For the first time in its more than 50 years of existence, the esteemed Journal of Research in Science Teaching (JRST), published 10 times per year, is based at the University of Illinois. The editorship comes with $491,000 in support from the publisher Wiley, as well as NARST (formerly known with the acronym National Association for Research in Science Teaching), a worldwide organization dedicated to improving science teaching and learning through research.

Gauthier Professor of Education Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, associate dean for research and research education and director of the Bureau of Educational Research, was selected to co-edit the journal with Professor Dana Zeidler, a science education faculty member at the University of South Florida.

“This is really big,” said Abd-El-Khalick. “JRST is the premier research journal in the field of science education. JRST also is one of the top ranked among all educational research journals. In 2014, the Thomson Reuters Journal Citations Reports® ranked JRST as fourth among all 224 education and educational research journals indexed in the Web of Science. It has an incredible impact in the field of science education and in education at large.”

As co-editors, Abd-El-Khalick and Zeidler work with their managing editor, editorial associates, and a global team of 20 associate editors and 41 editorial board members to oversee and manage the submission and review process, selection of manuscripts for publication, and lineup of issues. The editorial team has been working hard to streamline the process. Abd-El-Khalick said the team has been successful in substantially shortening the time from manuscript submission to a first decision, down from up to eight months to just under fourth months.

“We want to show topnotch researchers that you can still publish in a high-impact top-tier journal and still hear back for us in a reasonable timeframe,” Abd-El-Khalick said.

Abd-El-Khalick and Zeidler also contribute short editorials revolving around major happenings within the science field. In March their piece focused on the editors’ vision for the future of the journal.   

Abd-El-Khalick and Zeidler are proud of the fact that the journal, which is available online and in print, is extremely global in nature. Since beginning their editorship, Abd-El-Khalick said 53 percent of the submissions have been based in the U.S., while 47 percent of the submissions have come from outside the U.S.—44 other nations so far.

“The membership of the organization and the audience and submissions for the journal very much reflect a global perspective,” Abd-El-Khalick said. 

The issues co-produced under the editorships of Abd-El-Khalick and Zeidler will be published from January 2016 to December 2020.