Special Issue Policy

CJLT publishes a maximum of one special issue per year.

The next opening for a special issue is in the year 2026 and therefore applications will not be considered until the Summer 2025. Priority is given to Canadian Scholars.

NOTE: We will NOT respond to or consider any Special Issue requests submitted outside of the official correspondence email at cjlt@ualberta.ca.  Thank you for understanding.

All Special Issue proposals undergo a formal peer review by the CJLT editorial team. Guidelines for a special issue proposal in the CJLT, are outlined below. Once all the requirements are met, written proposal MUST be sent to the CJLT Managing Editor at cjlt@ualberta.ca. Requests submitted outside the cjlt@ualberta.ca will NOT be responded to or considered.

Special Issue Proposal Guidelines

A Special Issue proposal should contain the following information:

  • The title of the proposed special issue.
  • The names, institutional affiliations, emails, and positions of the proposed Guest Editor(s) together with brief biographical details.
  • A brief description of the rationale, fit with aims and scope of the CJLT, its innovative nature and significance in relation to existing published work in educational technology, contribution to learning theory, and a statement on why this special issue will appeal to our readership (not to exceed 1500 words).
  • Names and position of each proposed contributor and a 200-word abstract of their planned paper, together with an indication of their commitment to contribute to the special issue.
  • A statement that all manuscripts submitted are not currently under review elsewhere, the material is original, and has not been published in prior conference proceedings, journals, or other scholarly fora.
  • Provision of at least three names and corresponding emails, per manuscript, of arm’s length academics (not personally affiliated with any of the authors and/or the guest editors) with a brief statement of the reviewers’ research expertise in the area.
  • Proposed timelines for the special issue manuscript submissions to the managing editor that are ready for peer review (e.g., the guest editors have reviewed each manuscript for APA format, references have been cross-checked, writing is free from editorial errors, etc.).

NOTE: The CJLT editors and managing editor oversee the peer review process for special issues and make the editorial decision to accept, accept with revisions, revise and resubmit for review, or reject. This process typically takes 12-18 months from the proposal submission deadline to the publication of the special issue. CJLT will provide copyeditors for the special issue, however, all copyediting costs must be paid directly to the copyeditors by the Special Issue team.

All manuscripts for the special issue will be subject to standard peer review and must adhere to the CJLT issue guidelines and timelines. Manuscript word count should fall between 5000-6500 words (not to exceed 7000 words) including references, figures, diagrams and tables. Guest Editor(s) are required to adhere to a publishing agreement with the CJLT once a special issue proposal has been accepted by the Editorial Team.

Special issues are managed via the Open Journal System (OJS) used by the CJLT and overseen by the managing editor. Normal CJLT refereeing procedures apply.

Questions can be directed to the Managing Editor at cjlt@ualberta.ca.