About the Journal

Focus and Scope

JCACS is the journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies (CACS), which is a constituent association of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE). JCACS publishes articles in both French and English that address curriculum issues of interest to Canada and Canadians and an international readership. Curriculum studies is here understood broadly: not simply as a consideration of mandated programs of study, but as a theorization of those complex structures within which teaching and learning occur. The journal curates conversations regarding local and global curriculum theory and praxis, and the relationship between Canadian curriculum scholarship and educational issues in the world.

Since the first issue was published online in Spring 2003, the journal has contributed significantly to expanding notions of what “curriculum studies” might mean and what it might include.

The mandate of JCACS is to publish both analytic and creative scholarly works that provoke philosophical and theoretical debate, respond to critical questions and issues of interest to curriculum scholars, feature the work of Canadian curriculum scholars, explore new perspectives on the history of curriculum studies, and describe curriculum pedagogies in elementary and secondary schools, undergraduate and graduate courses, and informal or community-based settings. JCACS publishes work across a spectrum of methodological approaches including quantitative, qualitative, data-driven and theoretical.

In its content, the journal aims to reflect the diverse scholarship of the member organization that provided its original mandate: members of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies (CACS) include scholars and practitioners also affiliated with the Arts Researchers and Teachers Society (ARTS), Canadian Critical Pedagogy Association (CCPA), Science Education Research Group (SERG), Language and Literacy Researchers of Canada (LLRC), and Regroupement pour l’étude de l’éducation francophone en milieu minorité/Francophone group for the study of education in a minority context (REEFMM). JCACS is indexed with EBSCO and DOAJ.

Peer Review Process

JCACS relies on a standard of blind review. Prospective authors submit manuscripts online and the manuscript is first reviewed by the editors to determine whether the content is suitable for the journal and whether it appears in a format ready to be sent out for blind review. If a submission is deemed unsuitable, the editors will respond to the author(s) with a brief explanation and possible suggestions for resubmission or for publication elsewhere. Once a manuscript is deemed suitable for review, the editors consider the expertise of individual editorial review board members in deciding to whom the manuscript should be sent for review. Peer reviewers are asked to submit their completed review within 4-6 weeks. The editors will carefully consider the recommendations and suggestions made by the reviewers, but they will not necessarily be bound by them. Authors will be informed via e-mail whether their manuscript has been accepted or rejected for publication, or whether to revise and resubmit in response to recommendations. Regardless of the decision, the editors will forward reviewer comments to authors. Also, all accepted articles will undergo an internal review and editing process, by the editing team, that includes both substantive (developmental) and line editing, to ensure that the manuscript accords with JCACS’s mandate in terms of substantive content and quality, that it is free of content or copyright errors, and that it conforms to our journal’s s style guidelines regarding conventions of grammar, spelling and punctuation and regarding the attribution and citation of other works. Generally, except for work destined for themed issues, manuscripts will be queued for online publication according to the date of final acceptance. The editors reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to refuse to publish an article or to retract it.

Publication Frequency

JCACS is published bi-annually.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. While copyright for work published in JCACS belongs to the authors, all work published in JCACS is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License. This allows material to be redistributed, as long as the author(s) are acknowledged, and as long as the secondary or derivative content maintains the same open-access licence conditions.

Sources of Support

Lakehead University provides JCACS with financial and/or in-kind support. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council provides JCACS with financial support 2019-2025.