About the Journal

Mission 

To publish rigorous, interdisciplinary research and critical reflections that illuminate systemic inequalities within and beyond adult education. Dialogues in Social Justice provides an open-access platform where scholars, practitioners, and community organizers exchange ideas, challenge dominant narratives, and co-create knowledge to advance liberation, belonging, fairness, and human rights.

Vision 

A world where adult education liberates, critical reflections become systemic action, inequality is dismantled, and every person’s dignity is upheld.  

Focus and Scope

Dialogues in Social Justice: An Adult Education Journal (DSJ) (ISSN 2578-2029) is a scholarly, blind peer-reviewed, open-access journal of original high-quality research, policy, theory, and practice articles, reflection essays, book and resource reviews, and arts-based works related to all aspects of social justice in the field of adult, continuing, and adult higher education. There are no author fees.

Central to DSJ’s mission is the recognition of the adult learner experience as a critical site for understanding and advancing social justice. The journal seeks to illuminate how adult learners’ diverse identities, histories, and learning contexts shape and are shaped by social justice education.

DSJ desires to make connections between the study and practice of social justice education from its historical and global roots in adult education to contemporary social justice research and practice. Submissions from scholars, practitioners, and scholar‑practitioners on institutional change initiatives, community-based projects, classroom equity interventions, and collaborative projects by adult learners and educators are encouraged, reflecting the journal’s commitment to participatory, transformative, and practice-informed knowledge production.

DSJ also provides a forum for the social activist scholar, artist, photographer, documentarian, and photo journalist to engage in visual and arts-based scholarship, e.g., poetry, video, digital stories, etc. Through its interdisciplinary and multimodal approach, DSJ fosters deep engagement with the study, practice, and lived experience of social justice in adult education.

DSJ publishes two issues per year (Spring, Fall) and uses a learner-centered mentoring model to support and encourage scholars in both their activism and scholarship. Scholarship from adult learners and educators, emerging scholars, practitioners and activists is encouraged and invited. 

Submission Types 

Issues include articles based on empirical research, or theorization from literature, practice and/or policy  (3500-5000 words), book and media reviews (500-700 words), description of resources in practice (1200-3000 words), reflection essays (1200-3500 words), arts-based work, and other resources on contemporary or historical issues in the area of social justice in adult education. Refer to submission guidelines for more information. 

Authors must have an online account before they can submit a manuscript for review. Please email our editorial team at dialogues.sj26@gmail.com to get this process started.

Editorial Team

DSJ's editorial team and editorial board includes several scholars and scholar practitioners. Editorial board members serve as anonymous peer-reviewers in addition to providing general guidance.

The editorial board invites interested scholars and scholar practitioners to request to be included among the journal’s peer review team. The editorial board will review resumes of interested individuals, who should write to dialogues.sj26@gmail.com.

Peer Review Process 

All submissions are peer reviewed. Recommendations from the reviewers inform the editors’ manuscript selections.

All reviewers have an earned doctorate and publication experience with the exception of advanced graduate students, early career scholars, and practitioners who are provided an opportunity to serve as guest reviewers under the guidance of an advanced career scholar. 

Full-length articles are double anonymous peer-reviewed by at least 1 external reviewer. Reflection Essays and Book Reviews and Resources are peer-reviewed by a general editor, editorial board member and/or external reviewer. Arts-based works may be reviewed by artists familiar with that genre and/or by the editors.

The review process typically takes between 12-16 weeks.

For general questions and comments about the peer-review process, the journal or its editorial policies that are not addressed here, we encourage potential authors to contact the Senior Editors directly at dialogues.sj26@gmail.com.

Publication Frequency 

Two issues are published per year (Spring, Fall). Special issues may also be published at other times. To propose ideas for a special issue, please email dialogues.sj26@gmail.com. 

Open Access Policy 

This journal provides open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Generative Artificial Intelligence Policy

Dialogues in Social Justice recognizes limited equitable uses of generative artificial intelligence in authors’ academic writing processes. See DSJ’s AI Policy in Submissions for more information.

Sponsor

College of Education, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

If you are interested in submitting your work, volunteering as a peer reviewer, or otherwise getting involved with DSJ; you can indicate your interest by sending an email to dialogues.sj26@gmail.com.