About the Journal

 Aim and Scope

The Journal of Social Media for Learning seeks to publish high quality research and scholarly articles at the leading edge of development of theories, practices and pedagogy that increase insight, support understanding and add to the International discourse about all aspects of the use Social Media for Learning. The journal is proactive in seeking to bridge the gap between traditional teaching methods and contemporary digital learning and supports the publication of research and evidence-informed practice to share research which demonstrates tangible, high quality outputs with impact that have brought about real changes for the direct benefit of students.

The use of Social Media as a tool for learning is an emergent, rather than an established practice and as such many questions remain unanswered. In addition to the publication of research relating to the nature of the technologies themselves, very little is known about understandings and perceptions of its use as a tool for teaching or learning. There are also important issues to be explored around the preparation for teaching, the assessment of competency and implications on policy.

The journal seeks to present a balanced mix of case studies and research articles which relate to learning and teaching and reflect current themes and ideas but also to provide a platform within the context of students and staff as change agents in shaping future developments within the field. Critical, review, and comparative studies are particularly prominent, as are contributions which draw upon other literatures in order to address issues of concern. In addition, the Journal publishes book reviews, editorials and reflection/opinion pieces.

Contributions to on-going research debates are encouraged and the Journal welcomes opportunities to publish substantial literature reviews in order to consolidate contributions which have been made within the field of Social Media for Learning. Special Issues and themes within issues, focusing on specific aspects of Social Media are welcome. These can be commissioned by the Editors, or the editorial board are happy to receive proposals from the community.

 

A note especially for colleagues who maybe new to publishing:

While we are and will always be aiming to publish work which is academically rigorous and of high-quality, our aim to create a really useful journal full of concepts and strategies that will make a real difference in practice, so we definitely don’t want to exclude good ideas which can happen especially if the colleagues with a brilliant something to share may be at the start of their publishing journeys and are hesitant about submitting because they fear rejection. So please don’t be put off. Have a go, work with a friend, perhaps even offer to review which can help when drafting and submitting your own piece, and if you have any specific questions or queries about what you can submit please get in touch.

Heart on sleeve time  - we’ve not done this before either – so it is a learning curve and please forgive us should there be any little glitches. Everything seems to read well and work well – but if you spot any errors or incur any issues when submitting please do not hesitate to let us know.

 

Kindest regards

Everyone on the JSML Editorial Board and Reviewing Team 

 

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content with no submission or publications fees. The content in this journal is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence that allows others to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full text of works in this journal, or to use them for any other lawful purpose in accordance with the licence. 

 

Notice and Takedown Policy

If you are a rights holder and are concerned that you have found material in LJMU Open Journals which infringes UK law, please contact us by emailing openjournals@ljmu.ac.uk, stating the following:

  1. Your contact details and the reason for the withdrawal request, some examples are:
  • Unauthorised use by reason of reproduction and/or making available the material
  • Breach of moral right of [paternity/integrity/right not to have my work subjected to derogatory treatment]
  • Other complaints, e.g. defamation, breach of confidence, data protection
  1. The full bibliographic details of the material and the full URL
  2. Proof that you are the rights holder or are an authorised representative.

 Upon receipt of notification the ‘Notice and Takedown’ procedure is then invoked as follows:

  1. LJMU will acknowledge receipt of your complaint by email or letter and will make an initial assessment of the validity and plausibility of the complaint. We aim to acknowledge and assess the complaint within seven days of receipt.
  2. Where grounds for complaint are plausible, the material will be temporarily removed from public view in LJMU Open Journals pending an agreed solution.
  3. LJMU will contact the contributor who deposited the material, if relevant. The contributor will be notified that the material is subject to a complaint, under what allegations, and will be encouraged to assuage the complaints concerned.
  4. The complainant and the contributor will be encouraged to resolve the issue swiftly and amicably and to the satisfaction of both parties, with the following possible outcomes:
  • The material is replaced on LJMU Open Journals unchanged.
  • The material is replaced on LJMU Open Journals with changes.
  • The material is permanently removed from LJMU Open Journals.
  • In some cases a metadata record will remain. This will be on a case by case basis.
  1. If the contributor and the complainant are unable to agree a solution from receipt of notification, the material will remain unavailable through LJMU Open Journals until a time when a resolution has been reached. It may be necessary for us to seek legal advice before the complaint can be fully resolved.