education by providing various links to other teacher research, teacher researchers, and teacher research Web sites that enable people to contact each other directly.

Who should submit manuscripts to Voices of Practitioners?

All teachers in early childhood settings serving children from birth through third grade are invited to submit their research. The study can focus on children, families, staff, the settings themselves, or other factors that influence teaching. The editors of Voices of Practitioners welcome all teacher research manuscripts and look forward to learning from early childhood communities that are seldom represented in the research literature (such as infant and toddler programs, family child care, or teachers and children from a range of ethnic backgrounds).

Content

Manuscripts submitted to Voices of Practitioners should include the following sections:

1. Introduction—research question, problem, framework for the piece, links to other research

2. Methods—setting, participants, data sources, how data was collected, selected, and analyzed, as well as limitations of the study

3. Findings—illustrated with relevant examples from the data

4. Discussion—reflection and description of what the teacher researcher found and learned

5. Conclusions—implications of the study for others in the field, ideas for continuing teacher research as part of daily teaching practices, and further questions raised by the study

Articles should also include personal reflections on the teacher research journey.

Format

Cover page

· Article title and name(s) of author(s)

· Author information: full name, affiliation, title, address, phone, fax, and e-mail for each

· Designation of one author as the primary contact.

· Brief abstract of the research project. Describe the question or problem, the subjects, the findings, and the implications of the study (approximately ½ page).

Length

· Articles should be 4–12 pages in length (double spaced, in 12-point font).

Style of text

· Double-space lines, and leave wide margins

· Number the pages

· Include the title and date in the footer

· Use a clear informal style of writing. Avoid excessive educational and research jargon.

· Write in active voice…”The children contributed ideas…” rather than “Ideas were contributed by the children…”

· Include subheads and visuals (children’s work samples, photographs, charts, graphs).

· Photos or other graphics should illustrate and clarify the data and not just serve as decorative elements.

· Do not include the name(s) of author(s) anywhere except on the cover page as all manuscripts are subject to a blind review.

References, citations, and excerpts

· Provide accurate and complete information for references and resources. Follow Chapter 17 in the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition (available at libraries and bookstores). Examples appear in Writing for Young Children.

Permissions

· Authors are responsible for seeking written permission from parents or legal guardians to include children’s art and work samples.

· Authors are encouraged to submit photos with their teacher research articles. Authors or photographers must have model releases for all recognizable people in each photo (signed by all the adults who appear in the photo and by the parents or legal guardians of all the children photographed). These model releases should be maintained by the photographer. NAEYC may ask for copies of the model releases if necessary.

· Authors must seek and submit written permission from the copyright holder for quoted material longer than 50 words.

Submitting a manuscript

· E-mail a cover letter and the teacher research manuscript to Gail Perry, NAEYC’s Teacher Research Coordinator.

· If you do not have e-mail access, mail a cover letter and one copy of the teacher research manuscript to:

Gail Perry
Teacher Research Coordinator
1313 L Street, NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005-4101

The manuscript will be logged in and the author will receive acknowledgement of receipt of the manuscript.

Review process

1. The journal editor, the teacher research coordinator, and the teacher research coeditors jointly determine whether the article meets the basic guidelines. If not, the author is advised why the manuscript is not appropriate for consideration. If they choose to, authors can revise their manuscript accordingly and resubmit.

2. Manuscripts that meet the basic guidelines will be subject to peer review by members of the Teacher Research Steering Committee, a group of early childhood teacher research experts, including teacher researchers, who represent geographic, cultural, linguistic, and subject matter diversity. The reviewers will provide comments and recommendations.

3. Using all the reviews as a guide, one of the following decisions will be made (notification will be sent to the author by letter):

a. The manuscript will be accepted for publication in Voices of Practitioners on the NAEYC Web site.

b. The author will be asked to revise and resubmit the manuscript for further review or possible acceptance. Reviewers’ suggestions for enhancing the manuscript will be sent to author. Authors will have up to four months to complete revisions and resubmit the manuscript.

c. The author will be advised the manuscript is not accepted for publication.

From acceptance to online publication

· It is not possible to determine in advance the exact publication dates of accepted manuscripts. Most manuscripts will require some revisions during the editing and production process.

· Editing involves the teacher research coeditors, the journal editor, and a copy editor. Authors may be asked to update, clarify, or expand article content or references. A copy editor will return the edited article to the author via e-mail for final approval before the manuscript enters production.

· When an article is scheduled for publication, authors are asked to complete biographies and copyright transfer forms. Both forms are provided electronically. The copyright transfer provides permission for publication on the NAEYC Web site.

· If you have questions about the submission and review process for Voices of Practitioners contact Gail Perry, Teacher Research Coordinator, submit your queries in a letter, or call 202-232-8777, Ext. 8415.