About the Journal

The Journal of School Administration Research and Development (JSARD) (ISSN: 2470-850X, online & ISSN: 2470-8496, print) is an open-access, peer-reviewed academic journal that supports the development and dissemination of research and scholarship in the area of K-12 school administration and leadership. 

Founded in 2016, JSARD’s mission is to publish and disseminate relevant, high-quality literature in educational leadership in order to empower researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to improve K-12 schools. The journal focuses primarily on schools within the United States; however, we also welcome articles on K-12 education from around the world that have wide implications, regardless of the educational setting.  JSARD publishes at least twice annually.

JSARD publishes on a range of topics within the realm of school leadership and administration, including:

  • Curriculum leadership
  • Instructional leadership
  • Innovative practices and/or programs
  • Professional development
  • School personnel
  • Equity, diversity, and inclusion
  • Student achievement
  • Assessment and grading
  • Educational technology
  • Finance

Indexing

The Journal of School Administration Research and Development (JSARD) is is a member of the STAR Scholars Network Open Journals in Education (OJED), a OJS 3 platform for high-quality, peer-reviewed academic journals in education.

JSARD is indexed in major academic databases, including:

  • Cabell's Scholarly Analytics
  • Crossref
  • EBSCOhost
  • ERIC
  • ROAD
  • SCOPUS

 

Editorial Policy

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The Journal of School Administration Research and Development considers the continuity of an ethical publication process to be among their top responsibilities. To this end, they utilize the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Code of Conduct as a guideline for their ethics policies.

Editor Responsibilities

Editors are responsible for deciding which submitted manuscripts will be published. Decisions are to be made in an objective manner. Editors are also responsible for conducting the initial screening process for submitted manuscripts (see description below).

Editors and the editorial staff will not disclose information about any submitted manuscripts except as appropriate to the corresponding author(s), editorial staff, peer reviewers, and publisher.

Reviewer Responsibilities

Peer reviewers assist the editors and the editorial board in making editorial decisions. They may also assist authors in improving their manuscripts. Reviewers are asked to review manuscripts that fall within their area of expertise. In the case that a reviewer feels unqualified to review a manuscript, he or she is expected to promptly inform the editor. Peer reviewers are expected to complete reviews promptly within the window provided by editors.

Author Responsibilities

Authors submitting to JSARD are expected to conduct ethical research practices.  This includes ethical data collection and analysis practices, accurate reporting of results, accurate and appropriate citations, thorough and transparent research practices that allow replication with similar results, acknowledgment of funding and sponsorship, and acknowledgment of researcher biases or conflicts of interest.

Manuscript submissions should be original works of the author(s), should not have been previously published in any form, and should not be under consideration for publication by other journals or magazines.

Authors are expected to disclose any conflicts of interest that could potentially influence the integrity of their manuscript to the editors as early in the publication process as possible. Authors should include a disclosure statement at the end of their manuscript that states any financial support for the project and any other potential sources of conflict of interest.

Peer Review Policy Statement

Initial Screening

Editors screen submitted manuscripts for submission guideline compliance, originality (JSARD uses Grammarly to screen for plagiarism), relevance to JSARD’s aims and scope, style and grammar proficiency, and soundness of methods and results.  Manuscripts meeting the minimum criteria are sent to at least two experts for review.

Double Blind Peer Review

JSARD utilizes a double blind peer-review process.  Manuscripts are blinded, and reviewers follow a standardized review process to provide feedback on manuscript quality and to recommend a decision.  Peer-reviewer comments and recommendations are sent to JSARD editors for a publication decision.  Authors should receive notification that a manuscript was received within 48 hours of submission and a publication decision should follow within 16 weeks.  Regardless of the decision, all authors receive feedback.  Manuscripts receiving conditional acceptance pending revision will receive requested revisions along with a deadline for resubmission.  Editors review revised and resubmitted manuscripts and make subsequent publication decisions.

Unsolicited Manuscripts

An unsolicited manuscript is a manuscript that the author freely submits without a personal invitation from the editorial board. Unsolicited manuscripts follow the double-blind peer review process described above. JSARD occasionally solicits manuscripts for its regular issues, and it regularly solicits manuscripts for special issues. JSARD requires no fees for any manuscripts.

Solicited Manuscripts

A solicited manuscript is a manuscript that the author submits after a personal invitation from the editorial board. Solicited manuscripts follow the same double-blind peer review process as unsolicited manuscripts. JSARD occasionally solicits manuscripts for its regular issues, and it regularly solicits manuscripts for special issues. JSARD requires no fees for any manuscripts.