Engaged Scholarship Resources

The Office of Engaged Research offers resources for community engaged scholarship. Below is a list of resources that may help you begin your community engaged scholarship journey.

Publication Outlets

The following publication outlets publish the top community engagement projects and studies from across the world and may be useful on your community engaged scholarship journey.

• Action Research – An international, interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal, Action Research provides a forum for the development of the theory and practice of action research and for participative, action-oriented inquiry into questions relevant to people in the conduct of their lives. Publishes articles on community-based and participatory research.
• American Journal of Community Psychology – The American Journal of Community Psychology offers quantitative and qualitative research on community psychological interventions at the social, neighborhood, organizational, group and individual levels. Wide-ranging topics include individual and community mental and physical health; educational, legal and work environment processes, policies and opportunities; social welfare and social justice; studies of social problems; and evaluations of interventions.
• The American Sociologist – The American Sociologist examines the history, current status and future prospects of sociology as a profession and discipline. The journal emphasizes new trends in the profession and focuses on how sociologists shape and influence social policy and the intellectual issues of the age. It also publishes professional opinions, special features, interviews and review essays, with an emphasis on the global context and impact of the sociological discipline.
• Australasian Journal of University Community Engagement – A peer-reviewed journal published by Southern Cross University in Lismore, Australia, the Australasian Journal of University Community Engagement focuses on research, theory and practice about university community engagement that aims to strengthen the scholarship of engagement.
• Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning – Published in cooperation with The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning focuses on contemporary issues in higher learning. Using a magazine format, Change is intended to inform reflective practitioners in colleges, universities, corporations, government and elsewhere about trends, new ideas and the implications of educational programs, policies and practices.
• The Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities – The Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities is the longest-running and largest organization committed to serving and connecting the world’s urban and metropolitan universities and their partners. The coalition focuses on strengthening institutions that are developing new responses to the pressing educational, economic and social issues of the day.
• Collaborative Anthropologies – Collaborative Anthropologies is meant to engage the growing and ever-widening discussion of collaborative research and practice in anthropology and in closely related fields.
• Community Development Journal – The Community Development Journal provides an international forum for political, economic and social programs, which link the activities of people with institutions and government. Dealing with the theory and practice of the policies, programs and methods employed, the journal covers a wide range of topics including community action, village, town and regional planning, as well as with community studies and rural development.
• Community Works Journal – Community Works Journal is published by the Community Works Institute in support of teaching practices that build community. The journal features essays and reflections, along with curriculum overviews, that highlight the importance of place, service and sustainability to a relevant and meaningful education.
• Education, Citizenship and Social Justice – This journal provides a strategic forum for international and multidisciplinary dialogue for academic educators and educational policy-makers concerned with the meanings and form of citizenship and social justice.
• eJournal of Public Affairs – The eJournal of Public Affairs is a peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary, open-access journal published by Missouri State University and affiliated with the American Democracy Project. By providing an academic, nationally refereed venue for such work, the eJournal aims to advance the status of public scholarship.
• Gateways: International Journal of Community Engagement and Research – Concerned with the practice and processes of community engagement, this journal promotes the discussion as to what constitutes engagement between universities and communities by discussion the theories and policies that enable community engagement with the possibility for sustainable collaborations and outcomes.
• International Journal for Scholarship of Teaching & Learning – The International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning is an open, peer-reviewed, international electronic journal published twice a year by the Center for Excellence in Teaching at Georgia Southern University. It is a vehicle for articles, essays and discussions about the scholarship of teaching and learning and its applications in higher education. All submissions undergo a double-blind peer-review process.
• International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering, Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship – This journal welcomes manuscripts based on the original work of authors with a specific focus on projects, programs, research and pedagogy that involve service learning in engineering, humanitarian engineering, and social entrepreneurship.  A primary purpose of the journal is to foster inquiry into rigorous engineering design and research, while directing those efforts toward solving problems of marginalized communities, with entrepreneurial application if appropriate. The examination of cultural appropriateness is emphasized along with the application of appropriate technologies and entrepreneurial application of sustainable solutions.
• Journal of Public Deliberation – The Journal of Public Deliberation is an online, multidisciplinary forum for the exchange of information among researchers, practitioners, decision makers and citizens about public participation and its impact around the world. It has been created with the specific intention of bridging the arenas of research and practice within the field of public participation.
• International Journal of Research on Service-learning and Community Engagement – The International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement is a peer-reviewed, online journal dedicated to the publication of high-quality research focused on service learning, campus-community engagement and the promotion of active and effective citizenship through education.
• International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education – The International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education provides a forum for the dissemination of knowledge focused on the improvement of higher education across all content areas and delivery domains. The audience of the IJTLHE includes higher education faculty, staff, administrators, researchers and students who are interested in improving post-secondary instruction.
• The International Journal of Volunteer Administration – The International Journal of Volunteer Administration is a peer-reviewed, applied-research publication that seeks to connect community-based practitioners, academicians, and consultants in greater service to the global volunteer community. The journal is a refereed publication of the Department of 4-H Youth Development and Family & Consumer Sciences at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C. The journal provides an exchange of ideas and sharing of knowledge and insights about volunteerism and volunteer resource management and administration, both in North America and internationally.
• International Undergraduate Journal for Service-Learning, Leadership, and Social Change – The journal, published by Columbia College, only accepts articles from undergraduate students. The journal focuses on three types of articles: articles that discuss the development of a service-learning project and the impact of the project on the community served; a case study of a service-learning project; and a reflection on service-learning and the development of personal leadership.
• Journal for Civic Commitment – The Journal for Civic Commitment is a biannual, online journal dedicated to service learning and civic engagement. The journal is published by the Community College National Center for Community Engagement.
• Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education – The Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education is an online, refereed journal concerned with exploring community engagement and community-based learning perspectives, research and practice. The journal publishes accounts of research focusing on practical and theoretical insights and understanding in higher education across a variety of disciplines and professions. There is a focus on case studies emphasizing community engagement and engaged learning practices, methodology, and pedagogy.
• Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship – The Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, published by the University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa, is a peer-reviewed journal that intends to provide a mechanism for the dissemination of scholarly works from all disciplines that integrate teaching, research, service, and community engagement.
• Journal of Community Practice – The Journal of Community Practice is an interdisciplinary journal including works on community organizing, planning, social administration, organizational development, community development, and social change. The journal shares knowledge related to the social sciences, urban planning, social and economic development, community organizing, policy analysis, urban and rural sociology, public administration and nonprofit management, while providing direction on how to think about social problems, developing approaches to dealing with them and outlining ways to implement these concepts in classrooms and practice settings.
• Journal of Deliberative Mechanisms in Science – The Journal of Deliberative Mechanisms in Science is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes original works on the relation between science and the rest of society. Specifically, the articles provide insight into the growing dimensions of public science in democracy. The journal is oriented towards the academic world, stakeholders and all types of collectives interested in the boom of participatory activities and methodologies.
• Journal of Extension – The Journal of Extension expands and updates the research and knowledge base for extension professionals and other outreach educators to improve their effectiveness. The JOE also serves as a forum for emerging and contemporary issues affecting cooperative extension education in the United States.
• Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement – A peer-reviewed publication that serves as a forum to promote continuing dialogue about the outreach and engagement mission of universities, the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement aims to foster understanding of how outreach and engagement missions relate to teaching and research missions, as well as the needs of society. Edited by Melvin B. Hill, Jr., the journal is published by the Institute of Higher Education and the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach of the University of Georgia.
• Journal of Public Scholarship and Higher Education – The Journal of Public Scholarship in Higher Education aims to advance the status and prospects for publicly engaged teaching and research by showcasing new disciplinary and pedagogical knowledge generated by engagement with the community. The journal provides a venue for higher education faculty and administrative leadership to reflect on the ways that community engagement affects work in higher education, as well as its outcomes for broad issues such as classroom teaching, the advancement of research and knowledge creation across disciplines, faculty development, tenure and promotion processes and the preparation of graduate students.
• Journal of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning – The Journal of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning encourages all instructors to engage in the discussion of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and to become involved in sharing knowledge and learning about the teaching-learning process. The journal provides a publication outlet and an online forum for research in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
• Journal on Excellence in College Teaching – This journal is a peer-reviewed publication developed by Miami University of Ohio by and for faculty at higher education institutions to increase student learning through effective teaching, interest in and enthusiasm for the profession of teaching. The journal answers the call for a forum to present the scholarship of teaching and learning. The JECT provides a scholarly, written forum for discussion by faculty about all areas affecting teaching and learning, while giving faculty the opportunity to share proven, innovative pedagogies and thoughtful, inspirational insights about teaching.
• Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning – The Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning has been the premiere national, peer-reviewed journal featuring articles written by faculty and service-learning educators on research, theory, pedagogy and other issues related to curriculum-based service learning in higher education.
• Partnerships: A Journal of Service-Learning and Civic Engagement – The articles in this peer-reviewed journal focus on how theories and practices can inform and improve partnerships, connections and collaborations. Studies that are co-authored by faculty, students and community partners are featured in this journal, especially those examining practices across disciplines or campuses. Studies highlighted in the journal also explore international networks.
• PRISM: A Regional Journal of Engagement – PRISM: A Journal of Regional Engagement is an exciting, relatively new journal devoted to promoting a culture of engagement between universities and regions through the creation, application and integration of knowledge. PRISM is a multidisciplinary journal, publishing quality, peer-reviewed research articles, case studies and applied-research articles with reflections across the full range of disciplinary perspectives.
• Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action –  This journal facilitates the dissemination of programs that use community partnerships to improve public health, while promoting progress in the methods of research and education involving community health partnerships. The journal also stimulates action aimed to improve the health of people in communities. Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action is dedicated to supporting the work of community health partnerships that involve ongoing collaboration between community representatives and academic or governmental partners.
• Public: A Journal of Imagining America – Public: A Journal of Imagining America is a peer-reviewed, multimedia eJournal focused on humanities, arts and design in public life. The eJournal aspires to connect what researchers can imagine with what they can do. The eJournal is interested in projects, pedagogies, resources and ideas that reflect rich engagements among diverse participants, organizations, disciplines and sectors.
• Reflections: A Journal of Public Rhetoric, Civic Writing, and Service Learning – This peer-reviewed journal, published by the New City Community Press & Syracuse University Press, provides a forum for scholarship on writing, service learning and community literacy, while bringing together an array of voices to reflect upon the theoretical, ethical and political implications of community-based writing and civic engagement.
• Science Education and Civic Engagement: An International Journal – Science Education and Civic Engagement: An International Journal explores constructive connections between science education and civic engagement. The journal focuses on using unsolved, complex civic issues as a framework to develop understanding of the role of scientific knowledge in personal and public decision making. Published articles include topical reviews, research studies on teaching and learning, and connections between science education and public policy.
• Undergraduate Journal of Service-Learning and Community-Based Research – This new, refereed, multidisciplinary, online journal from Penn State Berks invites undergraduates to pursue their own intellectual projects and join the academic conversation on service learning and community-based research.

Online Resources

Internal Resources

• The Chancellor’s Office: The role of The Chancellor’s Office at East Carolina University is to help provide the vision, leadership and support to maximize the opportunities before us. The office believes in quality, partnerships, transparency and engagement.
• Office of Innovation and New Ventures: ECU’s Office of Innovation and New Ventures supports innovation and entreprenuership on campus.
• Volunteer and Service Learning Center: The Volunteer and Service Learning Center at ECU, in partnership with local, regional and international communities, seeks to foster an environment where individuals learn about themselves and their community, take action through service and advocate for lasting social change.
• Small Business and Technology Development Center: ECU’s Small Business and Technology Development Center is committed to providing knowledge, education and other supportive resources that enable existing small and mid-sized businesses, emerging entrepreneurs and local and state leaders to innovate and succeed.

External Resources

• The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities: The APLU is a research, policy and advocacy organization representing 238 public research universities, land-grant institutions, state university systems and affiliated organizations.
• The Engagement Scholarship Consortium: The ESC is composed of higher education member institutions, including a mix of state-public and private institutions. The goal of the ESC is to work collaboratively to build strong university-community partnerships, anchored in the rigor of scholarship, designed to help build community capacity.
• The International Association for Research on Service-learning and Community Engagement: The IARSLCE is an international, nonprofit organization devoted to promoting research and discussion about service-learning and community engagement. The mission of the IARSLCE is to promote the development and dissemination of research on service-learning and community engagement across all levels of the educational system.
• Community-Campus Partnerships for Health: The CCPH is a nonprofit membership organization that promotes health equity and social justice through partnerships between communities and academic institutions.
• Imagining America: A consortium of publicly engaged artists, designers, scholars and community activists, Imagining America is working toward the democratic transformation of higher education and civic life. The mission is to create democratic spaces to foster and advance publicly engaged scholarship that draws on arts, humanities and design.
• The Gulf South Summit: This conference has become a prominent annual event on service-learning in the United States. The mission is to promote networking, research, ethical practices, reciprocal campus-community partnerships and sustainable programs, while developing a culture of engagement and public awareness through service-learning and other forms of civic engagement.
• The New England Resource Center for Higher Education: The NERCHE is committed to collaborative change processes in higher education to address social justice in a diverse democracy. As a place for inquiry, research and policy, the center supports administrators, faculty and staff across the region in becoming more effective practitioners and leaders as they navigate the complexities of institutional innovation and change.
• Campus Compact: The only national, higher-education association dedicated solely to campus-based civic engagement, Campus Compact promotes public and community service that develops students’ citizenship skills, helps campuses forge effective community partnerships and provides resources and training for faculty seeking to integrate civic and community-based learning into the curriculum.

Resource Links

Learn about the university’s elective
Carnegie Foundation Classification for Community Engagement.