About the Journal

Journal guidelines and publication process

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• Concept
• History
• Peer-Review-Process
• Open-Access-Guideline
• Publication fees

Concept

The online journal Zeitschrift für Didaktik der Biologie (ZDB) - Biologie Lehren und Lernen is a peer-reviewed publication for papers on biology didactics research and relevant teaching developments. It publishes articles in German and English.

All contributions must be of relevance to biology didactics. The contributions can consist of original empirical work, theoretical contributions, development work, e.g. teaching contributions, short contributions, discussion contributions, reviews or reports that relate to the teaching and learning of biology in the broadest sense. This includes both school-related and extracurricular, both subject-related and interdisciplinary approaches, e.g. didactic works related to biology. The criterion of relevance to biology didactics refers to the significance of the publication for biology lessons, biology teacher training or the teaching of biological facts at extracurricular learning centres. It is given, for example, when pupils' ideas on biological topics (e.g. evolution) are recorded and made usable in the classroom, or when psychological theories are examined in relation to the subject. This could be, for example, studies on motivation in biology lessons, metacognitive strategies or self-directed learning in biology lessons.

History

The ‘Zeitschrift für Didaktik der Biologie (ZDB) - Biologie Lehren und Lernen’ has been published under this name since volume 22 (2018). It is the continuation of the journal ‘Biologie lehren und lernen - Zeitschrift für Didaktik der Biologie : ZDB’ (Volumes 19-21 [2015-2017], ISSN 2627-7255), “Berichte aus Institutionen der Didaktik der Biologie (IDB)” (Volumes 17 / 18 [2009 / 2011], ISSN of the online edition 2629-6500, ISSN of the print edition 1868-7504) and “Berichte des Institutes für Didaktik der Biologie der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster” (Volumes 1-16 [1992-2007], ISSN of the print edition 0942-976X). From 1996 to 2011, the IDB was generally published annually in print and online. It was edited by Manfred Hesse and Michael Ewig.
Since 2023, the special issue ‘Erkenntnisweg Biologiedidaktik’ has been published in the Zeitschrift für Didaktik der Biologie (ZDB) as a publication for young scientists who have participated in a spring school.

Volumes 20 (2016) and 21 (2017) were edited by Arne Dittmer, Matthias Wilde and Jörg Großschedl.

Volumes 21 (2018) and 22 (2019) were edited by Jörg Großschedl, Arne Dittmer and Matthias Wilde.

Volume 23 (2020) was edited by Helmut Prechtl, Sandra Nitz, Jörg Großschedl and Matthias Wilde.

Volume 24 (2021) and Volume 25 (2022) were edited by Sandra Nitz, Till Bruckermann, Helmut Prechtl and Matthias Wilde.

Volume 26 (2022) was edited by Helmut Prechtl, Sandra Nitz, Jörg Großschedl and Matthias Wilde.

Volume 27 (2023) was edited by Till Bruckermann, Jörg Zabel, Sandra Nitz and Matthias Wilde.

Volume 28 (2024) was edited by Sandra Nitz, Arne Dittmer, Jörg Zabel, Matthias Wilde, Paul W. Dierkes, Volker Wenzel and Till Bruckermann.

Volume 29 (2024) was edited by Till Bruckermann, Jörg Zabel, Sandra Nitz and Matthias Wilde.

Volume 30 (2025) is edited by Jörg Zabel, Helge Martens, Till Bruckermann and Matthias Wilde.

Peer-Review-Process

The editors are committed to review the articles quickly and publish them as soon as possible. As soon as the review of a manuscript has been completed, the article will be published online as quickly as possible, regardless of the annual rhythm.

Texts in the categories of original empirical work and theoretical contributions are assessed by at least two reviewers (double blind peer review). Development papers, short articles and project outlines are assessed by the editors and another reviewer (double blind peer review). Discussion papers, reviews and reports, e.g. from conferences, are assessed by the current editorial team (editorial review).

Contributions submitted by editors will be processed without their participation or the opportunity to view the process.

We look forward to interesting contributions and hope to enrich research in biology education.

Open-Access-Guideline

This journal offers free access (Open Access) to its content, in accordance with the basic assumption that the free public availability of research benefits a worldwide exchange of knowledge. All content is available free of charge. The full texts of articles may be read, downloaded, copied, distributed, printed, searched, linked or used for any other lawful purpose without prior permission from the editors or authors. This understanding is in line with the BOAI-Definition of Open Access.

Publication fees

There are no publication fees.