About the Journal

What are the aims of the journal?

The Journal of Virtual Exchange, an online, open-access, peer-reviewed journal, aims to support the community of telecollaborative practitioners and researchers by providing a forum for reporting and discussing innovative practice. The key conviction behind the journal is that telecollaboration owes its vitality in great measure to the innovative practice, experience-based insights and critical reflections of teaching professionals. The journal aims to be a forum for the exchange of ideas, insights, experience, and theory from practitioners and researchers, with an emphasis on dialogue between theory, principles and practice.

What kinds of contribution does the journal accept?

Research articles of up to 8000 words (including references, excluding appendices) report on theoretical and substantial empirical contributions (also includes systematic reviews or meta-analyses). A range of qualitative, quantitative and mixed approaches are acceptable, but such work will typically go beyond attitudinal investigations of reports, for which practice reports (see below) are a more suitable format.

Practice reports of up to 4,000 words in length (including references, excluding appendices) should provide detailed, critical accounts of innovative telecollaborative projects of which at least one iteration has been completed and evaluated. The projects should not be simply replications of projects reported elsewhere in the literature: they should be original or, if closely based on existing projects or designs, incorporate significant adaptations. This means that authors should foreground changes and/or adaptations to the design or framework used (such as COIL) to meet the specific needs of the socio-institutional context(s) of application. If your aim is to report the effectiveness or impact of replication of an existing design or framework, please consider writing a research article. 

Keynote articles of up to 8000 words (including references, excluding appendices) are contributions taking a higher-level perspective on the field, by providing overviews of new developments in technology or pedagogy, for example, or addressing conceptual, theoretical, institutional, or infrastructural issues. They may also seek to place telecollaboration and virtual exchange in a wider context – intellectual, social, cultural or political. Keynote contributions have wide latitude as to their form, style, and content. The key requirement is that they should have a broader, synthesising focus than regular research papers or practice reports. Appropriate formats include, but are not limited to innovative theoretical perspectives, and programmatic essays.

Please click on the Submissions and Policies, and tabs at the top of the page for more information.

Publication Frequency

Journal of Virtual Exchange is published on a continuous basis; once an article is ready for publication, it will be made available online. This minimises delays between submission and public availability. For referencing purposes, volumes correspond to calendar years, and articles will have continuous page numbers, restarting with each new volume. The publication timeline for articles can vary between 6-12 months, or in some cases longer, depending on the length and quality of the submission, as well as availability of reviewers.

JVE is owned by UNICollaboration, the international academic organisation dedicated to supporting and promoting telecollaboration and virtual exchange in higher education. Further information can be viewed at unicollaboration.org.