Practitioner Publications – IR Applications and the AIR Professional File
AIR Office (air@airweb.org)

Have you ever felt there was too much distance between what you do and what you read in professional publications? AIR publishes two practitioner publications: IR Applications and the AIR Professional File to help bridge that gap. In these publications, professionals are asked to share what they did and how they did it. In this issue of e-AIR we review the purpose of IR Applications and Professional File, frequency of publication, and how to submit papers to the editor for publication consideration. Additionally, the latest issues of IR Applications and the Professional File are showcased here. If you have written an article you feel is consistent with this type of professional contribution, we hope you will share it with us.

IR Applications and Professional File Details

    Professional File
    The Professional File publishes articles that synthesize issues, introduce new processes and models, and share applied, practical knowledge with institutional research professionals. Manuscripts are evaluated primarily on the extent to which they broadly enhance practice in the field of institutional research, in contrast to focusing singly on the results of a research project or on theory development.

    IR Applications
    IR Applications publishes articles focused on the application of advanced and specialized methodologies and techniques. The articles address applying qualitative and quantitative techniques to specific processes used to support higher education management.

Frequency of Publication

IR Applications is published approximately every two months, while the Professional File is published on a quarterly basis. Both publications are available in electronic format only on the AIR Web site at: www.airweb.org/irapplications and www.airweb.org/professionalfile respectively. Both IR Applications and Professional File publish only a single article per issue.

How to Submit Work for Possible Publishing

Authors can submit contributions from various sources such as a Forum presentation or an individual article. Articles should be 12-20 double-spaced pages, and include an abstract and references. Authors who submit for either IR Applications or the Professional File will be considered for both publications unless otherwise requested. Review Editors will rate the feasibility of publishing an article as well as indicate the appropriateness for the alternative publication. Most accepted articles require some revisions prior to publication. For articles accepted for IR Applications, the editor adds comments and considerations on the application of the methodologies discussed in a particular article.

To have your paper considered for publication in either the IR Applications or the AIR Professional File, please send an e-copy to Dr. Gerald McLaughlin, Editor, IR Applications and AIR Professional File, at gmclaugh@depaul.edu.

Guidelines and examples of these publications can be found here on the AIR Web site:

Submissions are blind-reviewed by IR colleagues and authors will receive a summary of these reviews.

New Issues Available

The most recent issues of IR Applications and the Professional File can be found here on the AIR Web site:

AIR Professional File #112: Perceptions of Graduate Student Learning via a Program Exit Survey

IR Applications #21: Identifying Students at Risk: Utilizing Survival Analysis to Study Student-Athlete Attrition