Catch the Next Journal of Pedagogy and Creativity is an interdisciplinary scholarly journal currently seeking articles regarding best practices in higher education as well as creative work representing engagement with ideas that color and/or impact the landscape of higher education in the 21st century. The editorial board invites submission of scholarly, pedagogical, and theoretical manuscripts that promote the journal’s mission to give voice to faculty, researchers, and administrators who cross disciplines yet maintain a core pedagogical focus on the underserved in higher education. We seek previously-unpublished work with a special focus on program data, best practices in pedagogy, best teaching moments, and/or ongoing dialogue related to issues in education of national significance. In addition, we invite submissions of book reviews, interviews, poetry, short fiction, and visual art.

CTN Journal of Pedagogy and Creativity and Catch the Next, Inc. acquire first North American rights to adopted publications; therefore, submissions should be works previously unpublished in North America. A manuscript is considered previously published if another work exists with any/all of the following: the same title, the same opening paragraph, and/or 25 percent or more of the same content.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

All first-time submissions should be emailed as an attachment to journalofideasandpedagogy@catchthenext.org in docx, rtf, or pdf file (if a text-based submission). The file should be labeled with the type of submission (essay, review, interview, etc.), the author’s surname, and the month and year of submission. For example, a review submitted by Susan Rios in February 2022 would be named as follows: review.rios.0222.

All submissions should be accompanied by an email message containing the following information:

Type of submission (essay, review, creative, interview)
A brief abstract indicating the manuscript’s scholarly significance
The word count, including notes, references, captions, etc.
A statement affirming that the work has not been published or submitted elsewhere
A statement affirming that the author(s) is/are the sole owner(s) of the material
A brief author bio
See below for submission requirements by genre/type:

Essays:

CTN Journal of  Pedagogy and Creativity publishes scholarly, innovative, and research-based essays that highlight best practices in higher education and offer critical contributions to discussions regarding the state and future of higher education. Essay submissions should be double-spaced, follow Chicago Manual of Style (16th Edition) author-date citation guidelines, and not exceed 15,000 words, including notes, references, captions, tables, illustrations, etc. The abstract should not exceed 250 words and should succinctly describe the intervention that the author(s) make(s) in the field as well as the essay’s main argument.

Reviews and Review Essays:

CTN Journal of  Pedagogy and Creativity publishes reviews of current fiction, poetry, and non-fiction books, especially those that represent innovations in educational attainment and success; the power of mentorship; the landscape and/or future of higher education; the politics of education; and/or personal or cultural empowerment. Reviews should be between 500 and 750 words; however, several related works may be reviewed at more length in a review essay that engages critical issues not appropriate to a single review.

Reviews should include the following information in this order:
Review Title
Review Author’s Name
Book Title. Author’s Name, City, State: Press, year.
ISBN
No. of pages
Price in U.S. dollars

Creative Writing:

CTN Journal of Pedagogy and Creativity publishes original literary fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry characterized by interest in language, development of distinctive settings, compelling conflict, and complex, unique characters. Submit one short story, memoir, or poem (not to exceed 5,000 words) or up to three shorter ones (not to exceed 1,500 words each). Due to limited space, we do not consider longer stories and novellas.

Interviews:

CTN Journal of Pedagogy and Creativity publishes interviews with writers, researchers, policy-makers, and leaders in higher education policy and practice. Please send a query to managing editor, Erin Doran, at erin.doran@catchthenext.org for a proposal for a particular interview.

STYLE AND USAGE

All submissions should follow Chicago Manual of Style author-date guidelines, as outline in the 16th edition. CMS author-date format uses a parenthetical in-text citation that includes the author’s last name and the year without intervening punctuation, e.g., (Castillo 2003). Entries in the reference list in CMS author-date format begin with the author’s or authors’ name(s), followed by the date of publication.

A note on Spanish-origin terms of identification: due to the proliferation of terms of self-identification in reference to groups in the United States originating from Latin American countries, CTN Journal of Pedagogy and Creativity leaves it to the author’s discretion to determine what term(s) best suit the context of the submission; however, we do ask that authors include a footnote or endnote explaining the reasoning for the particular term(s) s/he uses.

THE REVIEW PROCESS

All submitted manuscripts are read by the editorial staff. To save time for authors, only those submissions that seem most likely to meet our mission and editorial criteria are sent for formal review. Manuscripts judged to be of potential interest to our readership are sent for blind review for evaluation of  the work and then a recommendation is made to accept the submission without revisions, accept the submission with revisions, invite the author to revise and resubmit, or reject the submission outright. Editorial staff will then assess the recommendations and communicate their decision regarding the paper’s publication status to the author(s).