YALSA’s New Research Journal

As Linda Braun mentioned last week in her President’s report, YALSA will soon be starting a new online research journal and I’ve been appointed the first editor.’  I’m very excited about the journal and think this is a great opportunity for YALSA.’  The official name will be decided next week at the YALSA Board Meeting, and soon after I will be posting official call for papers.’  In the meantime here’s a quick overview of the 4 types of articles we hope to publish:

1. Research Articles:’  These will be research based articles written by anyone interested in or working with teens and library services.’  These will be peer reviewed by the journal’s advisory board and editor.

2. Case Studies: My hope is that these will be a chance for practicing librarians to share examples of their work, such as case studies of a book group or an anime group or any other teen library activity.

3. Research Reviews:’  One of the missions of the journal will be to share new research published in other venues that would be of interest to YALSA members.’  I will be looking for authors to review and write brief summaries of pertinent research and hope to have several articles reviewed in each issue.

4. Student Papers:‘  This section will also be peer reviewed articles, but will be reserved for students in MS or PhD programs.’  Literature reviews, case studies, literary analyses – I’m interested in publishing pretty much anything written by students that relates research on teens and libraries.

One of the best things about having this journal completely online is that it allows for a great deal of flexibility.’  Articles with pictures, videos, or web links are all welcome.’  Right now the advisory board has yet to determine the exact guidelines and submission information for papers but we will be working on this, and I will be posting updated information here over the next few months.

In the meantime if you have any questions or comments or are interested in getting involved, please email me at yalsaresearch@gmail.com or jessicaemilymoyer@gmail.com.’  I will also be at the YALSA All Committee Meeting next Saturday in Boston and will be circulating during the second half of the meeting to talk with interested committees and answer any questions.