Journal profile · EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning
ISSN 1916-8128 · Nipissing University · Canada
Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning: CAS Zone 4 · Education (2025 upgraded edition); diamond open access (no APC); no APC; review about 30 weeks (community reports); 4 articles a year; indexed in ESCI.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
This journal seeks to bring together an international community of scholars exploring the topic of unschooling and alternative learning, which espouses learner centered democratic approaches to learning. JUAL is also a space to reveal the limitations of mainstream schooling. JUAL understands learner centered democratic education as individuals deciding their own curriculum, and participating in the governance of their school-if they are in one. Some examples of learner centered democratic possibilities are unschooling, Sudbury Valley , Fairhaven , the Albany Free School , and the Beach School in Toronto . In terms of unschooling, we view it as a self-directed learning approach to learning.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Canada 8, United States 5, United Kingdom 1, Israel 1 (15 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Education Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Education | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Education & Educational Research | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Education Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Education | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Education & Educational Research | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
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
- 0OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 0OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 4LetPub ·
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 30 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 30 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer 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-NC-ND | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — | |
| Publisher website | No APC | — | — |
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Submission fee
- No submission fee
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 prepare9 items from the author guidelines
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 7,000 words
- Reference style
- APA
- Templates
- Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
- Highlights
- Required
- Graphical abstract
- Required
- Cover letter
- Required
- Not considered
- book reviews; review essays
Article types accepted7, with length limits
- articlesArticles should not exceed 7,000 words (including quotations, notes, and references)Length not stated
- book review2,000 words; discussions, 1,500 words; book reviews and research notes, 1,000 words. Articles are peer-reviewed, but book reviews and review esmain text ≤ 1,000 words
- book reviewsbook reviews and research notes, 1,000 wordsLength not stated
- discussionsdiscussions, 1,500 wordsLength not stated
- research notesbook reviews and research notes, 1,000 wordsLength not stated
- reviewing quotations, notes, and references); review essays, 2,000 words; discussions, 1,500 words; book reviews and research notes,main text ≤ 2,000 words
- review essaysreview essays, 2,000 wordsLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- Authorship
Authors hold copyright Model summary
JUAL allows the author(s) to hold copyright without restrictions and to retain publishing rights without restrictions.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Creative Common Licence
Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license Model summary
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC BY-NC-ND This license is the most restrictive of our six main licenses, only allowing others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/)
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access Statement
Open access based on Bethesda Statement Model summary
JUAL is an open access Journal based on the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Review Process for Papers
Double blind peer review Model summary
The paper submitted will be subjected to a double blind peer review.
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
- Nipissing University
- Country or region
- Canada
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1916-8128
- 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
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning
What CAS zone is Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning is in Zone 4 of Education, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Education & Educational Research. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Education. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning?
Authors report an average review time of about 30 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 Unschooling and Alternative Learning?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Manuscript length: ≤ 7,000 words; Reference style: APA; Templates: Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required; Highlights: Required; Graphical abstract: Required; Cover letter: Required. 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 Unschooling and Alternative Learning based?
Of the 15 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Canada (8), United States (5) and United Kingdom (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning is indexed in ESCI and DOAJ.
Is Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Unschooling and Alternative 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: .