Journal of Biological Education

Journal of Biological Education is firmly established as the authoritative voice in the world of biological education. The journal provides a forum where the latest advances in research into the teaching, learning and assessment of biology can contribute to policy and practice in biological education for all ages, connecting teachers, researchers and educators in a common endeavor to enhance biological education internationally.

Special emphasis is placed on research relevant to educational practice, guided by educational realities in systems, schools, colleges, universities (including biology teacher education) and informal learning settings, and manuscripts are welcome from educators and researchers working in all of these settings. Manuscripts should be theoretically informed and methodologically rigorous.

The Journal accepts the following submission types. Authors should be careful to choose the correct type upon submission (italicised).

•  original empirical research articles, founded in a recognized educational research methodological approach, and embedded in a critical review of relevant literature. Manuscripts should include an account of the methodology and methods used, explain the analysis carried out, discuss the findings in relation to existing knowledge (such as that explored in the literature review), identify conclusions and implications for educational research and practice, and recognise any limitations to the study. Authors should also note that purely experimental studies (with control and intervention groups of learners) will not be accepted unless they include sufficiently large sample sizes and randomized group membership.

•   review articles, developing a comprehensive understanding of a particular subject, drawing on the peer-reviewed and, if appropriate, professional literature, and deriving conclusions which may lead to valuable discussion and debate. If possible, the review should be founded in a recognized approach; for example, including ‘state of the art’ narrative reviews, meta-analyses, systematic reviews, critical reviews, and evidence syntheses.

•  critical evaluative reports of innovative or novel practical activities or other teaching and learning approaches in biological education. Such reports should not be presented as experimental trials (with control and intervention groups) of such approaches, unless they involve large sample sizes and randomized group membership. However, evaluations which draw on a combination of quantitative and qualitative data would be appropriate, particularly for practitioner-led reports. If drawing only on empirical data yielded by the procedure (e.g. students’ experimental results from successful completion of a practical procedure), authors should critically examine the approach and its learning outcomes, drawing on existing literature about students’ understanding of the subject areas concerned, and students’ successful implementation of the approach, to justify its potential relevance and efficacy in securing students’ learning.

•  critical or analytical commentaries or position papers (comment) on policy (and its impact on practice), curriculum, or contemporary issues and debates in biological education. Such commentaries should be carefully reasoned, firmly rooted in the relevant academic and professional literature, and engage with contrasting viewpoints.

Authors should ensure that manuscripts contribute to the international discourse on biological education. As such, manuscripts should be relevant beyond the local context. Likewise, manuscripts reporting on generic educational strategies, will proceed to review only if they make a direct contribution to knowledge about biological education in particular; the biological context must be important to the study. Manuscripts which are only concerned with general educational matters will not be considered for publication. Implications for research and practice should be made explicit.

Authors are strongly encouraged to read the guidance from Taylor and Francis about identifying key words, and using them to help write the manuscript title and abstract. Authors can find the guidance here ( https://authorservices.taylorandfrancis.com/publishing-your-research/writing-your-paper/using-keywords-to-write-title-and-abstract/)

Authors are invited, but are not obliged, to submit original, anonymised, data as supplementary material in a separate file or files. Any such submission must comply with local institutional, legislative and ethical restrictions.

Please note that this journal only publishes manuscripts in English; we realise that authors who do not have English as a first language may need to ask others to proof-read their manuscript, or use the services of Taylor and Francis, to ensure English is of high quality before submission.

All research articles in this journal have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and anonymised refereeing by at least two anonymous referees.

If a manuscript includes a large number of figures or tables, authors should indicate which of those can be reallocated as online supplementary material.

All manuscripts reporting on work involving human subjects must adhere, as appropriate, to the Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research, published by the British Educational Research Association, viewable here: https://www.bera.ac.uk/publication/ethical-guidelines-for-educational-research-2018-online

All manuscripts reporting on work involving animals must adhere, as appropriate, to the ARRIVE guidelines, viewable here: https://arriveguidelines.org/arrive-guidelines. 

Authors can choose to publish gold open access in this journal.

Read the Instructions for Authors on how to submit your article.