What Mathematics Education Researchers in Japan can Learn from a View of International Journals on Articles?: A Narrative Review on Frameworks for Journal Articles

Abstract

　　The purpose of this review paper is to review an international trend on how international journal articles in mathematics education should be written, and to draw implications for conducting mathematics education research in Japan.  We tackle with the research paper format problem raised in M. Niss’s paper “The very multi-faceted nature of mathematics education research” (in For the Learning of Mathematics (FLM), vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 2-7.) and investigate how a paper format is understood in Educational Studies in Mathematics (ESM), in Journal for Research in Mathematics Education (JRME), and in FLM.  The result of this investigation is reported through a narrative review methodology: We reviewed reaction papers to Niss’s paper in FLM, editorials in JRME and in FLM, and chapters for ESM, JRME, and FLM in Compendium for Early Career Researchers in Mathematics Education.  As a result, we show as follows: (1) ESM can accept any type of papers, but explicitly require the use of appropriate theoretical frameworks to empirical research paper; (2) JRME takes a stronger position on the use of appropriate theoretical frameworks than ESM; and (3) FLM emphasizes conversation between researchers and primarily publishes essays on mathematics education.  The following two implications from the review survey is discussed: (1) A theoretical framework is a construct, which allows researchers to make any decision in all the research processes, and thus, an appropriate use of theoretical frameworks helps us to improve the qualities of our manuscripts; and (2) It is also important to write a meta-research paper without any theoretical framework, which should be published in a timely manner.