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Arts Education Policy Review:
Manuscript Submission
The Editors of Arts Education Policy Review asks that contributors learn about the journal before submitting articles. Ask us for indexes of articles and topics covered. The following guidelines are intended to suggest the kind of treatment that any topic should receive.
Submission Guidelines:
AEPR uses The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, for all matters of style, including references in author date format. Please include full bibliographical information, including page numbers for all quotations. All manuscripts require an abstract, preferably no longer than 120 words, and 3–5 key words to be used for indexing purposes. Key words should capture the precise content of the manuscript and should be found in the abstract. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the content. Manuscripts should not exceed 25 pages in length, including references. The managing editor screens manuscripts to determine their appropriateness for distribution to the editorial board. Manuscripts will be edited for clarity and readability, and editors may make changes so the text conforms to the journal’s style.
E-mail:
AEPR is receiving submissions only via e-mail as a double-spaced Word file in .doc format, with minimal formatting in Times New Roman font. Please do not use style sheets, or forced section or page breaks. Use endnotes, not automatic footnotes, and please insert your endnotes manually in the text. If you need guidance or would like a copy of detailed author guidelines, consult the managing editor at (202) 296-6267, ext. 1255, or by e-mail at aepr@heldref.org.
E-mail tables in one file and figures in a separate file.
Policy Review:
Contributors should make sure that any submission is a policy article, complete with policy recommendations about arts education from prekindergarten through twelfth grade. Articles about college education should focus on teacher preparation for these grades or teacher retention in arts education.
AEPR intends to bring fresh analytical vigor to perennial and new policy issues in arts education. AEPR presents analyses and recommendations focused on policy. The goal of any article should not be description or celebration (although reports of successful programs could be part of a policy article). Any article focused on a program (or programs) should address why something works or doesn't work, how it works, how it could work better, and most important, what various policymakers (from teachers to legislators) can do about it. Many articles are rejected because they lack this element.
AEPR does not promote individuals, institutions, methods, or products. It does not aim to repeat commonplace ideas. Editors want articles that show originality, probe deeply, and take discussion beyond common wisdom and familiar rhetoric. Articles that merely restate the importance of arts education, call attention to the existence of issues long since addressed, or repeat standard solutions cannot be considered.
AEPR is an open forum. Its purpose is to present and explore many points of view; it contains articles for and against all sorts of ideas, policies, and proposals for arts education. Its overall purpose is to help readers think for themselves, rather than to tell them how they should think.
Policy Orientations:
AEPR respects scholarship and research, but these alone do not constitute policy content. Policy analysis often involves educated opinion about the meanings of ideas, events, decisions, decision-making frameworks, and educational content, such as the following:
- gathering and interpreting information about simple or complex issues in order to suggest what should be done;
- looking at decisions of the past and suggesting what went right or wrong and why;
- taking a body of research or scholarship and exploring its ramifications;
- focusing on decisions in process or decisions already made, perhaps explaining agreement or disagreement or developing a list of potential promises and pitfalls.
These orientations can be applied to many issues-from the structure and results of psychometric research to the values climate that would support the arts as an educational basic. They can deal with the relationships of teacher preparation to cultural development, the problems of curriculum building, the particular challenges of teaching specific art forms, and the impact of political, economic, cultural, artistic, and other climates on decision making for arts instruction. The list is endless; the permutations cover a rich and vast territory for intellectually based work.
When starting an article, readers not only expect to learn more about an issue, but they also expect to have their horizons expanded. Even if they disagree with the author's conclusions, they want to feel that the insights gained were worth the time expended. They expect an intellectually rich, thorough, and logical analysis of real or projected consequences as the basis for recommendations about next steps.
Writing:
AEPR seeks writing that is clear, cogent, incisive, and illuminating, irrespective of its specific style. Neither simplicity nor complexity, brevity nor length is considered a virtue itself. Articles must have internal integrity and flow logically. Titles and subtitles should be consistent with each other and the text. Texts must be primarily the author's own work; quotations from others strung together by scraps of original text cannot be published. Any accounts of personal experience must be tied to policy analyses or recommendations. At submission, the writing-by its content, organization, and professional finish-should reflect the importance of the ideas being presented.
Preparation of Articles:
When preparing an article, make sure that its subject matter and approach are consistent with the requirements of a policy-oriented journal. Question the extent to which the text meets the guidelines and criteria outlined above. Think of important individuals you would like to reach with your ideas. Edit and polish until you are sure that even the most knowledgeable and intellectually exacting of your readers will be impressed with what you have to say and how you say it.
Most of all, question the extent to which statements and conclusions will withstand careful scrutiny and analysis. Remember that the policy arena is about resolving disagreements over what should be done. Targets are always moving. It is not the author's obligation to develop the perfect solution or an unanswerable argument, but facts must be accurate. Conclusions or proposals must flow from analyses and be defensible.
Reminders:
•Do your homework before submitting articles; check our indexes; read guidelines carefully.
•Make sure any submission is a policy article, focused on pre-K-12 arts education.
•Articles should not be merely descriptions or celebrations of programs; why something works or how it could work better is key.
•Do not promote individuals, institutions, methods, or products or repeat commonplace ideas. We know arts education is important. We know it could use more funding. What should we do if we get it and why?
•Always include policy recommendations in your article.
Email manuscripts to: aepr@heldref.org
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