Colleagues are encouraged to contact the editor-in-chief in advance of submission to identify research directions and ensure alignment with the journal’s multidisciplinary, applied and theoretical foci. Educare accepts submissions continuously throughout the year. For special issues, the deadlines for submission are stated in the call for papers. Accepted manuscripts are typically published within 12 months of submission.
Educare accepts original research articles that use all forms of theoretically-oriented and empirical research within the broad field of educational sciences, in English, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian. The journal does not favour any particular theoretical approach or research method. Position papers, pedagogical reflections and book reviews are also invited. Research Article Guidelines are appropriate for quantitatively and qualitatively oriented manuscripts that include any form of empirical data, e.g. statistics, interview/observation data, text analysis. Position Paper Guidelines are appropriate for manuscripts articulating the author’s informed position on a particular issue within the field of education and educational sciences. Examples of content for a position paper are arguments for a particular theoretical standpoint on an issue, response to a publication, suggestions for methodological choices, outlines of noteworthy areas for further research. Pedagogical reflections are short scholarly features that concentrate on the critical examination of a pedagogical experience, practice, dilemma or
development process. While the format for book reviews is not specified, book reviews, which are not peer reviewed, will contain correct publishing information of the book under review, a brief summary of its main points, and a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the book in relation to seminal work in the relevant area.
All articles submitted to Educare are screened for plagiarism by the Crossref Similarity Check (powered by iThenticate).
Publication with Educare is free of charge at all stages.
Authorship and Author Information
Formatting Text and References
Preparing for Double Blind Peer Review
Pedagogical Reflection Guidelines
Each author and co-author needs to meet criteria listed in Educare's Authorship Policy.
Any case of conflict of interest should be stated clearly within the article.
Submitting authors are required to provide the following information for all authors of the article/paper:
Name, affiliation, ORCID, email.
Educare accepts submissions in English, Swedish, Norweigan and Danish. If the submission is not in English, you need to provide the title and keywords in both the submission language and in English. Before submission, make sure that the manuscript has been proof read thoroughly and that the language is of high academic standard.
The text should be submitted as a Microsoft Word file, and formated according to the journal template.
References should be formatted according to APA style. For instructions on formatting references, see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (latest edition). There are plenty of free guides to APA style online, for instance Purdue Online Writing Lab from Purdue University.
Follow instructions to ensure the integrity of the blind peer-review for submission to a peer-reviewed section of the journal. Every effort should be made to prevent the identities of the authors and reviewers from being known to each other. This involves the authors, editors, and reviewers (who upload documents as part of their review) checking to see if the following steps have been taken with regard to the text and the file properties:
Research articles and systematic literature reviews promote empirical research, hypothesis-driven research, and explorations into the state-of-the-art within particular areas of the relevant field. The complete manuscripts should be no longer than 10000 words including the references. The authors are encouraged to organise content as suggested below and address the issues specified under each heading.
Abstract
The abstract (up to 200 words, in English irrespective of the original language of the article) should include a clear rationale for the study, its aim and research questions, methodology, results, and conclusions. The abstract should present a comprehensive overview of the study.
Introduction
The introduction section should position the study within the educational research field. This section should include information on the following: the study’s focus, the study’s relevance to readers of Educare, and the research question or problem statement that the study addresses. The introduction section should conclude with a brief overview of the significance of the study.
Aim and Research Questions
The aim and research questions should be framed in terms of needed work identified in the literature review.
Literature Review and Theoretical framework
The literature review should position the reported research in the context of work by other researchers, identify needed advances, and establish justification for the present study. The study is underpinned by, or applies, a theoretical framework relevant to the aim and research questions.
Method
The method section should consist of a comprehensive description of how the study was executed and should also align with the study’s aim and research questions. The structure should typically include information on design, data collection, and analytic method. When describing the method, the authors should provide information about the following aspects, as appropriate for the study:
Results
The results section should provide evidence that the research questions have been addressed. Results should be reported accurately and comprehensively using appropriate graphics if needed. When applicable, categories of evidence related to fairness, validity and reliability and application should be addressed.
Discussion
The discussion section should provide interpretation, use, and consequences of the results. Attention should also be given to claims, warrants, qualifications and applications for the results. Authors should conclude the section with directions for further research intended to advance the body of knowledge and research reported in the study.
Conclusions
The conclusion section should provide justification that the results have answered the research questions with necessary qualifications. Special attention should be paid to theoretical advances and future applications, especially to groups of diverse learners, policy and curricula development.
Reviewers’ Expectations
See the Research Article Review Guidelines for the review criteria used by reviewers.
Position papers are short features (up to 5000 words excluding the references) concentrated on introducing the author’s novel research ideas, hypotheses, identification of significant knowledge gaps within the field, methodological breakthroughs, possible solutions to significant problems and other newsworthy issues within the field of education and educational sciences. Position papers will typically outline a position, validate it, and identify its consequences. Position papers can be organised into paragraphs with clear topic sentences instead of sections with headings.
The proposed structure is the following.
Abstract
The abstract (up to 200 words, in English irrespective of the original language of the position paper) should include a clear position statement, a clear rationale for the position, and the consequences for the position. The abstract should present a comprehensive overview of the position paper.
Introduction
The introduction section should provide a clear identification of the research area and issue, a brief description of the state-of-the-art, an argument for why the issue is problematic and significant, and the statement of the position.
Body
The body section should provide informed and well-structured arguments for the position as well as address alternative views.
Conclusion
The conclusion section should provide a brief summary of the main points of the paper, and a clear description of its consequences, e.g. a solution to the problem, a call for action, a suggestion for future research.
Reviewers’ Expectations
See the Position Paper Review Guidelines for the review criteria used by reviewer.
Note: Manuscripts that present a systematic empirical study should follow the Research Article Guidelines. Manuscripts whose primary purpose is to advocate and substantiate a position should follow the Position Paper Guidelines.
Pedagogical reflections are short scholarly features of up to 5, 000 words excluding the references. They concentrate on the critical examination of a pedagogical experience, practice, dilemma or development process. Their purpose is to make situated professional knowledge available for scholarly discussion and to identify insights of relevance beyond the immediate context.
A pedagogical reflection should bring experience into dialogue with educational research, theory, policy or other relevant scholarship. It should identify a pedagogically significant issue, explain the context in which it arises, examine the author’s position in relation to it and develop a clear argument. The contribution should be critically informed and relevant to the broad readership of Educare.
The authors are encouraged to organise the manuscript as suggested below and address the issues specified under each heading. Alternative headings may be used when they serve the argument more effectively, provided that the manuscript addresses the expected content and maintains a clear structure.
Abstract
The abstract should be no longer than 200 words and should be written in English irrespective of the original language of the pedagogical reflection. It should identify the pedagogical issue, experience or practice under examination and provide sufficient information about the educational context.
The abstract should state the purpose or guiding question of the reflection, indicate the scholarly perspectives that inform the discussion and present the principal insights and implications. It should provide a comprehensive overview of the manuscript and make clear its relevance to education and educational sciences.
Keywords
Provide no more than five keywords in alphabetical order, separated by commas. The keywords should be given in the same language as the manuscript and in English. They should identify the pedagogical issue, educational context and central conceptual concerns.
Pedagogical Point of Departure
The opening section should introduce the pedagogical experience, practice, dilemma or development process that provides the point of departure for the reflection. It should identify the issue to be examined, explain why it is pedagogically significant and establish its relevance to readers of Educare.
The section should formulate a clear purpose or guiding question. This purpose should delimit the reflection and direct the subsequent discussion. The manuscript may arise from a single critical incident, a recurring pattern, a pedagogical intervention, a collaborative process or a tension between educational intentions and practice. Irrespective of its point of departure, the issue should be framed as a matter of wider educational interest rather than as an account of an isolated event.
The introduction should conclude by indicating how the manuscript is organised and what contribution the reflection intends to make.
Context and Positionality
This section should provide sufficient information about the educational and institutional context for readers to understand the conditions under which the issue arose. Relevant information may include the educational level, subject or professional area, curricular setting, institutional arrangements and linguistic, cultural or policy conditions.
Authors should clarify their role in the setting and their relationship to the experience or practice under examination. The discussion should account for responsibilities, interests and relations of authority that may shape the reflection. It should also acknowledge perspectives that the author’s position makes available and those it may restrict.
The basis of the reflection should be described. It may include professional notes, course materials, student evaluations, discussions with colleagues, observations, correspondence, educational artefacts or other records. Such material should not be presented as a formal empirical dataset. Its function in a pedagogical reflection is to support a transparent and disciplined examination of practice.
Where several authors or professional groups contribute, the manuscript should explain how their perspectives relate to one another and how the reflection was developed. Differences in responsibility, authority and access to the setting should be made visible when they are relevant to the argument.
Pedagogical Experience, Practice or Dilemma
This section should present the material required to understand the focal issue. The account should be selective and directed by the purpose or guiding question. Authors should provide enough detail to make the pedagogical significance of the situation clear while avoiding an unnecessarily extensive chronology or description of the setting.
The discussion may focus on a critical incident, a sequence of events, a recurring pattern, a pedagogical design, an assessment practice, a supervision or feedback situation, a question of participation or inclusion, or a development process. Brief vignettes, anonymised excerpts or descriptions of relevant materials may be included where they contribute directly to the analysis and can be used ethically.
The section should make visible the tension, uncertainty, assumption or decision that warrants examination. Accounts centred exclusively on successful outcomes are insufficient unless they also address complications, limitations and alternative interpretations.
Authors should distinguish between description and interpretation. The account of what occurred should be sufficiently clear for readers to follow the subsequent analysis and to recognise where the author’s interpretation begins.
Critical Reflection and Scholarly Context
This section constitutes the main part of the manuscript. It should move beyond description and examine the focal issue through a sustained dialogue between situated experience and relevant scholarship. The discussion may draw on educational research, theory, policy, professional knowledge or established pedagogical concepts.
The scholarly context should be selected according to its capacity to illuminate the issue. A comprehensive literature review is not required. Authors should nevertheless position the reflection in relation to current or seminal work and make clear how the selected perspectives contribute to the analysis.
The discussion should identify and examine assumptions that informed the practice, expectations that were confirmed or unsettled and tensions between pedagogical intentions and their consequences. It may consider how institutional conditions, relations of authority, disciplinary traditions, curricular demands or established professional routines shaped what became possible in the situation. Critical reflection requires attention to plausible alternative explanations, contradictory evidence and the limits of the author’s own account. Scholarship should be used to deepen or complicate the interpretation rather than merely to confirm the author’s initial understanding.
The analysis should lead to a clear argument. The contribution may consist of a revised understanding of a pedagogical problem, a qualification of an established concept, the identification of a previously overlooked condition or a reasoned proposal for changes in practice. Claims should be proportionate to the material and context on which the reflection is based. The relationship between the local case and the wider educational issue should remain explicit throughout the discussion.
Ethical Considerations and Limitations
The manuscript should state clearly whether it reports professional reflection, educational development, action research or a combination of these activities. Pedagogical reflections should demonstrate careful consideration of the people, relationships and materials represented in the manuscript. Authors should explain how confidentiality and anonymity have been protected and, where applicable, how consent and permission to use educational materials have been obtained. Particular attention should be paid to relations in which the author holds responsibility for teaching, assessment, supervision, employment or leadership. Direct quotations and reproductions of educational materials should be used only when the necessary permission has been obtained. Describing an activity as professional reflection or educational development does not remove any applicable ethical obligations.
The principal limitations of the reflection should be identified. These may concern the author’s position, the partial nature of the available material, the specificity of the context or the absence of perspectives from other participants. The limits of transferability should be addressed explicitly.
Pedagogical Insights and Implications
The concluding section should bring together the principal insights developed through the analysis. It should explain how the reflection changes, extends or qualifies the understanding of the pedagogical issue introduced at the outset. The implications should be stated with necessary qualifications. Authors may discuss consequences for teaching, supervision, assessment, curriculum, educational leadership, professional development, policy or further research. The discussion should distinguish between insights grounded in the immediate context and propositions that may be relevant to other settings. The conclusion should not reduce the reflection to a list of general lessons or recommendations. Instead, it should identify what others may learn from the case, under what conditions the insights may be useful and what questions remain unresolved. Suggestions for future practice or inquiry should follow from the analysis and be sufficiently specific to advance pedagogical discussion.
References
References should be limited to sources that have a clear function in the reflection. In-text citations and the reference list should be formatted according to the latest edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA).
Formatting and Submission
The manuscript should be submitted as a Microsoft Word file and formatted according to the journal template. Authors may use numbered or unnumbered headings but should apply the chosen system consistently. The abstract should use the Educare abstract style; keywords should use the Educare Keywords style; headings, body text, quotations, figures, tables and references should use the corresponding styles provided in the journal template.
The manuscript should be prepared for double-blind peer review. Authors’ names, affiliations, contact details and other identifying information should be removed from the manuscript and its file properties. Self-references should be anonymised where required to protect the integrity of the review process.
Figures and tables should be necessary for the argument, numbered consecutively and supplied with informative titles. Images, tables and other graphical content should include alternative text. All permissions required for third-party material must be obtained before submission.
The manuscript should be proofread thoroughly and written in English, Swedish, Norwegian or Danish. The language should be of a high academic standard and accessible to readers across different areas of education and educational sciences.
Information about authorship, conflicts of interest, the use of generative AI tools, copyright, licensing and other publication policies is available in Educare’s Author Guidelines and Journal Policies. Authors are responsible for ensuring that the manuscript complies with the policies in force at the time of submission.
Reviewers’ Expectations
Pedagogical reflections are assessed in relation to the following criteria:
See the Pedagogical Reflection Review Guidelines for the review criteria used by reviewers.
If you have any questions or complaints regarding your submission to Educare, please contact us.
In the case of formal complaints, disputes, or appeals, authors should contact the editor-in-chief, who is responsible for ensuring that a fair, deliberative, and thorough investigation is conducted.
About the Journal
Educare is a peer-reviewed journal established at the Faculty of Education and Society, Malmö University, Sweden in 2005. Since May 2023, Educare is published by Malmö University Press and is indexed by DOAJ.
Educare publishes a wide range of research in education and educational sciences with particular interest in the Nordic region. The journal constitutes a research forum for faculty, practitioners and policy makers.
Educare | ISSN (Online) 2004-5190 | ISSN (Print): 1653-1868
Published by Malmö University Press on behalf of The Faculty of Education and Society, Malmö University, under the terms of a Creative Commons CC BY-NC 4.0 License
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