Submission Types

Research Reports

JRME publishes a wide variety of research reports that move the field of mathematics education forward. These include, but are not limited to, various genres and designs of empirical research; philosophical, methodological, and historical studies in mathematics education; and literature reviews, syntheses, and theoretical analyses of research in mathematics education.

The maximum length for Research Reports is 13,000 words including abstract, references, tables, and figures.

Papers that review well for JRME generally include these Characteristics of a High Quality Manuscript. The editors strongly encourage all authors to consider these characteristics when preparing a submission to JRME.

Correspondence regarding manuscripts should be sent to:

Patricio Herbst, JRME Editor
School of Education, University of Michigan
601 E. University Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1259
USA
[email protected]

Brief Reports

Brief reports of research are appropriate when a fuller report is available elsewhere or when a more comprehensive follow-up study is planned.

• A brief report of a first study on some topic might stress the rationale, hypotheses, and plans for further work.
• A brief report of a replication or extension of a previously reported study might contrast the results of the two studies, referring to the earlier study for methodological details.
• A brief report of a monograph or other lengthy non-journal publication might summarize the key findings and implications or might highlight an unusual observation or methodological approach.
• A brief report might provide an executive summary of a large study.

The maximum length for Brief Reports is 5,000 words including abstract, references, tables, and figures. If source materials are needed to evaluate a brief report manuscript, a copy should be included.

Correspondence regarding manuscripts should be sent to:

Patricio Herbst, JRME Editor
School of Education, University of Michigan
610 E. University Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1259
USA  
[email protected]

Research Commentaries

The journal publishes brief (5,000 word), peer-reviewed commentaries on issues that reflect on mathematics education research as a field and steward its development. Research Commentaries differ from Research Reports in that their focus is not to present new findings or empirical results, but rather to comment on issues of interest to the broader research community.

Research Commentaries are intended to engage the community and increase the breadth of topics addressed in JRME. Typically, Research Commentaries—

• address mathematics education research as a field and endeavor to move the field forward;
• speak to the readers of the journal as an audience of researchers; and
  
• speak in ways that have relevance to all mathematics education researchers, even when addressing a particular point or a particular subgroup.

Authors of Research Commentaries should share their perspectives while seeking to invite conversation and dialogue, rather than close off opportunities to learn from others, especially those whose work they might be critiquing.

• Foci of Research Commentaries vary widely. They may include, but are not restricted to the following:
• Discussion of connections between research and NCTM-produced documents
  
• Advances in research methods
  
• Discussions of connections among research, policy, and practice
  
• Analyses of trends in policies for funding of research
  
• Examinations of evaluation studies
  
• Critical essays on research publications that have implications for the mathematics education research community
  
• Interpretations of previously published research in JRME that bring insights from an equity lens
  
• Exchanges among scholars holding contrasting views about research-related issues

The maximum length for Research Commentaries is 5,000 words, including abstract, references, tables, and figures.

Correspondence regarding manuscripts should be sent to:

Daniel Chazan, JRME Research Commentary Editor  
[email protected]

Preparing Manuscripts

As early in the process as possible, see Characteristics of a High Quality Manuscript for recommendations about what makes a strong manuscript.

Manuscript style should conform to the conventions specified in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed., 2020). This publication is available from the American Psychological Association ( www.apa.org), 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002.

Use as a model the sample paper included in the current APA manual on pages 50-60 (also available online). Give particular attention to the content and format illustrated on pages 50 and 51 for the cover sheet, abstract, and first sheet of actual manuscript text. Also note the use of a running head on subsequent manuscript pages. If the manuscript is based on dissertation research, a funded research project, or a paper presented at a professional meeting, a footnote on the cover sheet should provide the relevant facts, including the director of the dissertation or the organization sponsoring the project.

Manuscript Length
The maximum length of manuscripts submitted to JRME (including abstract, references, tables, and figures) is as follows: Research Report—13,000 words; Brief Report or Research Commentary—5,000 words.

Figures and Tables
Figures and tables must be embedded in the text, not appended to the end of the document. Figures need to be clear and efficiently constructed in order to keep file sizes from exceeding what the system can handle. All figures submitted must be camera ready. Digital files should be 300 dpi.

120-Word Abstract
It is important to craft a 120-word abstract that accurately captures the nature and contribution of your manuscript. This abstract and the manuscript title are the only things potential reviewers see when they are invited to review your paper. Your abstract should be included at the beginning of the manuscript file and will also be entered separately during the submission process.  

Accuracy and Permissions
Authors must accept sole responsibility for the factual accuracy of their contributions and for obtaining permission to quote lengthy excerpts from copyrighted sources.

Creating Blinded and Unblinded Versions
Microsoft Word is the recommended text environment. If you use a different means for producing the document, the file must be converted to .DOC or .DOCX versions before it can be submitted. Two versions of the manuscript, blinded and unblinded, need to be submitted. “Blinding” means removing all information that might identify you as the author(s) of the paper, including names and affiliations, information about the cities or institutions where research was conducted, and other similar data. References to your previous work should be blinded unless doing so would reveal your identity. These citations should be changed to the text “(Author, Date)” and removed entirely from the reference list.

Cover Letter

Letter of Changes
If you are re-submitting a manuscript to JRME, whether it is an invited “Revise and Resubmit” or a new submission of a previously rejected manuscript, you must include a blinded letter describing in some detail the edits you have made to address the issues identified in the previous decision letter.

Submitting Manuscripts
Our submission and review process is entirely online. Manuscripts must be uploaded to the manuscript system for consideration.

Review and Decision

When a manuscript arrives at the JRME editorial office, the staff performs a quality control check to ensure it meets technical and stylistic requirements. The reviewing process is greatly facilitated when manuscripts are submitted in proper form. Next, the editor evaluates whether the manuscript falls within the journal's domain of interests. If the manuscript is inappropriate for JRME or if the editor feels it would not review well, it is returned to the author without further consideration.

Manuscripts that are selected for full review are read by a panel of experts in the field. If you are interested serving as a reviewer for JRME, please create an account in our online manuscript system and fill out your profile.

Reviewers are asked to make one of the following recommendations:

• Accept Pending Minor Revisions: A manuscript that needs only incremental changes to be publishable in JRME. This typically involves no further peer review; the author will work with the editor to resolve lingering issues.

• Decision Pending Major Revisions: A manuscript that requires significant changes to be publishable in JRME but would be recognizable as the same paper afterward. Upon resubmission, it will be read by only previous reviewers if they are available.

• Rewrite & Resubmit: A manuscript that is not currently suitable for publication in JRME but that has potential to reach that point with a significant rewrite—on the order of a completely new manuscript based on the same data. Upon resubmission, it will be read by a mix of previous and new reviewers.

• Reject: A manuscript that is not suitable for publication in JRME, whether because of substantial faults in the data, the lack of a significant contribution to the field, or some other flaw that would not be feasible to fix in a revision.

Although the reviewers’ recommendations are not votes, the editor takes these recommendations as well as the reviewers’ comments into account when making an overall decision on the manuscript. The editor then communicates the decision to the author, including suggestions for a revision or an indication of the reasons for a rejection.

The JRME editorial office works to process manuscripts expeditiously. The goal is to complete the reviewing process within five months. Occasionally, a longer time is required.

After a manuscript has been accepted for publication, various factors contribute to determining the issue in which it will appear: manuscript backlog, lead time for production (copy editing and printing), manuscript length, and other considerations pertaining to the content and makeup of particular JRME issues. Manuscripts are not necessarily published in the order in which they are received or accepted.

Assignment of copyright for the article to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics is required as a condition of publication. After acceptance by JRME, a manuscript may not be published elsewhere, including on the internet, without written permission from NCTM.