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Call for General Submissions and Guidelines for Authors and Reviewers

Call for Submissions

The Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education (JCHE) is a peer-reviewed online journal featuring research articles, invited contributions, reviews, interviews as well as video/audio submissions and photo essays. JCHE is biannually published. Within the biannual framework, papers are published on a continuing basis, unless they are for special issues.

We embrace a range of submissions: we publish traditional peer-reviewed academic research articles and reviews, as well as non-traditional formats, such as arts-based and multimedia essays, interviews with practitioners and spiritual teachers, and reviews of educational practices and events. We welcome submissions in video and audio files (see below for details) that capture community voices, practitioner arts, and fieldnotes-based reflections.

The journal calls for papers and works that address and illustrate:

  1. Educational frameworks and approaches that center the integration of the learner’s mind, body, heart, and spirit through contemplative, creative, spiritual, and holistic ways.
  2. Philosophical, spiritual, pedagogical, and practice-oriented approaches for contemplative study of subjectivity and intersubjectivity, and also for cultivating contemplative understandings of external realities.
  3. Examining diverse contemplative, spiritual, holistic education traditions, and practices for cultivating holistic well-being and wisdom.
  4. Theories of and practical approaches to somatic, cognitive, emotional, intuitive, creative, relational, ecological, ethical, and spiritual aspects of learning.
  5. Innovative pedagogies for inner growth and development, such as meditation, including mindfulness, qigong, tai chi, yoga, embodiment practices, Indigenous and land-based pedagogies, cultural rituals and ceremonies, music, dance and movement, storytelling, videography, the visual arts, and reflective writing (e.g., diaries, journals, essays, and poetry).
  6. Contemplative inquiry as a philosophical, spiritual, and educational approach and methodology to lead students, teachers, and researchers to a greater understanding of humanity’s oneness with each other and with Nature.
  7. The use of holistic education that encourages learners to become engaged in community and society, to be immersed in nature, and become a force for social changes and social and ecological justice.
  8. Works on contemplative, spiritual, embodied, and holistic research methods that are inclusive of Indigenous and Global South epistemologies, relational ethics, and reflexive autoethnographies.
  9. Works that incorporate new scientific discoveries into knowing about ourselves as spiritual beings as well as creative energies connected to all existence.
  10. Comparing educational systems in different parts of the world to assess place- and locality-based pathways and opportunities for growing contemplative and holistic educational communities of practice.
  11. The intersections amongst contemplative inquiry, holistic education, arts-based education, Indigenous education, ecological education, and social justice activism with the aims of equity, compassion, and peace.
  12. Creative and applied platforms to engage contemporary social-ecological concerns in educational scholarship, as well in the classrooms and beyond.

JCHE is committed to wisdom-based inquiry and education.

Submission Format

We look for innovative and explorative submissions that include but are not limited to the following formats. Please contact the Editor-in-Chief team (JCHE@bgsu.edu) for further inquiries.

All types of submissions should be formatted using APA style (7th) including in-text citations and references.

Invited section (special issue editor reviewed)

  1. Invited reviews
  2. Commentaries (short commentary articles on previously published or invited articles)
  3. Short Reflective essays
  4. Invited Interviews (with scholars, artists, community leaders; approx. 3000 words)

Peer reviewed section

  1. Research articles (APA style; approx. 5000-8000 words)
  2. Reflective essays (approx. 2000-3000 words)
  3. Arts-based essays (including video, sound-based, and multimodal components)

Editorial reviewed section

  1. Book Reviews (500-1100 words)
  2. Commentaries (short commentary articles on published or invited articles, approx. 2000-3000 words.)
  3. Interviews with practitioners, spiritual teachers, students and youth, among others
  4. Voices and perspectives from community groups, organizers, activists, K-12 educators and practitioners (approx. 2000-3000 words)
  5. Field notes (observational, experiential and practitioner-based commentaries; written, visual and audio formats accommodated)
  6. Reviews of current educational practices and events (500-1100 words)
  7. Holistic education products and resources including exhibitions, graphic novels, children's books, websites, etc. (format: video or PDF file with captured photos). Please submit a short written description, approximately 500 words (2-3 paragraphs) that highlights the work, connection to literature, and some references if available for information sharing with our audience. Submit it in the "Abstract" section if you have video format. Otherwise, include the information in the introduction section.
  8. Creative expression: Creative writings (short stories, poetries, essays, etc.), exhibitions, projects, etc. (format: Word file, video, or PDF file with captured photos). Please submit a short written description in the "Abstract" section.
  9. Video and audio/sound-based submissions including performative inquiries (dance, drama, music, etc.) (Video format: 3GP, ASX, AVI, F4V, FLV, MKV, MOV, MP4, MPG/MPEG, WMV; Audio format: AAC, AC3, AIF/AIFF, FLAC, M4A, MP3, WAV, WMA). Please submit a short written description, approximately 500 words (2-3 paragraphs) that highlights the work, connection to literature, and some references if available for information sharing with our audience in the "Abstract" section.

Guidelines for Authors

The Journal of Contemplative Holistic Education (JCHE) readership represents cultural, linguistic, and disciplinary diversity, not only in North America but also internationally. In view of this, we at JCHE expect manuscripts to be written in clear, readable, and engaging ways. For instance, care should be exercised by the authors so that it does not require subject specialists to understand the manuscripts. Technical terms should be generally avoided, but if used, they should be explained clearly.

NOTE that there are TWO CATEGORIES OF DOUBLE-BLIND PEER REVIEW: Arts-based Scholarship (ABS) and Discourse-based Scholarship (DBS). ABS includes reflective, somatic, and expressive arts-based work that promotes ideation and reflection on authentic experiences. DBS includes theoretical, empirical, and methodological papers that advance understanding in the field. Contributions in both categories serve to advance understanding in the field.

All submissions are prescreened before the peer review process, and submissions irrelevant to the focus of the journal and of poor quality will not be forwarded for external review. This will take about 2-3 weeks. Please refer to this flowchart for details regarding the publication process as it pertains to authors.

Authors should address the following checklist before submitting their work:

  1. Did you write an article that is a good fit for the journal? Please review the ‘About This Journal’ material on the journal website before choosing to submit your article.
  2. Did you follow APA (7th edition) guidelines, including citations and references?
  3. If your report is on human studies, did you include in the methods section details about informed consent by participants (IRB or any type of written or verbal approval from the participants, depending on the practice in your culture)?
  4. Did you anonymize your manuscript and references?
  5. Did you follow the Final Manuscript Preparation Guidelines (https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/jche/)?

If authors are requested to revise their submissions after external reviews and editorial judgement, authors need to submit their revised work within 6 weeks. Please use the following steps to make revisions for resubmission:

  1. Prepare a response letter for the editor and reviewers responding to the reviewers’ feedback and detailing what, how, where, and why you made the revisions you did, or if there are requests that you disagree with, explain why. Within the letter, use a table to list on the left-hand side the reviewers' suggestions and on the right-hand side your revisions and responses.
  2. Revise the manuscript, using track changes to show the changes, including spelling or punctuation. Check the formatting, references, citation style (APA), and grammar and spelling in the revised document. Please make sure to mask your identity in the revised manuscript.
  3. Submit your response letter and your revised manuscript together.

Guidelines for Reviewers

We wholeheartedly appreciate our reviewers’ contributions to the journal and mentoring of scholars. When writing your review, please ensure that it comes from a place of respect and appreciation towards the author and their work, in order to help and support the authors in improving and strengthening their submission.

NOTE that there are TWO CATEGORIES OF DOUBLE-BLIND PEER REVIEW: Arts-based Scholarship (ABS) and Discourse-based Scholarship (DBS). ABS includes reflective, somatic, and expressive arts-based work that promotes ideation and reflection on authentic experiences. DBS includes theoretical, empirical, and methodological papers that advance understanding in the field. Contributions in both categories serve to advance understanding in the field.

The following are lists of evaluation criteria that reviewers may use to assess the two categories of double-blind peer review submissions. The detailed criteria are enumerated; however, our intention is not that you apply every criterion in the list when you review the submission. Overall, keep in mind this qualifying question: “Does the work being reviewed generally or overall meet the criteria for publication?”

Common Evaluation Criteria for both Arts-based Scholarship (ABS) and Discourse-based Scholarship (DBS)

  1. Is the manuscript situated in contemplative and holistic education as described in the scope of the journal?
  2. Is the cited literature or referenced materials relevant, up-to-date, and of quality?
  3. Is the work of high interest to a diverse readership? Does it make a significant and/or original contribution to the field?
  4. Does the writing demonstrate excellent scholarship, marked by clarity, readability, and compelling communication? Does it meaningfully engage with the integral dimensions of body, mind, heart, and spirit?
  5. Does the work advance the understanding and practice of contemplative and holistic education by offering new insights into reflective practice, curriculum design, pedagogy, or assessment?

Specific Evaluation Criteria for Arts-based Scholarship (ABS)*

  1. Does the work bring its themes and ideas to life through lived, embodied, affective, and sensory experience, showing an integration of knowing, feeling, and being?
  2. Does the work demonstrate scholarly inquiry and creativity along various lines of development: somatic, aesthetic, emotional, intellectual, relational, ethical, and spiritual?
  3. Does the work allow for or evoke a free play of aesthetics, and a sense of beauty, wonder, or awe?
  4. Does the work deepen arts-based ways of knowing and creating, showing awareness of earlier movements, practices, and artists or scholars whose work informs the present?
  5. If a submitted piece is accompanied by artifacts (e.g., video, audio, or photo files), are these of artistic merit and of high quality of production?
  6. Does the work emerge out of or appeal to the suprasensible, numinous, and noetic?

Specific Evaluation Criteria for Discourse-based Scholarship (DBS)

  1. Does the manuscript have a strong theoretical framework whereby the purpose, rationale, context, and positionality are explicated and argued for with rigor and vigor?
  2. Does the literature cited provide compelling support for the work?
  3. For empirical studies, do the data collection, analysis, and interpretation demonstrate rigor, richness, and complexity, offering insights that are both pertinent and original?
  4. For philosophical or other non-empirical works, are theory-building and framing, argumentation or explication, and interpretation pertinent and generative?
  5. Is the writing of excellent quality wherein the language use exemplifies both clarity and nuanced complexity of conceptualization?
  6. Does the work use the referencing style correctly? Is there attention to grammar and formatting?

……………………………………………

Rating

Excellent

Above average

Average

Below average

Unacceptable

……………………………………………

Recommendations categories:

  1. Accept without revisions.
  2. Conditionally accepted after minor revisions: manuscript is in the range of excellent to above average.
  3. Major revisions required: The manuscript is in the range of average to below average.
  4. Reject: the manuscript is below average, unsuited for this journal, or otherwise unacceptable.

This version is completed on OCTOBER 28, 2025.