Publication analysis
About the publication
Title: Information and Learning Science (previously published as Library World and then New Library World and incorporating Asian Libraries)1
ISSN: 2398-5348 (Print) and 1758-6909 (Online)2
Website: http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/journals.htm?id=ils
Purpose, objective, or mission: “Information and Learning Science advances inter-disciplinary research that explores scholarly intersections shared within 2 key fields: information science and the learning sciences / education sciences. The journal provides a publication venue for work that strengthens our scholarly understanding of human inquiry and learning phenomena, especially as they relate to design and uses of information and e-learning systems innovations.”3
Target audience: The target audience is international in scope, including academics, information professionals, and librarians, along with researchers and teachers involved in the library and information community.
Publisher: Emerald Publishing.
Peer reviewed? Yes, double-blind peer review.4
Type: LIS scholarly journal.
Medium: Print and Online.
Content: “We invite research that builds upon and advances theories, methods, results, innovation designs, evidence bases and frameworks for action present across both information science, and the learning/education sciences scholarly domains. We especially welcome the submission of papers that directly address, explicate and discuss the inter-disciplinary boundaries and intersections present across these two fields, and that offer new conceptual, empirical and technological syntheses. Such investigations may include but are not limited to:
- E-learning perspectives on searching, information-seeking, and information uses and practices engaged by a full diversity of youth, adults, elders and specialized populations, in varied contexts including leisure time activities; e-learning at work, in libraries, at school, home, during playtime, in health/wellness settings, etc.
- Design and use of systems such as MOOCs, social media, learning management systems, search systems, information systems, and other technology design innovations that contribute to human inquiry, formal and informal learning, searching, information-seeking, information uses, knowledge building and sharing, and instruction;
- HCI, socio-technical systems research, and materiality research perspectives on information and learning systems design; social learning ecologies; and creation and use of physical objects and settings that elicit human inquiry and learning;
- Ethnographic; emancipatory; social justice-based; feminist; critical race theory; and post-structuralist research involving information, learning, equity, design;
- Information, communication, and technology (ICT) considerations in computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) contexts;
- Innovations and e-learning solutions that address digital / information / media / data literacy and/or address the digital divide;
- Innovations involving problem-, project-, and inquiry-based learning contexts and goods;
- Learning analytics and/or data science perspectives on measurement and analysis of learning in information / search / e-learning systems;
- Social and ethical issues in e-learning contexts such as design, measurement, and evaluation — such as privacy and security concerns around student confidentiality, data ownership and ethical data uses by researchers, teachers, institutions, etc.”5
Frequency of publication: Bimonthly (six times a year).
About the publication’s submission guidelines
Location of submission guidelines: Author Guidelines.
Types of contributions accepted: Information and Learning Science accepts articles in the following categories: research paper, viewpoint, technical paper, conceptual paper, case study, literature review, and general review (between 2,500 and 6,000 words). Structured abstracts must be submitted with all articles. The journal also publishes conference reports and book reviews.6
Submission and review process: Authors submit and track manuscripts on ScholarOne Manuscripts. The editor reviews submissions and sends appropriate manuscripts to two referees for double-blind review. Conference reports and book reviews are not peer reviewed.7
Editorial tone: The editorial tone is scholarly and academic.
Style guide used: Information and Learning Science uses Harvard Style and provides examples of references and citations.8
Conclusion: Evaluation of publication’s potential for LIS authors
Information and Learning Science is multidisciplinary and international in scope. It publishes many different types of high-quality articles on a broad range of LIS topics. Further, the journal takes account of “social, cultural, economic, ergonomic, ethical and sectoral issues,” which appeals to LIS authors worldwide.9
Audience analysis
About the publication’s readers
Publication circulation: Not available.
Audience location and language or cultural considerations: Information and Learning Science is published in English in the United Kingdom; however, its audience is international. Editorial Advisory Board members are from all over the world, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Nigeria, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Hungary, Greece, and the United Arab Emirates.10
Reader characteristics: Due to the journal’s international reach, Information and Learning Science attracts readers from the LIS professional spectrum, including teachers, librarians, researchers, and students, from a variety of library types and information settings, who are interested in understanding LIS practices from around the world.
Knowledge of LIS subject matter: The average reader of Information and Learning Science has a broad understanding of LIS subject matters and issues and an understanding of library jargon.
Conclusion: Analysis of reader characteristics and their potential impact on authors
Because the readership is international, published articles should have a broad level of interest and be applicable to LIS professionals and academics from all over the world. Information and Learning Science is a scholarly journal with a large number of academics in its audience; the articles they would be most interested in would be those based on original and novel scholarship and research.
Last updated: April 14, 2018