SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

Submissions - Peer Reviewed Contributions

The overall goal of the peer-reviewed publication section (the "Submission Section") of www.CCEUB.ca (the "Website") is to publish peer-reviewed biological research that informs practice and provides resources that can be utilized in educational practice. For purposes of this Submission Section, a "Contribution" will be any research paper, review or article, or teaching resource submitted by a subscribed member of the Website for peer review and publication on the Website, all as more specifically described below.

The following specific objectives of the peer-reviewed publication section of this Website are to:

  1. Publish research on effective evidence-based pedagogical practices.
  2. Describe and share teaching resources, including but not limited to, animations, case studies, laboratory exercises, sample exam formats, concept inventories and clicker questions.
  3. Publish opinion articles on biology and pedagogical topics.
  4. Disseminate results on research projects involving, but not limited to, teaching, assessment, and scholarship.
  5. Communicate recent advances in biological science.

There are 5 types of Contributions accepted for publication by CCEUB.  Please note that submissions are accepted at any time:

  1. Research Paper
    1. Description. A research paper describes novel pedagogical research in the area of biology.
    2. Submission Guidelines. Include the following sections in your submission: Abstract (250 words), Statement of Educational Impact (100 words), Background, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Acknowledgements.
  2. Review Paper
    1. Description. A review paper summarizes key research on biological education.
    2. Submission Guidelines. Include the following sections in your submission: Abstract (250 words), Statement of Educational Impact (100 words), and Review.
  3. Opinion Article
    1. Description. An opinion article is a perspective commentary or critique of an aspect of biological education or practice, or related articles.
    2. Submission Guidelines. Include the following sections in your submission: Abstract (250 words), Statement of Educational Impact (100 words), Background, and Opinion.
  4. Teaching Resource
    1. Description. Teaching resources include, but are not limited to, a collection of clicker questions, case studies, animations, videos, tutorial descriptions, concept-inventories and PowerPoint presentations.
    2. Submission Guidelines. Submit your teaching resource along with a Statement of Educational Impact (100 words), Learning Objectives, and Teaching Notes. The teaching resource should be submitted as a pdf and in a format-specific file (e.g., ppt/jpeg/mpeg/flv/mp3/rtf/csv).
  5. Rapid Communications
    1. Description. The purpose of news communication articles is to communicate recent developments and publications in biological science and/or pedagogy.
    2. Submission Guidelines. Submit your news communication piece along with a Statement of Educational Impact (100 words).

In addition to satisfying the criteria described in the above-listed guidelines, all submissions must:

  1.    Be in either French or English.
  2.    Include a first page with the following information: title, author’s name, author’s affiliation, author’s contact info, a running title, and five key words.
  3.    Have references in CSE format.
  4.    The International System of Units (SI) must be used throughout and all symbols defined.
  5.    Standard gene, transcript, and protein names should be used throughout.
  6.    Acronyms and abbreviations should be kept to a minimum and, where used, must be spelled out in full on first usage.
  7.    For chemical nomenclature, the rules of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) should be followed.
  8.    Tables and figures should be presented on separate pages.
  9.    Suggest the appropriate category and topic for submission. Note that topics are not limited to the list found in “Categories for submission”.  If a new “topic” is discussed, a statement to the fact should be made in the cover letter for submission to justify the submission to CCEUB.
  10. Include in the cover letter the following CCEUB Author’s Agreement, which has been signed by you to acknowledge that you understand and agree to it:

CCEUB Author's Agreement:

I, the author, hereby declare that the submitted work (my "Contribution") is my own original work, is not under consideration to be published by another party, and has not been previously published. I agree that CCEUB editors have the right to edit my Contribution for format, length, and readability. For research involving animals or human subjects, I declare that proper approval was received from my institution's Ethics Board. Finally, I have read and accept the Terms of Use for the www.CCEUB.ca website (the "TOU"), and agree that the TOU are incorporated into this author's agreement as if set forth in full herein.

Review Process

The CCEUB Editorial Committee processes all submissions. With approval of the Editorial Committee, each submission will normally be sent to two referees. Please note that the review process is anonymous. There are four possible outcomes from the review process: (1) Contribution is accepted; (2) Contribution is conditionally accepted pending minor changes; (3) Contribution is conditionally accepted pending major changes; or (4) Contribution is rejected.  Please refer to the Reviewer’s Rubric for further information. While the CCEUB Editorial Committee is dedicated to a four-week turnaround time for review of Contributions submitted hereunder, and will make every effort to meet that commitment, please understand that we cannot promise to do so in all instances.

Permissions and Copyright Issues

Each Contribution should be the original work exclusively of the author(s), except to the extent third-party copyrighted materials are included, in which case the author(s) should have secured all necessary rights, permissions, consents, releases, or the like, as are required to use such materials in the Contribution as contemplated in the Terms of Use (the “TOU”) for the Website.   The submission must not have been previously published in any format, and must not be currently under consideration for publication by another party.  Authors own and will continue to own the copyright in and to their Contribution.  For more information, please see the TOU for the Website, which are incorporated herein by this reference.