About this journal

Aims and scope

We invite manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Leadership and Policy in Schools for review.

Submitted papers should align with the following journal scope as presented:

Leadership and Policy in Schools

aims to provide a high-quality forum for educational researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to publish analyses and research about how school leaders and educational policies utilize fiscal, material, and human resources to bring about change in education and effectiveness in schools in different global contexts. The scope of the journal will encompass studies about leadership, po

licy, and politics in primary and secondary educational environments. Studies that utilize school and community learning space as their primary unit of analysis are of particular interest. Such studies will include schools from diverse contexts in the public and private sectors. Studies of leadership in university settings will be desk rejected.

The editors also welcome manuscripts from diverse disciplinary perspectives, including economic, political, historical, demographic, and financial analyses. In addition to original research papers, we will accept other features such as meta-analysis. Research scoping, innovative and provocative commentaries, thinking pieces, or conceptual papers stimulating timely debate around leadership and policy or ecological forces impacting K-12 education are particularly encouraged.

Peer Review Policy: All research articles in this journal have undergone rigorous, double anonymized peer review based on an initial editor screening followed by anonymous refereeing by three anonymous referees. As part of the submission process author/s will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal, that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you. The main text should be approximately 8,000-10,000 words (max 12,000), but online supplemental material has no word limit.

Desk rejects

While we receive numerous manuscripts that captivate our interest and exhibit promise, a significant portion undergoes desk rejection as they are not yet prepared for external review. Common reasons for desk rejections include papers failing to meet the journal’s scope (e.g., leadership and policy in a higher education setting), insufficient discussion of the study's rationale, an unclear conceptual or theoretical framework guiding the work, or inadequacies in the study's methodology. Concerns regarding data trustworthiness and transparency of empirical data collection can result in desk rejection. Furthermore, manuscripts failing to meet rigorous standards for data collection, analysis, or argumentation often face desk rejection. It is essential for results not only to be summarized but also interpreted in a discussion section. This section elucidates what readers can glean from the study, particularly in light of prior empirical and conceptual work on the topic. Some articles face rejection for being "out of scope," meaning they do not directly concern primary and secondary educational sites or have a narrow or peripheral focus deemed inappropriate for Leadership and Policy in Schools readership. The manuscript is more likely to be accepted if it:

• aligns with the journal's scope

• adheres to maximum text length limits

• contributes to advancing or enriching an active field, making a compelling case for the research's relevance and importance

• appropriately cites prior work on the topic

• clearly articulates the study's purpose and research questions

• thoroughly describes the methods employed

• moves beyond mere summarization to engage in discussion and interpretation of the results

• is meticulously prepared and adheres to the journal's submission guidelines

• employs clear and concise language

• upholds ethical standards

Peer Review Policy: All research articles in this journal have undergone rigorous, double anonymized peer review, based on an initial editor screening followed by anonymous refereeing by three anonymous referees.

Journal metrics

Usage

  • 93K annual downloads/views

Citation metrics

  • 1.3 (2023) Impact Factor
  • Q2 Impact Factor Best Quartile
  • 1.5 (2023) 5 year IF
  • 3.0 (2023) CiteScore (Scopus)
  • Q2 CiteScore Best Quartile
  • 1.132 (2023) SNIP
  • 0.625 (2023) SJR

Speed/acceptance

  • 45 days avg. from submission to first decision
  • 73 days avg. from submission to first post-review decision
  • 9 days avg. from acceptance to online publication
  • 29% acceptance rate

Editorial board

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Khalid Arar

Texas State University, USA


CO-EDITORS

Joseph Flessa

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, CANADA

Miguel Guajardo

Texas State University, USA


ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Anna Saiti

University of West Attica, GREECE

Deniz Orucu

University of Nottingham, UK

Rolf Straubhaar

Texas State University, USA

Mehmet Sükrü Bellibas

Leuphana University-Lüneburg, GERMANY


EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Lori Schunka

Texas State University, USA


EDITORIAL BOARD

Ahmet Aypa Nazarbayev University, KAZAKHSTAN

Fortidas Bakuza Aga Khan University, TANZANIA

Maysa Barakat Florida Atlantic University, USA

Gwen Baxley University at Buffalo, State University of New York, USA

Christopher Bezzina University of Malta, MALTA

Alex Bowers Teachers College, Columbia University, USA

Ira Bogotch Florida Atlantic University, USA

Patricia Briscoe Niagara University, USA

Jeffrey Brooks Curtin University, AUSTRALIA

Tashieka Burris-Melville University of Technology, JAMAICA

Shelby Cosner University of Illinois at Chicago, USA

Emily Crawford University of Missouri, USA

Rima’a Da’as Hebrew University, Jerusalem, ISRAEL

David DeMatthews University of Texas, Austin, USA

Karen Edge University of London, UNITED KINGDOM

Sedat Gumus The Education University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG

Daniel Hamlin University of Oklahoma , USA

Waheed Hammad Sultan Qaboos, OMAN

Cameron Hauseman University of Manitoba, CANADA

Yara Y. Hilal University of Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Liz Hollingworth University of Iowa, USA

Aliza Husain University of Buffalo, USA

Hans Klar Clemson University, USA

Yasar Kondakci Middle East Technical University, TURKEY

Jill Koyama University of Arizona, USA

Ann Lopez University of Toronto, CANADA

Melissa Martinez Texas State University, USA

Julia Mahfouz University of Colorado Denver, USA

Betty Merchant University of Texas, San Antonio, USA

Marsha Modeste Pennsylvania State University, USA

Carmen Montecinos Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, CHILE

Anita Muho University of Durres , ALBANIA

Angus Mungal University of Texas, El Paso, USA

Izhar Oplatka Tel Aviv University, ISRAEL

Margaret Terry Orr Fordham University, USA

Pamela Osmond-Johnson University of Regina, CANADA

Jayson Richardson Denver University, USA

Elizabeth Riley California State University, USA

Mariela A. Rodríguez University of Texas, USA

Chen Schechter Bar-Ilan University, ISRAEL

Corrie Stone-Johnson University of Buffalo, USA

Bambang Sumintono Universitas Islam International, INDONESIA

Jingping Sun University of Alabama, USA

Pierre Tulowitzki FHNW University of Applied Arts and Sciences Northwestern, SWITZERLAND

Selahattin Turan Uludag University, TURKEY

Melody Viczko University of Western Ontario, CANADA

Fei Wang University of British Columbia, CANADA

Jennie Weiner University of Connecticut, USA

Jane Wilkinson Monash University, AUSTRALIA

Sarah L. Woulfin University of Texas, Austin, USA

Abstracting and indexing

Leadership and Policy in Schools is Abstracted/Indexed in:

• EBSCOhost

° Academic Search Alumni Edition

° Academic Search Complete

° Academic Search Elite

° Academic Search Premier

° Academic Search Ultimate

° Current Abstracts

° Education Research Complete

° Education Research Index

° Education Source

° Educational Administration Abstracts

° Public Affairs Index

° TOC Premier (Table of Contents)

• Elsevier BV

° Scopus

• ERIC (Education Resources Information Center)

• National Library of Medicine

° PubMed

• Ovid

• ProQuest

° Education Collection

° Education Database

° Professional ProQuest Central

° ProQuest 5000

° ProQuest 5000 International

° ProQuest Central

° ProQuest Professional Education

° Social Science Premium Collection

• Taylor & Francis

° Educational Research Abstracts Online

° Studies on Women and Gender Abstracts (Online)

Open access

Leadership and Policy in Schools is a hybrid open access journal that is part of our Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research.

Why choose open access?

  1. Increase the discoverability and readership of your article
  2. Make an impact and reach new readers, not just those with easy access to a research library
  3. Freely share your work with anyone, anywhere
  4. Comply with funding mandates and meet the requirements of your institution, employer or funder
  5. Rigorous peer review for every open access article

Article Publishing Charges (APC)

If you choose to publish open access in this journal you may be asked to pay an Article Publishing Charge (APC). You may be able to publish your article at no cost to yourself or with a reduced APC if your institution or research funder has an open access agreement or membership with Taylor & Francis.

Use our APC finder to calculate your article publishing charge


Society information

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