Where do educational technologists really publish? An examination of successful emerging scholars’ publication outlets

This study engages the question of where successful emerging (pretenure) scholars are most likely to publish their research. Spurred on by findings of a survey of leaders in the field of educational technology/instructional design and technology (ET/IDT) to determine the advisability of a rank-ordered list of journals for the purposes of decision making about tenure and promotion, this document analysis presents the results of measuring the conventional wisdom against the actual practices of emerging scholars. Findings suggest that pretenure scholars publish in a wide variety of outlets including some, but not all of those identified in earlier surveys. While it is understood that the tenure decision is a complicated one—based on many criteria (eg, teaching, service, grantsmanship, etc), research and scholarship remain primary determinants. Therefore, these findings will be useful to emerging scholars and to those decision makers seeking direction regarding research outlets. The study is limited by a focus from an original survey conducted in 2003 to primarily North American scholars as participants, however, international considerations are included. The findings indicate that a list of journals for tenure decision making may not be advisable at this point in the development of the field of ET/IDT