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  • Manuscript Guidelines

Education and Treatment of Children (ETC) is devoted to the dissemination of information concerning the development of services for children and youth. A Primary criterion for publication is that the material be of direct value to educators and other child care professionals in improving their teaching/training effectiveness. Therefore, authors are required to compose their manuscripts in a clear, concise style that will be readily understood by the practitioners who are likely to make use of the information.

Materials appropriate for publication include experimental research, data based case studies, research reviews, procedure or program descriptions, issue-oriented papers, and brief communications and inquiries. Non-experimental papers should emphasize the manner in which the described procedure, program, or issues relates to the practical concerns of professionals in the field. Experimental studies should demonstrate usefulness of the described procedure, adequacy of the data in showing a functional relationship between the procedures and observed behavior changes, and evidence that measures taken were reliable. ETC utilizes a broad base of researchers, educators, practitioners, and graduate students in the editorial review process.

Experimental Studies

Manuscripts that document a clear functional relationship between procedures used and behavior changes observed will be considered for publication in the Studies section of ETC. Replications are welcome, especially when the original study has been published in a source that is unlikely to come to the attention of the practitioners who would use the procedures in their work or when the replication includes some change in the procedures, population, or setting for the study. Original research studies that investigate procedures of use to practitioners are also welcome. Potential usefulness of the procedures, behavior changes of magnitudes that have practical implications, accuracy of the data, and clarity of the presentation for practitioners are the criteria used by our reviewers when judging an experimental study manuscript's suitability for publication in ETC.

Data-Based Case Studies

Manuscripts that meet the following will be considered for publication in the data based case Studies section of ETC. The minimum requirements are: (1) a demonstration of direct, quantitative measurement of [End Page 699] specific client behaviors repeated over time that guided the clinical and/or educational decision making reported in the study; and (2) a contribution to advancing teaching/training/treatment effectiveness by serving as (a) a sources of ideas and hypotheses for further research, (b) a source of developing teaching/training techniques, such as a study of rare phenomenon, (c) a counterinstance for notions that are considered to be universally applicable, or (d) persuasive and motivational (see ETC, 22(2), for references). Replications in real-life situations of procedures developed under rigorous research protocols are welcome, especially when the original study was a highly controlled experiment. Also, data based case studies that highlight efficient and effective means to collect data that guide treatment/teaching will be accepted.

Reviews of the Literature

Reviews should be focused on the implications of the results of studies for practitioners whose clients may benefit from the procedures described by the literature. Reviews need not be comprehensive as long as the literature not included would in no way alter the implications for practice described by the review. The style, format, and organization should be such that practitioners will clearly understand what is being presented. It is important to caution practitioners about the limitations of the implications for practice drawn from the research literature. This may include discussions of legal, ethical, scientific, and logistical limitations and associated issues.

Program Descriptions

It is important for practitioners and program managers to know what resources will be required to successfully implement programs or procedures that have been useful to others. Etc publishes such program or procedure descriptions when reviewers indicate that the description clearly communicates this information. This typically means that the manuscript includes an introduction that identifies a framework into which the program fits, or a rationale for the program's operation; basic information regarding the geographic area served and the program location, accessibility, funding sources, etc; a clear description of the clients served; the number, types, and training of staff who implemented the program; details of the actual operation of the program; documentation of program successes; and discusses any and all...

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