Learning and Instruction 14 (2004) 12

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Editorial
Learning and Instruction started as the flagship journal of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction in 1991. The journal became then
under its founding editor, Erik De Corte, and his successors, Roger Saljo and Neil
Mercer, an internationally well recognised forum for the exchange of theoretical
concepts and empirical research findings on learning and development related to
teaching or instructional guidance. As the association grew with a membership from
an increasing number of countries, Learning and Instruction found as an international
European journal a growing readership around the world and received articles submitted from an increasing number of European and Non-European countries.
The successful publishing policy of the former editors was continued when the
editorial responsibility was passed over from Neil Mercer to the present editor at
the beginning of 2002. Learning and Instruction publishes original empirical research
(which includes also replications or extensions of previous research), theoretical or
methodological papers as well as review articles which synthesise existing work and
show new perspectives for further research. The field of interest comprises learning
and instruction at all age levels, from infants to old adults, and it includes a large
variety of educational settings ranging from kindergarten and classroom learning in
schools to vocational training, distance education, special education and to informal
educational settings.
As a multidisciplinary journal, Learning and Instruction has no preferences for
the perspectives of specific disciplines, nor does it emphasize specific theoretical
views or methodologies. The scope of the journal includes quantitative and qualitative research, experimental, quasi-experimental and field studies as well as case studies resulting in new theoretical views that stimulate further empirical research. The
essential requirement is only that the research contributes to a deeper understanding
of learning and instruction as a basis for improvements in teaching and learning. Of
course, the research needs to meet the international standards of conceptual and
argumentative clarity as well as methodological and technical quality.
From the beginning of the journal, a rigorous peer review process of submitted
papers has been considered as essential in order to ensure high quality. According
to this principle, the number of reviewers per manuscript has been increased in 2002.
Each manuscript that enters the review procedure is sent to three experts from different countries to comment on the quality of the article. These comments are the basis
for the editor or and assistant editor or associate editors to give each author an
extensive, detailed and constructive feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of
his/her manuscript in order to improve its quality.
0959-4752/$ - see front matter 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2003.12.001

Editorial / Learning and Instruction 14 (2004) 12

Some changes within the associate editors were required for a good balance of
expertise in the Editorial Board. Anastasia Efklides and Wolff-Michael Roth replaced
Clotilde Pontecorvo and Peter Reimann, who took over other responsibilities. Due
to the growing readership from an increasingly broad number of countries, the International Advisory Board has also become larger with the aim to ensure a good
balance of expertise from a broad range of research fields and from a larger number
of countries.
The articles in the 12th and 13th volume in 2002 and 2003 were still published
under the editorial responsibility of the former editor, Neil Mercer. The articles of
the new 14th volume are published now under the new editorship. The editorial work
during the last two years would not have been possible without the support of Maria
Bannert, who acts as assistant editor, and the help of Andrea Heiss and Thorsten
Rasch, who serve as editorial assistants. We hope that our team will be able to further
contribute to the development of Learning and Instruction as an internationally
acknowledged journal of high quality publications in this exciting research area.
Wolfgang Schnotz,
University of Koblenz-Landau, Department of General and Educational
Psychology, Thomas-Nast-Str. 44, 76829 Landau, Germany
E-mail address: schnotz@uni-landau.de