Journal on Education in Emergencies
(concept note)
This concept note outlines a proposal for the establishment of a Journal on Education in Emergencies (EiE).[1]
In the past 15 years, the EiE field has grown tremendously, evidenced by the increasing number of MA students choosing to specialize in EiE; increasing number of tools and resources to support EiE policy and practice;[2] increasing number of EiE researchers and publications on the topic; exponential growth of INEE membership;[3] and the global use of the INEE Minimum Standards as a benchmark of quality and accountability in EiE programs and policies. Today, EiE has been well established as a sub-field within education, and this sub-field is likely to see a growth in rigorous research in the coming years.
This scholarly, peer-reviewed Journal[4] is set up in response to the growing need for rigorous EiE research to strengthen the evidence base, support EiE policy and practice, and improve learning in and across service-delivery organizations, policy and academic institutions. This Journal will create synergies among research, policy and practice. Moreover, the Journal will close a gap existing in the academic space: currently, there is no Journal dedicated to this topic.[5] With over 13 years of experience, INEE is well-positioned to facilitate EiE knowledge generation and sharing through this Journal, thus contributing to the further professionalization of the EiE field. See some examples of articles appropriate for this Journal below.
This initiative contributes to the goal and objective 2 of the Strategic Plan for the INEE Working Group (WG) on Minimum Standards and Network Tools, namely to “facilitate research, evaluation and knowledge-sharing on good practices in education in emergencies informed by the INEE Minimum Standards and network tools.” It also contributes to the achievement of outcomes 2 and 3 of the overall INEE Strategic Plan.[6]
The establishment of the Journal on Education in Emergencies contributes to broader strategy and efforts by the INEE WG to strengthen the EiE evidence base and to support university-level teaching and learning on EiE.
Purpose:
The Journal on Education in Emergencies aims to:
1) To stimulate research to build the evidence-base and the collective knowledge around EiE. A scholarly journal dedicated to EiE could validate the importance of rigorous scientific research in the field and elevate the EiE community’s standards for, and expectations of, how research and scholarship is conducted. This will contribute to the further professionalization of the EiE field.
EiE practitioners and policy-makers often use the argument that EiE is life-saving: this Journal could stimulate the rigorous investigation of the argument so that future EiE programming, policy-making and funding allocation can be backed up by data. Inter-sectoral linkages, i.e., the interactions between education, health, shelter, protection, nutrition and WASH sectors, is also a very under-researched area, albeit with great potential to increase cross-fertilization and collaboration among sectors during humanitarian response.
2) To promote learning across service-delivery organizations, policy and academic institutions. Journal articles will inform a better quality, results-driven EiE policy and practice, based on application of the learning shared through the Journal. This Journal would provide a much-needed space within academic literature for practitioners, policy-makers and academics to share EiE research and engage in dialogue with each other. The Journal would form a platform to foster increased linkages between diverse actors engaged in EiE.
3) To help to define research gaps and key trends as a way to inform policy, practice and future research.
In a recent survey of 43 EiE practitioners and policy-makers, 92% of the respondents indicated that the Journal would be helpful and useful for their work because it would keep them up-to-date on current developments and research on EiE; 85% said that the Journal would identify new EiE trends that they would need to address in their work; and 65% said that the Journal would encourage them to document their work and share with the EiE community; and 61% indicated that the Journal would encourage them to design and implement evidence-informed EiE program and policies.
Journal Focus:
The focus of this Journal is Education in Emergencies. According to the INEE Minimum Standards, education in emergencies is defined as “quality learning opportunities for all ages in situations of crisis, including early childhood development, primary, secondary, non-formal, technical, vocation, higher and adult education. Education in emergencies provides physical, psychosocial and cognitive protection that can sustain and save lives.”
The scope of EiE research appropriate for this Journal is conceptualized broadly to cover many areas of EiE including emergency education response in natural disasters, conflict/fragile states and complex emergencies, conflict sensitive education, attacks on education, education for peacebuilding, peace education, conflict mitigation, education and fragility, resilience, disaster risk reduction and education, transitions from emergency through recovery to development, and forced migration and education.
The Journal welcomes EiE articles within the entire continuum of prevention, preparedness, response, recovery through to development.
In addition, articles linking EiE with thematic/cross-cutting issues are also appropriate. These include gender and gender-responsive education, inclusive education, human rights, conflict mitigation, HIV/AIDS, inter-sectoral linkages, protection, psychosocial support, youth & adolescents, early childhood development, and disaster risk reduction. Other topics include benefits in investing in EiE, EiE program administration challenges (surge staffing, roster funding), meta-analyses of cross-cutting issues, capacity building and collaboration with local populations for education delivery, and curricula (revision, renewal, history and identity-issues).
The Editor-in-Chief in consultation with the Editorial Board may decide to broaden the Journal focus and can select specific topics related to EiE as the focus of special editions. Final language describing the Journal’s focus and mission will be developed by the Editor and incorporate the advice of the Editorial Board.
Editions & Contents:
This journal will be published online twice a year.[7] Each Journal edition will feature 5-6 peer-reviewed articles written by researchers and practitioners in the field of EiE.
The three proposed Journal sections are:
1) EiE Research Articles (Section 1): articles in this section will have solid research methodology/ research design, use an explicit, well-recognized theoretical or conceptual framework, and contribute to the evidence-base and the advancement of knowledge on EiE. Articles that develop a new, or challenge existing EiE theoretical or conceptual frameworks will also be considered. Qualitative, quantitative research and mixed-methods articles are appropriate. It is envisioned that articles in this section will be mainly authored by researchers.
2) EiE in Practice (Section 2): articles in this section will demonstrate progress and/or challenges in designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating EiE policies and programs. Articles on the development and applications of tools and resources on EiE and articles exploring linkages between EiE and traditional humanitarian sectors will also be considered. It is envisioned that articles in this section will be authored by practitioners or practitioner-and-researcher teams.[8]
3) EiE Book Reviews (Section 3): articles in this section will offer a critical review of a recently published or an upcoming book ( or substantial studies, evaluations, meta-analyses, documentaries or other media) focusing on EiE. Due to the small number of published EiE books, this section may not appear in each edition.
Abstracts of all articles in each Journal edition will be translated in Arabic, French, Spanish and Portuguese to ensure knowledge sharing across the broader INEE membership.
Peer Review Process:
All articles will be peer-reviewed through a double blind process.[9] Each article will be reviewed by at least 3 peer reviewers, qualified to evaluate a manuscript on the given topic. For this purpose, INEE will establish and facilitate a roster of Peer Reviewers and their areas of expertise and employ the necessary system to ensure that Peer Reviewers are reviewing articles without knowledge of the authors’ names. Peer Reviewers should have experience in EiE research and/or practice and be able to evaluate the rigor of the used research methods, the evidence presented, and the validity of the argument. As much as possible, INEE will strive to ensure that the roster includes peer reviewers from the global South. In a recent survey, 75% of the respondents indicated that they are interested in serving as peer reviewers for this Journal.[10] Peer reviewers may generally take 4+ hours to review a manuscript and write feedback comments.
A well-recognized software system to facilitate the double-blind peer review process, called PeerTrack or an equivalent, will be employed. This software is already used by a number of existing Journals.
The peer review process will be facilitated by the Editor-in-Chief with an administrative and coordination support from INEE Secretariat.
EiE Research Manuscripts (Section 1) will be judged on the following criteria: use of an explicit theoretical or conceptual framework, situation of the research within relevant body of literature, originality of the analysis, appropriateness of the used methodology and methodological approach, contribution to the advancement of knowledge in EiE, and clarity of expression.[11]
EiE in Practice Manuscripts (Section 2) will be judged on the following criteria: usefulness of the tools or resources shared to the broad EiE community, evidence of the potential for scaling up of good practice, clarity of expression.[12]
EiE Book Review Manuscripts (Section 3) will be invited directly by the Editor-in-Chief. (This is standard practice for the Comparative Education Review and other well-respected journals). Readers, authors, and publishers can suggest books for review by emailing the Editor-in-Chief directly.
In a recent survey, 29% and 41% of the respondents indicated that they are very likely and somewhat likely to submit their manuscripts for consideration to this Journal.
Journal Access:
INEE would provide free online access to the Journal’s content to ensure that all readers can easily access the scholarly work. The Journal will be hosted on the INEE Toolkit whose existing search engine can facilitate readers’ search for Journal articles on specific topics. In addition, the Journal will be accessible through the main INEE website.
The Journal will be available in pdf format only. INEE may eventually make the Journal available in hard copy, funding permitting. As an intermediate step, while full funding is not yet available, INEE may consider printing and distributing a 2-page summary of the articles featured in the edition, similar to the current cost-saving practice for some open-access Journals and publications. Funding will be required for printing and mailing of the Journal.[13]
Abstract summaries will be translated in all INEE languages (Arabic, French, Spanish, Portuguese) by the INEE Language Community Facilitators in order to ensure access to information to all INEE members. If a special edition focuses on a country or region, INEE will try to make the edition available in the local language(s), funding permitting.
INEE will make the Journal articles accessible through JSTOR and other recognized academic search engines and citation indexes.[14] All Journal editions will be issued an ISSN number, by the Library of Congress. In addition, the Journal will be available through the Directory of Open Access Journals: http://www.doaj.org/.
Journal Promotion:
The Journal will be promoted widely to the broad EiE community and beyond, using various channels to carry out electronic, printed and in-person promotion at conferences, trainings and other events. Possible channels for e-promotion of each Journal edition include:
· INEE listserv (9,000+ subscribers)
· Education Cluster listserv
· Global Partnership for Education listserv
· Coalition for Basic Education listserv
· Sphere listserv
· CPWG listserv
· Mental Health in Conflict listserv
· Forced Migration Review listserv & hard copy distribution
· OCHA
· UNGEI listserv
· OSF listserv
· PCDN network
· UNICEF Education Chiefs of Section distribution list
· USAID Education staff distribution list
· Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack listserv
· INEE social media channels (YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter)
In addition, INEE could host a table at international education/humanitarian conferences, including the next CIES, UKFIET, USAID-Education, INEE Global Consultation conferences, to promote the Journal and/or secure a panel dedicated to the launch of the Journal, as appropriate. The Editor and INEE team will explore additional channels for promotion outside the Global West.
Additional promotion ideas (funding & capacity permitting):
Following each Journal edition, 1-2 article authors will be invited to synthesize the key outcomes and findings of their research papers in a short 1-page INEE blog piece and/or 5-min interview for INEE’s YouTube channel/podcast as a way to promote discussion of their article and, by extension, generate interest in the Journal.
Target Audience:
This Journal would be of interest to EiE practitioners, policy-makers, students, researchers and academics. Journal articles would be of interest also to colleagues working in traditional humanitarian sector response, peacebuilding and development sectors.
Journal articles will allow professors teaching EIE at the tertiary levels to include scholarly articles in their syllabi, thus significantly strengthening the teaching and learning of EiE.
INEE Partnership with a Leading University:
For the development and running of the Journal, INEE will partner with a leading EiE professor from a university with an established focus on researching and teaching EiE. Such a partnership leverages the coordination and networking expertise of INEE as well as the Professor’s scholarly knowledge of the EiE field and the ability to establish the Journal as a well-respected peer-reviewed Journal and set its direction.
By partnering with INEE, the university contributes with:
· Time and effort of a Professor who will serve as the Editor-in-Chief for a 2-year tenure; the university is expected to give the professor a “release-time” of one course per semester to lead the Journal
· (if possible) financial support for the operations of the Journal
INEE could also consider co-branding the Journal to include both the University and INEE’s logos.
INEE has not pre-selected an Editor. All interested candidates will be invited to apply. The position will be advertised on the INEE Jobs page in August-September 2013. A selection committee will review all applications.
Staffing:
The Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board, and the work they do to establish the Journal and to secure quality articles from top-notch researchers that contribute to the EiE field, will impact how the Journal is viewed and perceived in the field.
1) Editor-in-Chief: he/she decides whether a submitted manuscript will be published in the Journal, keeping in mind recommendations from the peer reviewers. Responsibilities include selecting books for review and soliciting book reviewers; contributing editorial pieces; editing manuscripts approved for publication; providing manuscript authors with constructive, detailed feedback; determining the topic/theme of special editions; collaborating with the INEE Coordinator and the Editorial Board on policies, procedures etc. The Editor-in-Chief will have a 2-year tenure, producing 3-4 editions.