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
Understanding and using journal metrics
Journal metrics can be a useful tool for readers, as well as for authors who are deciding where to submit their next manuscript for publication. However, any one metric only tells a part of the story of a journal’s quality and impact. Each metric has its limitations which means that it should never be considered in isolation, and metrics should be used to support and not replace qualitative review.
We strongly recommend that you always use a number of metrics, alongside other qualitative factors such as a journal’s aims & scope, its readership, and a review of past content published in the journal. In addition, a single article should always be assessed on its own merits and never based on the metrics of the journal it was published in.
For more details, please read the Author Services guide to understanding journal metrics.
Journal metrics in brief
Usage and acceptance rate data above are for the last full calendar year and are updated annually in February. Speed data is updated every six months, based on the prior six months. Citation metrics are updated annually mid-year. Please note that some journals do not display all of the following metrics (find out why).
- Usage: the total number of times articles in the journal were viewed by users of Taylor & Francis Online in the previous calendar year, rounded to the nearest thousand.
Citation Metrics
- Impact Factor*: the average number of citations received by articles published in the journal within a two-year window. Only journals in the Clarivate Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) and the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) have an Impact Factor.
- Impact Factor Best Quartile*: the journal’s highest subject category ranking in the Journal Citation Reports. Q1 = 25% of journals with the highest Impact Factors.
- 5 Year Impact Factor*: the average number of citations received by articles in the journal within a five-year window.
- CiteScore (Scopus)†: the average number of citations received by articles in the journal over a four-year period.
- CiteScore Best Quartile†: the journal’s highest CiteScore ranking in a Scopus subject category. Q1 = 25% of journals with the highest CiteScores.
- SNIP (Source Normalized Impact per Paper): the number of citations per paper in the journal, divided by citation potential in the field.
- SJR (Scimago Journal Rank): Average number of (weighted) citations in one year, divided by the number of articles published in the journal in the previous three years.
Speed/acceptance
- From submission to first decision: the average (median) number of days for a manuscript submitted to the journal to receive a first decision. Based on manuscripts receiving a first decision in the last six months.
- From submission to first post-review decision: the average (median) number of days for a manuscript submitted to the journal to receive a first decision if it is sent out for peer review. Based on manuscripts receiving a post-review first decision in the last six months.
- From acceptance to online publication: the average (median) number of days from acceptance of a manuscript to online publication of the Version of Record. Based on articles published in the last six months.
- Acceptance rate: articles accepted for publication by the journal in the previous calendar year as percentage of all papers receiving a final decision.
For more details on the data above, please read the Author Services guide to understanding journal metrics.
*Copyright: Journal Citation Reports®, Clarivate Analytics
†Copyright: CiteScore™, Scopus
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?
- Increase the discoverability and readership of your article
- Make an impact and reach new readers, not just those with easy access to a research library
- Freely share your work with anyone, anywhere
- Comply with funding mandates and meet the requirements of your institution, employer or funder
- 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
News, offers and calls for papers
News and offers
Calls for papers
Society information
Members of the following groups can receive an individual print subscription to Leadership & Policy in Schools at a special society member rate:
- US$60/£36/€48 for members of American Education Finance Association (AEFA)
- €48 for members of International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI) . Please quote ZF02702W.
- US$60/£36 for members of ASCD
Contact +44 (0)20 8052 0501 or [email protected] to subscribe.
4 issues per year
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