Call for Papers

The Journal of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Enquiry (JoSTLE) is a peer reviewed diamond open access publication dedicated to advancing thoughtful, evidence informed approaches to learning, teaching and assessment in higher education and related contexts. The journal provides a platform for educators, researchers and professional staff to share scholarly work that critically examines practice, explores innovation and contributes to the wider Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) community. Each article is published with a Document Object Identifier (DOI) to ensure persistent accessibility and citation.

Beyond Blended Special Issue

Guest Editors: Sheila MacNeill, Helen Beetham & Sarah Knight

This special issue of JoSTLE brings together contributions from projects aligned with Jisc’s Beyond Blended: rethinking curriculum and learning design initiative. Collectively, these papers will explore how educators and institutions are redesigning learning in ways that integrate digital and physical environments to support meaningful engagement for diverse learners. The focus is not simply on blending modes of delivery, but on reimagining the purpose, structure, and experience of learning itself.

Contributions are sought to showcase a range of practice-based and scholarly work emerging from Beyond Blended projects. We aim to capture how colleagues have engaged with key dimensions of the framework, including designing for learning rather than delivery, creating coherent and connected student journeys, and embedding equity within curriculum development. We are keen for the papers to reflect the realities of implementation, highlighting both the opportunities and challenges associated with sustained pedagogic transformation. By bringing these contributions together, this issue aims to support the continued development of thoughtful, inclusive, and future-facing approaches to learning, teaching, and assessment, grounded in both scholarly inquiry and lived educational practice.

Submissions should meet these criteria:

  • Papers which report the outputs and/or engagement in phase 1 and/or phase 2 of the Jisc Beyond Blended Pilot, or
  • Papers which report the use of the Jisc Beyond Blended materials actively in practice with a clear research or evaluation approach.

We are seeking submissions in the following formats:

  • Original research (5,000-7,000 words). Papers that report primary data with ethical approval from the host institution. Where institutions do have an ethics approval process, there must be a clear articulation of the ethical considerations and standards applied. See Purvis & Crawford (2024) for more guidance on the expected ethical standards in social science publications.
  • Practice case study (3,000-5,000 words). Case studies of academic practice development, in this special issue, using the Beyond Blended materials. To share learning that others can apply.
  • Reflective analysis (3,000-5,000 words). Papers that analyse the theoretical positioning of Jisc Beyond Blended and offer new perspectives.
  • Opinion pieces (2,000 to 3,000 words). Narratives on key aspects relating specifically to Beyond Blended.
  • Commentary (2,500 to 4,000 words). a short article that presents an informed opinion or perspective on the Jisc Beyond Blended materials.
  • Innovation Report (2,500-4,000 words). Describe and evaluate a new approach, technology, curriculum design, assessment practice or educational initiative using the Jisc Beyond Blended materials. Papers should provide evidence of effectiveness, lessons learned, and implications for wider adoption.

If you have an idea for an alternative format not listed above, please contact the Editor-in-Chief, Dr Alison Purvis, a.purvis@shu.ac.uk. We also encourage authors to include companion resources and/or infographics along with their paper. Note that JoSTLE is published with a CC-BY licence.

Full papers must be submitted by Friday 30 October 2026. Papers will be subject to your engagement with blind peer review before potential acceptance. Accepted papers are then subject to your engagement with copy editing prior to final publication. Peer review (round 1) is estimated to take 4-6 weeks. Authors will then have 4 weeks to respond to review comments and suggestions. Where needed a 2nd round of peer review will take ~4 weeks. If accepted copy editing is then required before final publication. Publication of the Special Issue is planned for early 2027.