Aims and Scope 

HEC is a global, peer-reviewed and open-access journal that seeks to publish academic articles, reflective articles, and book reviews in four key focus areas in higher education, continuous education, and upskilling. The four focus areas include: 

 

1. Scholarship of teaching and learning (pedagogy), 
2. Curriculum developments
3. Leadership in higher education
4. Internationalisation.

 

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Pedagogy is the essential means of knowledge transfer. Effective and innovative communication aids learning in higher education. To this end, HEC invites submissions that showcase new and innovative approaches to pedagogy which address specific or generic contexts and challenges related to teaching, and learning in a world of ever-growing complexity. Some areas of interest include, but are in no way limited to: games teaching, teaching in complex environments, teaching in disaster settings, comprehension-building around complex concepts or theories, and building the capacity of students in soft skills.   

Curriculum Development

Linked to how one teaches, is what one teaches. Both PROWIBO and HEC acknowledge the importance of pondering and interrogating how rigorous and relevant one’s curriculum is and what amendments may be required to ensure continued relevance as the world of work continues to change. To this end, HEC welcomes submissions that interrogate the relevance, inclusivity (across societies and sectors), and rigour of higher education curriculum.    

 

Leadership in Higher Education

The state of leadership within higher education institutions is pivotal to the delivery of quality education. Hence, HEC welcomes submissions that focus on the meaning of leadership in higher education, the delivery of leadership education, and leadership in the face of crisis, complexity and adversity.  

 

Internationalisation

Internationalisation is defined as “the process of integrating an international, intercultural or global dimension into the purpose, functions or delivery of post-secondary education.”[1] The problems facing the world at present are becoming increasingly border-blind; these include, but are in no way limited to: climate change, migration, COVID-19, extremism and terrorism. This reality calls for increased collaborations across borders to share ideas, knowledge and solutions to common challenges so as to enhance student experiences, and advance students' readiness for the world of employment, among other concerns. In recognition of this reality, HEC welcomes submissions that reflect upon and propose new frameworks to strengthen internationalisation initiatives which seek to (1) enhance the experience of the student in higher education, (2) enhance staff and student mobility, and (3) drive joint research projects which address border-blind challenges. Since internationalisation is an ever-evolving process, HEC welcomes submissions that fall outside of this scope and the above definition.

Types of submissions published by HEC

Academic articles

Academic articles should consist of original contributions to the literature on higher education and should contain the following elements: an abstract, an introduction, conceptual/analytical framework/theoretical framework, a methodology, a discussion/analysis, and a conclusion. Academic articles should be between 7, 000 and 8, 000 words in length. This word limit includes in-text references, figures, and tables.  

Reflective articles

Reflection is an essential undertaking of the teaching process. To this end, PROWIBO’s journals welcomes submissions of reflective articles which encourage educators to reflect on context and their pedagogical practices. Reflective articles must be between 3, 000 and 5, 000 words in length. This word limit includes in-text references, figures, and tables.  

Book reviews

PROWIBO’s Journal will welcome reviews of books related to its scope. Book reviews may not be unsolicited. Book reviews must be between 800 and 1, 200 words in length.

 

Instructions to authors 

Higher Education Compass (HEC) adheres to a number of formatting, style, and referencing guidelines. These formatting, style, and referencing guidelines are used to ensure that published submissions are consistent in there presentation. Authors are requested to follow these guidelines when preparing their manuscript for submission. Submissions that do not follow the below guidelines will likely be returned to the author.

 

• Academic articles should have a clear purpose highlighting the originality of the contribution.
• The research methodology must be clear and accurate.
• The structure and systematisation of the manuscript should be in order.
• The figures and tables that are included should be necessary and sufficient.
• The quality and quantity of the references must be acceptable.
• Ensure that there is no plagiarism in the manuscript and that all your work is properly referenced where applicable.

1. Submit the electronic copy in MS Word format. All high-resolution images must be placed in a separate folder in the original format (.jpg). All graphics must be named according to their placement (for example “Figure 1”).
2. Spelling, punctuation, capitalisation and abbreviation should be consistent. UK English (not US English) should be used, except in direct quotes and source references where US English was used.
3. Keep formatting as simple as possible and consistent throughout:

• paper size: A4 (not Letter)
• margins: 20 mm on all sides
• 1.5 spacing throughout
• justified
• font: Aril size 12 (main text); Aril size 10,5 (for diagrams, tables, figures and captions)
• 11pt for all body text, quotes
• 10pt for endnotes and captions (Higher Education Compass does not accommodate footnotes).
• distinct heading levels - level 1: bold, 12pt; level 2: bold, 11pt; level 3: bold, italics, 11pt
• use hard return (‘Enter’) only to end a paragraph or section, not to break a line
• to break a line, use a soft return (‘Shift’ + ‘Enter’)
• no automatic hyphenation
• only one space after a punctuation mark (such as a full stop at the end of a sentence)
• ellipsis = space, three full stops, space (e.g.: Act ... stipulates that), but no space between a punctuation mark and an ellipsis, e.g.: “... the situation in a case like this ...?” No space between word and ellipsis if the word was cut off (e.g.: The rules stipu…)
• no space between punctuation marks and quotation marks
• Latin phrases (such as per se) in italics, as well as any other foreignAbbreviations and acronyms: 

• Keep the use of the following abbreviations to the minimum (e.g. and etc.).
• All acronyms should be written out in full upon initial use, for example: United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), etc.

Quotations and quotation marks:

• italicise words from foreign languages
• use double quotation marks for direct quotations or direct speech (“...”)
• use single quotation marks to emphasise a specific word: (‘...’)

1. Each diagram, image, graph and table should be included in the MS Word document, have a title/caption and be correctly numbered and referenced in the running text (for example, the first table in chapter 7 is Table 1, not just Table 1).
2. Endnote numbers in the running text must be in superscript Arabic figures without brackets and after punctuation marks, g.......................................................... as argued by Duckworth,¹¹ Lennon¹²

and Brown.¹³ In addition, use the automatic function for inserting footnotes and endnotes (References > Insert Endnote/Footnote).

Copyright:

Be aware of copyright laws when using someone else’s material in your work. If for instance, quoting a poem, part of a poem, or lyrics; or using photographs, tables or images, written consent needs to be obtained. Queries can be referred to the publisher.

Referencing

Higher Education Compass

Potter 1980:297 – one author with date and page number

Coetzee 1986:234-245; 1988; 1991:99-135 – one author, multiple works, some with page references

Brown 1991:22; Le Roux 1990:24-60, 1991:181-201; McDonald 2003:53 – different authors and works (Le Roux, for example, with multiple works)

Thomas, King & Williams 1983:74-115 – multiple authors, one work, the first reference to this work in the running text

Thomas et al 1983:296 – multiple authors, one work, in further references to the above work

... Thomas, King and Williams (1983:74-115) ... – and i.s.o. & when the authors’ names form part of the running text (i.e. they are not in brackets together with the year and page numbers)

1. Hyperlinks should indicate the complete URL of a source or the closest permanent link to it

e.g. https://ujonlinepress.uj.ac.za/. It is the author’s responsibility to verify that links are valid and active.

1. DOIs should indicate the complete DOI of a source e.g. https://doi.org/10.18820/9781928357247/01
2. A complete reference list/bibliography must be provided with all relevant details. All sources must be listed alphabetically by authors’ surnames, and then each author’s works

Basic principles for the style:

• no comma between the surname and initials (e.g.: Coetzee H)
• no full stop after an initial and no space between more than one initial (e.g.: Coetzee HJA)
• no “pp” or spaces in page reference, and hyphen i.s.o. en dash (e.g.: 245-364)
• no full stops after abbreviations, eg: (ed)=editor; (eds)=editors; (transl)=translator; No=number; titles; et al, etc.
• Edition not abbreviated and with a capital “E”
• title of unpublished work must be in Roman (no quotation marks or italics)

Examples of various types of sources and the style for each source:

• Manuscript not yet accepted for publication

Du Bois M. 2003. The evolution of men. (In press.)

• Article in a journal

Coetzee HJ. 1977. Inflation in South Africa. Acta Economica, 27(3):17-36.

• Sacred scripture

Genesis. 1988. The Bible. Cape Town: Bible Society of South Africa.

• Electronic reference: www page

National Research Foundation. 2007. Overview of grants, scholarships and the rating of researchers. [Retrieved 13 January 2008] www.nrf.ac.za

• Government report

Republic of South Africa. Department of Education. 2003. Funding of Public Higher Education. Schedule to the Higher Education Act (Act 101 of 1997). Pretoria: Department of Education. November.

• Government report (abbreviated form of the department as used in references in the running text)

RSA DoE (Republic of South Africa. Department of Education). 1997. Education White Paper 3: A Programme for the Transformation of Higher Education. Pretoria: Government Publishers.

• Translated work

Sergardi L. 1994. The Satires. RE Pepin (transl). New York: P. Lang.

• Chapter in an edited work

Snyman AL. 1986. Human rights in political reform. In: DS van Rensburg, P du Toit &

LJ van der Merwe (eds). Human rights in South Africa. 2nd Edition. Pretoria: HAUM. 1-34.

• Multiple editors

Van Rensburg DS, Du Toit P & Van der Merwe LJ (eds). 1986. Human rights in South Africa. 2nd Edition. Pretoria: HAUM.

• Conference paper in published proceedings

Vilet D. 1998. Focus on a career in the South African school. In: M Hudson (ed). Educational expansion: Proceedings of the fourth EDU conference. Johannesburg: University of the Witwatersrand:145-187.

• Unpublished thesis

White TH. 1997. The Power of Women in the Family in Medieval France. PhD thesis. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University.

Other reference/bibliography styles may be used as long as the chosen style is used consistently.

Our Style Guide is also available as a PDF. 

Are you ready to make a submission?

Once you are ready to submit your manuscript, please refer to the submissions page for further instructions.