Focus and Scope

The intent of The Undergraduate Journal of Law & Disorder is to inform educators, parents, law-makers, pre-service teachers, and undergraduate students of the effects of educational policy and law on students with exceptionalities.

The journal publishes policy analysis papers that examine the structure and implementation of education policy in relation to the effects of policies imposed on classrooms with children who have exceptionalities and their families.

The journal also accepts literature-based position papers or research papers that analyze information gathered from field work and research provided by articles, and takes a particular stance on a current educational issue based on analysis of the data. All manuscripts for The Undergraduate Journal of Law & Disorder are peer-reviewed and must address both the government policies of special education as well as how they relate to various aspects of exceptionalities among students in schools.

Peer Review Process

When a new manuscript is submitted it is reviewed by all five of our senior editors. Initially each manuscript has to be approved by all of the editors along with whatever edits we think will be best. Manuscripts are evaluated on whether or not it fits our overall journal topic, and if they meet most if not all of the required sections and grammatical elements. Depending on the number of manuscripts the board has to review, from the time we receive the new manuscript we try to review and let the author know if they have been accepted and what revisions they have to make, in less than a month. We review one manuscript a week and go over it together at our weekly meetings. Our reviewers are our board members and are chosen by reference from previous members, students, and professors.

Publication Frequency

A new issue will be published every 1-2 years.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Conflict of Interest Policy

L&D editors must take all competing interests into account during the review process and ensure that any relevant ones are declared in the published article.  L&D editors will not publish commissioned or any other non-research articles if they are aware of a competing interest that, in their judgment, could introduce bias or a reasonable perception of bias. L&D editors do not consult reviewers who have competing interests that, in the editors' judgment, could interfere with unbiased review.

Research Misconduct Policy

The editors of The Undergraduate Journal of Law & Disorder will take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred, including plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification/fabrication, among others. In the event that the editors are made aware of any allegation of research misconduct relating to a published article in their journal, the editor shall follow the Committee on Publication Ethic’s guidelines in dealing with allegations.

Sponsors

School of Education, Indiana University

Sources of Support

Lazerwitz Enrichment Fund, School of Education Office of the Dean

Journal History

The idea for The Undergraduate Journal of Law & Disorder was conceived by Dr. Ochoa in 2005 with the intention of informing educators, students, and policy makers about various issues in special education and the law while simultaneously giving undergraduates experience in scholarly writing. The journal originally got all of its manuscript submissions from the class EDUC-K305, but over the years has expanded its breadth to include submissions from students in the College of Arts and Sciences as well. The journal initially received funding from private donors, IU’s Undergraduate Research and Creativity Program competition, the Office of Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculties, and by the School of Education.