Journal profile
Journal of Open Flexible and Distance Learning
ISSN 1179-7673 · DEANZ · New Zealand
Journal of Open Flexible and Distance Learning: diamond open access (no APC); no APC; review about 10 weeks (community reports); 21 articles in 2025.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Open Flexible and Distance Learning is published by DEANZ. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Online and Blended Learning, Educational Technology and E-Learning and Open Education and E-Learning, together about 51.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Information Systems and Education. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Journal of Open, Flexible and Distance Learning (JOFDL) is the flagship, refereed, scholarly journal of the Flexible Learning Association of New Zealand (FLANZ). JOFDL publishes scholarly submissions on open, flexible, and distance learning, broadly defined. The readership is primarily academic colleagues across all educational sectors. Although JOFDL aims to share scholarly insights from diverse sectors and contexts, as of July 2026, FLANZ has determined that JOFDL will restrict its output to scholarly works that have explicit relevance to educational practitioners working in Oceania. Submissions must have the potential to make a substantive and original contribution to the field, with explicit reference to their relevance to colleagues in Oceania. See the Submission page for an outline of JOFDL's definition of scholarship and an outline of manuscript styles. JOFDL invites submissions that make a valid contribution to the field. Single or multiple-authored pieces are considered regardless of the institutional affiliations of the authors.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Editor-in-chief Simon Paul AtkinsonPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named New Zealand 8, United Kingdom 1, Australia 1, Ireland 1 (11 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Online and Blended LearningSocial Sciences32.7%
- Educational Technology and E-LearningComputer Science12%
- Open Education and E-LearningComputer Science6.6%
- Educational Innovations and ChallengesComputer Science6.4%
- Education during COVID-19 pandemicSocial Sciences4.9%
- Digital Education and SocietyComputer Science3.7%
- Higher Education Research StudiesSocial Sciences3.1%
- Educational Technology in LearningComputer Science2.9%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
DOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EBSCOHost, Google Scholar, InformitPublisher website
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- h-index
- 26OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 68OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 7.53OpenAlex ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 263 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 | 0 | 89 |
| 2025 | 21 | 21 | 116 |
| 2024 | 17 | 17 | 222 |
| 2023 | 23 | 23 | 297 |
| 2022 | 10 | 10 | 306 |
| 2021 | 7 | 7 | 372 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 10 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 18 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Editorial review, Double anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Diamond open access (no APC)DOAJ
Every article is open access and authors pay no article processing charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | No APC | No | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — | |
| Publisher website | No APC | — | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
What to prepare5 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 200–250 words
- Keywords
- 5–8
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- APA
- Templates
- Word
Article types accepted3, with length limits
- book reviews 8000 words, including all references. Book Reviews should be between 1500-2500 words. The manuscript length includes everything. so it makes senmain text ≤ 2,500 words
- literature review. Scholarship of Integration (including literature reviews), the limit is 8000 words, including all references. Book Reviews should be between 1main text ≤ 8,000 words
- reviewWe require authors to select the appropriate category of scholarship for their manuscript. Editors reserve the right to reallocate any submission to an alternat…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- AI use Declarations of Artificial Intelligence Usage
As of July 2025, all authors are required to declare the extent to which their submissions have made use of generative artificial intelligence applications. Except for spell-checking and grammar assistance, any text or image generated by AI tools requires a declaration of the system and version used, and, where appropriate, the prompts used, following APA 7 guidelines.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship and contributorship
The journal's policy ensures that contributors who have made substantive intellectual contributions to any submission are given credit and that contributors understand their role in taking responsibility and being accountable for what is published. JOFDL credits contributors in two ways: Authorship – a list of authors’ names at the beginning of the paper in the byline Contributorship – a contribut…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflicts of interest / competing interests
The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) states in its Guidelines on Good Publication Practice (2003) that: ‘Conflicts of interest arise when authors, reviewers, or editors have interests that are not fully apparent and that may influence their judgments on what is published. They have been described as those which, when revealed later, would make a reasonable reader feel misled or deceived.’ Ex…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data sharing and reproducibility
Authors are encouraged to share or make available any data and materials supporting the results or analyses presented in their submissions. It is acknowledged that data should only be shared if it is ethically permissible to do so, provided that this does not violate the protection of human subjects or raise other valid ethical, privacy, or security concerns.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics & Malpractice
Crossmark As of July 2025, the journal has implemented Crossmark, a verification service provided by Crossref. The JOFDL Crossmark Policy page is at: https://jofdl.nz/index.php/JOFDL/Crossmark Academic malpractice and misconduct are taken seriously. We take all reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred, including but not limited to pl…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright 24. Open access and copyright
Creative Commons BY 4.0 license, Diamond Open Access Model summary
All JOFDL articles from July 2025 onwards are published with open access under the Creative Commons CC-BY license (the current version is CC-BY, version 4.0). This is the Diamond Open Access protocol. This is a change from earlier issues where a CC-BY-NC-ND license applies. CC-BY means that the author(s) retain copyright, but the content is free to download, distribute, and adapt for commercial or…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access 24. Open access and copyright
All JOFDL articles from July 2025 onwards are published with open access under the Creative Commons CC-BY license (the current version is CC-BY, version 4.0). This is the Diamond Open Access protocol. This is a change from earlier issues where a CC-BY-NC-ND license applies. CC-BY means that the author(s) retain copyright, but the content is free to download, distribute, and adapt for commercial or…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Double-Anonymous Peer Review
Scope restriction to works relevant to educational practitioners in Oceania Model summary
We are committed to the integrity of our peer review processes. This requires that neither the authors nor the reviewers are identifiable to each other. Wherever possible, submissions should attempt to ensure they cannot be identified. Clearly, this is problematic when a submission is practice-based or a localised case study is undertaken, but authors are encouraged to do as much as possible to en…
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- DEANZ
- Country or region
- New Zealand
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1179-7673
- Print ISSN
- 1179-7665
- Society / sponsor
- Flexible Learning Association of New Zealand
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 29, Issue 2 (2025)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Open Flexible and Distance Learning
How long does peer review take at Journal of Open Flexible and Distance Learning?
Authors report an average review time of about 10 weeks. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
What are the manuscript requirements of Journal of Open Flexible and Distance Learning?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 200–250 words; Keywords: 5–8; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: APA; Templates: Word. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of Journal of Open Flexible and Distance Learning based?
Of the 11 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are New Zealand (8), United Kingdom (1) and Australia (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Journal of Open Flexible and Distance Learning?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Open Flexible and Distance Learning is indexed in DOAJ.
Is Journal of Open Flexible and Distance Learning open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Open Flexible and Distance Learning is a diamond open-access journal (no APC). It charges no article processing charge.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, Publisher website; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-26). Last updated: .