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An Examination of Peer-Reviewed Journals Within the Field of Educational Technology and Factors Influencing Publication Choice
Albert D. Ritzhaupt, Christopher D. Sessums, and Margeaux C. Johnson
Editor’s Note: The following article was published in Educational Technology with this citation:
Ritzhaupt, A. D., Sessums, C. D., & Johnson, M. C. (2012). Where should educational technologists publish their research? An examination of peer-reviewed journals within the field of educational technology and factors influencing publication choice. Educational Technology, 52(6), 47–56.
For information on open access journals in the field of educational technology, see Ross Perkins and Patrick Lowenthal’s analysis of the top OA journals in the field.
The purpose of this study was to examine (1) the academic prestige and visibility of peer-reviewed journals within the field of educational technology, and (2) the factors influencing an individual’s choice to publish within a specific journal. Seventy-nine educational technology professionals responded to an online survey designed to address the aforementioned concerns. The authors’ results suggest that educational technology professionals generally agree that some publication venues stand out among others. In particular, Educational Technology Research and Development, British Journal of Educational Technology, and Computers & Education had the highest visibility and prestige ratings of all peer-reviewed journals within the study. Additionally, the results suggest that when one chooses to publish within a particular journal, the fit of the manuscript within the journal, the aims and intent of the journal, and the target audience are among the most important factors.
Introduction
Where should educational technologists publish their research articles? This is a question that is quite common among academic circles in the field of educational technology. Although this seems to be a trivial question at first glance, when one considers the number of publication outlets available (59 within this study), the pressure on faculty members to publish, and the impact of publishing on tenure and promotion, the question is no longer trivial from a faculty member’s perspective (Hardgrave & Walstrom, 1997). Given that publishing research articles plays an extremely important function for faculty members, and that tenure and promotion decisions are greatly influenced by the perceived value of publications, determining which journals to use for publication is important, especially in light of the limited knowledge of multidisciplinary tenure and promotion committees (Bray, 2003; Carr-Chellman, 2006; Elbeck & Mandernach, 2009; Hannafin, 1991; Holcomb, Bray, & Dorr, 2003).
In this study, we investigated which peer-reviewed journals in the field of educational technology were recognized as valuable by educational technology professionals through an online survey. The results indicate the different ways an academic publication’s v