JIEEd published its inaugural issue, Volume 1, Number 1, on 28 March 2021, featuring six scholarly articles. The journal was established to provide an academic platform for disseminating research on elementary teaching and learning, educational innovation, curriculum development, and school improvement.

The initial publication capacity of six articles per issue provided a manageable foundation for developing manuscript screening, independent peer review, academic editing, and publication scheduling. Maintaining a relatively limited number of published articles during the establishment stage was consistent with a gradual approach to strengthening editorial processes and preserving research quality.

On 23 December 2021, JIEEd was included in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), marking an important milestone in the development of its open-access publishing identity.

Inclusion in DOAJ enhanced the journal's international discoverability and provided a recognized platform for communicating its commitment to open-access scholarly publishing. This development also reinforced the importance of maintaining accessible articles, transparent editorial information, and consistent publication practices.

JIEEd continued publishing six articles per issue throughout this period. A gradual publication approach was appropriate for consolidating editorial consistency, ensuring that manuscripts could be evaluated according to the journal's scope, and accommodating the time required for review and revision. Publication volume alone does not measure journal quality; methodological rigor, research relevance, and the reliability of editorial decisions remain more important considerations.

In 2024, JIEEd obtained Rank 2 (SINTA 2) national accreditation under Decree No. 72/E/KPT/2024. The accreditation covers publications from Volume 1, Number 2 (September 2021) through Volume 6, Number 1 (March 2026).

National accreditation represented an important institutional recognition of the journal's scholarly publishing development. It also created a continuing responsibility to sustain editorial quality, publication regularity, research integrity, and transparent journal management. The accreditation coverage should not be interpreted as extending beyond the period specified in the decree without a subsequent decision.

Volume 4, Number 2 (September 2024) published 13 articles, compared with six articles in Volume 4, Number 1. This represented the journal's first substantial increase in the number of articles published within a single issue.

Expanding publication output can be justified when the editorial workflow, reviewer availability, and number of manuscripts meeting the journal's academic standards support a larger issue. The expansion also provides greater opportunities to publish relevant research addressing diverse educational settings, pedagogical approaches, and emerging issues in elementary education.

Importantly, the increase should not be understood as a relaxation of academic standards or as evidence of a specific rise in submissions or acceptance rates without supporting editorial records. Publication decisions must remain based on scholarly merit, methodological soundness, relevance, and satisfactory peer-review outcomes.

JIEEd migrated its publishing platform to Open Journal Systems (OJS) 3, supporting further modernization of its online journal management.

A modern publishing platform can improve the organization of manuscript submissions, reviewer assignments, editorial correspondence, publication metadata, and article access. The migration provided a technological foundation for more systematic editorial administration and the management of a growing publication workload.

A larger publication capacity is academically appropriate when sufficient high-quality manuscripts have successfully completed editorial screening and peer review. It also enables the journal to disseminate a broader range of research contributions within its established publication schedule.

However, the sustainability of expanded publication output depends on adequate editorial resources, qualified reviewers, responsible acceptance decisions, accurate metadata, and timely manuscript processing. Consequently, the increase in publication capacity should be accompanied by continuing attention to research quality rather than the pursuit of article numbers alone.

Since 2021, JIEEd has progressively refined its article layout to improve readability, bibliographic consistency, and editorial efficiency. During 2021–2023, published articles generally used a conventional single-column layout with centrally positioned titles, author information, abstracts, and publication metadata. During 2024–2025, the first-page design evolved to distinguish author affiliations, article details, keywords, and abstracts more clearly.

Further visual modernization was evident in Volume 6, Number 1 (March 2026), including a redesigned journal header, clearer typographic hierarchy, and dedicated areas for article history and keywords. These visible changes preceded the formally updated manuscript template.

Effective from Volume 6, Number 2 (September 2026), JIEEd implemented its updated manuscript template for new submissions to promote consistent academic presentation, clearer research reporting, and more efficient editorial assessment, peer review, and production. This development supports the journal's continuing commitment to scholarly quality and international publishing standards.

Volume 6, Number 2 included articles authored by researchers affiliated with institutions in Indonesia, Tanzania, the Philippines, Uzbekistan, Nigeria, South Africa, Thailand, and Australia.

Greater geographical diversity can enrich published research through different educational contexts, theoretical perspectives, and methodological approaches. The journal's international engagement is therefore directed toward strengthening scholarly relevance and knowledge exchange, rather than pursuing geographical representation as an end in itself.