Harvard Educational Review

  1. Guidelines for Authors

    The Harvard Educational Review (HER) accepts contributions from researchers, scholars, policy makers, practitioners, teachers, students, and informed observers in education and related fields. In addition to original reports of research and theory, HER welcomes articles that reflect on teaching and practice in educational settings in the United States and abroad.

    HER has a two-stage review process. In the first stage, all manuscripts that are submitted go through an initial screening process and are read by a minimum of two Editorial Board members. During the second stage, manuscripts are considered by the full Editorial Board and receive written feedback based on the Board’s discussion.
     
    It is the policy of HER to consider for publication only manuscripts that are not simultaneously being considered elsewhere. Similarly, it is journal policy not to publish manuscripts that are currently available online or in print. To this end, HER requires that authors remove manuscripts from publicly available Web sites before submission.
     
    Please follow the following guidelines in preparing a manuscript for submission.

    Types of Articles

    Research Articles

    Manuscripts reporting original research related to education should include: background and context and/or theoretical/conceptual framework, literature review, methods, findings and analysis, and discussion sections. The literature review should be relevant to the research topic and findings. All methodologies need to be clearly described and should match the research questions or stated purpose of the manuscript. The findings should be clear, and the arguments set forth should emerge from the analysis of the data presented in the manuscript. Accepted manuscripts typically include clear implications of the research and are accessible to HER’s generalist readership.

    Essays

    An essay should have a well-developed argument that answers a particular question or several related questions. This argument may engage with previous work and may take on a subjective point of view. Essays should include reasoning, evidence, and examples to support the author’s thesis. They may also take other forms, including expository or narrative manuscripts.

    Voices: Reflective Accounts of Education (formerly Inside Schools)

    The Harvard Educational Review recognizes the value of experiential knowledge and is committed to featuring the voices of people engaged in various educational activities around the world. We welcome reflective pieces written by students, teachers, parents, community members, and others involved in education whose perspectives can inform policy, practice, and/or research. The power of Voices: Reflective Accounts of Education articles rests primarily in the voice of the author(s) and its rich grounding in practice, which may be informed by theory and research. Submissions generally contain a detailed narrative that weaves together ideas, situations, and experiences and highlights key learnings.

    Additional Submissions

    HER welcomes submissions in addition to the above categories. If your manuscript does not correspond to any of the above categories, please select this option. On submission, you will be asked to provide a statement of up to 100 words that describes the nature of your manuscript.

    Criteria

    Significance and Impact

    Manuscripts should focus on questions relevant to the field of education. These questions should be pointed and should also have implications for broader educational problems, nationally and/or globally. Manuscripts should contribute to the work of stakeholders seeking to address educational challenges and should explicitly state their contributions, whether theoretical or practical, in order to identify the populations that would most benefit from its publication, such as teachers, policy makers, or students.
     
    Advancement of the Field

    The manuscript should push existing theory in a new direction and/or extend, fill a gap in, or bring a new perspective to current literature.

    Clarity and Style

    Manuscripts must be well written in clear, concise language and be free of technical jargon. As a generalist journal, HER strives for all articles to be widely accessible to nonexperts. Previously published HER articles can serve as examples of the style of writing appropriate for the audience. The editors understand that the specific organization of a manuscript may differ according to discipline and the author’s aesthetic.

    Submission Guidelines

    Authors should indicate whether they are submitting their manuscript as a research article, an essay, a feature, a Voices: Reflective Accounts of Education article, an essay review, or a book review.

    Formatting

    HER accepts manuscripts of up to 9,000 words, including abstract, appendixes, and references, and reserves the right to return any manuscript that exceeds that length.
    All text must be double-spaced. Type size must be at least 12 point with 1-inch margins on all sides, and paper size should be set to 8.5 x 11, even if printed on A4 paper.
     
    Authors should refer to The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) for general questions of style, grammar, punctuation, usage, and form.
     
    The journal defers to author preference in decisions about the naming and capitalization of racial, ethnic, and cultural groups. Manuscripts should be internally consistent in this regard. For all nonlegal manuscripts, authors should use the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association for reference and citation formats. References must be in APA format. The Uniform System of Citation, published by the Harvard Law Review, should be used for articles that reply heavily on legal documentation; because this form is not easily adaptable to other sources, it is usually combined with CMS as necessary. Manuscripts with references and/or citations in another form will be returned to the author(s).

    Keywords

    Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of six keywords, based on the ERIC list of index descriptors (see https://eric.ed.gov/). Authors may choose to include one or two “free” keywords not included on the ERIC list of descriptors if they wish to do so. These keywords will be used for indexing and to improve searchability.

    Submission Procedure

    The Harvard Educational Review uses an electronic submission process. To submit a manuscript for consideration, please visit https://hepg.submittable.com/submit and follow the specific instructions for your intended manuscript type.
     
    Manuscripts are considered anonymously. The author’s name must not appear anywhere in the manuscript; any references that identify the author in the text must be either deleted or made anonymous (e.g., instead of citing “Smith, 1972,” cite “Author, 1972”). Please do not submit a title page as part of your manuscript.

    Contacting the Harvard Educational Review: 

    For questions about submitting a manuscript, please contact Laura Clos at laura_clos@gse.harvard.edu.

    Editors can also be reached at:

    Harvard Educational Review
    8 Story Street, First Floor
    Cambridge, MA 02138

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