Author Guidelines

The International Journal of Designs for Learning is a multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed online journal dedicated to publishing descriptions of artifacts, environments, and experiences created to promote and support learning in all contexts by designers in any field.

 

The journal provides a venue for designers to share their knowledge-in-practice through rich representations of their designs and detailed discussions of decision-making. The aim of the journal is to support the production of high-quality precedent materials and to promote and demonstrate the value of doing so. Audiences for the journal include designers, teachers, students of design, and scholars studying the practice of design. The journal does not charge authors submission or publication fees.

 

Policy on Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and Large Language Models (LLMs)-Based Tools

 

General Guiding Principle

 

Authors bear full ethical and professional responsibility for any content developed with the assistance of technology—whether that technology is as simple as paper and pencil or as advanced as multi-billion-dollar Generative AI/Large Language Models (LLMs)-based tools, or anything in between. These tools/technologies must be used in ways that respect academic integrity and do not substitute for the author’s original intellectual contribution. Their use must be deliberate, disclosed, and verifiable.

 

Therefore, the IJDL does not prevent the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and Large Language Models (LLMs)-based tools for authoring/developing design cases, nor does it encourage/permit the unlimited use of these tools. The IJDL calls on authors/designers to hold themselves ethically responsible/accountable for all what they do with GenAI and LLMs-based tools, including experimentation.

 

Specific Requirements

 

IJDL has the following requirements in place that authors must follow and adhere to.

Please keep in mind that these requirements are subject to change at any time without prior notice when new policies and legal rulings emerge from AECT—the owning organization of IJDL—and other legal authorities in the U.S.:

 

• GenAI tools cannot be listed as an author of a design case, as they do not meet the requirements for authorship (COPE).
• Authors are discouraged from using AI tools to generate any text for their submissions. However, this does not include the use of tools specifically designed to assist with correcting or improving spelling, grammar, clarity, etc.
• Any use of an AI tool in the production of a submission’s text and creating artifacts that support learning experiences must be disclosed to the Editors and in the manuscript. If AI assistance is used, authors must include in the body or appendix of their submission a description of the relevant tools, prompts, and methods.
• Any use of an AI tool in the production of charts, graphs, tables, images, or other visual content for the design cases must be disclosed to the Editors and in the manuscript. If AI assistance is used, authors must include in the body or appendix of their submission a description of the relevant tools, prompts, and methods.
• Authors may use AI tools for experimental processes relevant to the unique focus of their design cases. However, any use of an AI tool for experimental processes must be disclosed to the Editors and in the manuscript. If AI assistance is used for experimental processes, authors must include in the body or appendix of their submission a description of the relevant tools, prompts, and methods.
• Authors must validate any content generated by an AI tool. They are ethically and legally responsible for any bias, errors, plagiarism, misinformation, or research misconduct that results from the use of an AI tool.
• IJDL editors and peer reviewers are not permitted to use AI tools in the evaluation of submitted manuscripts.

 

This policy was adapted from and created with reference to the policies of COPE, WAME, JAMA, SAGE, PNAS, Science, and Elsevier, and by taking into consideration the unique aspects of IJDL—the premiere international scholarly venue for learning design cases.

 

Call for Submissions

 

Authors are invited to submit design cases documenting interventions (artifacts, environments, or experiences) created to promote learning. Design cases from every field of practice are accepted. While a case may include documentation of the effectiveness of a design, the focus of the case should be descriptive, detailing how the designed artifact came to be. IJDL also publishes descriptions of closely related designs or detailed discussions of specific design genres for learning where multiple designs of one type are addressed in a single article.

 

Full-length design cases should include a detailed description of the intervention as the central focus. In addition, the case should address:

 

• The critical and/or interesting decisions made during the design process and their results in the intervention;
• Key aspects of the design process as they are relevant to the form of the intervention;
• Transparent discussion of problems and/or failure analysis relevant to the intervention and its design.

 

Authors should make clear the relationship of the author to the project being described, the context and conditions under which the project was carried out, and the features of the project that prompted the authors to make it the subject of a case.

Collaborative articles which include multiple related design cases, or condensed cases, must have one, and only one, corresponding author. Condensed design cases should include selected representations of the intervention together with a short description of the context and goals of the intervention. The presentations of multiple related and condensed designs can be proposed to be either text or multimedia cases.

 

Unique Aspects of IJDL Submissions

 

IJDL publishes text and hybrid text/multimedia scholarly cases. All submissions to IJDL are reviewed in text format before they are accepted for publication.

Cases typically include primarily text, but the image and multimedia assets embedded in the document (which will later be stored in archival form by IU Libraries, if the article is accepted) are permitted. The layout of the manuscript will be indicated by the author in the initial reviewed document. After the article is accepted for publication, the assistant editor will work with the author to format the document into the required layout for publication, including the journal logo, article abstract, and author bios. Text articles are generally between 5000 and 9000 words and contain a number of illustrations or other multimedia assets.

All assets or components of any article published in IJDL must be stored in the IJDL online journal system. IJDL does not permit external links beyond those used in standard APA references. IJDL articles include an American Psychology Association (APA) 7th Edition reference list and include an abstract in both the Text and Multimedia formats. A Submission Preparation Checklist is provided below this section.

 

Review Process and Publication

 

All manuscripts are reviewed by at least one of the editorial team members (desk-accept/reject process) to determine suitability to enter the anonymous peer-review process. If a manuscript is deemed out of scope or not formatted as a design case, the editorial team may desk-reject a manuscript with feedback to the author to either support a subsequent submission or to identify another relevant venue. During the desk-accept/reject process, the editorial team follows a developmental approach to help you improve your manuscripts to fit the requirements of a design case for IJDL, which may mean that you will receive feedback prior to the anonymous review.

 

IJDL expects reviewers to give constructive, unbiased evaluations of your manuscript. They should consider your manuscript as objectively as possible and without regard to your race, gender, religion, nationality, sexuality, seniority, or institutional affiliation if these are revealed throughout the manuscript. The editorial team reserves the right to edit or fully reject any review containing biased content and to end a biased reviewer’s association with the journal if they see fit.

 

For manuscripts deemed appropriate for the IJDL, design cases are assigned to two peer reviewers. Please allow a minimum of six weeks for the completion of the first review. After the conclusion of the first review round, you will be notified with an editorial decision: minor revisions, major revisions, accept, or reject. If the author chooses to make revisions, a detailed revision table must be provided. The review process is the same for both text and hybrid text/multimedia articles. Once your article has been reviewed, revisions have been completed on the manuscript, and the article has been accepted by the editor, the editorial team will work with the corresponding author to prepare the article for publication. If the Editor-In-Chief requests revisions, these will be communicated to the author(s), who may choose to make those revisions or withdraw the manuscript.

 

The estimate average number of weeks between initial article submission and final publication is as long as 40 weeks.

 

A template, provided here in Microsoft Word 2007 format, should be used to submit your manuscript for review. Styles and formatting suggestions are provided, but the document will be formatted by the assistant editor prior to publication if accepted. Please note that a text abstract of fewer than 250 words is required for all articles. Authors' names and affiliations, as well as any reference to authors' names throughout the manuscript, need to be removed, to ensure an anonymous review process.

Please note that this is an online journal with a significant amount of multimedia content, so publisher run-offs are not available.

 

Accessibility Guidelines

 

To ensure an accessible publication of your design case or invited editorial, authors using Microsoft Word are expected to use our accessible Word template provided here and to follow these guidelines:

 

• Use built-in styles for structure: Use Word’s built-in heading and paragraph styles to structure content (do not simply apply bold or larger fonts for headings), ensuring a logical document outline that is recognized by screen readers.
• Create proper lists: Always create lists using Word’s bulleted or numbered list tools rather than manually indenting text or inserting symbols (this preserves proper list semantics for assistive technologies).
• Use tables for data only: Insert tables using Word’s table feature to present data (never use images of tables or text separated by tabs/spaces), and mark header rows in each table. This ensures table information is correctly structured for screen readers.
• Include alt-text for visuals: Provide alternative text for every meaningful image, figure, or chart to describe its content or function for readers who cannot see the visual.
• Ensure sufficient color contrast: Use high-contrast text and background colors, and avoid using color alone to convey meaning (to accommodate readers with low vision or color blindness).
• Write descriptive hyperlinks: Use clear, descriptive hyperlink text that indicates the link’s destination or purpose (instead of generic text like “click here”).
• Fill in document properties and language: Enter a descriptive document title in the file’s properties and set the correct primary language for the document (this helps identify the document and ensures screen readers use the appropriate language settings).
• Run the Accessibility Checker: Use Word’s Accessibility Checker (via the Review tab) to identify and fix any accessibility issues before submission, ensuring the final document meets accessibility standards.

 

Quick Hit Design Cases

 

A “Quick Hit” Design Case is a short-form representation of a design(s) for, or in support of, learning. Its high-level purpose is identical to that of a longer/traditional design case, which offers viewers a vicarious experience of artifacts created by other designers. A “Quick Hit” Design Case is a set of compelling visuals or one visual accompanied by a brief framing text that allows fellow designers to appreciate where the design is located within the built world. Sets of short-form design cases may be curated as collections, also accompanied by brief text explaining how they have come to be grouped together.

 

IJDL takes a very broad view of what constitutes a design for learning. Designs for learning include:

 

• Materials used in learning and teaching;
• Digital and analog experiences that support or facilitate learning activities.
• Spaces in which formal or informal learning occurs
• Media or devices involved in learning, whether this is their primary purpose or not.

 

A “Quick Hit” Design Case will be reviewed by the IJDL Editorial Team for inclusion in a regular special section of every issue the journal publishes. The Editorial Team will be looking for compelling artifacts and/or framings, but not solely for artifacts judged to be successful or outstanding. An artifact that is compelling as a failure will be competitive with one that has garnered awards.

 

Requirements for a Quick Hit Design Case

 

First Requirement: Visual representations of the design in one of two formats:

• Three to Six (3-6) images in a ¾ page grid, leaving room for the framing text OR
• one composite ½ page image

Second Requirement: Framing text of up to 300 words, which conveys:

• Context of the design
• Purpose (summary of brief or problem statement)
• The Primary feature of the design determined by the designer to be interesting (striking features, ingenious problem-solving, novel mode of failure, process innovations)

Third Requirement: Names of contributors in addition to the author(s).

Guidelines for a Quick Hit Design Case

 

The “Quick Hit” Design Case is essentially visual, with the framing text playing an important supporting role. For designs that are not inherently visual (systems or programs), visual depictions like diagrams, charts, illustrations, or infographics may be selected, in addition to images showing the design in use.

 

Academic references are not required or included in a “Quick Hit” Design Case except in special circumstances, such as direct quotes from publications, references to published professional codes, etc.

 

The framing text is expected to be concise and informative. It should not sound like marketing for the design or the designers.

 

Design cases, including “Quick Hits,” do not generalize. Thus, the framing text should not state or imply that this design demonstrates any principles or processes that apply to other designs or design teams. Likewise, a “Quick Hit” Design Case must not include a set of ‘lessons learned’ that a designer aims to pass on to other designers/scholars.

 

Exemplary Quick Hit Design Cases, Template, and Submission

 

Included in Volume 16, Issue 1 is the inaugural set of IJDL “Quick Hit” Design Cases. These were authored by designers in various fields/domains of design. They were reviewed by the Editorial Team before they were finalized by the designers and accepted for publication.

 

If you are interested in authoring and submitting a Quick Hit Design Case, and would like to ask a question or find out if your submission is suitable for the journal, please reach out to the IJDL Associate Editors for Short-Form Design Cases Special Section:

 

• Dr. Victoria Abramenka-Lachheb, vabramen@iu.edu
• Dr. Sonia Tiwari, soniastic@gmail.com

 

Below is a Word document template that adheres to the above-mentioned requirements and guidelines:

 

• Quick Hit Design Case Template

 

Our goal is to make producing a Quick Hit Design Case a time-efficient process and encourage their production by busy professionals, design students, and curators who want to gather multiple cases into “galleries” of precedent examples.

 

What a Quick Hit Design Case Does NOT Provide

 

A “Quick Hit” Design Case published in IJDL is not a marketing vehicle for a design.

It may provide one perspective on the design (designers’ key decisions, interesting technology or process, unexpected outcome or reason for failure), but it may not provide a detailed narrative on any of these aspects, nor a comprehensive narrative support. It does not offer scope for the text to augment the image(s), so the images need to be as descriptive, illuminating, and information-rich as possible.