Attendees interested in AERA's journals program are invited to attend the Journal Publications Committee Open Meeting on Sunday, April 15. The meeting will feature an open forum on the future of the American Educational Research Journal and will also include the Committee's report of its activities.
The open forum will include a report on the work of the AERJ Subcommittee, which over the past three years has explored the journal's editorial structure and whether it should be changed to better serve the field. The structure currently consists of two separate editorships, one for the Social and Institutional Analysis section and one for the Teaching, Learning, and Human Development section. The current division was implemented in 1990.
The subcommittee is chaired by Journal Publications Committee member Na'ilah Nasir. Members include Laura Desimone, Carl Grant, and Carla O'Connor, each of whom has a background in AERA journals, including prior service on the Committee. The group has explored several pathways, including splitting the journal in two, retaining the present journal structure, adding new rubrics to the existing two, and unifying the editorships. The subcommittee has examined manuscript submission data (blinded), interviewed recent SIA and TLHD editors, explored rewriting AERJ's mission statement, and interviewed editors of other journals that seek to represent entire fields, as AERJ does.
The Journals Publications Committee is charged with oversight of AERA journals, including routine examination of peer review processes, pursuit of editor searches, and review and development of AERA's array of journals. The Committee authorized the AERJ Subcommittee in 2008.
The Committee and its subcommittee welcome all members and attendees to attend Sunday's open meeting to hear about this work, ask questions, and share views. The subcommittee is charged with making a report and recommendation to the Committee, which may elect to make a recommendation to AERA Council.
The open meeting will be held Sunday, April 15, 12:25 p.m. to 1:55 p.m., in the Pan Pacific Hotel, Restaurant Level, Pacific Rim 2.