Aims and Scope

Scientific purpose and audience

Sapiens in Higher Education publishes original research, systematic reviews and evidence-based scholarly essays on higher education for researchers, university educators, academic leaders and international scholarly communities, with particular attention to Latin America and the Caribbean while welcoming work from all regions.

Central question of scholarly relevance

What substantive higher education problem does the study address, what new knowledge or critical and verifiable synthesis does it contribute, and how does it help explain, evaluate, or transform teaching and learning, student pathways, curricula, university research, institutional governance, or university–society relations?

Every article must align its research problem, literature, aims, design, evidence, findings, limitations and contribution; locally situated research is welcome when inferences are justified and the work advances higher education scholarship.

Scientific scope and research areas

Sapiens in Higher Education focuses on universities and other tertiary education institutions, including face-to-face, blended and online provision. Its remit encompasses pedagogical, technological, curricular, institutional and social processes, provided that the central research problem and contribution concern higher education itself. Empirical, theoretical and applied scholarship is welcome, including international comparisons and interdisciplinary approaches supported by a clearly defined research question. The seven areas below identify distinct objects of inquiry while allowing manuscripts to engage with more than one area when substantively justified.

1. Educational innovation in higher education

This research area investigates the conception, design, implementation, evaluation and sustainability of pedagogical and organizational innovations that address demonstrable problems in university education. It encompasses active learning, problem-, project- and research-based learning, laboratory and field experiences, service-learning, interprofessional education, academic tutoring, formative assessment, faculty development and changes in teaching practice. Studies of adoption, scalability and sustainability across institutions and disciplines are also welcome.

Priority is given to work identifying the problem motivating an innovation, its theoretical foundations, the expected mechanism of change, implementation conditions and observed outcomes. Contributions must rely on indicators, observations, comparisons, qualitative evidence or other procedures appropriate to the research question; distinguish implementation from participant acceptance and educational effects; and address contextual factors, limitations and the potential for transfer. Using a novel method or reporting an institutional experience does not, by itself, constitute a scholarly contribution.

2. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and digital transformation of higher education

This area examines the adoption, integration, assessment and governance of digital technologies in higher education and their relationship with teaching, learning and academic management. Topics include virtual and hybrid learning environments, learning management systems, open educational resources, generative and predictive artificial intelligence, learning analytics, digital assessment, simulation, immersive technologies, accessibility, digital literacy and competence, data protection, academic cybersecurity and organizational changes arising from digitalization.

Eligible studies must address a specific educational problem and investigate the pedagogical appropriateness, validity, value, effects or risks of technologies through transparent research designs. Authors should distinguish academic performance, demonstrated learning, perceived satisfaction, engagement and administrative efficiency; explain how outcomes were measured; and address algorithmic bias, privacy, access gaps, learner agency, academic integrity and implementation conditions whenever relevant. Technical descriptions of applications, prototypes or tools without a demonstrable contribution to higher education research fall outside the scope.

3. Pedagogy, didactics and assessment of university learning

This area explores the foundations, models, processes and practices of teaching and learning at universities and other tertiary institutions. It includes discipline-specific pedagogy, course design, instructional mediation, educational interactions, feedback, authentic and competence-based assessment, self-regulated learning, critical thinking, academic literacy, practice-based education, first-year experiences and faculty pedagogical development. Contributions may address theoretical frameworks, teaching approaches, assessment instruments and relationships between learning conditions, student experiences and educational outcomes.

Submissions must justify their conceptual frameworks, specify the competencies or learning outcomes under study, report observation or measurement procedures, and support their interpretations. Where scales, rubrics or tests are used, appropriate evidence of their quality and suitability is expected; comparisons of strategies must acknowledge the limits of the design when assessing associations or causal effects. Original theoretical research clarifying, challenging or integrating approaches to university pedagogy is equally welcome when it offers well-supported scholarly implications.

4. Public policy, governance and management of higher education institutions

This area analyzes how public policies, governance arrangements, regulation and institutional decisions shape higher education systems. It encompasses autonomy and accountability, financing, strategic planning, academic leadership, human resource management, quality assurance, institutional evaluation, organization of academic work, university relationships with the state and societal stakeholders, organizational change and resource allocation across institutions, programs and populations. National and international comparative analyses, implementation studies and policy evaluations are within scope.

Research should identify relevant stakeholders, levels of analysis, policy or management instruments, periods studied and sources of evidence. It should explain relationships among decisions, institutional capabilities, processes and outcomes and distinguish the formal adoption of policies from their implementation and observed consequences. Regulatory analyses must rely on identifiable sources and conceptual frameworks; inventories of legislation, organizational charts, strategic plans or managerial perceptions without a substantial analytical contribution are insufficient.

5. Curriculum design, development and evaluation in higher education

This area examines the conception, organization, implementation, assessment and renewal of tertiary-level curricula and study pathways. It includes graduate profiles, learning outcomes, professional and transferable competencies, constructive alignment, professional placements, connections between theory and practice, curricular interdisciplinarity, program evaluation, accreditation, internal and external quality assurance, and the social, scientific and professional relevance of degree programs. Curriculum reforms and their effects on educational experiences and outcomes are relevant topics.

Articles must employ appropriate methods to investigate the alignment of educational aims, academic activities, assessments and achieved learning. The journal welcomes research developing or evaluating models, tools and indicators for curricular decisions, comparing graduate expectations with performance evidence, or examining the conditions and consequences of reforms. Studies of accreditation should analyze its operation, tensions and effects rather than reproduce official checklists or compliance reports. Employability should not be used as the sole measure of program quality.

6. Student pathways, equity, inclusion and well-being in higher education

This area investigates the conditions influencing access, transition, participation, retention, progression, completion and students’ lived experiences in higher education. Topics include socioeconomic, territorial, gender-related and disability-related inequalities; accessibility barriers; intercultural and linguistic diversity; first-generation students; mobility and the balance of academic, employment and family responsibilities; institutional support; mental health and well-being as they relate to study conditions; belonging, violence and discrimination; and factors associated with interruption, withdrawal or graduation.

Studies should define populations and contexts precisely, justify analytical categories and measures, and examine mechanisms, experiences and consequences of inequality or interventions. Longitudinal, comparative, qualitative, quantitative and participatory research on support policies, accessibility, well-being and student success is welcome. Conclusions should avoid attributing student outcomes to individual deficits without considering institutional and structural barriers, protect sensitive information and distinguish observed associations from unsupported causal claims. Clinical studies without a substantive higher education research question are not eligible.

7. University research, postgraduate education, internationalization and community engagement

This area examines the research mission of higher education institutions and the generation, circulation and application of knowledge. It encompasses research training, master’s and doctoral education, thesis supervision, research cultures and capacities, academic integrity, open science, research assessment, interdisciplinary collaboration, research networks, international academic mobility and cooperation, internationalization of curricula, knowledge transfer, university extension and collaborative projects with communities, organizations and productive sectors.

Contributions should demonstrate how these processes shape advanced education, institutional capacity, knowledge production, university–society relationships, or the outcomes of cooperation and transfer. Comparative analyses of postgraduate systems, studies of doctoral supervision and training, evaluations of research and internationalization programs, and research on societal impact with explicit methodological frameworks are welcome. Counts of publications, agreements, exchanges or outreach activities alone are insufficient: authors must interpret their conditions, quality, effects or contribution to higher education scholarship.

Cross-cutting themes and boundaries of the scope

Interculturality, sustainability, public ethics, territorial inequalities, education–work relationships and changes in professional practice may be addressed across the seven areas, provided that the manuscript makes an explicit contribution to higher education scholarship. Areas six and seven are distinct: the former examines students’ educational pathways and experiences, while the latter addresses the research mission, advanced training and external relationships of higher education institutions. Studies focused solely on early childhood, primary or secondary education are outside scope unless they investigate the transition to or articulation with tertiary education; the same applies to clinical, business, technological or social research without a substantive higher education question. Locally situated studies are welcome when placed in the relevant literature, grounded in appropriate evidence and careful about the limits of their inferences.

Eligibility decisions and disciplinary boundaries

The handling editor records the main research area, higher education question, claimed contribution and grounds for eligibility or desk rejection. Merely using university students as a sample does not make an unrelated medical, business or computer science study eligible. Null findings and critical analyses are judged by scholarly rigor, not by whether results are favorable.

Editorial application of scope boundaries

Including university students as participants does not automatically make a medical, computer science or business paper a higher education contribution. The research question must concern tertiary education and advance knowledge about teaching, learning, student pathways, governance, curriculum, research or university–society relations. Innovation studies address mechanisms and outcomes; governance studies analyze policies and effects; and technology research demonstrates pedagogical or institutional relevance.