UMaine Research Journal Goes Online
Contact: Kay Hyatt at (207) 581-2761
ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine has converted its Journal of Research in Rural Education to an exclusively online, open-access journal (www.umaine.edu/jrre).
Founded in 1982 by the UMaine College of Education and Human Development and published through the College’s Center for Research and Evaluation, JRRE disseminates the results of educational research relevant to rural settings. Topics include learning and instruction; educational leadership; educational policy; and the cultural, historical and economic context of rural education. Book reviews are published as well.
By going online, every aspect of the editorial process is rendered less expensive and more efficient, according to Theodore Coladarci, JRRE editor and professor of educational psychology at UMaine. All functions of JRRE are now electronic. Authors submit manuscripts as e-mail attachments, and submissions are sent out for review and returned by reviewers in the same fashion. With newly posted articles announced through JRRE‘s listserv as well as the listservs of several organizations, articles quickly reach many more readers than possible with a print journal, Coladarci points out. There are no changes in content or editorial policy.
“JRRE will continue to enjoy the reputation of being the leading research journal devoted to rural education,” Coladarci said. “And now it is free to all.”
All new JRRE articles will comply with the federally mandated Section 508 Guidelines for web accessibility. This assures that all users, with and without disabilities, can fully access and benefit from the website. Each new article also includes a link to the Acrobat (pdf) version of the article as well.
Design and technical aspects of the conversion to an online journal was a group effort of Coladarci, managing editor Amy Cates, and College webmaster Alan Parks. All articles published prior to the online conversion have been archived online. A database containing every article, current and archived alike, can be searched by title and author.
For more information about JRRE, contact either Coladarci (coladarci@umit.maine.edu.) or Cates (amy.cates@umit.maine.edu).