How to Submit

APSA Educate is an online library for political science teaching and learning materials. As part of the APSA's Teaching and Learning Program's mission to support political science education and the professional development of its practitioners, APSA Educate provides a forum for instructors, faculty, and administrators to share and access high-quality political science teaching and learning materials and to engage in discussions on major trends shaping the discipline.

APSA Educate features a wide variety of teaching and learning resources and materials covering all topics in political science education. We primarily publish three categories of content:

Political Science teaching and learning resources and materials.
Blogs on Political Science education
Curated collection of Political Science teaching resources and blogs.

If you have any questions about whether your materials are appropriate for our repository, please write us at educate@apsanet.org.

Sharing a Teaching and Learning Resource

If you would like to contribute a teaching resource. Please complete the submission form available at the top right of this page.

Please direct all questions to Educate@apsanet.org.

Submission Form Instructions

Sharing a teaching and learning resource to APSA Educate is quick and easy. Before you start, please ensure you have an APSA ID (note this is not the same as being an APSA member). If you are a current or past APSA member or registered user, you will already have an APSA ID. Alternatively, you can sign up for an account here. No payment is required to get an APSA member ID or to upload teaching materials to APSA Educate.

Once you have logged in, please select the green “Share a Resource” button located in the top right corner of all pages of the site.

Step 1 – Add Author Details

The submission form should automatically populate “Corresponding Author’s First Name,” “Corresponding Author’s Last Name,” “Corresponding Author’s Contact E-mail” and “Corresponding Author’s Institution.” You can edit these pre-populated fields if you wish to do so.

If this work is the result of a collaboration, please select “I am the co-author / co-creator of the content I am submitting to APSA Educate.” After selecting this option, corresponding authors are asked to complete all coauthor information. You can add multiple authors. Please add as many authors as required.

Step Two – Naming the Resource

This section requests you provide the teaching material’s title and description. Naming and describing your content ensures that other users can easily find your work. Educate’s search engine will pull from all content provided in the teaching resources Title and Description section.

Most of our submitters identify both the teaching resource topic and type within the title. Examples may include (resource type is italicized for clarity):

Ancient Political Theory In-Class Writing Assignment
Public Administration Reading List
Intro to Public Health Policy Syllabus
Race and Ethnic Politics Lecture Notes

Please fill out the description section. There is a 300-word limit. We recommend describing (a) what the resource is and (b) how the resource may be used in a few brief sentences. Authors are encouraged to include topic key words in their description to help users find the resource. Examples might include: social movements, presidency, indigenous politics, distributive justice, elections, modernity, and public opinion.

Step Three – Uploading Your File

Your content may be uploaded in a variety of file formats including Word, PDF, Powerpoint, and Excel files. Audio and video content may be submitted by sharing a link to a stable source for the content (including YouTube and university websites).

You may upload multiple files to a single teaching resource submission. For example, if you are sharing a group project that requires students to analyze a dataset and produce an infographic, you might include a pdf of the assignment description that you distribute to students, as well as the dataset used, and an infographic template. We do not recommend submitting all files associated with a course as a single teaching resource.

All content should be grammatically correct and free of errors and typos. The uploading, approval and moderation process does not involve copyediting or typesetting. Therefore, if approved, the version that is uploaded is the exact version that will appear publicly online. Please be sure to review your content to ensure that all material is accurate and presented in the desirable manner.

To use the upload portal:

Click the blue “Add Entry” button
In the Upload File window, select the file type.
Give the File a Title – Examples may include:
- “Intro to American Government Syllabus”
- “Research Methods in-class assignment”
Click “Add Entry.”

Step Four - Tagging Your Work

In this section you are asked to categorize your resource to help users quickly search and locate your materials. For each field, please check all that apply.

Peer Reviewed

If your teaching resource is linked to a peer-reviewed article that you authored, please select yes and provide a link to the article. For example, if you published an article in the Journal of Political Science Education on using simulations to teach American Government and are uploading the simulation referenced in your article.

Step Five - Copyright

Authors maintain copyright to all intellectual property submitted and hosted on Educate. Corresponding authors are asked to select one of the following licensing options – each option determines whether and how the content may be reused by others. Most of our users select CC BY NC SA 4.0 license, but options include:

CC BY NC ND 4.0 license – This license will allow site users to copy and redistribute the content in any medium or format. However, the content may not be used for commercial purposes and the user may not remix, transform, or build upon the content. Reuse of the content requires attribution to the corresponding author or coauthor(s).
CC BY NC SA 4.0 license – This license will allow site users to copy and redistribute the content in any medium or format and remix, transform, or build upon the content for any noncommercial purpose, but the content may not be used for any commercial purpose. If the content is remixed, transformed, or built upon, it must be distributed under the same license. Reuse of the content requires attribution to the corresponding author or coauthor(s).
CC BY 4.0 license – This license will allow site users to copy and redistribute the content in any medium or format and remix, transform, or build upon the content for any purpose, even commercially. Reuse of the content requires attribution to the corresponding author or coauthor(s).
CC 0 license – This license will allow site users to copy and redistribute the content in any medium or format and remix, transform, or build upon the content for any purpose, even commercially. No requirement exists to attribute the corresponding author(s) upon reuse since the CC 0 license effectively gives the content public-domain status and is most commonly used by US Government authors.

Step Six - Review Your Submission

After selecting the “Submit” button, a review page will load. Please carefully review your submission page to ensure all materials are accurate and presented as you intend for them to be published.

Once you have completed your review, select “Submit Your Resource.” You will receive an e-mail confirming your submission.

The Review and Approval Process

The Approval Process

All submitted content will be reviewed by APSA staff. Content may be reviewed by the APSA Teaching Library Editorial Advisory Board or by other qualified experts. Subject to volume, we expect to review each submission within 3-5 business days. You will be notified via e-mail of your submission’s status.

Content may be rejected on one or more of the following grounds:

It cannot be identified as a teaching resource. Contributed content must be a resource created for use in political science education. If you are interested in sharing working research papers or posters we recommend that you submit to APSA Preprints.
The work is not in a research area that is supported by APSA, i.e., work that does not fit within the broad spectrum of political science.
It cannot be plausibly categorized
It is found to be wholly or partially plagiarized.
It is not written in English.
It contains infringing material and/or has not been uploaded by an authorized individual. Corresponding authors are obligated to upload only content in which they own or control the copyright.
It is found to contain libelous or otherwise unlawful statements.
It is found to contain inappropriate, confidential, or harmful statements or material.

Note that the approval of an upload to Educate does not indicate or imply an endorsement by APSA.

Sharing a Political Science Education Blog

If you would like to contribute a blog post, please send the draft document to Educate@apsanet.org with the following information:

Name, affiliation, contact info
Brief summary of post (no more than a paragraph)
One-sentence explanation of your post's connection to political science education, civic education, or civic engagement.

Editorial and Style Guidelines

Please note that APSA retains full editorial control over the content of the post features on the teaching library.

All posts should be concise, jargon-free, directly connected to political science education, civic education, or civic engagement. Essays should be non-partisan in their language, framing, and tone.

While APSA Educate does not have a strict word count, most of its blogs are 900-1,200 words. Please use subtitles to help structure the essay and break up the text for the reader.

Please use in-text links to cite your work, and include a full reference to all citations.

The Review and Approval Process

The Approval Process

All submitted content will be reviewed by APSA staff. Content may be reviewed by the APSA Teaching Library Editorial Advisory Board or by other qualified experts. You will be notified via e-mail of your submission’s status.

Content may be rejected on one or more of the following grounds:

It cannot be identified as related to political science education or teaching. Contributed content must directly connect to political science education.
The work is not in a research area that is supported by APSA, i.e., work that does not fit within the broad spectrum of political science.
It cannot be plausibly categorized
It is found to be wholly or partially plagiarized.
It is not written in English.
It contains infringing material and/or has not been uploaded by an authorized individual. Corresponding authors are obligated to upload only content in which they own or control the copyright.
It is found to contain libelous or otherwise unlawful statements.
It is found to contain inappropriate, confidential, or harmful statements or material.

APSA does not publish materials that disparage students or colleagues.

Note that the approval of an upload to Educate does not indicate or imply an endorsement by APSA.

Sharing a Curated Teaching Resource Collection

APSA Educate partners with political scientists and civic educators to publish curated collections of teaching resources. Please email Educate@apsanet.org to learn more.