JOLT - Journal of Online Learning and Teaching

JOLT is published quarterly in March, June, September, and December. While JOLT seeks to publish works in a timely manner, space considerations and editorial decisions may delay the publication of a manuscript.

TYPES OF MANUSCRIPTS

Research Papers : Papers that are concerned with the learning impact of various approaches to online learning and teaching. They discuss the literature related to the approach employed and include a measure of the learning impact of the approach employed.

Case Studies: These highlight a particular online instructional setting in which online resources were used to address a particular challenge. They present a discussion of the challenge from current literature, what was done to solve or explore it, and the results of the project. They often offer suggestions for others interested in addressing similar challenges.

Concept Papers: Papers that present new concepts in online teaching and learning. They offer a discussion of the literature related to the concept along with a discussion of the major issues for future research needed to validate the concept.

Position Papers: Papers that describe a problem or issue in online teaching and offer a suggested solution or direction. The position is supported with both a logical argument and a review of the pertinent literature.

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSIONS:

1. All manuscripts must be submitted to the JOLT Editors ( jolteditor@merlot.org ) in electronic format on or before the stated deadline.
   
2. Manuscripts must be submitted using Microsoft Word and should not exceed 6,000 words, excluding abstract and references.
   
3. Manuscripts must be written in English, double-spaced, including quotations and references, and employ a 12-point Arial (sans serif) font
   
4. Headers, footers, footnotes and end-notes must NOT be employed.
   
5. Use of personal pronouns ("I", "we", "our", etc.) is strongly discouraged in all but Position Papers and Instructional Design Notes. Use third-person (e.g., "the author" instead of “I”) or passive voice (e.g. “data were collected” instead of “we collected data”) whenever possible.
   
6. All manuscripts must include a brief but informative abstract. It should not exceed 200 words and should describe the scope of the work and the main findings. References to the literature should not be included.
   
7. A set of 5-10 keywords should follow the abstract to assist in indexing the article. These should not duplicate words appearing in the title and should be listed in order of importance.
   
8. A separate cover page must be included with all submissions that includes:
   a) the type of paper (Research Paper, Case Study, PositionPaper, etc.),
   b) the full name, affiliation, and e-mail address of each author and
   c) the author designated as the contact person.
   
9. Authors' names or other identifying information should not appear on any of the manuscript pages.
10. Where appropriate, the following suggested format is recommended:
       Title
       Abstract followed by 5-10 keywords
       Main text (Introduction, Literature Survey, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions)
       Acknowledgments
       References
       Appendices
11. 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. All graphics must be placed at the appropriate location in the manuscript.
12. All tables must be generated using the Table function in Word. All tables and graphic figures must be placed at the appropriate locations in the paper. In general no more than 10 tables and/or 6 figures should be included in a paper. Exceptions require approval by the JOLT editors.
13. The following spellings should be used in all manuscripts submitted: online, website, homepage, Internet, Web, URL, e-mail, e-journal, HTML, PDF, download, screenshot, freeware, and CD-ROM.
14. Citations and references should be prepared according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 6th Edition, 2009. An excellent online tutorial of APA style elements can be found at: http://www.apastyle.org/learn/tutorials/basics-tutorial.aspx
15. Before publication, authors will be asked to confirm that the submitted article is original material, has not been published elsewhere, and is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere.
16. Once the Editors determine that the manuscript is appropriate for the journal, the manuscript is sent through a double-blind peer review by two reviewers selected by the Editors. Names of reviewers will not be released to authors, nor will reviewers know the identities of authors whose work they review. The reviews occur in a timely manner by members of the JOLT peer review panel, using specific review criteria developed by the JOLT Editorial Board.  Review panel recommendations include acceptance of the manuscript as submitted, acceptance of the manuscript with prescribed changes, or rejection of the manuscript. Final publication decisions will be made by the Editors, taking into account the recommendations of the reviewers. Authors will be notified of the Editors’ publication decisions and will be provided copies of the reviewers' comments.
17. Once an article has been accepted for publication, authors will be expected to submit a revised version of the article, including any recommended changes, in a timely manner.
18. Authors should note that all articles published in JOLT will be copyrighted using a Creative Commons "Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike" license. This license allows the authors to retain the copyright, but also allows others to copy, distribute, and display the copyrighted work, and derivative works based upon it, under certain specified conditions. Details regarding this license and its conditions can be found at the Creative Commons web site: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ .

 

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