The landscape of academic publishing in adult and continuing education has grown significantly over the past few decades. While the field once had only a few specialized journals, today there is a wide array of scholarly platforms exploring lifelong learning, adult basic education, non-formal learning, workforce development, and more. Despite this expansion, fragmentation persists, and opportunities for collective advancement remain underutilized.
At the 2024 Hall of Fame Induction Conference in Florence, Working Group 7 (WG7) on Journals Cooperation, mentored by Paolo Federighi (IACEHOF 2019), brought together editors, researchers, and educators to consider collaborating more effectively. Their goal: to enhance the visibility, accessibility, and impact of adult education scholarship through coordinated strategies and shared infrastructure.
A Changing Landscape in Academic Publishing
As the number of journals has increased, so has the diversity of publishers. Today, journals are hosted by public institutions, non-governmental organizations, research centers, and commercial publishers. Universities fund some, others operate independently, and a few have achieved financial autonomy. Despite their different origins, all share common goals: high-quality scholarship, broad readership, and real-world relevance.
To meet these goals, WG7 members emphasized the need for collective efforts that preserve scholarly integrity while supporting innovation, access, and global engagement.
The Case for Journal Cooperation
The group recognized that academic journals—particularly those in adult and continuing education—often compete for submissions, citations, and readership. However, cooperation, or “co-petition,” could allow journals to maintain healthy competition while advancing shared objectives.
Benefits of cooperation could include:
- Reducing duplication of effort across editorial boards
- Supporting early-career and emerging scholars
- Increasing global visibility and citation impact
- Encouraging multilingual and multicultural scholarship
- Amplifying the voice of adult education in public discourse
Proposed Actions and Collaborative Mechanisms
To operationalize this vision, the working group proposed several concrete initiatives:
1. A Shared Online Platform: A centralized webpage would present all participating journals, their calls for papers, and links to their websites. This platform would be a one-stop resource for authors, reviewers, and readers. The University of Florence offered to host this initiative under the Hall of Fame for Adult and Continuing Education (HOFE) umbrella.
2. Establishing Minimum Quality Standards: Journals must meet basic legitimacy and scholarly rigor standards to be included on the shared platform. This would help distinguish “legitimate” journals from “predatory” ones. The standards could include peer review practices, editorial board transparency, indexing status, and ethical publishing policies.
3. Inclusivity in Language and Geography: The platform would feature journals from all parts of the world and in all languages, reflecting the global nature of adult education. Emphasis would be placed on increasing the visibility of journals currently “invisible” in mainstream academic circles due to language or limited distribution.
4. Supporting Emerging Scholars: The platform could highlight journals that publish early-career researchers and provide mentorship during peer review. Special issues could focus on topics of interest to new scholars or offer collaborative writing opportunities.
5. Facilitating Joint Issues and Editor Networks: Journals could partner to produce joint special issues, share reviewer pools (in line with GDPR compliance), and benchmark editorial practices. A potential reviewer recognition award—possibly under the auspices of the Hall of Fame—was also discussed.
6. Mutual Promotion of Scholarship: Journals could exchange article lists related to current or upcoming calls for papers. Authors could then cite relevant work across the ecosystem, enhancing interconnectedness and citation rates. Collective campaigns on political and moral issues in adult education could be amplified through coordinated publishing efforts.
Reimagining the Scholarly Commons
WG7’s vision is not just technical—it is philosophical. The group envisions a scholarly commons rooted in mutual support, knowledge sharing, and collective impact. Such unity is strategic and necessary in a field like adult and continuing education, which often receives less attention than other academic disciplines.
By building a shared infrastructure, journals can expand their reach and shape the public and policy discourse around lifelong learning.
A Forward-Looking Network of Editors and Educators
The session in Florence marked a significant step toward forming a global editorial network for adult education. Participants expressed enthusiasm about continuing the conversation through online forums, collaborative training sessions for editors, and joint research dissemination strategies.
The spirit of WG7 is perhaps best captured by its commitment to “coopetition”—a blend of cooperation and competition—rooted in a shared mission to elevate adult education scholarship and make it more accessible to those who need it most.
Update
European Lifelong Learning Magazine (ELM), a free online magazine focused on adult education and lifelong learning, has promoted the first initiative. ELM is a journalistic medium with a European scope and a global readership of around 50,000, mainly in Europe, published by the Finnish Lifelong Learning Foundation publishes it. ELM is currently seeking contributors to our column series “I argue,” which features opinion pieces written by researchers. Each column presents a focused, thought-provoking perspective on a topic in adult education or lifelong learning.
- ELM Website: https://elmmagazine.eu/
- Contact Information: elm@kvs.fi
- Subscribe to the ELM today!
