Submissions

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Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
  • This checklist is not optional. You MUST be able to complete each step before submission. Failure to do so will result in your submission simply being declined
  • This submission has not been previously published in any publicly available form (conference proceedings, book chapters, journals, etc.).
  • Where submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.
  • This submission has not been submitted to another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  • The text submission files are in Microsoft Word document file format and is virus free. Image attachments must be in JPG or PNG format. Test image quality before submitting.
  • The text submission has been thouroughly reviewed through spelling and grammer checking software (Grammerly, MS Editor, ProWritingAid)
  • The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  • The text adheres to APA 7 referencing conventions. Ensure you have read the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal. Please double check the consistency of all citations and references before submission. Use a bibliographic software package (such as Zotero) to ensure consistency.
  • Wherever available, DOIs or hyperlinks for the references have been provided.
  • When including images, tables or figures or similar material from a third party, you must obtain written permission from the copyright holder to include their work in your article. Evidence of this approval should be uploaded with your submission. It is important to include appropriate acknowledgment to the copyright holder with each image, table and/or figure caption.
  • All authors have registered on the website and have completed the 'author biography' field, part of the author's public profile prior to submission. Length between 40 to 80 words.
  • An illustrative image or graphic is provided to accompany the article. Format should be in PNG or JPG, aspect ratio 3:4, and file size 1MB. This could be an image of the author(s), images from fieldwork, or original artwork. You should ensure you have copyright permission to publish the image.

Author Guidelines

Review the Checklist above BEFORE you prepare your submission.

Registration and login are required to submit items online and to check the status of current submissions.

  • You must be registered as an 'Author' before you are able to upload a manuscript.
  • To register as an 'Author', log in and edit your profile. Select 'Author' as a role, then save your profile.
  • If you already have a Username/Password for the Journal of Open Flexible and Distance Learning: GO TO LOGIN
  • If you are registering for the first time, please complete your profile fully. Including your 'public' profile: GO TO REGISTRATION

Invited Articles

These are incited or commissioned items or articles. We are starting with the EAB as the first pool of people to invite submissions from and can broaden that out later.

Articles - Primary studies

Primary studies or evaluations are articles reporting on primary research activity. Primary studies are required to demonstrate clear and appropriate methodology, a clear description of context and transferable lessons for others' benefit. Submissions of between 4000 and 6000 words not including references, addressing one or more of Boyer's (1990) forms of scholarship. A 250-word abstract must be included.

Articles - Literature reviews

A literature review is an article providing an up to date, reasonably comprehensive overview of peer-reviewed literature relating to a particular aspect of open, flexible or distance learning. Acceptable word length is between 4000 - 6000 words not including references. A 250-word abstract must be included.

Articles - Descriptive pieces

A descriptive piece is an article providing an orientation to a particular initiative associated with open, flexible or distance learning. Descriptive pieces have a definite 'so what' to them, and include implications that are meaningful to a general audience. Acceptable word length is between 4000 - 6000 words not including references. A 250-word abstract must be included.

Articles - Position pieces

A position piece is an article with a clear, honest and insightful perspective on some aspect of open, flexible or distance education. Position pieces are expected to be grounded in relevant literature and contribute to an ongoing discourse. Acceptable word length is between 4000 - 6000 words not including references. A 250-word abstract must be included.

Research notes or reports

Descriptions of current or ongoing research projects. Acceptable word length is between 3000-4000 words not including references. A 250-word abstract must be included.

Book reviews

Invited book reviews of up to 1000 words of published works related to open, distance and flexible education theory and practice. 

Publishers or authors wishing to seek reviews should contact jofdlnz@gmail.com in the first instance.

Addenda to Articles

Addendum to Articles are follow-up reports, new information, or further exploration of something already published. Addedndum are preferably written by the original authors.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site are to be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and we do not aim to make them available for any other purpose or to any other party.

Privacy Policy

The data collected from users of this journal falls within the scope of the standard functioning of peer-reviewed journals. It includes information that makes communication possible for the editorial process. The information is used to inform readers about the authorship and editing of content, collecting aggregated data on readership behaviors, as well as tracking geopolitical and social elements of scholarly communication. The collected data is not used for profiling or automated decision-making.

Collection and Processing of Data

The Open Journal Systems software used by this journal collects personal data in several ways. Personal data collected by this journal includes user registration data, contributor metadata, workflow data, and general visitor information.

User Registration Information

When you register as a user of this journal, the following information is collected during the registration process:

  • Full Name
  • Username
  • Password (encrypted)
  • Email Address

In addition to the above required fields, the user can also provide the following information during registration or later by editing the user profile:

  • Affiliation
  • Country
  • Reviewing Interests
  • Salutation
  • Initials
  • Gender
  • ORCID
  • Website
  • Mailing Address
  • Phone/Fax
  • Biography

The journal also records registration and last login dates. The site administrators and journal managers can create new user accounts based on a request from a new user. The above information is available to the users via their user profile and can be edited by the user (with the exception of username and dates). The above data is not publicly available.

Contributor Metadata Information

When a manuscript is submitted to the journal, contributor information is included. Contributors can be authors, translators, volume editors, and so on. This information is stored as submission metadata and is provided as part of any published manuscript record. The user who submits the manuscript usually provides the contributor data. If there are other contributors involved, the submitting user needs to have their permission to provide their personal data. The editors of the journal may edit and/or add additional contributor details after the submission is finished.

The following contributor information is collected:

  • Full Name (required)
  • Email Address (required)
  • Country
  • Salutation
  • ORCID
  • Website
  • Affiliation
  • Biography

The contributor data is an integral part of the manuscript metadata and will be deleted only in special circumstances.

Workflow Data

The journal keeps track of workflow information. All actions taken by authors, editors, reviewers and other participants in the editorial process will be recorded for the proper functioning and integrity of the publication process. The workflow data is an integral part of the journal’s archive and will be deleted only in special circumstances.

General Visitor Information

When a user visits this journal website, some visitor data is automatically collected. That is generally true of all websites. Information such as cookies to manage sessions, and IP address of the visitor, page visits, date of visits, and information provided by your web browser such as browser name are collected. This journal may also make use of third party analytics services such as Google Analytics. Those analytics are available to us only in aggregate form and individual users cannot be traced.

Users can choose to block cookies in their browser while visiting this journal website. In such a case, the ability to log-in as a user will not function but other parts of the website will work normally.

Data Transfers

Contributor data for published manuscripts may be transferred to other services designed to index and disseminate scientific publications. Contributor data for published manuscripts may also be currently, or in the future, made openly available for harvesting through an OAI-PMH service. Examples of such services are DOAJ and Crossref article databases. Indexing services used by the journal may vary. Users’ profile data is never transferred to third parties.

Correction or Deletion of Information

The data in user accounts can be deleted upon request. We may request identification before acting on such requests. Upon receiving a written request for removal of personal information in the user account, we will endeavour to fulfill your request. However, some personal information may persist in backup copies for a certain period of time and may be retained as necessary for legitimate business purposes or to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, preserve journal integrity, and enforce our agreements. Those involved in editing this journal seek to be compliant with industry standards for data privacy while maintaining, with the greatest integrity possible, the public record of scholarly publishing.

Contact Information

You may contact the journal managers/administrators of this journal if you have any unanswered questions about this privacy policy or to request correction or deletion of your personal information held by this journal. The most current contact information is available on the journal contact page.