Open Call for Early Career Researchers: JECER Special Issue on Early Childhood Education

2025-02-19

Dear Early Career Researcher, 

Are you currently working on your doctoral dissertation or have you recently defended your PhD on topics related to early childhood education? We would love to hear from you! Journal of Early Childhood Education Research (JECER) invites you to participate in a special issue dedicated to early career researchers, focusing on early childhood education both in Finland and internationally. 

The goal of this special issue is to highlight fresh perspectives in early childhood education research and to offer early career researchers the opportunity to share their work with the national and international academic community. We encourage a diverse range of methodological and topical approaches and welcome manuscripts addressing the following themes, as well as other relevant topics: 

  • Pedagogy, learning domains, and learning environments in early childhood education
  • Diversity, inclusion, and equality in early childhood education
  • Play, creativity, imagination, and participation in early childhood education
  • Professional development and leadership in early childhood education
  • The impact of early childhood education on children’s well-being and learning
  • Topics related to support and early childhood special education
  • The role of families and communities in early childhood education
  • Early childhood education policy and teacher education

Articles may be theoretical, reviews, or meta-analyses, or based on qualitative or quantitative empirical research. They can form part of a doctoral dissertation or be included in one. Articles may also be part of early-stage post-doctoral research or stem from topics covered in a monograph-style dissertation. If you propose an article based on a published dissertation, please clearly indicate in the abstract what new perspectives this article contributes to your topic.

Manuscripts must be written in Finnish, Swedish, or English. Abstracts should be submitted in the language you choose for the manuscript (not in all three languages). 

Manuscripts must follow JECER’s general author guidelines, which can be found on our website: https://journal.fi/jecer/about/submissions. 

We accept scientific manuscripts in Finnish, Swedish, or English. This special issue offers a unique opportunity to share your research and engage in academic discussions with fellow early career researchers and more experienced colleagues. 

Recognizing the importance of supporting emerging researchers, this special issue provides an opportunity for early career scholars to showcase their work. To further this goal, the editorial team will provide constructive feedback to help to develop the manuscripts during the review process. The editorial team will also provide support and guidance in refining the manuscripts through seminar meetings.

Submission Guidelines 

Authors are invited to submit a one-page abstract (approximately 300–500 words). The abstract should include the name(s), affiliation(s), and position(s) of each author. It should also briefly present the aims, methodology, preliminary or expected findings, and theoretical and/or educational significance of the research.

All accepted abstracts will have confirmation email from the editors of this special issue. After that we are waiting your manuscript written in English, Finnish or Swedish by the end of October through the JECER online portal. All manuscripts selected for the writing process will undergo a peer review process.

Key Dates 

Abstract submission deadline: April 28th, 2025 

Acceptance/rejection notifications for article proposals: During the Spring 2025, latest 10th of May.

Full manuscript submission deadline: October 30th, 2025 

Accepted articles publication date: Online in autumn 2026 

Please send your abstract as bodytext via email to: jonna.kangas(a)helsinki.fi, heidi.k.harju-luukkainen(a)jyu.fi, and noora.heiskanen(a)uef.fi. Use the subject line “JECER Submission Special Issue 2026.”  Please, do not add attachments in this point of process.

If you have any questions before submitting your abstract, feel free to contact jonna.kangas(a)helsinki.fi or heidi.k.harju-luukkainen(a)jyu.fi. 

Warmly welcome to join us in advancing early childhood education research and building a scientific community for emerging scholars! 

Best regards, 

Jonna Kangas, senior lecturer, PhD, Title of Docent, Faculty of Educational Science, University of Helsinki

Heidi Harju-Luukkainen, Professor, PhD, University of Jyväskylä, Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius

Noora Heiskanen, associate professor, PhD, Title of Docent, Philosophical Faculty, University of Eastern Finland