Adult Learning

Author's Guidelines

Adult Learning is a practitioner-oriented journal published by the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education. It is designed for adult educators to provide articles that approach practice issues with a problem-solving emphasis. The audience for Adult Learning includes all individuals who design, manage, teach, conduct, and evaluate programs of adult and continuing education.

Types of Articles Published

Adult Learning seeks to publish original compositions within the following areas.

• Non-themed  (Refereed) Articles

  The current editors are interested in publishing more non-theme articles in the future and are actively soliciting manuscripts.

  • Editorial procedure for non-theme manuscripts: Two or three members of the editorial board review manuscripts. Authors generally receive a decision within three to four months of article submission.
  • Reviewers make one of the following four recommendations:
    • Accept for Publication
    • Conditional Accept (conditional upon revisions)
    • Reject, Encourage Rewrite and Submission, and
    • Reject.
  • For refereed manuscripts, the journal gives first priority to manuscripts receiving recommendations to publish. Articles receiving recommendations to Revise are published on a space available basis after revisions have been made and the manuscript is deemed acceptable for publication. It is the policy of Adult Learning to review a second draft of articles that initially received recommendations to Revise. These authors are given comments and suggestions on how substantive, content changes could be made successfully. Suggestions for organization and readability may also be offered. The same member of the editorial board who reviewed the first draft generally reviews second drafts. Second drafts that are acceptable in terms of content may be subject to further revision for organization and readability.
    
• Theme (Non-Refereed) Articles
  Theme articles are solicited by theme editors for each issue’s theme. Topics selected for themes have included the following: workforce education, mentoring, older adult learners, adult literacy, staff development, adult learners with disabilities, instructional technology, intercultural education, learning to learn, and the philosophy of adult education. The editors of Adult Learning welcome your suggestions for future themes. Theme editors will work with authors on the content and form of manuscript. Theme proposals should be sent to Mary Alfred. For more details, see Author Guidelines for theme issues.

The article guidelines, editorial review procedures, and other specifications are the same for both non-theme and theme articles. Theme and non-theme articles should be approximately 2500-3000 words. Please submit two copies (one electronic version and one hard copy) of the manuscript. The manuscript should be typed and double-spaced with one-inch margins. Times Roman 12 pt. or Arial 11 pt. font are preferred. APA (5th edition) formatting should be used. Include a brief biography (one to two sentences that contain the author's name and current position) and a separate title page. Include your address, telephone number(s), and e-mail address on the title page, but not in the manuscript itself. Place the title of the article on the first manuscript page.

• Personal Reflections
  • This section publishes short articles on topics that usually relate to the theme of the issue or current events, if possible. Other theme articles will also be published. Reflections articles need to demonstrate the author's personal thoughts about the issue s/he is writing about and should be no more than 1200-1500 words. These articles should be submitted directly to the Personal Reflections Editor, Mavis Clark, at clarkmav@earthlink.net.
    
• Resources
  • This section is for book, video, and other material reviews. Full reviews should be no more than 500-750 words in length; shorter treatments ("notices") should be no more than 200 words. Reviews of materials less than three years old are preferred. Reviews and inquiries should be submitted directly to the Resource Editor, Kathleen B. Rager, at Kbrager@ou.edu.
    
• Futures
  • This section contains articles that articulate a vision of future directions for the broad field of adult and continuing education. Articles should be no more than 1200-1500 words. Meg Wise and Michelle “Shelly” Glowacki-Dudka edit the manuscripts for this section. Manuscripts should be sent to Meg at mewise@wisc.edu.

Where to Submit

Mary V. Alfred of Texas A&M University is Editor of Adult Learning, and manages the publication process. Please send your manuscripts to her at Dept. of Educ. Admin & HRD, Texas A&M University, 559 Harrington Tower, College Station, TX 77843-4226, or email at malfred@tamu.edu. She can also be reached by phone (979) 845-2788.

Articles should be sent electronically. Be sure to include your address, telephone number(s), e-mail address, and brief biography as described above. The copyright release form should also be included with your submission.

Photos and Illustrations
Photos to illustrate the article are accepted. Black and white glossy prints are preferred over color prints. Illustrations should be camera-ready unless they have been created in Microsoft Word.

Copy Editing
Manuscripts accepted for publication will be edited for grammar and punctuation.

Exclusivity
Manuscripts should not be under consideration for publication by other periodicals, nor should they have been published previously (except as a part of a presentation at a meeting.) Articles should be submitted with a typed, dated, and signed copyright form that reads as follows:

I(we) hereby confirm the assignment of first publications rights only in and to the manuscript named above in all forms and media to AAACE effective if and when it is accepted for publication by Adult Learning . I(we) warrant that the manuscript is original work and has not been accepted for publication by another periodical. I(we) further warrant that my(our) work (including tables, figures, photographs, and other illustrative material) does not infringe copyright or statutory rights of others, does not contain libelous statements, and that the editorial board members, staff, and officers of AAACE are indemnified against costs, expenses, and damages arising from any breach of the foregoing in regards to the manuscript. Finally, I acknowledge that Adult Learning is relying on this statement in any publishing of the manuscript's information.

Please include the title of the manuscript at the top of this page, and print the author(s)' names after the warrant statement followed by the relevant signatures.