Adult Education Quarterly from 1989 to 1999: A Content Analysis of all Submissions

Abstract

The intent of this study was to conduct an analysis of all submissions (accepted and rejected) to Adult Education Quarterly from 1989 to 1999. Previous reviews of the journal had only analyzed published articles. Including all submissions revealed a more complete analysis of trends, and patterns of acceptances were revealed. Trends for the previous decade included continued dominance of academic, male, single-author submissions from North America. However; there have been increasing numbers of submissions by women, of a qualitative research design, and on topics about gender/diversity and training/continuing professional education. Also, acceptance rates were higher than average for men; academics; submissions from Australia/New Zealand, and Europe; qualitative research; and the subjects of adult development, gender/diversity, evaluation/testing, philosophy, and research methods. As a result, a more complete picture of the publication activity of the journal is possible when all the submissions, not just acceptances, are included in a content analysis.