Education in Practice journal
Guidelines for Contributors
About Education in Practice
Education in Practice has been designed for all University of Birmingham staff working in support of enhancing the student learning experience, be they academic members of staff or those from professional or support services. It provides an accessible publication route for those looking to disseminate teaching and learning practices, ideas and developments or outcomes from internally and externally funded projects, or from those taking part in professional development activities offered by the Educational Development Team such as PGCertLTHE and Beacon. Contributions are also welcomed from both undergraduate and postgraduate students discussing learning, teaching, and educational matters. All submissions will be reviewed and edited in a way that is consistent with standards expected by established higher education journals. Submissions will be reviewed by a cross-University editorial board.
Education in Practice has been designed as a publication route that ‘bridges’ the space between newsletters and journals of educational research. It is an ideal first publication route for those new to publishing on teaching and learning, and an opportunity for those who are more experienced to share and test their ideas with other colleagues from across the University. Although intended as an institutional journal, it will also be available online (Open Access), and reaches an audience beyond the University of Birmingham.
Types of contributions and criteria
Education in Practice is focused upon practices in teaching and supporting learning within the University of Birmingham. A range of contributions are sought from colleagues:
- Original papers;
- Case studies;
- Reflective or discursive papers;
- Reviews
Contributions that explore the findings from education research and discuss or apply these within the context of University of Birmingham practices in teaching and supporting learning are welcomed. Each type of contribution is detailed more fully in Table 1, but in general contributions should:
- Be practical, focusing upon informing the work of others and be aimed at directly influencing approaches and practices that impact upon students and their learning.
- Be written in a style that enables the transferability of ideas. Whilst submissions may be grounded within a specific discipline, they should be written in a style that allows those from other disciplines to understand and appreciate the ideas, and in a manner that ensures their content is accessible and readable by all.
Submission types
Original papers
Original papers may include: reports of educational research; evaluations of teaching and learning activity and innovation; summaries of outcomes from teaching and learning projects; or discussion papers. Original papers should contain an appropriate level of data and evidence to support any arguments made or conclusions reached; such evidence may be obtained either individual work or an analysis of existing educational literature to support the ideas. They should offer a high degree of academic integrity by being evidence informed, reflective and scholarly in nature.
Each original paper should typically be around 2,000-3,000 words. They must contain no more than 5 graphical items (figures, tables, photographs, etc.). They should begin with referenced text explaining the background and context of the work, before proceeding to a concise, focused account of the activities and findings, ending with discussion, conclusions, implications and recommendations as appropriate.
Case studies
Case studies, typically up to 2,000 words in length, that describe examples of current practice and outcomes from teaching and learning projects. They might relate to ongoing activities and projects, or initiatives that have proved particularly successful or insightful, or raise questions for further discussion. Where case studies describe interventions, they should contain a level of data or evidence in support of any claims that are made, although use of primary data must comply with our ethics policy. Case studies should briefly describe the activity and its context, before discussing key findings or impact. They should typically have no more than 10 references and 2 graphical items.
Reviews and discussion papers
Reviews, which may be literature reviews of particular themes, analyses of topical areas of interest, or, ‘think pieces’ exploring applications of theory to inform practice should be no more than 3,000 words.
Their focus should be upon critically analysing the current literature to identify the implications of current or emerging findings to University of Birmingham practice and approaches to student learning. On occasions, the Editors will commission reviews on topical areas of teaching and learning activity.
Editorial board
The editorial board consists of:
Dr Alison Davies (Educational Development): a.davies.1@bham.ac.uk and Dr Marios Hadjianastasis (Educational Development): m.hadjianastasis@bham.ac.uk
We welcome informal discussions with potential authors. You can contact the editorial team on EiP@contacts.bham.ac.uk or individually at their address above.
Submission details and guidance
Education in Practice is published on a rolling basis online, before papers are organised into an annual volume. Submissions are welcome at any time, and accepted contributions will be prioritised for publication based upon submission date. All contributions submitted for publication must be of a high quality and will be subject to a peer academic review process prior to them being accepted for publication. To submit your paper email EiP@contacts.bham.ac.uk.
Submission format and template
Submissions should be submitted in a Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) using our template. Illustrations should be saved and submitted separately along with captions, as well as included in the manuscript.
Upon receipt of your contribution, it will be typeset into the style used for Education in Practice. Please note that the Editors reserve the right to correct documents for spelling, grammar, layout, consistency, and style.
Style and format
The style and format to be used for submissions is as described below and based upon the type of contribution being made as described in Table 1 above:
- Text should be in clear and concise English, using UK spelling;
- All references (in-text and in a reference list at the end) must be presented using the Harvard system of citation (see for example: https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/as/libraryservices/library/referencing/icite/harvard/index.aspx which also includes an A to Z on referencing different types of resources).
- All data that needs to be presented in a fixed form must be within a table, and tables should be kept as simple as possible;
- Authors must not use spaces or tabs to achieve the desired layout;
- Paragraphs should be separated by a double carriage return only (no indent);
- All illustrations, photographs, figures, and diagrams should be referenced clearly within the text;
- Use footnotes rather than endnotes if necessary, but these should be kept to a minimum as per the Harvard referencing system;
- All references should be listed at the end of the document;
- Where acronyms are used, a full explanation should appear the first time they appear in the text;
- Clearly indicate the level of main and sub-headings.
Tables and captions to illustrations
Tables and figures should be final versions (camera-ready) and be placed in the text, be appropriately numbered, and be cross referenced within the main body of text. They will not be redrawn during the production stage. They must be of a high-quality and suitable for publication. All figures should also be sent individually.
References
References should include sources of evidence used and key background literature. Authors should use the author-date system, as per the Harvard system
Ethical approval
Please note that papers that use research evidence from student or peer feedback and evaluation must have received ethics approval for publication, and comply with the University’s Code of Practice for Research. In general, researchers are advised to follow the British Educational Research Association’s guidelines. Ethical approval details must be included on the template cover page.
Permissions
As an author, you are required to secure permission if you want to reproduce any figure, table, or extract from the text of another source. This applies to direct reproduction as well as ‘derivative reproduction’ (where you have created a new figure or table which derives substantially from a copyrighted source).
All Contributions to Education in Practice are accepted on the full understanding that the authors are solely responsible for the accuracy and contents of all published material. Authors are also responsible for ensuring there is no copyrighted material within their submitted contribution.
Guidance on Generative AI
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Guidance on subsequent publication
When submitting a contribution to Education in Practice the intellectual property for the material it contains remains with the attributed author(s). As such, authors are welcome to develop and expand upon their ideas and work and publish their findings elsewhere.
Authors do, however, need to be aware that many journals do not wish to receive papers that describe work that has already been reported on in large part in a previously published paper or that is contained within another paper submitted or accepted for publication elsewhere, in either print or electronic forms. This is a complex issue, particularly when only part publication is involved. The Editors expect this issue will only realistically be relevant to those submitting original papers and papers as other contributions will form more descriptive accounts of practices and findings in their original form. Authors need to keep this in mind when preparing papers, either by presenting summaries of data rather than actual results, by providing a more general analysis and description of results and findings than would typically be included in a specialist journal, and by focusing upon practical implications for University teaching and learning practices and approaches.
Education in Practice welcomes contributions based upon material published previously elsewhere but which will be of wider interest to others within the University. The original source of publication should be formally acknowledged within the ‘Acknowledgements’ section of your paper, and authors submitting such content are required to ensure they have all necessary permissions that may be required from the original publication source. If there is any doubt, please contact the Editors.
