The Curriculum Studies Collaborative Journal (CSCJ) is an open-access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or their institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of all articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.

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Review Process

The Curriculum Studies Collaborative Journal (CSCJ) is double-blind peer reviewed, and published once per year. For questions or concerns about the journal’s terms of submission or review, please contact the Editor.

• All submissions must be submitted to dechapman@georgiasouthern.com.
• All submissions must be previously unpublished manuscripts and must currently be submitted only to the CSCJ. By submitting a work for consideration, the author(s) affirm(s) that the manuscript will not be submitted to another venue while under review with the CSCJ.
• All submissions must center on issues concerning Curriculum Studies.
• Manuscripts should be formatted by the author(s) according to the Call for Proposals and the Format & Style Guidelines for Submission below. Along with your manuscript, you will provide a manuscript title, an abstract of 150-200 words, and two to four keywords for your article, unless otherwise directed. If the submission is a research study that uses human subjects, the author(s) must confirm that all research was conducted with institutional IRB approval.
• Upon submission, the Editor reviews all manuscripts for appropriateness. If appropriate, the Editor will assign two Reviewers to the submission. Each Reviewer may include specific and narrative comments for the author(s) of the submission about its content, argumentation, research methodologies, data, conclusions, etc. These comments will be provided to the author(s) without identifying the Reviewers. Each Reviewer will give a recommendation about publication of a manuscript according to the following options:
  • Accept: no revision needed
  • Accept with minor revisions needed
  • Revise and resubmit
  • Reject (provide reasons in comments)

• When all reviews have been received by the Editor, a decision will be made regarding publication and authors will be contacted. If the reviews are very different, the Editor may ask 1-2 additional Reviewers to read and evaluate the submission and then, upon receipt of the additional reviews, a final publication decision will be made.
• Author(s) whose manuscripts are provisionally accepted will have the option and opportunity to make suggested edits and resubmit their manuscript.
• Once accepted for publication, manuscripts should be reformatted by the author(s) according to the Format & Style Guidelines for Publication below, then re-submitted for publication. Due dates for final versions vary with each issue.
• The response time for manuscripts is typically three months from submission.

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Format & Style Guidelines for Submission

Submit manuscripts according to any Call for Proposals and the following guidelines. If you have questions or concerns about these guidelines, please contact the Editor:

• Submit manuscripts as Word documents (.doc or .docx files) with one inch margins on all sides.
• Use Times New Roman 12-point font.
• Follow the length guidelines (see Types of Manuscripts below).
• All authors must disclose any conflicts of interest and/or any sources of funding related to the manuscript.
• Include a title page with abstract and two to four keywords.
• Do not include headers, footers, or pagination.
• Remove any references to any of the authors that may allow a reviewer to identify the authorship of the submission. Instead, use “Author 1”, “Author 2”, etc., as needed.
• Include any tables, charts, figures, etc. in the text in the approximate place where they would appear.
• Include any appendices in the text of the submission; do not include these as separate documents.
• Follow current APA guidelines for references, including in-text citations. The references section of the manuscript should be formatted using a hanging indent.

Types of Manuscripts:

• Research: These are reports of original research undertaken by the author(s) and can represent a range of research paradigms. Author(s) should explain the topic, literature review, research question(s), methodology, data collection and analysis, and findings. Research submissions are typically 15-20 pages, excluding references, tables, and appendices.
• Reviews of Research or Literature Reviews: These are reviews of research or literature on a topic identified by the author(s) that is relevant to middle level education. The author(s) should state the topic and the method of review, and then provide synthesis of important themes and issues, with insights and recommendations for readers. Reviews are typically 15-25 pages, excluding references.

Calls for proposals may indicate alternative submissions, such as, a proposal as opposed to a manuscript. Follow the guidelines of the call, as a minimum, a manuscript will always be an acceptable submission.

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Format & Style Guidelines for Publication

Manuscripts accepted for publication should be re-formatted according to the following guidelines. If you have questions or concerns about these guidelines, please contact the Editor:

Manuscripts accepted for publication should be formatted according to these guidelines:

• Submit manuscripts as Word documents (.doc or .docx files) with one inch margins on all sides.
• Use Times New Roman 12-point font.
• Follow the length guidelines (see Types of Manuscripts above).
• Disclose any conflicts of interest and/or any sources of funding related to the manuscript.
• Include a title page with abstract and two to four keywords.
• Do not include headers, footers, or pagination.
• Add in any references to the author(s) as needed. Remove blinded references (such as “Author 1”) and replace with names as appropriate.
• Ensure that all references are correct, current, and properly formatted according to current APA guidelines.
• Format the references section of the manuscript using a hanging indent.

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Copyright & Licensing Terms

All papers published in The Curriculum Studies Collaborative Journal (CSCJ) are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Authors retain all copyrights without restrictions, and agree to the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license for their work as a condition of publication. End users' rights under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license are outlined here. For all other purposes, permission must be obtained from the authors.

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Plagiarism Policy

The Curriculum Studies Collaborative Journal (CSCJ) may use Similarity Check, a multi-publisher initiative, to selectively screen article submissions for originality. Similarity Check uses the iThenticate software, which checks submissions against millions of published research papers (the Similarity Check database), documents on the web, and other relevant sources. These submitted papers are not retained in the Similarity Check system after they have been checked. Read more at Crossref's Similarity Check page.

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Charges & Fees

The Curriculum Studies Collaborative Journal (CSCJ) levies no submission charges or fees for publication of accepted articles.

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