Letter from the Editors

This issue of the International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 13(1) presents 12 research articles, their studies focusing on post-secondary education at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. The breadth of subject disciplines addressed and the startling geographical reach of these articles reflects both the maturity and ubiquity of SoTL. The quality of these studies demonstrates that the analysis of the processes involved in teaching and learning is a vibrant field, one that is still carving out its place within the academy. The practitioners included here continue to demonstrate that SoTL is a lynchpin for connecting our scholarship with our teaching. As one of the primary organs for the publication of work in our field, the Journal is committed to reflecting the current realities of that field, and toward that end we’re making two changes. The first is purely a matter of timing. Our previous publication schedule (the one for this issue) had us publishing in July and January. Our new schedule, to be implemented with the remainder of volume 13, is to publish in May and November. To keep our volumes limited to a single calendar year, this volume (13) will contain three issues: #1, which you have before you; #2, to be published in May 2019; and #3, to be published in November 2019. Volume 14 will contain our usual two issues, to be published in May and November of 2020. The second change is more significant, and reflects the maturity of both our field and the Journal. We’d like to formalize a practice that both the editors and the editorial board have been following for some time. One of the fundamental characteristics of SoTL is that it is a meta-discipline. Unlike most academic fields, SoTL cannot exist within its own silo. Teaching and learning occur within other, more specific, subject areas, and we bring SoTL strategies to bear on that process in situ. But the outcomes of these practices cannot be limited to a particular discipline. SoTL acknowledges that the results of an analysis of the practices used in, say, a physics course, should, in some manner, offer guidance for the practices used in a literature course as well. The Journal, then, prefers work that looks beyond a single subject field and addresses the meta-disciplinary nature of SoTL. In general, submissions should be specifically situated under the SoTL umbrella, and include a thorough literature review that directly addresses the relevant SoTL literature. For many authors who would like to publish with us, this change may mean nothing more than expanding the focus of their analyses and discussions in order to move beyond a single disciplinary silo. For others, it may mean a reconsideration of the primary audience for their work. Finally, we would like to again thank the members of our Editorial Board. Their work in the review process allows us not only to publish the Journal on time, but also to maintain the high standards for academic rigor and writing we espouse. We continue to seek nominations (including self-nominations) for the Editorial Board. These can be sent to sotlij@georgiasouthern.edu