Guidelines for Writers

Educational Leadership, the flagship journal of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), is intended for everyone interested in curriculum, instruction, supervision, and leadership in education. Each issue contains articles by leading educators, reports of effective programs and practices, interpretations of research, and columns.

Issues are organized around themes. In general, the more appropriate an article is for a theme issue, the more likely we will be able to publish it. We also accept articles on special topics if the subject is not related to a theme but is of great interest.

Other important information: Decisions regarding publication are made by the EL editorial staff. ASCD reserves the right to reject material, whether solicited or otherwise, if it lacks quality or timeliness. ASCD offers no remuneration for articles.

What We Look for…

• Features describing research-based solutions to current problems in education.
• Opinion pieces that interweave experiences and ideas and reasoned debate on controversial subjects.
• Program descriptions (school, district, or state).
• Brief (1,500–2,500 words) manuscripts that are helpful to practicing preK–12 educators.
• Treatments of the theme that are interesting and insightful.
• Articles in which the writer speaks directly to the reader in an informal, conversational style.
• Practical examples that illustrate key points.
• An emphasis on explaining and interpreting research results rather than on methodology.
• International contributions.

We are not looking for term papers or reviews of literature, and we rarely publish conventional research reports. We cannot review drafts and usually do not find query letters helpful; we prefer to read the manuscript. While your article is under review with us, we ask that you not submit it to another publication or post it on a Web site, even your own. Articles should not be previously published, either in print or electronic form.

How to Prepare Your Manuscript…

• Double-space all copy and leave generous margins.
• Number all pages.
• Indicate the number of words in the manuscript, including references and figures.
• Include your name, address, phone number, fax number, and e-mail address on the cover sheet.
• Please do not single-space or otherwise crowd your pages. We prefer manuscripts that look like manuscripts, not like typeset articles from desktop publishing.

We use the reference style outlined by the American Psychological Association. Cite references in the text like this (Jones, 2000) and list them in bibliographic form at the end of the article. Please do not use footnotes or endnotes for the references. For other matters of style, refer to The Chicago Manual of Style, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (10th ed.), and the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

Authors bear full responsibility for the accuracy of citations, quotations, figures, and facts.

How to Submit Your Manuscript…

Send two copies of your manuscript. Articles will not be returned unless you include a self-addressed, stamped 9 x 12 envelope. Please do not fax or e-mail your manuscript unless requested to do so. You can expect to receive a postcard telling you that the manuscript has arrived; a letter from an editor should follow within eight weeks.

If you discover a small error after mailing your manuscript, please do not send a correction; small errors can be corrected in the editing process.

What Happens Next…

If your manuscript is accepted, even provisionally, it enters the pool of manuscripts on hand for a particular theme issue, or for use as a special topic. When we assemble a particular issue, we review all manuscripts to make selections for the table of contents. We consider many factors, such as the balance of perspectives, locations, grade levels, and topics. You will be notified if your manuscript is selected for the final table of contents.

All manuscript selections are tentative until we go to press. During the editing and layout process, we may have to make last-minute space adjustments and, thus, very occasionally, must omit an article we had provisionally accepted.

What to Do About Computer Disks…

We edit electronically, so if your manuscript is accepted, even provisionally, we will ask for an electronic version, either on disk or through e-mail. Please indicate on the disk your last name and the file name of your manuscript. If you are including figures or charts with the article, please save each figure as a separate file and indicate those file names as well; do not embed the figures in the text file.

About Artwork and Photographs…

We appreciate receiving any photographs and artwork related to your manuscript. We consider photos (color or black-and-white), slides, and examples of student work for publication. Send photographs and artwork only when we request them, after your article has been accepted and scheduled for publication.

Send photos to us by overnight mail. We will return artwork or photos that we request. Please include the name of the photographer or the source so that we may give proper credit; on the back of each item, tape a small piece of paper with your name and address. (Do not write directly on the back of the photo.) And please add a note to explain photos and artwork, including the name and location of the school. This information helps us when we write captions.

Authors are responsible for obtaining the necessary permissions to use any photographs or artwork they provide. If photographs that you provide are selected for publication, you will be asked to sign and return a Photo Permissions Form giving ASCD permission to use the photographs in your article and warranting that all persons in each photograph have given their permission for the photograph to be published.

How to Survive the Editing Process…

If your manuscript is selected for the issue's table of contents, it is assigned to a staff editor, who will shepherd it through the editing and layout process. The style requirements of Educational Leadership—as well as space limitations—often dictate heavy editing, and we appreciate collaboration with the authors in the process.

You will receive an edited version of your manuscript for your review, correction, and approval. At this time you will have a chance to correct errors, answer our queries, and update any information. Please do not retype the manuscript! Just mark your corrections directly on the manuscript, and mail or fax it back to us. If you have insertions, please type or write them on a separate piece of paper and indicate on the manuscript where to insert them.

We will ask you to certify that the article, in whole or in part, has not been previously published, in print or in electronic form, including on the Internet. When you receive the edited version of your manuscript, you will also receive a transfer of copyright form, which includes permission for ASCD to use your article online and in other electronic formats. Please sign and return the original form by first-class mail, not by fax, as soon as possible.

When Your Article Comes Out…

As soon as the issue is off the press—about the first of the month—we will send your complimentary copies. Authors receive five copies; book reviewers, one copy. We will also send an author's feedback form to gather your comments about our work. Fill out that form, and return it quickly. Then, it's time to arrange your autograph party!

Please send manuscripts to

Marge Scherer, Editor in Chief
Educational Leadership
ASCD
1703 N. Beauregard St.
Alexandria, VA 22311-1714 USA