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Editorial Policies

Focus and Scope

A peer-reviewed, open-access journal published biannually, The Journal of Learning Spaces provides a scholarly, multidisciplinary forum for research articles, case studies, book reviews, and position pieces related to all aspects of learning space design, operation, pedagogy, and assessment in higher education.

We define learning as the process of acquiring knowledge, skill, or understanding as a result of study, experience, or teaching.

Learning spaces are designed to support, facilitate, stimulate, or enhance learning and teaching. Learning spaces encompass formal, informal, and virtual environments:

  • formal: lecture halls, laboratories, libraries, traditional classrooms
  • informal: learning commons, multimedia sandbox, residential study areas, huddle rooms
  • virtual: learning management systems, social media websites, online virtual environments


We invite submissions of practical and theoretical works from practitioners and academics across a wide range of subject disciplines and organizational backgrounds, including Architecture, Interior and Product Design, Education, Information and Library Science, Instructional Technology, Sociology, and Student and Residential Life. Submissions should focus primarily on learning spaces and their impact on or relationship to teaching and learning.

Journal of Learning Spaces is an Open Access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of Open Access.

 

Section Policies

Research Manuscripts

Unchecked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Position Pieces

Unchecked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Case Studies

Unchecked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Book Reviews

Unchecked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Unchecked Peer Reviewed

Learning Space Spotlight

Unchecked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Unchecked Peer Reviewed

Field Reports

Unchecked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Unchecked Peer Reviewed
 

Peer Review Process

All submissions are subject to double blind reviews by two reviewers. The review period is usually between 4 to 8 weeks depending on when the article is submitted in the publication process, and when the reviewers are available. Reports from reviewers are anonymized and returned to authors with a decision or for appropriate action. Articles are reviewed by experts in the subfields of learning space categories. Editors:

  • evaluating manuscripts exclusively on the basis of their academic and intellectual merit, without regard to the author(s)’ race, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnic origin, religious belief, citizenship, political orientation or social class;

  • ensuring a fair and unbiased double-blind peer review of the manuscripts and that all information related to them is kept confidential. They also ensure that both authors’ and peer reviewers’ identities are protected;

  • ensuring that appropriate reviewers are selected;

  • developing and maintaining a database of suitable reviewers and updating it on the basis of reviewer performance;

 

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

 

Publisher Ethical Standards

Handling of unethical publishing behavior:

In cases where alleged or proven scholarly misconduct, fraudulent publication, or plagiarism is brought to the attention of JOLS, JOLS staff will consult with the editor. All forms of misconduct are taken seriously and will result in all necessary action in accordance with COPE https://publicationethics.org/ guidelines. Examples of misconduct include (but are not limited to) affiliation misrepresentation, breaches in copyright/use of third-party material without appropriate permissions, citation manipulation, duplicate submission/publication, avoiding international standards of research ethics, image or data manipulation/fabrication, peer review manipulation, plagiarism, text-recycling/self-plagiarism, undisclosed competing interests and/or unethical research.

Intellectual property

JOLS is committed to open access publishing, ensuring global access to research publications and emphasizing the rights of authors to retain copyright in their work and to license that work in ways that encourage sharing and reuse.