The Legal Educator

AAfPE's double-blind peer-reviewed professional journal, published one to two times a year, bringing attention to issues that affect paralegal and legal studies education.

The Legal Educator reaches thousands of paralegal and legal studies educators, paralegals, attorneys, publishers, and other legal professionals nationwide. Each issue contains scholarly articles designed to educate and inform professionals in the paralegal and legal studies field, keeping them up to date on the latest industry topics.

Become an AAfPE Legal Educator Journal Author

Ethical Requirements

It is important for all authors publishing with the AAfPE Legal Educator Journal to understand our definition of authorship, citation practices, data reporting standards, and ethical guidelines required in scholarly publishing.

Definition of Authorship

The AAfPE Legal Educator Journal considers individuals who meet all of the following criteria to be authors:

Contributors who do not meet all of the above criteria may be included in the Acknowledgment section of the article.

Authorship for Articles with Multiple Authors

The corresponding author is the single point of contact between co-authors and the publication. They also ensure all co-authors approve the final version and stay informed throughout the review process.

Cite Sources Appropriately

Always cite sources when you quote directly, paraphrase, or reuse data, graphics, or tables. When in doubt, cite.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism—using another’s ideas or words without acknowledgment—is unacceptable. All submissions are screened for plagiarism.

Inappropriate Use of Citations

Citing irrelevant sources to inflate citation metrics is unethical. Only cite sources that legitimately contribute to your article.

Report Your Data Accurately

Avoid fabrication, falsification, and image manipulation. Present the full and accurate picture of your findings.

Publish Original Research

Submissions must be original and not under review elsewhere. We allow further development of conference presentations, provided the new article contains substantially more detail and cites the conference work.

Journal Article Sharing and Posting Policy

Preprint: Authors may post preprints on personal/employer websites or servers like SSRN, with a notice that it’s submitted for publication. Update the link with a full citation upon acceptance.

Submitted/Accepted Article: May be shared on personal/employer sites, repositories, and classroom networks. Once accepted, replace older versions with the accepted version and DOI.

Final Published Article (non-open access): May not be posted publicly. Authors can share copies for personal or classroom use with permission from AAfPE. Third-party reuse requires permission.

Open Access (CC BY or CC BY-NC-ND): Authors and third parties may share or post final articles under the respective Creative Commons license, respecting commercial or derivative restrictions.

Publishing Guidelines and Principles

The AAfPE Legal Educator Journal upholds academic integrity through a rigorous peer review, referencing standards, and strong ethical guidelines. Refer to our Operations Manual for comprehensive details.

Principles of Scholarly Publishing

Appropriate Use of Bibliometrics

We condemn manipulating citation metrics. Multiple indicators and peer review provide a balanced assessment of quality.

Ethical Standards

Peer Review Policies

AAfPE Submission Policies

AAfPE Peer Review Policies

Post-Publication Policies

Once published, articles follow specific policies for sharing, correcting metadata, possible removal, text/data mining, preservation, and interlibrary loan.

Posting Your Journal Article

Correcting Metadata, Removing Access, Text and Data Mining

Contact the editorial team for metadata corrections. Articles may be removed if fraudulent. Non-commercial text/data mining of open access articles is permitted.

Preservation and Archiving

The AAfPE Legal Educator Journal partners with digital archiving services to maintain accessibility.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

Sharing through ILL is allowed for non-commercial, academic purposes under copyright compliance.

Data Privacy

Advertising in AAfPE Legal Educator Journal

Accessibility Statement

We adhere to WCAG 2.1 Level AA. For accessibility issues, email info@aafpe.org with details about the issue and your assistive technology.

Data Privacy

Apply for Authorship