Invitation to Publish
The Ontario Action Researcher invites submissions that contribute to educational knowledge through action research. We are particularly interested in two types of submissions: action research reports and articles about action research that address issues of current importance to action researchers.
- Action Research Reports should:
- be written by elementary, secondary, and university educators
- answer questions of the kind, "How can I improve my practice?"
- include a section on how data was collected and analyzed
- be organized around subheadings flowing naturally from the study itself
- include, where appropriate, alternative forms of data representation (e.g. photographs, poetry, stories) and connections to relevant literature
- Articles About Action Research should:
- be written by elementary, secondary, and university educators
- address issues of current importance to action researchers
- include connections to relevant literature
- include, where appropriate, alternative forms of data representation (e.g. photographs, poetry, stories
The Peer Review Process
All research reports and articles are sent to at least two referees representative of differing viewpoints in the practitioner-researcher community. Reviewers use a standardized review form that is designed to provide helpful and supportive feedback to authors. Authors are notified of the decision for publication as soon as possible. Those authors whose papers are not accepted will normally receive advice on redrafting or alternative forms of publication.
Submission Process
Submissions can be sent to the Ontario Action Researcher in one of two ways:
- The easiest way would be to be to send your submission as an electronic attachment. We prefer a Word document or in rich text format (RTF), but will translate other formats if possible (i.e., Word Perfect). It should be sent by e-mail to the attention of the Ontario Action Researcher - oar@nipissingu.ca
- A submission can also be sent by mail as a 3.5 inch floppy or compact disk with the saved files to:
Kurt W. Clausen,
The Ontario Action Researcher
Nipissing University, 100 College Drive, Box 5002
North Bay, Ontario, Canada, P1B 8L7
The editors reserve the right to return poorly edited or improperly formatted manuscripts. Hard-copy only submissions cannot be accepted or returned.
Criteria for Submissions
What to Send
When sending your submission, it is important to note that you must send it in two different files, each containing the following information:
The “blank” Submission: In this copy you are to include the title followed by an abstract of about 100 words describing your submission (abstracts are published separately to help readers choose the articles they wish to read). The body of the work should not exceed 6,000 words in length excluding references. Nowhere in this text can the author(s) name appear, or any related details to their identity (i.e., publications, names of colleagues, schools, etc). Submissions are to adhere to the guidelines of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (Fifth Edition). They must also be sent in double-spaced 12 pt format with Times Roman (or similar) font.
Authorship Information: Include in this separate file, a brief autobiography of the author(s) to facilitate a blind review process. Such information as current position, professional affiliation, academic background, and areas of current research interest should be included. Please include your mailing address and e-mail address. A photo of the author (s) may be included.
Manuscripts will be accepted throughout the year and will be published in any of the three issues at the discretion of the editorial staff. There is no remuneration for contributors.
Note: Submissions to the Ontario Action Research must not be under consideration with any other journal.
Individuality of Style
The views and styles expressed in the articles in this publication are those of the individual authors and are not necessarily shared by the reviewers, the editors or the editorial advisory board.
Copyright and Permission
Copyrighted material allows the author to quote briefly (up to 100 words) for scholarly purposes from most published materials, providing the source is correctly cited within the manuscript. If the author wishes to use figures, tables, or longer quotations, written permission must be obtained from the writer or publisher to reprint the material. Under such circumstances, the author needs to provide a permission summary with their manuscript submission. Written permissions must also be provided by subjects in any photographs or audio or video segments. If the subjects are children, a signed release from a parent or guardian must be provided for each child visible in the photograph or video segment, or heard on an audio clip.
In addition, although linking to another site does not require permission, replication (such as "screen shots") or description of a site within the manuscript requires permission to be sought from originator of web site, including those created by students, teachers, or schools.
Plagiarism
Any articles suspected of plagiarism will be automatically declined. An explanation and reference to the suspected source will be indicated to the author.
Manuscript Style
As mentioned above, the referencing style used in the Ontario Action Researcher is the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (Fifth Edition). References should be indicated in the text by giving the author's name followed by the year in parentheses, e.g. '... early research by John So and James So (1975) showed ...'; alternatively this could be shown as '... early research (So & So, 1975) showed ...'. All written quotes should have a page number included in the reference. For example, "Work is love made visible" (Gibran, 1923, p.15). Use p. as the abbreviation for page, not pg.
In-text references, when there are more than one, should be in alphabetical order. For example (Arnold, 1994; Jones and Demp, 1990; Lee, 2001; Smith and Yuan, 1983).
The full references should be listed in alphabetical order at the end of the paper using the following style:
Book
Mills, G. E. (2000). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher. Columbus, OH: Merrill.
Pearsall, J. (Ed.). (2001). New Oxford Dictionary of English. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Journal Article
Miller, H. M. (2002). The SSR handbook: How to organize and manage a Sustained Silent Reading program. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 45(5), 434-435.
Articles in Edited Works
Slee, R. (1991) Institutional approaches to discipline. In M. Lovegrove and R. Lewis, (eds) Classroom Discipline, Melbourne: Longman Cheshire.
Theses
D’Oria, T. (2004) How I Improved My Teaching Practice in Grade 9 Boys’ Physical Education to Increase Students’ Participation and Enjoyment. Unpublished Master of Education thesis, Nipissing University.
Unpublished Works
McGaw, B. (1993) Improving education and training research. Unpublished manuscript, Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.
Online Sources
Education Quality and Accountability Office. (2003, October). Ontario secondary school literacy test: Report of provincial results, Highlights. Retrieved November 26, 2004 from http://www.eqao.com/pdf_e/04/04P009e.pdf