Relais. | Editorial policy

Relais. is a popular scientific publication on success in higher education. It is intended for anyone with an interest in success in higher education, and in particular professional staff, teachers and professors as well as college and university managers.  

The journal features short articles written and signed by researchers in college and university institutions or research organizations from the province of Québec or abroad. These specialists synthesize and popularize their scientific research findings, highlighting key messages and courses of action to make them easier to understand and apply in postsecondary institutions. 

Each article published in Relais is a popularized summary of the researcher’s scientific research work. The research must be relatively recent and have already been published (or be in the process of being published) in a more detailed format (e.g. article in a scientific journal, research report, book or book chapter, doctorate thesis). Each article published in Relais needs to explicitly mention the reference of the original publication. 

The articles are about success in higher education and address one or more aspects related to the following themes:  

  1. Student socio-cultural characteristics; 
  1. Teaching and learning; 
  1. Student support; 
  1. Educational pathways; 
  1. Higher education systems and issues 

Articles must adopt a popular scientific tone, using simple, clear and precise vocabulary to make research data accessible to a wider audience. Simplified writing is supported by the editorial template and by the help offered to authors during article review. Relais is also involved in identifying, designing and creating graphic elements. These graphic elements can take the form of diagrams, tables, graphs or other. The visual elements are created in collaboration and agreement with the authors.   

Objectives of the journal

  • Shed light on scientific data related to success in higher education.
  • Promote a better understanding of the realities and challenges of success in higher education.
  • Facilitate the appropriation of knowledge derived from scientific research.
  • Encourage the sharing and dissemination of scientific research findings.
  • Foster change in practices by sharing key messages and courses of action. 

Periodicity and distribution

The journal is published approximately six times a year in HTML and PDF formats on the Observatoire sur la réussite en enseignement supérieur (ORES) website. The articles are also available in the ORES’ archives depository. Furthermore, they are posted on our social media networks and in our newsletter. 

Who can publish an article?

Articles must be written and signed by researchers in college and university institutions or research organizations from the province of Québec or abroad.

A maximum of four persons can co-author an article.

How to submit an article proposal?

Before you can submit an article, you must submit an article proposal, which will be reviewed by the person responsible for editing the journal.

To do so, simply fill out the form provided on the ORES website. You can submit an article proposal at any time.

Article review

Each article is reviewed by two members of the Relais’ Editorial Committee.

The review aims to ensure :

  • Compliance with the editorial template;
  • The presence of clear links between the article’s content and success in higher education;
  • The coherence and readability of the text;
  • A popular scientific tone for better understanding by the various target audiences.

Articles are reviewed in track changes mode and returned to the author for approval and adjustments. If necessary, a virtual meeting can be held to clarify requests. Further iterations may be necessary before a definitive version is submitted. The linguistic review of the article is handled by the ORES.

Relais. reserves the right to refuse publication of any article that does not comply with the editorial template and requests made by the Editorial Committee.

Article publication process

    1. Submission of an article proposal using the online form. (A)
    2. Review of the article proposal and communication of the decision. If the proposal is accepted, the editorial template is sent and a submission date is specified. (R)
    3. Submission on the agreed date. (A)
    4. Verification of compliance with the template by the person responsible for editing the journal. The article may be returned if it does not comply with the template. (R)
    5. Review of the article by the Editorial Committee. Back-and-forth process between the Editorial Committee and the author. (R) (A)
    6. Linguistic review and return to author for approval. (R) (A)
    7. Graphic design of the article, including layout and creation of a graphic element. (R) (A)
    8. Final validation by the person responsible for editing the journal. (R)
    9. Article publication and distribution. (R)

    *Letters in brackets indicate the person responsible for each step: (R) is for Relais / (A) is for author(s).

    Article format

    Authors are strongly encouraged to target a specific aspect of their scientific research for the article. Given the limited space available for articles published in Relais, this makes it easier to develop on the topic discussed. 

    Articles are written in French.

    Authors must comply with the editorial template provided by Relais once the article proposal has been accepted.

    The template details mandatory sections, thereby ensuring the popular scientific character and consistency of the journal’s articles.

    Ten mandatory sections make up each article.

      Section  Brief commentsMaximum number of words (excluding references)
    1Article Title 25
    2BackgroundPresentation of the issues that guided the research.200
    3Key ConceptPresentation of a key concept that sheds light on the subject of the article.100
    4MethodologyPresentation of the methodology used.100
    5ResultsPresentation of the main research findings.350
    6What Can we Learn From our Results?Presentation of key messages to remember.350
    7Courses of ActionProposals for practical courses of action in the environments concerned.  150
    8Lines of ResearchProposed lines of research for the community.150
    SectionBrief commentsMaximum number of references
    9For Further ReadingSuggested additional references.1 to 3
    10ReferencesReferences in the article.10

    Optional elements:

    • The author submits a royalty-free or rights-credited graphic element to illustrate an idea or data.
    • Endnotes (2 to 3 maximum).
    • Notes de fin de document (2 à 3 notes maximum).

    Bibliographic style

    Relais adopts the APA 7 presentation requirements both for references and citations, as well as for tables, graphs and diagrams.

    On this subject, refer to the Bibliothèques de l’Université de Montréal website to cite according to APA 7.

    Inclusive communication

    The Relais journal is committed to applying as many of the strategies recognized for inclusive communication as possible, both in its linguistic aspects and in its visual treatment.

    The Relais journal is based on the following four principles:

    • Abandon the generic use of the masculine;
    • Use gender-fair and inclusive language;
    • Use full doublets strategically to increase the visibility of women in the language used;
    • Make limited, reasonable use of abbreviated doublets.

    On this subject, refer to the Guide de communication inclusive (Université du Québec, 2021), particularly the first chapter, “Communication écrite inclusive.”

    The Relais team is available to support those less familiar with this form of writing.

    The articles published belong to Relais. The popular scientific journal on success in higher education.

    License to use

    The journal and its articles are available in open access on the Observatoire sur la réussite en enseignement supérieur (ORES) website. Each article will also be archived in the ORES’ depository.

    All articles published in Relais are made available under the terms of the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Deed | Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International | Creative Commons license.

    The journal charges no submission or publication fees.

    ISSN 2817-2817

    Editorial Committee

    The Relais’ Editorial Committee is made up of members of the Observatoire sur la réussite en enseignement supérieur.

    • Karine Vieux-Fort, Editor of Relais and Scientific and Research Promotion Officer
    • Anouk Lavoie-Isebaert, Information Monitoring Officer
    • Catherine Charron, Content Editor

    Relais‘ Editorial Policy was inspired by the editorial policy of the publication Le Tableau (Université du Québec), the editorial guidelines of the Revue Pédagogie collégiale (Association québécoise de pédagogie collégiale) and the instructions for authors provided by INITIO : Revue sur l’éducation et la vie au travail (Université Laval).