Focus and Scope

Equator Science Journal (ESJ) is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes high-quality scholarly works in the field of science education, with particular emphasis on physics education, chemistry education, biology education, integrated science education, and environmental education. The journal is committed to advancing empirical, theoretical, and interdisciplinary knowledge that contributes to the improvement of science teaching, learning, curriculum, teacher preparation, and educational policy across diverse formal and informal educational contexts.

ESJ promotes rigorous and relevant scholarship that examines the design, implementation, evaluation, and transformation of science education theory and practice. The journal welcomes studies that address contemporary issues, emerging trends, and enduring challenges in science education at the local, national, and international levels. ESJ particularly encourages manuscripts that contribute to the development of meaningful, equitable, and context-responsive science learning.

The journal welcomes original research articles, review articles, and conceptual papers addressing, but not limited to, the following areas:

  • Science curriculum development and innovation
  • Science teaching and learning in physics, chemistry, biology, and integrated science
  • Instructional design, pedagogical models, and classroom practices in science education
  • Assessment, evaluation, and scientific literacy in science learning
  • Pre-service and in-service science teacher education and professional development
  • Science education policy, reform, and governance
  • Environmental education and sustainability-related science education
  • Informal and non-formal science learning in homes, communities, museums, digital spaces, and everyday life
  • Social, cultural, cognitive, psychological, and affective dimensions of science learning
  • Equity, access, inclusion, and diversity in science education
  • Interdisciplinary studies connecting science education with history, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and related fields
  • The use of digital technologies, media, and emerging innovations to support science teaching and learning

ESJ also provides space for scholarship in several important areas of science education inquiry. These include studies on science learning, especially research exploring how learners develop scientific understanding, practices, reasoning, interest, and identity across varied contexts and through different theoretical perspectives. The journal also welcomes papers on issues and trends in science education, including analytical, interpretive, and critical discussions of current educational, social, cultural, and philosophical developments relevant to science teaching and learning.

In addition, ESJ encourages submissions on science learning in everyday life, particularly studies that investigate learning beyond formal classrooms, such as in families, communities, online environments, after-school settings, and public science institutions. Manuscripts focusing on science teacher education are also highly relevant, including those examining teacher preparation, induction, professional growth, instructional competence, and the broader contexts shaping teachers’ work throughout the teaching career continuum.

The journal further welcomes studies on science education policy, including analyses of policy goals, implementation, effects, and the ways policy decisions influence science curriculum, teaching, learning, assessment, and teacher development. ESJ also supports interdisciplinary studies in science and science education that draw on perspectives from history, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and other related disciplines to enrich the theory, methodology, and practice of science education.

All submissions must demonstrate clear relevance to science education and make a meaningful contribution to theory, research, policy, or practice. Manuscripts should employ sound and appropriate scholarly approaches, whether quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, review-based, or conceptual in nature. ESJ values studies with strong theoretical grounding, methodological rigor, clear argumentation, and well-developed implications for science education.

Note: ESJ prioritizes manuscripts that focus explicitly on educational questions and implications in science education. Studies centered solely on pure science content without clear relevance to teaching, learning, curriculum, assessment, teacher education, or policy in science education are generally outside the main scope of the journal.