About the Journal

Aims and Scope

The Journal of Pathways Education and Research (JPER) publishes high-quality scholarship on pathways education in its broadest sense, with a central focus on transitions into, through, and across tertiary pathways. The journal recognises that these transitions are shaped across interconnected educational contexts, including secondary schools, vocational education and training (VET), higher education, and other enabling, bridging, and lifelong learning settings.

JPER adopts an inclusive, cross-sector view of pathways and student success. It recognises VET and higher education as equally significant tertiary pathways, and welcomes scholarship that examines how learners navigate movement between sectors, institutions, programs, and modes of study across the student lifecycle.

The journal welcomes contributions from practitioners and researchers working in secondary schools, VET, higher education, and community or cross-sector contexts where pathways are designed, experienced, supported, and studied. JPER is particularly interested in work that advances understanding of equity, access, participation, transition, retention, progression, belonging, achievement, and flourishing for learners from diverse backgrounds.

JPER publishes theoretically informed, empirically rigorous, and practice-relevant work, including (but not limited to):

  • original research articles

  • review articles

  • conceptual and theoretical papers

  • policy and practice analyses

  • evaluative and methodological contributions

  • scholarly commentary (as invited or approved by the editorial team)

The journal encourages submissions that engage with pathway formation and transition across diverse contexts, including school-to-tertiary transitions, enabling and preparatory education, tertiary access and participation initiatives, articulation and credit pathways, transition pedagogies, student support and success initiatives, and cross-sector collaborations.

JPER seeks to provide a rigorous and inclusive forum for scholarship that strengthens the field of pathways education and supports more just and effective educational opportunities for learners navigating transitions into, through, and across tertiary education.

Types of Submissions

Journal of Pathways Education and Research considers multiple types of submissions in the Journal:

  • Research papers (maximum 7,000 words) showcasing original and theoretically inflected research into any aspect of pathways education and/ or widening participation.  
  • Papers that critically interrogate existing policy, practice, or theory in pathways education and/ or widening participation (maximum 7,000 words), and that may contribute to building theory and/ or propose new approaches in these realms.
  • Practice reports (maximum 4000 words) showcasing an aspect of teaching and classroom practice.
  • Book and resource reviews (maximum 1000 words) which may be traditional book reviews or reviews of new pedagogical resources. 

All submitted papers should be original, unpublished, and not in consideration for publication elsewhere at the time of submission to the  Journal of Pathways Education and Research.

All articles will be refereed in a double-blind review process by at least two reviewers with expertise in the relevant subject area.

Suspected plagiarism in a submission:

The Journal of Pathways Education and Research uses Turnitin plagiarism detection software and may utilise it if the editorial team or the reviewer (s) have concerns about original content.

Information about JPER's review process (click here)