ASTC is excited to resume publication of Dimensions as a home for community voices and conversation about topics relevant to science centers and museums and other organizations committed to engaging the public in science and technology.
The primary audience for Dimensions is the community of science center and museum professionals and others who engage the public in science and technology or support this work. This includes the broader fields of science communication, informal STEM learning, STEM education, and other related fields. We also anticipate that Dimensions content will be of interest to funders, policymakers, partners, and others—including those in science, museums and culture, and education.
Dimensions will be published exclusively online, which allows for flexibility with respect to length or format. We welcome written submissions, as well as video, audio, or other multimedia formats.
Table of Contents
Why Publish in Dimensions
As the online magazine of the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC), Dimensions is the ideal venue to share your experiences, insights, and perspectives with the international community of science engagement professionals—including those working in science and technology centers and museums.
Because Dimensions is published by ASTC, your content will reach ASTC’s global network, both through our own distribution channels and through peer networks around the world. By contributing to Dimensions, you position yourself and your organization as an innovator and thought leader in our field.
There is no cost to publish in Dimensions, providing an ideal and cost-effective opportunity to share your story with a broad audience.
Article Types
We are seeking submissions of written articles, video, audio, and other content that include an important perspective to share with the ASTC community and beyond.
Dimensions welcomes contributions for several article types, but please feel free to submit even if your submission doesn’t fit neatly in any one category.
- LEARNINGS: Articles on current topics of interest to the ASTC community, including those related to exhibits, education, community engagement, operations, and more. Contributions are encouraged to incorporate takeaways and suggested actions by other practitioners. While Dimensions is not intended to be a primary research journal, we welcome reporting of findings and experiences. Submissions of any length will be considered, but we generally suggest either full features—of 1,200 to 2,000 words—or shorter reports of 300–600 words.
- INNOVATIONS: Share something new, whether a new program, exhibit, etc. that you want to tell the community about. These submissions should include information about why these innovations are relevant to the broader ASTC community. These may be both stand-alone contributions or interview-style with responses based on a standard set of questions (see contributor guidelines). We expect contributions to largely be 300–600 words.
- INSIGHTS: Highlights from recent research or other insights, including those from experts beyond our field. This may be appropriate for sharing research findings published elsewhere in a way that is accessible to practitioners in our field. Insights may be as short as a paragraph or up to about 2,000 words.
- VIEWPOINTS: Thought-provoking perspectives or opinion pieces designed to engage readers, illicit insights, and begin or continue a community conversation. Viewpoints reflect the views of the author(s) and are generally 300–600 words.
Regardless of article type, all submissions are encouraged to include photos, graphics, and other illustrations. Please be sure that ASTC has the rights to publish any media online, including assurance that you have collected any necessary permissions and photo releases. See ASTC’s Materials License Release for more details.
We also invite you to let us know about news of interest to the field, such as staff changes at the senior level, grant and award announcements, new exhibitions or major programs, new facilities or renovations, and news coverage by submitted “Community News.”
Topics of Interest
Submissions to Dimensions may address any topic relevant to science and technology centers and museums and the broader fields of informal science learning and public engagement with science. We encourage you to think about current circumstances, capabilities, and priorities for our field.
ASTC will issue periodic calls for submission that explicitly invite contributions on a range of topics, but we encourage you to submit at any time.
Although Dimensions welcomes submission on any topic of interest to the ASTC community, we expect that many articles will address key elements of ASTC’s strategic framework:
- Supporting Lifelong Science Learning: Efforts that demonstrate effective, evidence-based approaches to learning, including learning at all life stages, intergenerational opportunities for learning, and activities to better understand what works.
- Engaging Diverse Audiences: Efforts that reach or invite participation from a array of audiences from all backgrounds, ages, geographies, and more.
- Connecting Science and Society and Partnering to Tackle Local and Global Issues: Efforts to act on an issue of local or global importance, including partnerships with other organizations, groups, or communities.
- Strengthening the Organization to Thrive as a Community Leader: Efforts that contribute to the organization’s operations and administration so that it is adaptable, supported by a skilled staff, sustainable finances, and collaborative relationships, and that is recognized as a leader in its community.
Your Contribution
Because the primary audience for Dimensions is the community of professionals in our field, we are most interested in submissions that speak colleague-to-colleague. As such, we will look for you to not only describe what was done, but also provide insight on how and why.
We will note that this is likely different from other communications about your activities that are directed at a more public audience, such as press releases, local news articles, and member communications. While we welcome you to adapt those public-facing materials for a Dimensions audience, note that press releases are generally not appropriate submissions for Dimensions.
For example, a submission on a new exhibit might include discussion of the development and implementation process, engagement of partners and consultants, challenges and how they were overcome, evaluation and evidence of impact, lessons learned, and tips for others who may wish to engage in a similar effort.
We expect authors to recognize and describe the contributions of relevant consultants, contractors, and service providers. This transparency is especially helpful for peers who may wish to undertake similar efforts and provides appropriate visibility for the many members of our community who work behind the scenes. Especially when those contributions are significant, we urge you to consider inviting key colleagues and partners to serve as co-authors.
ASTC also expects submissions to include key documents, templates, rubrics, and other resources that may be helpful to others engaging in a similar activity. These materials will be published as part of, alongside, or as supplemental files to the published article so that they can remain available to readers for future use (i.e., not subject to evolving organizational websites or changing staff).
Access to Dimensions
Upon publication, Dimensions content will be freely available to all for one month after which access will generally be limited to individuals associated with ASTC-member organizations in good standing. As such, the Dimensions archive and resource library will be an exclusive member benefit, and those wishing to access content will be asked to login to their myASTC portal.
ASTC may choose to make selected content publicly available beyond this one-month period, which includes content most relevant to a public audience or applicable to a wide range of organizations beyond ASTC’s membership.
How to Submit
It’s easy to submit an article or article idea. Simply complete this form to put your contribution into our queue for consideration and review:
To make submission more accessible, we encourage you to consider whether other documents—such as grant and project reports, conference presentations, and research publications—might be transformed into an article appropriate for Dimensions. However, please be aware that the final article should be exclusive to Dimensions.
Affiliation with an ASTC-member organization is not required to submit. We welcome—and encourage—submissions from those at all career stages and in all job roles.
ASTC is dedicated to building an authentic and inclusive community, and we encourage submissions from all. We seek to publish content that spans the breadth of our field, including representation from all sizes and types of organizations, all career stages and job roles of authors, etc. Co-authors are encouraged.
Review Process
All submissions will be reviewed by other professionals in the field, which may include staff at ASTC-member organizations, ASTC staff, and other relevant experts.
Reviewers will use a rubric that incorporates the following elements:
- Submission is of general interest to the field
- Submission shares a useful perspective or insight in addressing a topic of current concern
- Submission is clear and well-written and addresses an audience of science engagement professionals
- Submission appropriately acknowledges and recognizes the contributions of staff, consultants, contractors, service providers, and others involved
- Submission includes key resources and templates that will facilitate others’ effort to adopt and adapt
Reviewers and the Dimensions editorial staff will make a determination if the submission should be published with no or minimal changes, is worthy of publication but requires more significant changes, or is not appropriate for Dimensions.
Once accepted for publication, the Dimensions staff will work with contributors on the timing of publication, associated metadata, and plans for dissemination.