Rwandan Journal of Education
Journal / Rwandan Journal of Education / Submissions

 

The Rwandan Journal of Education (RJE) is a peer-reviewed journal, based in the University of Rwanda-College of Education (UR-CE). It publishes original manuscripts from any author, and priority is accorded to quality articles with education themes. The RJE is published twice a year.

1. Types of articles published

Research and Evaluation: Traditional, scholarly articles that presents empirical data or quantitative (e.g. statistical and survey methods) and/or qualitative (e.g., case studies) methods.

Professional Development: Articles that take advantage of the author's particular expertise on a subject that will benefit educational career performance of the wider society.

Commentary: These are analytical and researched works that expound critically on educational issues of importance to professionals and practitioners.

Review: Critiques of educational publications (journal articles, books, software/hardware, or anything else) that would be appropriate for the audience of the Rwanda Journal of Education (RJE).

2. General considerations for submission

• All submitted articles will be considered for publication if they respect the RJE focus, which is education, and in related scholarly fields.
• An article is accepted with the understanding that RJE has exclusive publication rights, which means that the article has not been submitted concurrently, accepted for publication, or published elsewhere.
  · Effort will be made to maintain the minimum interval from submission to publication; therefore, authors should be aware that publication dates are contingent on the number and scope of editor‟ and reviewer‟s comments, as well as response times during the editing and review process.
  · Contributors to the RJE are expected to abide by both the UR-CE and the National research ethics regulations and guidelines.
• All submissions are peer-reviewed, and therefore ought to be blind of the author’s identifications.

3. How to submit articles

Authors are to submit their article as a Microsoft Word document directly to RJE Chief Editor’s office via e-mail at rje.ce@ur.ac.rw or/and wrceresearchin@gmail.com.

Authors are to submit in two files: 1. A cover page; 2. The article itself (See details about the cover page and article writing guidelines in “Submission Format”). If the article is accepted, then the author will have to submit the final copy containing the revisions as electronic files (Word) that can be edited.

4. Submission format

4.1. Cover page

Separate title of the article, authors' name(s) beginning with the first name, mailing and e-mail addresses, and a brief description of each author (two to four sentences for each author). Include three to five keywords to highlight the content of your article.

4.2. Article

Typing: The acceptable format for electronic submission should be 1.5 line spaced text in „Arial Narrow‟ in 11-point font. All text, including title, headings, references, quotations, figure captions, and tables, must be typed, with one-inch margins all around.

Length: A manuscript, including the abstract (about 150-words), figures, tables, and the reference section, should not exceed 15 pages. Submissions exceeding this limit may not be accepted for review except if permission is granted by RJE Chief Editor. Authors should keep tables and figures to a minimum.

Style: For referencing style, authors must follow guidelines in the latest edition of the American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines (http://www.apa.org) and paginate all text at the centre bottom of each page. Examples of APA Bibliography:

Abd-Kadir, J., & Hardman F. (2007). The discourse of whole class teaching: A comparative study of Kenyan and Nigerian primary English lessons. Language and Education, 21(1), 1–15.

Arnot, M., & Fennell, S. (2008). Gender education and equality in a global context: Conceptual frameworks and policy perspectives. London: Routledge.

Bunyi, G. (2005). Language practices in Kenya. In A. Lin & P. Martin (Eds.), Decolonization, globalization: Language in education policy and practice (pp. 85-101). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Chick, K. (1996). Safe-talk: Collusion in apartheid education. In H. Coleman (Ed.), Society and the language Classroom (pp. 75-90). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Global Campaign for Quality Education (2002). Child rights and the media: Putting children in the right. Retrieved from http://www.comminit.com/en/node/120000/303 (Accessed 14 October, 2010).

Language: The RJE will publish in the English language, and articles written in French, Kinyarwanda & Swahili languages will also be published only if the manuscript themes are focused on the use of any one of the languages in teaching and learning experiences. Potential contributors to RJE with different subject foci are encouraged to make personal arrangements for prior translations of their manuscript into English.

Abstract and keywords: All manuscripts must include abstracts and key words (of not more than 5 words) at the beginning of the article. Abstracts describing the essence of the manuscript must be about 150 words. Abstracts in both French and English languages are encouraged.

5. Editorial considerationsThe RJE will accept articles that will have been recommended by the peer reviewer for publication, and are for that reason of acceptable academic writing standard. Thus, prior to any publication, RJE recommends a thorough check of mistakes that distort in-depth and overall quality of the article, which may include:

5.1 Punctuations, referencing and quotations

• All punctuations must be appropriately placed and used in the text and references. Remember in - Quotations, periods and commas go inside the quotation marks, question marks, exclamation points, dashes, colons and semicolons are set outside the quotation marks (unless they are part of the source you quote).
• Ensure the appropriate use of APA style of referencing is respected in long quotation, indentation, punctuation, spacing, bibliographical referencing (See Style in 4.2 above), etc.
• Check for consistency and accuracy in method of citing sources and referencing, representation of data in tabulated and/or graphical form.

5.2 Words style and usage

• Ensure accuracy and appropriate use of words, tenses and sentences. Paying particular attention to subjects, nouns and verb agreements.
• Avoid colloquial or/and slang phrases that may dilute the academic tone of the article.
• Ensure gender neutrality, and/or substitute neutral words for masculine ones (e.g. humanity for mankind, chair instead of chairman; their, they, or them rather than he, she, her, or him, etc.)
• Use preferable academic expression (voice) that convey a stance or claim on a subject. Active voice is preferable depending on context”. Simply convey facts and information clearly, keeping in mind that an important feature of academic writing is the concept of cautious language, often called "hedging". Words used in hedging that may include, 'seem’, ‘tend to, ‘believe, ‘doubt’, ‘assume’, ‘suggest’, ‘definite’, ‘clear’, ‘probable’, etc, should suit both the context and the strength of the claim made by the writer.
• Avoid unnecessary and/or redundant words in sentences, i.e. wasted words and phrases.
• Ensure that the first-time abbreviations or acronyms used are also correctly spelt out, even if it is felt that audience knows the term, ensuring consistency, e.g. Rwandan Journal of Education (RJE).

5.3 Article organization

• Ensure that all the parts of the article are clearly stated, appropriately organized in their respective sections and subsections, from the title page to the bibliography and appendices.
• Ensure that all the figures and tables are numbered correctly and appear in the correct location.
• Ensure that all supporting documentations are located in appendices and referred to accurately.
• Ensure that the bulleted and numbered lists have parallel construction and consistent punctuations.
• Ensure that all the heading levels follow sequentially (If one subhead is created at least)
• Ensure that the pagination is correct; the glossary identifies all key terms, etc.
• Ensure that the general logical transition and coherent flow in both individual sentences and paragraphs make sense, starting a topic or idea and completing it.

6. Manuscript format

• Every article must contain an abstract (about 150 words, in italics, single spaced); and if applicable, should reflect the purpose, methodology, population, major results, and conclusion.
• Begin the article text as page 1. Use appropriate subheadings to break up the body of the text. For research articles, such headings as introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion/Conclusions would be appropriate.
• List of footnotes, literature citations, tables and figures should be incorporated within the body of the text.

7. Manuscript criteria

The fitness of a manuscript for publication in the RJE is carefully reviewed based on each of the dimensions listed below:

• Significance/relevance to education
• Conceptual framework (connections to relevant constructs in literature)
• Methods (if manuscript is an empirical study), i.e. appropriateness to research questions, adequate description of methods (including data collection and analysis), rigor of methods
• Findings/conclusions are literature or data-based
• Overall contribution to the field
• Writing style, academic language level, composition and clarity of idea or argument, etc.
• Images, photos and figures should be of high resolution (300 dpi or higher).

Copyright Notice

Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) was issued with copyright registration Certificate No. Rw-C10000866 by the Office of the Registrar General in accordance to the Rwandan IPR Law No. 31/2009. 

N.B.: KIE is now a College of Education, constituent of the University of Rwanda in accordance to the Rwandan Law No. 71/2013 of 10/09/2013 establishing the University of Rwanda (UR), and the College of Education as shown on  its website: http://www.ce.ur.ac.rw/