Policy (‘Constitution’)

jeXed[1]

(Journal of ExoTechnology[2] and Education

1. ASSAF Best Practices for Journals

It is the intent of this Journal to adhere to the ASSAF Best Practices for Journals.

 2. Open Science Statement

jeXed aims to improve the transparency and replicability of each article and other publications in the ways indicated below. This Journal focuses on a wide audience with reference to (higher) education, (serious) gaming, and AI in general.

 3. Open Access Journal

jeXed is an open access, double-blind peer-reviewed, multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary academic Journal focused on the implementation and use of cutting-edge technologies (including LLMs[3] and AI), (serious) gaming, and innovative, effective (higher) education. The content on our website (SciELO) is freely available as open access without any charge to the reader. Readers are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purposes, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author, provided that the work is appropriately cited according to the specifications of the CC BY-NC license.

In this Journal, the authors are allowed to include in their articles – apart from the normal figures and tables – videos, podcasts, apps, animations, clips, screenshots, data sets, robotics, coding, practice in motion, and other material related to the article. They may even present their articles in the form of a PowerPoint or other presentations, or in any of the abovementioned forms, provided that the presentation meets the requirements of DHET for accreditation.

 Should an author, with specific reasons and with the consent of the Editor-in-Chief, not want to make their research available to other researchers, it should be indicated in the first footnote of the article. This includes the author’s designs, data, conclusions, etc.

3.1     Format of jeXed

jeXed acts as the official academic Journal of the SSG (Symposia on Serious Games – including the use of AI and LLMs in [higher] education) under the curatorship of Proff Maria Frahm-Arp and Erna Oliver. The SSG endeavours to publish groundbreaking information on the use of technologies in/and related to (higher) education.

This Journal consists of five sub-divisions (read together with point 10):

• DHET accredited articles, including methodology articles, with content such as research and practical articles and podcasts, also containing all the formats already referred to.
• Book, gaming, and other (YouTube videos, etc.) reviews.
• Emerging researchers’ articles, not necessarily accredited – reviewer recommendation and editor discretion.
• Snippets: Non-accredited contributions like conference reports, opinion-pieces, infographics, e-pamphlets, e-brochures, and game designs – interesting stuff with AI, serious games, and (higher) education as focus.
• Ventures: Provide paid submission (logo and very small advertisement) WITH an educational artifact or article.

We will therefore publish academic articles, presentations in different formats, book and other reviews, as well as snippets on the broad spectrum of (the combination of) technology (including AI and LLMs), (serious) gaming, and/or education. jeXed is an open access Journal that adheres to a double-blind peer-review policy for academic articles. The Journal is proud to join hands with the University of Johannesburg and UJ Press. 

jeXed welcomes innovative and extraordinary submissions in the field of technology (including AI and LLMs), (serious) gaming, and/or (higher) education.

4. Mission

• To guide Africa and the international community into the era of new technology focusing on the use of technology and serious gaming in (higher) education.
• To establish innovative and disruptive elements in technology and (higher) education, like (serious) gaming, TeT (Technology-enhanced-teaching), AI, and LLMs.
• To guide educators to invent personalised curricula for undergraduates, containing the abovementioned elements.

5. Vision

• To grow and develop into a leading Journal on technology and education for Africa and the international community.
• To consistently publish high quality articles by emerging researchers, as well as established and international scholars.
• To reach ISI status within 10 years.

6. Ethics Statement

If an author involves live subjects (humans), specifically (any kind of) vulnerable population in their article or presentation, they must provide the official ethical clearance number obtained from their institution of higher education when they submit their document, should that institution require it. Otherwise they must provide evidence that it is not required by their institution and/or country. The author should add it as a footnote to their article. Should the Journal receive the article without the official ethical clearance number or declaration or proof that it is deemed unnecessary by their institution, it will be returned to the author.

 7. SDGs in Articles

Authors are encouraged to address the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) of the United Nations in their articles. This must be indicated in their keywords, e.g., SDG Goal 4: Quality Education; SDG Goal 5: Gender Equality.

 8. Replication

jeXed encourages articles containing direct and conceptual replication/s on other studies, debating about specific topics.

 9. Data Availability Policy of jeXed

When an author has used research data (obtained from an external source), they must properly indicate it by means of a link where the reader can obtain the original data, and under what conditions. Data that have been personally obtained by way of qualitative research, can also be made available, provided that the anonymity and privacy of the participants are ensured.

10. File Formats (for Authors) (also cf. 3.1)

jeXed publishes academic articles, reviews, and snippets on technology, serious games, and/or (higher) education in PDF, EPUB, XML, and Audio format.

10.1    Submission of an Academic Article

An author must submit two copies of their academic article or review:

1. Full article for the Editor-in-Chief: The article with all the author’s details.
2. Blinded article for peer review: In this article all the details of the author should be replaced by xxx.

An academic article could be qualitative or quantitative of nature, consisting of original research, and containing the following elements: An abstract, 5 or more keywords, an introduction and background, literature review and/or control (separate or interweaved), method/ology with results and discussion (separate or combined), limitations or concerns (if any), a conclusion and implications for practice. The length of academic articles should be between 5,000 and 8,000 words (longer only with the consent of the Editor-in-Chief). This includes in-text references and the Reference list. Articles may include supporting material such as figures, tables, videos, podcasts, photos, apps, animations, clips, screenshots, data sets, robotics, coding, and other relevant material.

A pure methodology article will also be considered provided it has application beyond the single incidence and has relevance in (higher) education studies. All the requirements for the academic articles also apply here.

10.2    Reviews

Various types of academically-sound reviews, such as scoping, systematic, integrative reviews will be published, provided that it follows the required methodological approach (e.g. PRISMA) relevant for the type of (literature) review. jeXed also welcomes reviews of relevant conferences, books, videos, etc. related to its scope. These reviews must be between 1,000 and 3,000 words in length.

10.3    Emerging Researchers’ Articles

When an emerging researcher want to publish an article on jeXed, they are very welcome to do so. If they want it to be accredited and need help, one of our Board Members will be assigned to assist the researcher as a co-author. If the researcher want to publish the article on its own, jeXed will do so, be it worthy of accreditation or not. This will be indicated by the Editor-in-Chief inside the article.

10.4    Snippets

Since jeXed is encouraging alternative types of submissions or artifacts, the Journal also aims to include snippets (not for DHET purposes) where authors can highlight certain key-opinion leaders in AI, LLMs, and technology, game-based learning, gamification, and (higher) education, with a direct (permanent) link to their website and a short reflection or recommendation based on a video (YouTube or any other video), blog/vlog, or other output. A snippet could be any interesting contribution focused on AI, LLMs, (serious) games, and/or education. It must be at least 1,000 words (not exceeding 5,000 words) or at least two pages of pictures with captions added to it. The author must provide an abstract of about 250 words for the snippet.

10.5    Ventures

Should someone want to advertise on jeXed, they must provide a paid submission (logo and very small advertisement) as arranged with the Editor-in-Chief, WITH an educational artifact or article.

11. Guidelines for Authors (Specifically Academic and Methodology Articles)

Please refer to the Author Guidelines.

12. Retraction, Errata, and Corrigendum Policy

12.1    Retraction

Should an author that has submitted their manuscript want to retract it from this Journal for whatever reason, they are permitted to do so before the article has been approved for publication. The moment the article has been approved, the Journal retains the right to publish the article and it is then impossible to retract it anymore.

12.2    Errata and Corrigendum

Errata must be sorted out during the copyediting process with the copyeditor. Once the article is published, no more corrections will be done. However, if the author can prove that the copyeditor is responsible for an erratum without the knowledge of the author, then the author must send an e-mail to the Editor-in-Chief and request a correction.

13. Periodicity (Rolling Publication of Articles)

jeXed will be published annually in two publications. Articles will be published after copyediting has been done and the author is satisfied with all the corrections. The indication will still be if the article is assigned to the first or the second semester, e.g., jeXed 1(1) or jeXed 1(2).

14. Content Strategy

jeXed plans to have a broad approach regarding technology and (higher) education. This Journal will serve as an introduction to these topics, accompanied by specified topics, depending on the symposia that are held on a biannual level – in March and September, or conferences held on the topic. One part of jeXed will be devoted to articles originating from the symposia, while another part will contain other (approved) submitted articles, reviews, snippets, etc.

15. Editorial Board

The Editorial Board will consist of not more than 30 or less than 10 scholars. Scholars who have already established themselves in the fields of technology and education will be invited to serve on the Board. Every three years the Board will elect an Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Journal Advisor, and section-editors for technology, education, AI and games, and Snippets – all of them will be elected for a term of three years. Both the Editor-in-Chief and Deputy Editor-in-Chief will be responsible to oversee the timely arrival of articles, peer reviews, and the publishing of all the documents. The section editors will be responsible for the timely distribution of the articles to two or three competent scholars for the double-blind peer review process, for accepting/rejecting the articles. The section editors, together with the Editor-in-Chief will be responsible for the acceptance/rejection of the article. The curators of the Journal will be the two professors who initiated the idea of this Journal – Proff Maria Frahm-Arp and Erna Oliver. They also serve on the Editorial Board. All these members will serve as the executive of the Journal and will determine and revise the policy of the Journal on an annual basis.

16. Organisation and Operations

jeXed will at first be sponsored by the University of Johannesburg. At first, the Journal will not receive page fees from the authors, but after accreditation, page fees of R500.00 per A5 page will be paid by all authors. The Journal aims to keep close ties with the University of Johannesburg.

17. Workflows

• The two Curators and Journal Advisor will join the Editorial Board in the decision making process.
• The Editor-in-Chief, assisted by the Deputy Editor-in-Chief will oversee the process of peer reviewing and will have the final say – in collaboration with the section editors – when it comes to the publishing of an article or review. The Editor-in-Chief, assisted by the Deputy Editor-in-Chief will also decide on the publication of received reviews (books, podcasts, etc.), other documents, and snippets. The Editor-in-Chief will determine the amount of articles/reviews published per edition and will be responsible for the foreword to each edition.
• Should there be a Special Edition, the Editor-in-Chief and the Deputy Editor-in-Chief, together with the Editorial Board, may decide to assign a Special Edition Editor-in-Chief for that specific edition. The Journal’s Editor-in-Chief will still have the responsibility to oversee everything.
• When an academic article is submitted to the Journal, the Editor-in-Chief will send the blinded copy to a section editor who will send it to two or three competent peer reviewers, giving them a maximum of three weeks to do the peer review. The peer reviewers have three days to accept or decline the peer review request. Should a section-editor be too busy, they may send it to another section editor to send it out. When the section editor has received the peer reviews back, they will make a decision (together with the Editor-in-Chief) on the acceptance/rejection of the article and send it to the Editor-in-Chief to inform the author per e-mail.
• The Editor-in-Chief will send the article back to the author for corrections, if any. The author will then do the corrections and send it to the Editor-in-Chief for final acceptance.
• When a review is submitted to the Journal, the Editor-in-Chief will decide to accept/reject the review.
• The assistant editor will do all the admin work for the Editor-in-Chief and the section editors, should they not be able to do it.
• After a manuscript is accepted, the Editor-in-Chief will send it to the copyeditor to do full copyediting on the document. The copyeditor will send the document to the author (cc to Editor-in-Chief) for corrections till they are both satisfied with the document.
• The copyeditor will then send the document (cc Editor-in-Chief) to the publisher.
• The publisher is responsible for loading the document on the back end under the heading of the specific volume, number, and year of the Journal.

 18. Journal Management Systems

jeXed will be an open access Journal and will therefore make use of the OJS tool set. The Journal will be published online and be ready for downloading by all users.

19. Distribution and Marketing Channels

The Manager of UJ Press will register jeXed with the Directory of Open Access Journals and develop a multi-channel distribution strategy. This includes the front and title pages of the Journal, direct e-marketing, indexing, metrics and analytics, and repositories and archiving.

20. Sustainability

Our aim is to get grants to finance jeXed for at least the first three years. In the meantime the Editorial Board will decide on a strategy to strengthen the Journal’s funds. Something that needs constant discussion is the use of advertisers.

The aim is to publish at least 5 articles per edition (for the first three years) and to market jeXed in such a way that scholars would like to publish their documents in this Journal.

21. Open Access Licenses

jeXed will be an open access Journal published with a CC BY-NC license. On acceptance of the article, the author will still retain copyright of their articles. Any liability and opinions express in the content published will be with the authors/content creators.

[1]     Jex means something excellent or impressive. The aim of this Journal (jeXed) is therefore to become jeX-ed – made excellent and impressive.

[2]     ExoTechnology is the description for high technology (the highest available form of technology) or advanced technology – technology at the cutting edge.

[3]     LLMs are large language models.