JVTE v16n1 - Guidelines for Authors


Volume 16, Number 1
Fall 1999

Guidelines for Authors

The Journal of Vocational and Technical Education ( JVTE ) is a non-profit, refereed national publication of Omicron Tau Theta , the national, graduate honorary society of vocational and technical education.Manuscripts submitted for consideration by JVTE should focus on vocational and technical education philosophy, theory, or practice.Comprehensive reviews of literature and reports of research and methodology will be considered.All articles should relate to current issues, cite appropriate literature, and have direct implications for vocational and technical educators. It is intended that JVTE serve as a forum for discussion of philosophy, theory, practice, and issues in vocational and technical education.Manuscripts should not have been published or be under current consideration for publication by other journals.

Publication Style

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , Fourth Edition (1994), is the standard of style for JVTE with one exception ÷please place your figures and tables in the appropriate place in the manuscript. Manuscripts not adhering to that style manual will be returned to the authors without review.

Submitting Manuscripts

Manuscripts accepted for publication normally may not exceed 20 pages of printed, double-spaced text, including title page, abstract page, tables, figures, and references. Margins should be 1" all around and the font used must be no smaller than Times New Roman 12-point for the purposes of determining page length. Authors may submit manuscripts for review in either of two ways:

Fully Electronic

Manuscripts may be submitted electronically via the Internet . Submit a single file containing, in order, the following:

  1. a title page with the manuscript title and the author(s) institution(s), complete address(es), telephone number(s), and e-mail address(es);
  2. an abstract of the manuscript, succinctly describing the contents of the paper in no more than 960 characters and spaces; and
  3. the full manuscript with figures and table included in the manuscript.

The file may be in Macintosh or MS-Windows (preferred) based systems. The file should be in either Word for Windows (preferred), Word Perfect, or Word for Macintosh, although most word processors can be translated. Manuscripts must be sent as e-mail attachments to heathb@vt.edu . Please keep manuscript in one file. If the file cannot be translated, the Editor will notify you and request that you use the procedure outlined in the next section.

Traditional Submissions

Hard copy submission should be mailed to the editor. Submit a package containing the following:

  1. a separate title page with the manuscript title and the author(s) institution(s), complete address(es), telephone number(s), and e-mail address(es);
  2. five copies of a separate abstract of the manuscript, succinctly describing the contents of the paper in no more than 960 characters and spaces (150 words); and
  3. five double-spaced copies of the manuscript without the author's name or affiliation;
  4. a 3-1/2" diskette containing a single word processor file consisting of the title page, abstract, and manuscript, in that order. Diskettes become the property of JVTE and will not be returned. The diskette file may be in Macintosh, MS-DOS, or MS-Windows (preferred) based systems. The file should be in either Word for Windows (preferred), Word Perfect, Word for DOS, or Word for Macintosh, although most common word processors can be translated.

Review and Publication

The Journal is published twice a year, spring (about June 1 st for the hard copy) and fall (about December 1 st for the hard copy). Regardless of the form of submission, all accepted articles will be published in both traditional hard copy and on the electronic journal, which is currently available at the following URL (please note, this URL is case sensitive):

http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JVTE/jvte.html

The review process for the Journal of Vocational and Technical Education normally requires 6 weeks to 3 months for the first round. The entire review process from submission to final acceptance or rejection may require much longer. The Editor will notify you as each stage in the review process is completed. The decision of the reviewers will be either to:

  1. Accept (publish as submitted, very minor editorial revisions may be needed -- this is very rare for initial submissions)
  2. Accept Conditionally , with minor revisions (revisions are reviewed by editor, not resubmitted to review panel)
  3. Accept Conditionally with Major Revisions (revised manuscript will be sent back to the same reviewers for reconsideration)
  4. Reject but invite major revision and re-submission (fundamental changes are needed and the revised manuscript will go back to the same reviewers for reconsideration -- this is a very common decision on the initial review and should not be considered as a final rejection)
  5. Reject the manuscript for JVTE .(the manuscript will not be considered again)

The manuscript review process for JVTE is a "blind" peer review. That means the reviewers are not informed of the identity of the author(s) and the author(s) will not be informed of the identities of the reviewers. The reviewers of the manuscript are recognized scholars with appropriate professional and educational preparation and are selected for their specific expertise relative to the topic of your manuscript. At least one reviewer on each manuscript must be a member of the JVTE Editorial Board. The final acceptance rate for JVTE is only about one-third. Authors who persevere through requested revisions are generally the authors whose manuscripts eventually become articles in selective, refereed journals such as JVTE .

Figures and Tables

Tables and figures should provide only information essential to understanding the article. Authors should avoid reporting the same information in both text and tables . In the preparation of tables and figures, authors should use APA guidelines for format and include the tables and figures in text where they should appear. Tables and figures are to be prepared as a part of the word processing file. Tables should be developed in columns using the table-formatting feature in the word processor so that they will translate to HTML. Each item in a table should be placed in an individual cell. Do not use tabs to format tables, because they will not translate properly. Tables and figures will not be published on oversized or foldout sheets.

Editor 1998-1999

Betty Heath-Camp
119 Wallace, 0467
College of Human Resources and Education
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Phone: 540-231-8189
e-mail: heathb@vt.edu

Editor-Elect
(Editor beginning December, 1999)

Myra Womble
207 River's Crossing Building
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-4809
Phone: 706-542-4091
email: mwomble@arches.uga.edu

Publisher

Mary Jean Evers-Lush
P. O. Box 3295
Delta State University
Cleveland, MS 38733
e-mail: mjlush@dsu.deltast.edu
Phone: 601-846-4181

Editorial Board Chair

Daisy Stewart
119 Wallace, 0467
College of Human Resources and Education
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061
e-mail: daisys@vt.edu

Editorial Board Members

Daisy Stewart, Editorial Board Chair, Virginia Tech; Susan Asselin, Virginia Tech; Gregory G. Belcher, Pittsburg State University, Kansas; Dan Brown, Murray State University, Kentucky; Jim Gregson, Oklahoma State University; Johanna Lasonen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland; Paula A. Puckett, Danville Area Community College, Illinois; George Rogers, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Rick D. Rudd, University of Florida; Wanda Stitt-Gohdes, University of Georgia; Kirk Swortzel, Auburn University; and Allen Truell, The University of Missouri.