Focus on Practice
Aims and Scope of Focus on Practice
Focus on Practice aims to provide short (2,500 word maximum), academically rigorous articles that can inform educational practice, with ideas from Wales and around the world. Articles can be submitted in Welsh or English. Articles are peer-mentored and feature innovative, creative and original research from practitioners, professionals and researchers investigating the various dimensions of educational practice.
We encourage contributions from practitioners and researchers at all stages of their career and from anywhere in the world.
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Publication schedule
Every accepted article will be published bilingually in the Focus on Practice collection on the Wales Journal of Education website and will be allocated a DOI (a permanent and persistent unique identifier which allows articles to be read, downloaded and cited).
Articles are published individually throughout the year, and therefore do not form part of the numbered issues of the Wales Journal of Education. The Editors retain the final editorial decision on publication.
Articles can be cited under the following format:
Author (Year) “Title”, Focus on Practice (Wales Journal of Education), doi:
Submission Guidelines
The Focus on Practice collection welcomes high quality, original manuscripts that represent a broad array of methods, theories and paradigms/discourses associated with educational research.
Submission Length Guidelines
- Research Articles: 2500 words (excluding references and abstract)
Submissions representing eclectic and experimental approaches to research methods and outcomes are welcome, and this WJE collection encourages submissions from authors who are new to contributing to public conversations of educational practice.
Preparing Your Submission
Structure
Please use the following headings when submitting your work. Word counts provided are for guidance only:
Abstract (150 words, not included in overall word count): A brief summary of the submission and keywords, to answer the following questions (these are not required headings): Why was the study undertaken?; What is already known?; How was the research conducted and analysed (methods, sample, method of analysis, etc); What does this article add?
1. Introduction (150 words): This section introduces the topic of investigation, the aims of the research, the context in which your research takes place and why the study is needed.
2. Literature (500 words): This section provides a review of literature relevant to the topic of investigation and demonstrates your knowledge of the field.
3. Methods (750 words): This section describes ethical procedures, the generation of data, analytical procedures and must include the following sub-headings (although you can add more):
- Ethics: This section describes the measures taken to ensure the research was conducted ethically, particularly regarding the rights and general welfare of participants - it should include academic citations.
- Sampling Procedure and Description: This section describes the process of generating the sample participating in the study, as well as a detailed description of the various characteristics of the sample that are appropriate and relevant to the topic of research.
- Data Generation & Analysis: This section describes in detail the methods used in generating, analysing and interpreting data used in the study.
4. Results and discussion (1,000 words): This section describes the outcome and/or results of the research and how this relates to previous literature you outlined in the literature review. This section provides an interpretation of the findings through careful consideration of the evidence and theories discovered in the review of the literature. You can present all the results first and then discuss, or outline a result and then discuss.
5. Conclusion (100 words): This section provides succinct summary of your research. It should identify new knowledge and understanding generated from the research and inform the reader about the importance and significance of these outcomes to the growing body of literature.
6. Acknowledgments (not included in word count): - for example, any funding you may have received or people who took part in the study or helped you in the research process.
7. References (not included in word count) – use Harvard format, with entries in alpha order, as the following examples:
Abram, D. (2010). Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology. New York: Vintage Books.
Jardine, D. W. (1992). Immanuel Kant, Jean Piaget and the rage for order: Ecological hints of the colonial spirit in pedagogy. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 24/1, 28–43.
United Nations (2021). World on the verge of climate ‘abyss’, as temperature rise continues: UN chief. 19 April 2021. Available at https://news.un.org/en/ story/2021/04/1090072 (accessed 26 April 2021).
In-text citations should also be consistent with Harvard style, including source author(s) and publication date(s), with page numbers following direct quotes.
Submit an Article
Once you have read the guidelines above, you can register for an account (or log in if you have an existing account) by clicking the button below.
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If you have any questions about making a submission, please contact the Editors.