Author Guidelines

GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS

The New Zealand Journal of Teachers' Work is a free, open-access, peer-reviewed e-journal containing articles of interest to Early Childhood, Primary, Secondary and Tertiary teachers and teacher educators. The journal aims to disseminate New Zealand and international research on and by teachers and also other articles on current issues which may be of interest to teachers and academics in New Zealand and the South Pacific. The New Zealand Journal of Teachers’ Work continues a tradition of promoting critical analysis and debate on matters of professional and public concern that have direct relevance for all with an interest in education.

The co-editors are Christoph Teschers and Nesta Devine, and the associate editors are Helena Cook, Daniel Couch, and Kay-Lee Jones. This team is supported by an international editorial board. The journal is published in May/June and November/December each year. The journal is indexed in ERIC.

General GUIDANCE FOR AUTHORS

Authors may submit manuscripts for the following categories:

1. Peer-reviewed research article
   

Peer-reviewed reserach articles should not exceed 6000 words and should focus on topics of broad relevance to the work of teachers across all or any educational sectors. Submitted articles are double blind peer-reviewed, drawing on a national panel of reviewers.  

2. Editorially-reviewed

Editorially reviewed pieces may include:

Opinion pieces. Contributors are encouraged to submit opinion pieces on topical issues relating to teachers and education. At their discretion, the editors may invite opinion pieces on topical issues each issue. Opinion pieces should be 1000-2500 words.

NZJTW Forum. Contributors have an opportunity to submit responses to previously published articles. A number of authors may develop grouped contributions on topical themes or subjects of interest to teachers.  The editors may also invite authors to develop a forum on a subject of interest. Forum contributions pieces should not exceed 1500 words. Abstracts are not required, but referencing is.  

Teacher reflections. Reflective discussions of teachers' work by teachers in the field on topics of interest to the educational community, from early childhood to tertiary. Length 1000-2,500 words.

Research overviews and Literature reviews . These are normally outlines of research projects or literature reviews and should not be longer than 4000 words.

Book reviews. Reviews of 500-1000 words are welcomed. These may also be solicited by the editors.

SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FOR AUTHORS 

1. Pitching of articles

The target readership for the journal is teachers and academics in all sectors of education in New Zealand and the South Pacific from early childhood to tertiary. More generally, there is an international readership. Therefore, it is expected that articles published in the journal will be tailored to this readership. Articles should be

• Written to be read by busy, reflexive teachers;
• free of technical jargon or, where this is necessary to the argument, explained in non-technical terms;
• informed, but not dominated, by relevant scholarly and research literature; and
• socially critical in their orientation (i.e., with a critically reflective focus on the topic and not just a ‘how-to’ approach).
• Distinctively New Zealand terminology must be made clear to an international audience.

2. Format expectations

   APA Style. Articles submitted for publication should follow APA guidelines (7th edition).
   Grammar and Spelling. Before submitting material, please ensure that it grammatically correct and you have done a full spell check.
   Pictures. Please supply these separately in JPEG format and indicate in the text approximately where you would like them to be placed and include a caption.
   Charts and Diagrams. Please supply these separately and indicate in the text approximately where you would like them to be placed and include a caption.
   Colour. As we publish in PDF format you are welcome/ encouraged to include colour photos, charts and diagrams.
   Formatting of Text. Please use the journal’s Article Template

3. Submission guidance.  

   Please follow the submission guidelines on the journal website.
   Please state clearly the category of your article.
   To ensure that peer reviewed articles are anonymous to the reviewer, upload only your blinded copy as the main file. Relevant tables and charts may be uploaded as supplementary files. Ensure these are blinded. You may also refer to the helpful guidance on the website.
   NZJTW will not consider for publication material that has been published elsewhere or included in conference proceedings (unless it is re-worked).
   At the time of submission please include ‘About the Authors’ information as follows: a good colour photo and a paragraph of professional information including your institutional affiliation. Please email this as a separate file to the Editor.   
   Receipt of manuscripts will be acknowledged by email.

   Use of AI in NZJTW
   NZJTW expects submitted articles to be the work of the authors named on the submission. We do not accept ChatGPT or other AI to be named as co-authors. Notably an attribution of authorship carries with it accountability for the work, which cannot be effectively applied to AI. Where an AI has been used in preparation of a submission, this should be detailed in the methods section or an appropriate acknowldegment made. It is the author(s)’s responsibility to ensure that the article upholds the standards of academic integrity and rigour, including appropriate referencing of any sources and ideas that might have been used by the author(s) and/or the AI.