Author Guidelines: Innovations in Analytics

Analytics accepts manuscripts highlighting innovations in analytics related to research, teaching, student learning, or their interactions. Of special interest are innovations associated with research strategies, educational measurement, corpus analysis, large language models, teaching tools, digital learning ecologies, curricular innovation, classroom instruction, and ethical interpretation and use of information.

Analytics publishes innovations of up to 6,000 words (approximately 25 double-spaced manuscript pages, including references). As the section headings below reveal, these manuscripts do not follow the traditional research article genre. Rather, these manuscripts explore innovation and can include links sandboxes, video, and data sets.

The WAC Clearinghouse and the Journal of Writing Analytics endorse the Anti-Racist Scholarly Reviewing Practices. Accepted manuscripts will:

  • Appeal to a broad audience by defining key terms, using accessible language, and providing data visualizations
  • Qualify claims by foregrounding local contexts and avoiding unsupported assumptions about practices and people
  • Enact citational practices that build upon existing knowledge, engage a diverse body of scholarship, validate alternative ways of meaning making, and recognize alternative forms of expertise

Formatting References

References should be formatted using APA style. For instructions on formatting references, see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition.

Formatting Text

Please adhere to the following guidelines for formatting article text.

  • Use brackets to identify the type of submission BEFORE the manuscript title: [Innovations in Analytics] Manuscript Title.
  • Upload submissions in the Microsoft Word document file format.
  • Provide digital object identifier (DOI) URLs for references when available.
  • Double space text and use a 12-point Times New Roman font.
  • Use italics instead of underlining (except for URL addresses).
  • Place figures and tables at the end of the document. Use the phrase "Insert Table (or Figure) X here." to indicate their placement in the document.
  • Follow the instructions in Ensuring Anonymous Review for submissions to a peer-reviewed section of the journal.

The following titles should be used for the main section headings, and the issues below should be addressed for the corresponding sections.

Abstract

The abstract (250 words or less) is written in accessible language, presents a structured overview of the study, and uses the following headings: innovation identification, innovation exposition, innovation application, and directions for further innovations.

Innovation Identification

The section positions the innovation under examination and explains its significance.

This section includes information on

  • The origin and development of the innovation under examination
  • The research capability of the innovation to advance writing analytics

Innovation Exposition

The exposition identifies the area that the innovation addresses. Special attention should be paid to the exposition of the identified area and the ways the innovation will address the area, solve existing problems, or resolve current challenges. . 

Innovation Application

The application section describes the usefulness of the innovation. Ideally, examples will be used so that readers will be able to quickly realize the force of the innovation. When possible, high-quality visualizations should be used to communicate application.

Directions for Further Innovations

The manuscript concludes with directions for further innovations and pays special attention to the principles that should guide those innovations.

Reviewers' Expectations

See the Reviewer Instructions for the review criteria used by reviewers of manuscript that address innovations in analytics.