Submissions

Author Guidelines

The Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education (JCIHE) Editorial Board is pleased to consider manuscripts which deal with the complementary fields of comparative and international higher education. All submissions must address issues, analysis, dissemination of theory or practice relating to higher education.

Style and Format

The Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education follows the APA style (7th Edition).  USA spelling (e.g., center, color, organize) and punctuation are preferred (single quotations within double if needed) and require a short paragraph of bibliographical details for all contributors. See details in JCIHE Submission Template. 

Requirements

It is mandatory that the following requirements be addressed.  Any manuscript that does not follow these requirements will receive a desk rejection.

• JCIHE will only review quality manuscripts that meet the Aims and Scope of the journal. 
• As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all items listed below in the Publication Guidelines.
• Manuscripts that do not adhere to the guidelines will be rejected.
• All manuscripts must be submitted using the JCIHE Template. Articles not in the JCIHE Template will be desk rejected.
• All manuscripts must use APA 7^th edition style. Manuscripts in other citation styles will be desk rejected.
• Download an overview of the JCIHE publication process at a glance or see below.

Publication Guidelines

Authors must follow the submission guidelines of the journal:

1) Submission has not been previously published and is not currently being considered for publication by another journal.

2) Using the JCIHE Template , submissions must include two documents

A) submission prepared for masked review. Please see "Ensuring a Masked Review" for assistance.
B) submission prepared for “Unmasked Review”, which includes a short paragraph of biography details for all contributors.

3) All Submission files must be in Microsoft Word file format. Text format uses Portrait Mode and includes margins that are 1 inch on all sides.

4) Manuscripts must follow APA 7th ed. for writing style, headings, in-text citations, and reference formatting. Submissions not in APA 7^th edition will be rejected.

A) All sources mentioned in the references must be included in-text      

B) All references for journal articles must include page numbers and DOI.

C) Endnotes and footnotes are not accepted.

D) Illustrations, figures, and tables follow APA 7^th edition guidelines and are  placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.

5) APA 7^th Edition uses four levels of heading:

• Level 1: Centered, Boldface, Title Case Heading: Level 1 Heading.Text starts a new paragraph.
• Level 2: Flush left, Boldface, Title Case Heading: Level 1 Heading
  Text starts a new paragraph
• Level 3: Flush Left, Boldface Italicized, Title Case Heading: Level 1 Heading
  Text starts a new paragraph
  Level 4: Indented, Boldface Italicized, Title Case Heading Ending With a Period: Level 1 Heading.
  Paragraph text continues on the same line as the same paragraph.

6) The abstract contains all of the following: (a) context/purpose and Research Questions, (b) Theoretical Construct; (c) Methods, (d) findings/results and (e) conclusion/key message.

7) USA spelling and punctuation are preferred (e.g., center, color, organize). However, upon request, JCIHE will consider other English spellings and punctuation.

8) Authors are encouraged to contextualize their argument, when possible, by citing existing debates and discussions previously published in JCIHE and sharing how the results of your manuscript contribute to previously published articles on related issues. These links build a sense of continuity and foster scholarly dialogue within the journal.

9) You are invited to add your ORCID Number when you submit your manuscript. Collection of ORCID IDs from corresponding authors is a voluntary part of the submission process. Your ORCID ID is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications. if you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

ORCID ID: As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process JCIHE is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

Open-Access and Fees

JCIHE is an open access, independent, international journal.  There are no fees required to submit or publish in this journal.

Due-Dates

Electronic submissions are accepted on an on-going basis.

JCIHE Publishes 6 issues annually. The publication dates are on or around Feb. 1, April 1, August 1, September 1, December 1 and December 15 of each year. Please note that there are situations that may delay publication by up to one month.

Publication Process

JCIHE follows a strict procedure when selecting articles for publication. By being transparent about the publication process, JCIHE seeks to increase author confidence in its review and decision-making process. Below is an overview of the publication process followed by detailed explanations of each step:

Editor-in-Chief Duties

The Editor-in-Chief evaluates the manuscript for aims, scope, content, and quality. If it does not satisfy these criteria, the manuscript is rejected. If it satisfies all stated criteria, it is then submitted to a double-blinded peer review process. Reviewers are given six weeks to return their comments on the manuscript. However, sometimes, the review process may take longer to be completed. Reviewers include members of the editorial board and researchers who have a background in the topic addressed in the manuscript. The Editor-in-Chief shares the comments from the reviews with the authors and asks for revisions or rejects the submission. The Editor-in-Chief then supports the manuscript through the various review cycles to acceptance for publication. It is anticipated that the entire review process will take no more than nine months. However, the process may take longer due to unforeseen circumstances.

Technical Review by Associate Editor

After the Peer-Review and Revisions are completed, articles must undergo a Technical Review by the Associate Editor prior to acceptance. During the Technical Review process, the Associate Editor pays attention to content organization, quality and formatting to ensure that the manuscript addresses all the headings outlined in the template e.g. Literature Review, Theoretical Framework, and Research Methods etc. Technical Reviews are typically completed within three weeks. A second duty of the Associate Editor is to prepare articles for OnLine First publication. This requires editing the abstract and ensuring proper information on the authors and their bios. Completed articles are then put into que for OnLineFirst announcements.

Copy Management

After the author/(s) have addressed the Technical Review revisions and the Editor-in-Chief finds that the article is of high quality, the article is accepted and sent to the Managing Copyeditor. The Managing Copyeditor sends the article to one of the JCIHE volunteer copyeditors. The copyeditors review the manuscript with a focus on (1) APA 7th edition style, (2) grammatical errors, (3) reference section, and (4) flow. Queries are sent back to the author for final revision. Once a clean version of the article is completed, the article is sent to the Production Lead.

Production Lead

The Production Lead creates a Galley of the Manuscript which is sent to the author for final approval. At this stage the author must revise the manuscript and update their Bios. When the Author returns the manuscript, it is prepared for publication in the assigned issue.

Ethical and Fair Peer Review Process

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process JCIHE is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID.

Author Grievance Process

JCIHE relies on fairness to increase the confidence of interested authors. Authors whose manuscripts have been rejected by JCIHE have a RIGHT TO APPEAL the rejection, if, they have been subject to discriminatory statement or action. Once an Author establishes discriminatory statement or action, the decision to reject the manuscript will be reviewed by Senior JCIHE Editorial Team members and Advisory Board members. The case will be reviewed to offer a suggested course of action to the author(s) and to the Editor-in-Chief.

Transparency

JCIHE wants to increase the confidence of our authors about the JCIHE review and decision-making process by adding new transparent processes and fairness. Authors who feel their submission has been the subject of any discriminatory statement or action, have the possibility of being reviewed by the Senior JCIHE Editorial Team and Advisory Board members. The case will be reviewed and the author(s) and the JCIHE editor will be given a suggested course of action.

 Duties of The Authors 

Reporting Standards: Authors of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed and the results, followed by an objective discussion of the significance of the work. The manuscript should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Review articles should be accurate, objective, and comprehensive, while editorial 'opinion' or perspective pieces should be clearly identified as such. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Originality and Plagiarism: Authors should ensure that they have written and submit only entirely original works, and if they have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited. Publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the work reported in the manuscript should also be cited. Plagiarism takes many forms, from "passing off" another's paper as the author's own, to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another's paper (without attribution), to claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

The Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education takes issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism, or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software.

Prior Publication: Any material that has been previously published will not be acceptable for publication.

Multiple Submissions: Authors must certify that the manuscript is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere.

Authorship of the Manuscript: Only persons who meet these authorship criteria should be listed as authors in the manuscript as they must be able to take public responsibility for the content: (i) made significant contributions to the conception, design, execution, data acquisition, or analysis/interpretation of the study; and (ii) drafted the manuscript or revised it critically for important intellectual content; and (iii) have seen and approved the final version of the paper and agreed to its submission for publication. All persons who made substantial contributions to the work reported in the manuscript (such as technical help, writing and editing assistance, general support) but who do not meet the criteria for authorship must not be listed as an author, but should be acknowledged in the "Acknowledgements" section after their written permission to be named has been obtained. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate coauthors (according to the above definition) and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the author list and verify that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to its submission for publication.

Peer Review Process: Submissions are sent to a double-blind review process. Reviewers are given two months to return comments at which time the authors will be notified if their submission has been accepted and whether revisions are necessary prior to publication.  It is anticipated that the entire process will take no more than six months. However, it must be noted that the process can take longer due to unforeseen situations.

Data Access and Retention: Authors should be prepared to provide raw data related to their manuscript for editorial review upon request and must retain such data.

Authenticity of Data: Authors must identify all sources used in the creation of their manuscript.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Authors should—at the earliest stage possible (generally by submitting a disclosure form at the time of submission and including a statement in the manuscript)—disclose any conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or their interpretation in the manuscript. Examples of potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include financial ones such as honoraria, educational grants or other funding, participation in speakers’ bureaus, membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest, and paid expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements, as well as non-financial ones such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs in the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. All sources of financial support for the work should be disclosed (including the grant number or other reference number if any).

Acknowledgment of Sources: Authors should ensure that they have properly acknowledged the work of others, and should also cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Information obtained privately (from the conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties) must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Authors should not use information obtained in the course of providing confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications unless they have obtained the explicit written permission of the author(s) of the work involved in these services.

Multiple, Duplicate, Redundant, or Concurrent Submission/Publication: Papers describing essentially the same research should not be published in more than one journal or primary publication. Hence, authors should not submit for consideration a manuscript that has already been published in another journal. Submission of a manuscript concurrently to more than one journal is unethical publishing behavior and unacceptable.

The publication of some kinds of articles (such as clinical guidelines, translations) in more than one journal is sometimes justifiable, provided that certain conditions are met. The authors and editors of the journals concerned must agree to the secondary publication, which must reflect the same data and interpretation of the primary document. The primary reference must be cited in the secondary publication.

Hazards and human or animal subjects: If the work involves chemicals, procedures, or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the authors must clearly identify these in the manuscript. If the work involves the use of animals or human participants, the authors should ensure that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and that the appropriate institutional committee(s) has approved them; the manuscript should contain a statement to this effect. Authors should also include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human participants. The privacy rights of human participants must always be observed.

Fundamental Errors in published works: When authors discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their own published work, it is their obligation to promptly notify the journal’s editors or publisher and cooperate with them to either correct the paper in the form of an erratum or to retract the paper. If the editors or publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error or inaccuracy, then it is the authors’ obligation to promptly correct or retract the paper or provide evidence to the journal editors of the correctness of the paper.

Conflict of Interest: Authors must notify the Editors of any conflicts of interest. Examples can include financial gain from, or obligation to, their research subjects or expected payment for flattering publication of research findings.

Fundamental Errors: Authors are obliged to provide retractions or corrections of mistakes at any point of time if the author(s) discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in the submitted manuscript.

Acknowledgements: All contributors who meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.

The Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education (JCIHE) requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading.

Research on Human Subjects

 When appropriate, all authors must cite approval by an institutional review board (IRB) for research on human subjects.

Data Access and Retention

Authors should be prepared to provide raw data related to their manuscript for editorial review upon request and must retain such data and be prepared to make the data publicly available if practicable. Authors should ensure accessibility of such data to other competent professionals for at least 10 years after publication (preferably via an institutional or subject-based data repository or other data center), provided that the confidentiality of the participants can be protected and legal rights concerning proprietary data do not preclude their release.

TYPES OF MANUSCRIPTS JCIHE ACCEPTS

Empirical Article: are expected to be between 5,500 - 7,500-word manuscripts, excluding references and tables. Authors are encouraged to contextualize their argument, when possible, by citing from existing debates and discussions previously published in JCIHE and sharing how the results of their manuscript contribute to previous published articles on related issues. These links build a sense of continuity and foster scholarly dialogue within the journal. Empirical Articles should demonstrate high rigor and quality. Original research collects and analyzes data in systematic ways to present important new research that adds to and advances the debates within the field of comparative and international higher education. Articles clearly and substantively contribute to current thought by expanding, correcting, broadening, posing questions in a new light, or strengthening current conceptual and/or methodological discussions in the field of comparative and international higher education. We especially welcome new topics and issues that have been under-emphasized in the field. Make a new submission to the Empirical Article section.

Essay: are expected to be between 3,500 – 4,500 word manuscript, excluding references and tables. Authors are encouraged to contextualize their argument, when possible, by citing from existing debates and discussions previously published in JCIHE and sharing how the results of your manuscript contribute to previously published articles on related issues. These links build a sense of continuity and foster scholarly dialogue within the journal. The Essay provides thought-provoking and scholarly short-length materials that examine current policies and themes related to comparative and international higher education. The Essay is research-based and demonstrate rigor and quality. Original research that a) describes new developments in the state of knowledge, b) examines area studies and regional developments of social, cultural, political and economic contexts in specific regions worldwide, c) analyzes existing data sets applying new theoretical or methodological foci, d) synthesizes divergent bodies of literature, e) places the topic at hand into a platform for future dialogue or within broader debates in the field, f) explores research-to-practice, g) examines practical application in education systems worldwide, or h) provides future directions that are of broad significance to the field. Submissions must be situated within relevant literature and can be theoretical or methodological in focus. Make a new submission to the Essay/Review section.

Emerging Scholar Summary: 1,000 – 1,500 words excluding references and tables. The submissions must share a manuscript based on a thesis or dissertation work in-progress or an original empirical-based article. The summaries are stand-alone articles that share cutting edge research that is of broad significance to the field of comparative and international higher education. Articles must include a literature review, theory focus, strong methods section, findings that can be preliminary, discussion and conclusion. NOTE: All submissions had a Letter of Support from the student's Supervisor/chair indicating their approval for the potential publication. Make a new submission to the Emerging Scholar Summary section.

Book Review: Book reviews should be 1,500 - 2,500 words and formatted in APA 7th edition. Book reviews should include the following: 1) Brief description of the book and of the various chapters; 2) Provide commentary on the strengths and the weaknesses of the book; 3) Discuss the contributions to the field of comparative and international higher education.

 Make a new submission to the Book Review section.

Special Edition Theme Proposals : The intent of the Special Issue is to share in a thematic issue cutting edge research of broad significance to the field of comparative and international higher education. Articles in the issue must align with the theme of the issue and can be empirical articles or essays.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose nor will it be made available to any other party.

Acknowledgements and Funding

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.

The Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education (JCIHE) requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading.

The Journal of Comparative and International Education encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests. This includes any financial relationship that all authors of the article have with any sponsoring organization and the for-profit interests the organization represents, and with any for-profit product discussed or implied in the text of the article.

Research Data

The Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research. Where relevant, the journal encourages authors to share their research data in a suitable public repository subject to ethical considerations and where data is included, to add a data accessibility statement in their manuscript file. Authors should also follow data citation principles.

Aims & Scope

Before submitting your manuscript to the Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.