E-journal supports new, senior education scholars

"This is an endeavor for new scholars as well as senior scholars," said Bev Brenna, assistant professor of curriculum studies with a literacy specialization and the editor of Education Matters.

For graduate students, the journal is a stepping stone between their academic studies and the research world, added student editor Lisa Gaylor, a graduate student in the college's school and counseling psychology program.

The first issue of Education Matter was published in April on the Synergies website hosted by the University of Calgary. Its development was supported by a start-up grant from the U of S College of Graduate Studies and Research.

Gaylor, who works part-time as the student editor, is available to mentor graduate students seeking to publish for the first time, tapping into what she learned while working on a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology at the U of S. About 500 students are enrolled in full- or part-time graduate studies in the College of Education.

"Instead of applying to get something published in an academic journal outside of the university where they might face outright rejection and not have a good research experience, they can communicate with us and actually be helped toward publication rather than doing it on their own," she explained.

Gaylor's role begins when working with graduate students to show them that their research is worth publishing. Not everyone needs to wait until they have completed their research projects. Sometimes, even a portion of the research will be sufficiently robust for an academic article. Gaylor then works one-on-one with students to help them follow the standards of academic publications.

The focus of Education Matters is broader than articles about academic research, which are peer-reviewed prior to publication, said Brenna.

"It's also open to deep thinking about education in the form of scholarly essays. It's also open to poetry and narrative. I think there are many different lenses you can use to shed light on the field of education. We wanted to make sure our lenses were wide open."

As an open-access journal, Education Matters is available free of charge to anyone with access to the internet.

"It's about equal access to education," said Gaylor.

With the first issue under their belts, Gaylor and Brenna are looking to the next publication due for release in September.

Education Matters can be viewed online.

Lana Haight is a Saskatoon freelance writer.