The Alabama Literacy Association seeks manuscripts for The Reading Paradigm, a peer-reviewed journal that presents current research and best practices for literacy educators.
Submissions are due by midnight on August 15, 2024. Please email manuscripts to Dr. Lorie Johnson at ljohnson15@una.edu. Publication is scheduled for October 2024.
Types of Submissions
Full-length articles and brief ‘Teaching Tips’ are accepted for consideration through peer review. In addition, RP publishes informal, personal essays from classroom teachers for the 'Voices from the Classroom.’
RP welcomes well-written, original descriptions of research-based instruction that improves literacy learning from pre-K through higher ed. Manuscripts must provide an appropriate blend of practical classroom application and solid theoretical framework and, where appropriate, include graphics (e.g., tables, charts, figures, photographs) that emphasize key ideas and add visual interest. The journal editors will not consider manuscripts under consideration elsewhere.
Full-length article manuscripts should be about 3,000 words in length (including main text, references and any sidebars), and should provide RP’s practitioner audience with classroom ideas for literacy development based on sound research and/or theory. Articles should have a clear purpose, discuss the topic with some depth, and be written in a straightforward style.
Teaching Tips manuscripts should be no more than 3 double-spaced pages and should focus on a single, research-based application for improving literacy that can be readily implemented by readers.
Your manuscript will be evaluated on its contribution to the field, timeliness, freshness of approach, and clarity and cohesiveness of presentation. Before submitting your manuscript, please familiarize yourself with the voice, tone, and format typical of RP content.
For all submissions, please provide a cover sheet that contains the name, mailing address, email address, and telephone number for each author.
Preparing Your Article or Teaching Tip Submission
All submissions for peer review should conform to the style outlined in the APA 7th edition. All manuscripts must be submitted electronically at the link above. Text should be presented double-spaced in 12-point font, in .doc, .docx, or .rtf files.
Organizational and Visual Appeal
Make every effort to include subheadings (up to 3 levels of subheads can be accommodated), bulleted and numbered lists, figures and tables, or other visual elements in the text to increase readability and visual interest.
Required Elements for Articles and Teaching Tips
Abstract of 100–150 words, written in the third person and without citations. All in-text citations and corresponding references must be in APA 7th edition format.
Figures and tables:
If tables are included, they should be embedded at the end of the manuscript. Figures should not be embedded inside the manuscript or separate Word documents but rather should be submitted as separate, original image files (e.g., jpg, pdf) with a resolution of at least 300 dpi. All figures and tables must be referenced in the manuscript, and figure captions can be inserted with their callouts.
References:
Ensure that your references are correct and complete and that they adhere to the APA 7th edition reference structures. NOTE: References will not be fact checked in copy editing; it is the author's responsibility to verify the accuracy of all references and their corresponding citations.
Ensure that references include complete author initials with no space between initials, ampersand for multi-authored works, year, full titles of books including edition/volume, page numbers for book chapters, month for presentations, volume and issue number for journal articles, etc. Ensure that authors for a single source are listed in correct order.
Pull literature titles out into a separate reference list (e.g., Literature Cited). NOTE: Literature that is mentioned but not actually cited does not need a parenthetical citation or inclusion in a reference list. Only if it matters which published edition of the book was used are parenthetical citations and reference entries needed.
Permissions · Authors of accepted manuscripts must provide written permission releases for use of material from other sources (e.g., student work samples, text or figures excerpted from another published work). Releases must also be provided for use of any person’s words or likeness.
Preparing Your Voices from the Classroom Essay
Voices from the Classroom essays share personal reflections on teaching experiences, advice for new teachers, profiles of exemplary teachers and classrooms, perspectives on current issues in literacy and education, and more. These informal, non–peer-reviewed pieces (few or no scholarly citations) are written by educators for educators. Submissions should be approximately 500 words and include a corresponding image or photo, if possible. Note that releases must be provided for use of any person’s words or likeness.
Review and Adjudication
The review process includes a preliminary evaluation to determine appropriateness, double-blind peer review, and finally adjudication by the editors. Teaching Tips are evaluated by at least two members of the editorial review board, and full-length articles are evaluated by at least three review board members. Acceptance is determined by the reviewers’ recommendations, available space, and balance of topics in upcoming issues. A decision is typically rendered 2 weeks from submission deadline.
Submissions
To submit a manuscript, please carefully follow the submission guidelines before submitting. For more information about the Reading Paradigm or submitting a manuscript, please email Dr. Lorie Johnson, Reading Paradigm Editor, at ljohnson15@una.edu.
