Creativity and Education

Dear Colleagues,

Education Sciences is planning a Special Issue on understanding creativity and education associated with developing talent in academic domains. The Special Issue is scheduled to be published in April 2026 and is currently soliciting proposals for manuscripts. The first article by the Special Issue editors will provide a landscape rationale for education for developing creativity in specific talent domains, including current major models that explore the features of developing creativity over time. We are seeking additional manuscripts that focus on the differing opportunities needed to transform abilities in specific academic domains into potential creative contributions. Although not every person’s trajectory will lead to creative contributions, clarifying the pathways and barriers to fulfilling creative potential is arguably an aspirational goal for the efforts of individuals and their supporters.

Manuscripts must focus on a specific field in the academic domain. Authors can submit exploratory research to advanced quantitative and/or qualitative studies or reviews of the literature. We are most interested in articles that present or rely on empirical research but will consider proposals for strong theoretical or exploratory manuscripts. We encourage manuscripts from scholars that are co-authored by those who have worked successfully as professionals in the field they are writing about.

Potential studies may include but are not limited to the following:

• Evidence regarding pathways, critical experiences, or significant markers of progress in developing creativity, preferably in specific domains.
• Implementation of psychosocial skills mentoring, teaching, or coaching in developing high performance, preferably in a specific field.
• Illustrations of instructional strategies currently shared with a limited audience.
• Examples of crucial experiences that are necessary in particular domains during the school years (anticipating that different domain trajectories may begin in elementary school and some not until post-secondary education).
• Identification of factors most dependent on financial and social capital and how this disparity might be addressed.

The deadline for proposal submissions is 15 December 2024. Prospective authors will find it useful to consult the general aim and scope for the journal at Education Sciences | An Open Access Journal from MDPI. This Special Issue will be guest edited by Dr. Seokhee Cho, Dr. Jenny Yang, and Dr. Mark Runco.

Proposals should include a title and a 500–750-word abstract describing the planned manuscript and how it will enhance understanding of the development of creativity, beginning from early childhood to the pre-collegiate years in a specific domain.

Please provide some of the placeholders in the abstract for inclusion of the following in all final submissions:

• a discussion of the basic components needed for creativity development.
• opportunities needed to develop creativity at the experts’ level.
• indicate how one knows or finds out they are creative.
• how individuals keep moving on the trajectory of creativity development including relevant psychosocial skills
• advice for those wishing to make creative eminent contributions.

In keeping with the journal’s submission guidelines, manuscripts should not exceed 9000 words, excluding references, tables, and figures.

The timeline for this Special Issue is as follows:

• Authors notified of invitation to submit no later than 31 December 2024. (The acceptance of a proposal does not guarantee acceptance of submitted manuscripts, as final manuscripts will go through masked review and must be accepted through the journal’s review process.)
• Manuscripts due no later than 15 August 2025.
• Reviews and action letters to authors by 30 September 2025.
• Revisions due back from authors within 1 month of receipt.
• Final accepted manuscripts completed and returned to guest editor by 30 November 2025.

Submit proposals as an attached Word document by e-mail to a Guest Editor of the Special Issue, Seokhee Cho (chos1@stjohns.edu). Submissions of the complete manuscripts will be Via the Education Sciences online submission page: MDPI | Manuscript Submission. If you have questions or would like additional information, please contact the Guest Editorial Staff at chos1@stjohns.edu, yangj1@stjohns.edu.

Prof. Dr. Seokhee Cho
Dr. Jenny Yang
Prof. Dr. Mark A. Runco
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• creativity
• creative problem solving
• problem solving
• critical thinking
• development
• specific domain