Greetings, and welcome to AEA365’s week of posts dedicated to the American Journal of Evaluation (AJE). We are Rodney Hopson & Laura Peck, both long-time AEA members and just installed in October 2023 as AJE’s Co-Editors-in-Chief for 2023-2026, covering what will be AJE volumes 45, 46, and 47.
Our vision for the American Journal of Evaluation is a premier peer-reviewed publication of high-quality scholarly and practitioner-relevant research on the theory, methods, and practice of evaluation. In executing on this vision, we have engaged a diverse and committed editorial team composed of the two of us, a managing editor, five associate editors, and one or two section editors leading work within the journal’s seven sections. Those sections reflect various dimensions of the field on which we want the journal to focus. They are: Book Review; Ethics, Values, and Culture; Experimental Methodology; International Developments in Evaluation; Method Note; Teaching and Learning of Evaluation; and Economic Evaluation. Any given manuscript can be submitted specifically to one of these sections or for general consideration within the journal.
In tomorrow’s AEA365 entry, Managing Editor Dr. Shannon Hitchcock will explain the submission and review process. Thereafter, you will hear from section and associate editors about their respective visions for the journal and their section. We hope this information will generate new submissions to the journal, as you learn more about it and the kind of scholarship we aim to share with the field.
Some specific objectives we have for ourselves along the way of delivering on our vision, we aim to advance the following:
- Build a strong, interdisciplinary editorial team and board that tends to the journal’s longevity. That is, we want to leverage the expertise of seasoned publishers, scholars, and practitioners across multiple sectors and topical areas to mentor newer members of this community to prime them for future journal leadership.
- Consider–and then act on!–how the journal can be a leader regarding inclusivity and diversity of voices and perspectives in publishing high-quality scholarly and practitioner-relevant research on the theory, methods, and practice of evaluation.
- Consider the implications of replicability and open science for the journal, developing practices that lead the field and are enduring.
Thank you to (1) all of AEA365’s readers, (2) all of AJE’s readers, and (3) all evaluation scholars and practitioners for your willingness to be on this editorial journey with us. We are hopeful that the next three years will be great ones for AJE as we prioritize high-quality scholarly and practitioner-relevant research in evaluation. In the rest of this week and another dedicated AEA365 week in January, you will have the chance to gain insights about the journal, and we hope this results in your heightened interest in submitting to the journal, using and citing the journal’s contents for your work, reviewing for the journal, and spreading the word about the journal.
The American Evaluation Association is hosting the American Journal of Evaluation (AJE). All posts this week are contributed by evaluators who work for AJE. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this AEA365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on theAEA365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an AEA365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to AEA365@eval.org . AEA365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators. The views and opinions expressed on the AEA365 blog are solely those of the original authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the American Evaluation Association, and/or any/all contributors to this site.