Author Instructions

The Journal of Engineering Education (USPS 0954-960; ISSN 1069-4730) is a peer-reviewed international journal published quarterly by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), 1818 N Street, NW, Suite 600, Washington, D.C. 20036.

MISSION

The Journal of Engineering Education (JEE) serves to cultivate, disseminate, and archive scholarly research in engineering education.

RESEARCH AREAS

The journal publishes manuscripts in a wide variety of research areas in the field of engineering education. A particularly rich description of research areas in engineering education may be found in the special report, “The Research Agenda for the New Discipline of Engineering Education,” Journal of Engineering Education, 95 (October 2006) 4, pp. 259-261, which includes: what knowledge and competencies engineers must possess and how they are learned and assessed (epistemologies and assessment); how educational methods, materials, infrastructure, and faculty affect learning (learning mechanisms and systems); and how to attract, engage, and retain diverse human talent to engineering (diversity and inclusiveness).

MANUSCRIPT REQUIREMENTS

Manuscripts are expected to report original research that significantly extends the body of knowledge in the field of engineering education. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research designs are accepted. The journal typically publishes two types of manuscripts: research investigations and research reviews.

Research investigations should state the questions addressed and their context relative to the body of knowledge on the subject. The relevant theories should be presented, research design described, limitations acknowledged, and research methods and instruments discussed so as to permit evaluation of the validity and reliability of the evidence offered. Ethical considerations in data collection, analysis, and reporting involving human subjects should be addressed. A description of any statistical analyses, discussion of the uncertainties, and the significance of the results to advancing engineering education research or practice should be provided.

Research reviews should state the propositions addressed in the review and their context relative to the body of knowledge reviewed. A review might include a critical analysis, synthesis, or evaluation of previous research to provide new perspectives, a new knowledge structure, general conclusions or overarching principles, or new research directions. Reviews using meta-analytic approaches are encouraged. An explanation of the significance of the insights gained to advancing engineering education research or practice should be provided.

Submitted manuscripts must include the following:

• the manuscript title
• a 250 word structured abstract properly formatted (CLICK HERE FOR INSTRUCTIONS PDF: 40KB);
• an introduction section following the abstract and preceding the main body of the manuscript;
• the main body of the manuscript, appropriately divided into sections;
• a conclusion or summary section following the main body of the manuscript;
• a section listing the references; and
• black and white figures and tables, if any, either embedded at appropriate locations within the manuscript or collected together and appended at the end of the manuscript.

Manuscripts should be prepared in 12 point font, double-spaced, and formatted in one column. Manuscripts may also include appendices, a glossary of symbols, and acknowledgments, as deemed appropriate by the authors.

The journal uses double-blind peer review; that is, authors will not know the names and affiliations of the reviewers and the reviewers will not know the names and affiliations of the authors. Therefore, authors should review their manuscripts carefully before submission to ensure that their names and affiliations are not revealed in the manuscript directly or indirectly. In some cases, pseudonyms or indirect references may be necessary. For example, rather than state the name of an institution directly, which might reveal the identity of an author(s), the institution could be referenced as follows, “The research involved a sophomore-level engineering statics course offered at a large public university in the western United States.” Should the manuscript contain references to citations written by the authors, the references may contain the authors’ names, however, the references should be written so as to not reveal that the citations refer to the authors. For example, a reference written as, “In our prior research (Smith and Jones, 2010), we showed that…,” could be written more suitably as, “Research by Smith and Jones (2010) showed that…”.

A comprehensive reference for considerations of composition and presentation may be found in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition; a more concise source is The Elements of Style, 4th edition, by Strunk and White. Authors are strongly encouraged to carefully proofread their manuscripts before submission. The journal does not use endnotes, and footnotes are discouraged. If the material is important enough for a reader to seek it out, then it is important enough to be included in the body of the text. Footnotes are to be used only if they are deemed essential.

The journal generally discourages the publication of a body of research in a series of dependent parts. Authors should either identify components of the research suitable for publication as independent articles or prepare a condensed manuscript and encourage interested readers to contact the authors for additional information supporting the research reported. If the presentation of the research in a series of dependent parts is deemed essential, authors should first contact the editor to discuss their approach before submitting their manuscripts.

A detailed Style Guide will be provided to authors of accepted manuscripts to prepare their final versions for typesetting.

SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPTS

Manuscripts submitted must not have been published as copyrighted material nor be submitted for consideration for publication as copyrighted material while in review by the journal, whether in print or electronic form. Other copyrighted material includes that for which ASEE owns or may own the copyright, including ASEE conference proceedings. By submitting a manuscript, the author(s) agree that the copyright will be transferred to ASEE if the manuscript is accepted for publication. The author(s) retain the rights to the fair use of the article published, such as in teaching and other nonprofit uses.

Manuscripts must be submitted in electronic form only at the journal’s Web site: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jee. An automatic and immediate e-mail confirmation is provided if the submission process is completed successfully. The editor subsequently evaluates manuscripts for their compatibility with the journal's mission and review criteria. The editor typically is able to complete the evaluation and inform the author within two weeks of the submission of the manuscript. If deemed compatible, manuscripts are forwarded to one of the journal’s associate editors who handles the peer review. The journal is normally able to complete the peer review process and inform the author within two to four months. Membership in ASEE does not influence either the review or publication decision of manuscripts submitted.

REVIEW CRITERIA

The journal seeks to obtain at least three reviews on all manuscripts. Reviewers are asked to evaluate manuscripts according to six criteria and to provide a narrative summary of their evaluations. Four criteria relate to the scholarly content and contributions of the manuscript and two to the quality of the composition and presentation. Manuscripts are expected to:

• state clearly the questions or propositions addressed and the significance of the research to engineering education research or practice (focus and relevance);
• situate the research within relevant bodies of knowledge and describe how it contributes to new knowledge (context and contribution);
• employ research designs, methods, theories, and/or practices appropriate to the research performed (research validity and reliability or credibility and dependability);
• present original ideas or results of general significance supported by clear reasoning and compelling evidence (results and generalizability or transferability);
• exhibit clear, concise, and precise exposition that appeals to a broad international readership interested in engineering education research and practice (clarity and readability); and
• provide tables and figures, as needed, that meaningfully add to the narrative (useful illustrations).

PAGE CHARGE POLICY

Authors of accepted manuscripts are asked to pay page charges of $60 per journal page. A printed journal page of text contains about 600 words. The space required for illustrations should be added to obtain an estimate of the total number of pages. The page charge includes a complimentary copy of the issue in which the manuscript is published for each author. Questions regarding page charges should be directed to the editorial office.

EDITORIAL OFFICE

Editorial questions and inquiries should be directed to Ms. Donna Riley, Assistant Editor; voice: (+1) 404-385-7523; fax: (+1) 404-385-6940, e-mail: driley@gatech.edu.