Everything you wanted to know about JSE but
were afraid to ask
Bill Notz
Editor
Journal of Statistics Education
History of the Journal
• Founding Editor - Jackie Dietz, 1992, North
Carolina State University
• Managing Editor - Tim Arnold, North Carolina
State University
• First Issue - July 1993
History of the Journal, continued
• The first issue contained articles by David
Moore, George Cobb, and Joan Garfield.
• Tim Arnold wrote an article describing the
structure and philosophy of the journal.
History of the Journal, continued
1. The Journal of Statistics Education (JSE) was created in order to provide an outlet for highquality articles on statistics education, and to provide a vehicle through which statistics educators
can share their knowledge and be recognized for their work. The electronic computer network was
chosen as the medium in which to publish the JSE because of the reduced costs of making the
journal available and the exciting opportunities made possible in the medium. With the absence of
printing costs, low dissemination costs and the contribution of technical, editorial, and referee
services, the JSE can be distributed on the Internet computer network at no cost to the reader.
2. Once the decision was made to use the electronic medium for publishing, another set of goals
became apparent: to keep the contents of the journal as accessible as possible to as many people as
possible, yet still use the latest technology to exploit the electronic medium. In other words, the
goal is to provide multiple views of the same information, with different viewing methods for
different levels of technological capability. The reader may select the most appropriate method,
depending on technological capability or personal preference.
History of the Journal, continued
• Two special departments, Teaching Bits and
Datasets and Stories were inaugurated.
History of the Journal, continued
• Teaching Bits contained miscellaneous
resources for teachers, such as abstracts of
interesting articles and topics for discussion from
newspapers and magazines.
• The editors were Joan Garfield and Laurie
Snell.
History of the Journal, continued
• Datasets and stories was a forum for
exchanging interesting data and discussing ways
that such data can be used effectively in teaching
statistics.
• The editors were Robin Lock and Tim Arnold.
History of the Journal, continued
• The first issue is still available in the archives
and provides insight into the original intention of
the editors.
• The authors for the first issue and the first
editors were an impressive group.
History of the Journal, continued
• Jackie Dietz served as editor from 1992-1999.
She stepped down intentionally to encourage the
search for new editors with new ideas.
• Tom Short was editor from 2000-2003 and Bob
Stephenson from 2004-2006.
History of the Journal, continued
Early concerns (besides the quality of articles)
included
• Keeping the journal as electronic and free.
• Becoming an ASA journal or maintaining
independence.
• Supporting the operation of the journal.
The Journal Today
So what about the journal in 2007?
My editorial coordinator is Jean Scott and
between us we try to process all new submissions
and revisions.
How does this work?
The Journal Today
• New submissions come by email (we only
accept electronic submissions)
• We first check to see that we can open and read
any new submission.
• We require an author disclosure form for all
submissions. If not included, we will request
one. (This form states that the article is not under
review elsewhere or has not been published
elsewhere).
The Journal Today
• We create a blinded version of the submission,
assign a manuscript number to the manuscript,
enter the submission into our data base, and send
an acknowledgment to the authors.
• I then do a first read to see if the article fits the
mission of the journal. If not, I reject the
manuscript and inform the author.
The Journal Today
• Next, I find an Associate Editor (AE) to handle
the manuscript. AEs are allowed to choose
recent submissions that appeal to them. Those
not chosen are assigned to any AEs with a
relatively light load.
• AEs then do a first read to decide if the
manuscript should be sent to reviewers.
The Journal Today
• An AE can decide to accept the manuscript
without review, to reject it without review, or to
request a revision without review. In all cases
the AE provides me with justification for the
recommendation.
The Journal Today
• If an AE decides to send the manuscript to
reviewers, the AE finds two or three reviewers,
sends them a blinded version of the manuscript
(we do blind reviewing), and requests that they
complete the review in 4-6 weeks.
The Journal Today
• Each reviewer makes a recommendation as
whether to reject, reject but encourage a revision,
tentatively accept subject to minor revision, or
accept. Justification for the decision is sent to
the AE along with comments for the author
(concerns, editorial matters).
The Journal Today
• Upon receiving all reviews, the AE tries to
integrate all the reviews, make a recommendation
to me (with justification), and prepare a report for
the authors reflecting any concerns they may
have and integrating the comments of the
reviewers.
• The AE sends all reports (including their own)
to me.
The Journal Today
• Upon receiving this information, I make a final
decision and prepare a letter for the authors
stating my decision and my reasons for doing so.
• My letter and copies of all the reports intended
for the authors are sent (by email) to the authors.
All reports except mine are blinded.
The Journal Today
• Ideally the whole review process should take 68 weeks.
• In practice, a full review can take longer.
The Journal Today
Reasons for longer review times include:
• Delays at my end in processing submissions
(Jean and I are on vacation, overwhelmed with
other duties, etc).
• Delays in getting submissions assigned to AEs
(AEs don’t respond immediately).
The Journal Today
• Delays in completing reviews because AEs
and/or reviewers are busy.
• Remember, AEs and reviewers are volunteers.
They are often faculty with other duties. Reading
a paper carefully and preparing a thoughtful
review takes time. Poorly written papers are hard
to review.
The Journal Today
• Reviewers are well meaning but sometimes
unrealistic in assessing when they will have time
to complete a review.
The Journal Today
• If a manuscript has been out an unusually long
time (4-5 months) I will often ask the AE not to
wait any longer and make a decision with what
they already have.
• I may handle the manuscript myself if the AE is
unable to do so promptly.
The Journal Today
• Authors should never hesitate to ask for
updates. This will serve as a reminder to me and
it provides me with another way to “encourage”
reviewers to complete reviews.
• My goal is to have some sort of review back to
authors within no more than 6 months.
The Journal Today
So what sort of articles are we looking for?
Mission Statement of the Journal
The Journal of Statistics Education disseminates knowledge for the improvement of
statistics education at all levels, including elementary, secondary, post-secondary, postgraduate, continuing, and workplace education. It is distributed electronically and, in
accord with its broad focus, publishes articles that enhance the exchange of a diversity of
interesting and useful information among educators, practitioners, and researchers
around the world. The intended audience includes anyone who teaches statistics, as well
as those interested in research on statistical and probabilistic reasoning. All submissions
are rigorously refereed using a double-blind peer review process.
Manuscripts submitted to the journal should be relevant to the mission of JSE. Possible
topics for manuscripts include, but are not restricted to: curricular reform in statistics, the
use of cooperative learning and projects, innovative methods of instruction, assessment,
and research (including case studies) on students' understanding of probability and
statistics, research on the teaching of statistics, attitudes and beliefs about statistics,
creative and tested ideas (including experiments and demonstrations) for teaching
probability and statistics topics, the use of computers and other media in teaching,
statistical literacy, and distance education. Articles that provide a scholarly overview of the
literature on a particular topic are also of interest. Reviews of software, books, and other
teaching materials will also be considered, provided these reviews describe actual
experiences using the materials.
Mission of the Journal, continued
• I welcome for articles on all aspects of the
teaching of statistics (pre-college to graduate
level, short courses in industry, and post graduate
training).
• Articles should have a clear teaching
component.
Mission of the Journal, continued
• Serious assessment of proposed teaching
methods is highly desirable.
• Articles should be relevant to modern teaching
of statistics.
Departments - Datasets and Stories
• The current editor is Dex Whittinghill
• The Datasets and Stories department not only
identifies interesting datasets and describes their
useful pedagogical features, but enables
instructors to download the datasets for further
analysis or dissemination to students
Departments - Teaching Bits
• The current editors are Marjorie Bond and Deb
Rumsey.
• Teaching Bits summarizes interesting current
events and research that can be used as examples
in the statistics classroom, as well as pertinent
items from the education literature
Departments - Teaching Bits, continued
• The current editors plan to present one single collaborative section for
each issue. The focus is on giving you not only the big picture of the latest
happenings in Statistics Education, but to also broaden the scope to
include other disciplines. The goal is to shed light on emerging
innovations in teaching and learning and give you ideas on how they
might be applied to your own courses and programs.
The spotlight of this column will be on topics that readers are interested in
learning more about. Ideas should be sent to either of the editors so that
they can pursue them and present readers with the latest information and
updates regarding those topics.
Departments - From Research Into Practice
• This is a new department focusing on how one
has taken research on teaching and learning and
implemented this research in the classroom
(including assessment).
• The first articles will appear in the July 2007
issue.
The JSE Listserv
• The journal has a listserv that sends out
announcements about new issues or subjects that
might be of interest to readers.
• If you wish to be added to the listserv, let me
know and I will add you.
Final Comments
• I am particularly interested in articles on
teaching more advanced topics, teaching in
nontraditional settings (short courses, industry),
and difficult contexts (large lectures) because
these are not often addressed.
• Articles based on funded research, large scale
studies, well-designed studies are of great
interest.
Final Comments
• We try to work with authors (through revisions)
to turn manuscripts with good core ideas into
papers that are suitable for the journal.
Final Comments
• Don’t hesitate to send us manuscripts that you
believe fit the mission of the journal. Our AEs
and reviewers are very good at providing
feedback.
Final Comments
• Questions?