AUTHOR GUIDELINES
SUBMISSION GUIDLINES
ScienceEdu journal is a journal for all researches in the science education field which is established by Science Education, University of Jember, in topics such as:
- Science Teaching and Learning Based on Technology Movements
- Innovation on Science Teaching and Learning Models
- Students’ Knowledge and Skills Domain Improvement in Science Classroom
- Innovation on Science Learning Assessment
We welcome submissions from all the above-mentioned fields, provided that they are novel and able to make a great impact.
By submitting to ScienceEdu, authors attest that:
- The submission is an original work, free from any form of plagiarism (text, data, and figures).
- The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
- The submission has been approved by all co-authors and relevant authorities (e.g. an institution or sponsor).
- The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, RTF, or WordPerfect document file format.
- Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
- The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
- The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in Submission.
- If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Reviewhave been followed.
- The manuscript has been (to the best of the authors’ abilities) written in good English and is free of grammatical errors. It has been checked with a proofreading tool (e.g. Grammarly) and, if possible, proofed by a language editor.
These submission guidelines will help you prepare your submission so as to greatly reduce its processing time. As per initial submission, we do require the manuscript conforms to the document structure laid out below, so reviewers are able to assess the paper based on its scientific merits.
AUTHOR(S) INFORMATION AND REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
Author(s) information
ScienceEdu is a multidisciplinary journal, publishing original research across the whole spectrum of science and science learning. All forms of research within these fields are welcome, provided they are novel, don't focus on method optimization or confirmation or repetitions of previous research but with a different organism, and can make meaningful scientific and social contributions.
Submissions to ScienceEdu should be through its online submission system. You must provide the information here-below prior to starting the online submission:
- Author registration. Authors without an ScienceEdu account are required to create an account before beginning their submission. Make sure that the "Author" role is selected in the Role dropdown menu, otherwise, you will not be able to proceed with the
- Author(s) data. The submitting author is required to complete the author(s) data during the Please ensure that the affiliation addresses are complete and written exactly as they appear on the manuscript. Indicate the corresponding author (*).
- Manuscript metadata. Please complete at least the following information related to the manuscript:
Title – Fill in the manuscript title field in sentence case.
Abstract – Paste the abstract into the abstract field; make sure that the formatting is consistent with the manuscript (e.g. superscript and italics).
Keywords – Provide a maximum of five words/phrases, separated by semicolons.
References – References should be written in accordance with the CSE author-date style (ScienceEdu's chosen reference style), but with the journal name written in full (not abbreviated). Separate each individual reference with a blank line.
Required documents
Here is a list of required documents to send:
· Main file.
Manuscript file (in Docx format), please refer to general formatting guidelines for details.
· Supplementary files.
Cover letter (in pdf format) – in addition to the manuscript and its supplemental files, include a succinct cover letter stating the type of articles (original article/research or review) and author declaration (confirmation that all authors have approved the manuscript for submission, confirmation that the content of the manuscript has not been published, or submitted for publication elsewhere in any languages). Also, the Authors must suggest two potential peer reviewers for their manuscript from different institutions, with whom no conflicts of interest exist. Please provide institutional email addresses where possible, or information which will help the Editor to verify the identity of the reviewer (for example an ORCID or Scopus ID). As a note, intentionally falsifying information, for example, suggesting reviewers with a false name or email address, will result in rejection of your manuscript and may lead to further investigation in line with our misconduct policy.
Figure files – prepare a png or jpeg file for each figure in a high-resolution image (at least 300 dpi).
References file – in BibTeX format (.bib).
Additional files – authors can provide datasets, tables, or other information as additional files. Do not include files such as patient consent forms, certificates of language editing.
For example, if your manuscript contains 4 figures and 3 tables, then you will have 7 files to submit: (1) manuscript file, (1) cover letter, (4) PNG/ JPEG files, (1) references file in BibTeX format (.bib)
GENERAL FORMATTING GUIDELINES
Title. Use a concise and informative title in sentence case, with a maximum of 16 words.
Affiliation. Provide the full postal address of each author's affiliation, including the street name and number, city, ZIP code, and country.
Abstract. Should consist of a single paragraph of no more than 200 words. Provide the background and objective of the paper (including its originality), its principal results, and its conclusions. Avoid using abbreviations and citations.
Keywords. Include a maximum of five keywords or phrases, arranged alphabetically and separated using semicolons (;). Use specific, relevant terms that do not appear in the title, so that the article is easier to find in search engines. Do not use terms that are too general or too long.
Introduction. This section should briefly explain the background of the study, provide a short review of the pertinent literature, state the originality of the research, and state the research objectives.
Materials and methods. Combine the materials and methods used into one narrative passage. Enough information should be provided to enable repetition of the research. For commercial sources of the materials, the name of the company, and the town and country in which they are located should be indicated. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference, with only the relevant modifications described here; e.g. "Student’s errors in science concept could be indicated into two type of errors by Prevost (2011), with modifications. In the case of this study, Student’s errors of students were evaluated by using general errors and specific errors indicator."; or "Student’s errors evaluation followed the method of Prevost (2011), with modifications in using general errors and/or specific errors indicator. Student’s errors were found in contradicting of domain general errors or making incorrect assumptions of domain specific errors.”
Results. Describe the outcome of the study. Data should be presented as concisely as possible, and in the form of tables or figures if appropriate, although very large tables should be avoided. If needed, this section can be combined with the Discussion section into Results and discussion section.
Discussion. This section should be an interpretation of the results of the work (not a repetition of them) in the context of previous research. Avoid excessive referencing of published literature. If needed, this section can be combined with the Results section into a Results and discussion section.
Conclusions. The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a standalone Conclusions section or included as a subsection of the Discussion section.
Acknowledgments. Acknowledge anyone who contributed to the research, as well as any funding or grants received in support of it. The names of funding organizations should be written in full, along with the grant numbers, if available. List any individuals who helped you during the study (e.g. assistance with study design or analysis, or guidance through a study area), or writing of the article (e.g. providing advice on the language, editing, or proofreading the article).
Authors’ contributions. List the details of each author’s contribution to the research and manuscript. Authorship should be restricted to those who have contributed significantly to the work by either: conceiving of or designing the study, contributing new methods or models, performing research, analyzing data, or writing the paper. Use author’s initials to indicate their names; e.g. "DS, PK designed the study. DS, PK, BTF, GH carried out the laboratory work. DS, BTF, GH, MJ, DW analyzed the data. PK, BTF, GH, MJ, DW wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript."
Competing interests. Declare any competing interests, such as any financial, professional, or personal relationships that are relevant to the submitted work. This can include the name of a funding source and a description of their role in the design of the study, data collection and analysis, writing of the article, and/or decision to submit the manuscript to ScienceEdu; whether they serve or have previously served on ScienceEdu’s editorial board; and/or whether they work or have worked for an organization that may benefit from the publication of the article.
References. For the purposes of efficiency and conciseness, we suggest avoiding using more than 25 references and less than 10. The ScienceEdu Journal uses an author-date citation system based on The Council of Science Editors (CSE) Scientific Style and Format. This citation guide provides common examples of how to cite and format your references. For more comprehensive instructions, please refer to Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers – 8th edition. Note that there are some modifications to the CSE citation style to maintain consistency with historical usage in the journal. We strongly suggest authors use a reference manager (e.g. Mendeley, Zotero, or EndNote) to build their reference list. For Mendeley, you can add the CSE Style by clicking on View > Citation Styles >More Styles > Get more styles, then choose or type “Council of Science Editors, Name-Year (author-date)”, and click Install. For Zotero, choose “CSE Name-Year Style” as the Default Output Format (under Preferences > Export) when you export your reference library.
Example reference style BOOK
Basic format:
Author(s). Date. Title. Edition. Address: publisher. Extent. Notes.
An extent can include information about pagination or number of volumes and is considered optional. Notes can include information of interest to the reader, such as language of publication other than English; such notes are optional. Essential notes provide information about location, such as a URL for online works.
- Book with 2 authors
In the manuscript: (Campbell and Reece 2000)
In the references: Campbell NA, Reece J. 2000. Biology. Boston: Benjamin Cummings Pearson.
- Book with 3-10 authors
In the manuscript: (Blenkinsopp et al. 2013)
In the references: Blenkinsopp A, Paxton P, Blenkinsopp J. 2013. Symptoms in the Pharmacy: A Guide to the Management of Common Illness. 6th ed. Oxford: Wiley- Blackwell. ISBN: 9781118598443.
- Book with more than 10 authors (start from 11th author replaced with “et ”)
In the manuscript: (Wenger et al. 1995)
In the references: Wenger NK, Sivarajan Froelicher E, Smith LK, Ades PA, Berra K, Blumenthal JA, Certo CME, Dattilo AM, Davis D, DeBusk RF, et al. 1995. Cardiac rehabilitation. Rockville (MD): Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (US).
- Edited book with an author(s)
In the manuscript: (Luzikov 1985)
In the references: Luzikov VN. 1985. Mitochondrial biogenesis and breakdown. Roodyn DB, editor. New York (NY): Consultants Bureau.
- Edited book with no author
In the manuscript: (Cross et al. 2000)
In the references: Cross TU, Rollins Q, Barnes G, editors. 2000. Dictionary of biological terms. 5th ed. Boston (MA): Dolin publications.
- Chapter or part of book, same author(s)
In the manuscript: (Gawande 2010)
In the references: Gawande A. 2010. The checklist manifesto: how to get things right. New York (NY): Metropolitan Books. Chapter 3, The end of the master builder; p. 48– 71.
- Chapter or part of book, different authors
In the manuscript: (Terra et al. 1996)
In the references: Terra WR, Ferreira C, Jordao BP, Dillon RJ. 1996. Digestive enzymes. In: Lehane M, Billingsley PF, editors. Biology of the insect midgut. London: Chapman & Hall. p. 153-194.
- Organization as author
In the manuscript: (ALSG 2001)
In the references: [ALSG] Advanced Life Support Group. 2001. Acute medical emergencies: the practical approach. London (England): BMJ Books.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Basic format:
Author(s). Date. Article title. Journal title. Volume(issue):pages. DOI.
To save space, CSE advises that journal titles be abbreviated in accordance with the ISO 4 standard (you can consult the ISSN List of Title Word Abbreviations or use a tool such as CASSI to generate abbreviated journal titles).
- Journal article with persons as author(s) In the manuscript: (Coleman 2007)
In the references: Coleman AW. 2007. Paneukaryote ITS2 homologies revealed by RNA secondary structure. Nucleic Acids Res. 35(10):3322–3329. doi:10.1093/nar/gkm233.
- Journal article with organization as author(s) In the manuscript: (NIH 1996)
In the references: [NIH] National Institutes of Health (US), Task Force on Trauma. 1996. Ending confusion. Trauma Care. 202(2):123-134.
- Journal article with more than 10 authors In the manuscript: (Chen et 2010)
In the references: Chen S, Yao H, Han J, Liu C, Song J, Shi L, Zhu Y, Ma X, Gao T, Pang X, et al. 2010. Validation of the ITS2 region as a novel DNA barcode for identifying medicinal plant species. PLoS One. 5(1):e8613. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008613.
- Volume with no issue or other subdivision In the manuscript: (Mesquita et 2015)
In the references: Mesquita DP, Amaral AL, Leal C, Oehmen A, Reis MAM, Ferreira EC. 2015. Polyhydroxyalkanoate granules quantification in mixed microbial cultures using image analysis: Sudan Black B versus Nile Blue A staining. Anal Chem Acta. 865:8–15. doi:10.1016/j.aca.2015.01.018.
- Volume with issue and supplement
In the manuscript: (Frumin et al. 1979)
In the references: Frumin AM, Nussbaum J, Esposito M. 1979. Functional asplenia: demonstration of splenic activity by bone marrow scan. Blood. 59(Suppl 1):26-32.
- Volume with supplement but no issue
In the manuscript: (Heemskerk et al. 2002)
In the references: Heemskerk J, Tobin AJ, Ravina B. 2002. From chemical to drug: neurodegeneration drug screening and the ethics of clinical trials. Nat Neurosci. 5 Suppl:1027–1029.
- Journal with multiple issue number
In the manuscript: (Ramstrom et al. 2002)
In the references: Ramstrom O, Bunyapaiboonsri T, Lohmann S, Lehn JM. 2002. Chemical biology of dynamic combinatorial libraries. Biochem Biophys Acta. 1572(2– 3):178–186.
- Issue with no volume
In the manuscript: (Sabatier 1995)
In the references: Sabatier R. 1995. Reorienting health and social services. AIDS STD Health Promot Exch. (4):1–3.
- Journal with no page numbers
In the manuscript: (Rohrmann et al. 2013)
In the references: Rohrmann S, Overvad K, Bueno-de-Mesquita HB, Jakobsen MU, Egeberg R, Tjønneland A, et al. 2013. Meat consumption and mortality - results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. BMC Medicine. 11:(63).
THESIS AND DISSERTATIONS
Basic format:
Author. Publication date. Document title [content designator]. [Publisher location]: publisher.
In the manuscript:
(Arif 2013) and (Usman 2016)
In the references:
Arif F. 2013. Cloning and sequencing of haloacid dehalogenase gene from Bacillus cereus local strain [Bachelor thesis]. [Bandung]: Institut Teknologi Bandung.
Usman MS. 2016. Identifications of significant proteins associated with diabetes mellitus (DM) type 2 using network topology analysis of protein-protein interactions [Master’s thesis]. [Bogor]: Bogor Agricultural University.
WEBSITES AND OTHER ONLINE FORMATS
Basic format:
Author(s). Date of Publication. Title of Website. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; [date updated; date accessed]. Extent. Notes.
- Online document
In the manuscript: (Doe 1999)
In the references: Doe J. 1999. Title of subordinate document. In: The dictionary of substances and their effects. Royal Society of Chemistry. http://www.rsc.org/dose/title of subordinate document. Accessed 15 Jan 1999.
- E-Book
In the manuscript: (Brogden and Guthmille 2002)
In the references: Brogden KA, Guthmille JM, editors. 2002. Polymicrobial diseases. Washington (DC): ASM Press; [accessed February 28, 2014]. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2475/.
- Blog
In the manuscript: (Fogarty 2012)
In the references: Fogarty M. 2012 Aug 14. Formatting titles on Twitter and Facebook [blog]. Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing. [accesse2012 Oct 19]. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/formatting-titles-on-twitter- and-facebook.aspx.
Other formatting details
Please note that ScienceEdu's editors have the right to change an article's formatting to adhere to the journal’s style or maintain consistency.
Headings. Use no more than three levels of headings (e.g. 2, 2.1, and 2.1.1, but no 2.1.1.1).
Abbreviations. Abbreviations should be given at the first instance of the full term and used consistently thereafter.
Species scientific names. Binomial names with an authority should be given in full in the title and the first time the species is mentioned in the text. Thereafter, either the vernacular or common name of the species or the shortened scientific name (e.g. S. aureus, S. macrophylla) may be used, but not a mixture of both.
Italicization. Words of non-English origin should be italicized, except for terms that are widely used in the English language; e.g. kayu manis and zimt, but in vitro and vice versa. Do not italicize words for emphasis.
Numbers. Spell out numbers of less than two digits (i.e. eight, nine, 10, 11), except when using them in a technical context or to present data, such as in the materials and methods or results. Spell out “percent” in text, and do not use the symbol (%), except in tables or figures or when presenting materials (e.g. 70% ethanol).
Units of measurement. In general, ScienceEdu adheres to the International System of Units (SI) for how units of measurement are written, with several deviations to remain consistent with the journal's historical usage. The rules for the most common units are as follows:
Unit |
Example |
Note |
Temperature |
30 °C |
With a space after the number |
Volume |
mL, L |
Capital L for liter |
Time |
D |
day(s) |
|
H |
hour(s) |
|
Min |
minute(s) |
|
S |
second(s) |
Figure size and quality. When preparing your figures, size them to fit in a column width (either 80 mm or 170 mm), with a maximum height of 230 mm. Ensure that images are of sufficiently high resolution to be easily viewable (minimum of 300 dpi).
Image format. Send images in an image file format (png, jpeg, tiff). Do not send them in a PowerPoint presentation format.
Graphs. For optimal results, all line art, graphs, charts, and schematics should be supplied in image formats, such as PNG or JPG, and should be saved or exported as such directly from the application in which they were made. Graphs created with Microsoft Excel should also be sent in their original Excel file. Present graphs in 2D (not 3D), without shadows or other effects, and without gridlines.
Figure formatting. Photographs must have internal scale markers and symbols, and arrows or letters should contrast greatly with the background. Otherwise, a sans-serif such as Open Sans, Helvetica, or Arial may be used. Where photographs of gel, autoradiograms, and so on have been processed to enhance their quality, this should be stated. The costs of color printing will be incurred by the author.
Table size. Size tables to fit in a column width (either 80 mm or 170 mm), with a maximum height of 230 mm. Use only horizontal lines for borders.
Table and figure numbering. Every table and figure should be cited in the text in numerical order using Arabic numerals (i.e. Figure 2 cannot be cited before Figure 1). Tables should be referred to as "Table" and figures as "Figure" (not "Fig."). Place table footnotes below the table, indicating them with superscripted lowercase letters or asterisks (for significance values and other statistical data). Multi-panel figures (those with parts a, b, c, d, etc.) should be denoted with lowercase letters (e.g. Figure 1b, Figure 1b) and submitted as a separate file.
Table and figure captions. Every table and figure should have a title or caption, which should be concise but clear enough to explain its main components independently from the text. If the table or figure contains previously published material, cite the original source at the end of the caption. If the results are expressed as a percentage, state the absolute value(s) that correspond to 100%. State in the caption if a figure has been altered or enhanced in any way.
Files submission. Put all figures and tables at the end of the main manuscript file, while the figures’ caption and tables' title can be put in any places which preferable within the manuscript. In addition to that, please also submit all the main figures in high-resolution quality in separate files (PNG or JPEG) and all tables in another separate file.
File naming. Name your figure files "Figure" with the figure number; e.g. Figure1.jpeg. Name your tables file "Tables"; e.g. Tables.docx or Tables.xlsx.
Review Process
Review process
All manuscripts submitted to ScienceEdu undergo a rigorous screening and review process to ensure that they fit into the journal's scope and are of sufficient academic quality and novelty to appeal to ScienceEdu’s readership.
Initial screening. A newly submitted manuscript will be screened by the Editor-in-Chief for its conformity to ScienceEdu’s scope and basic submission requirements.
Peer-review. If the manuscript passes the initial screening stage, it will be assigned to a handling editor, who will then send it to at least two experts in the relevant field to undergo a double-blind peer-review. Manuscripts that fail to pass the initial screening will be rejected without further review.
First decision. A decision on a peer-reviewed manuscript will only be made upon the receipt of at least two review reports. In cases where reports differ significantly, the handling editor will invite an additional reviewer to get a third opinion before making a decision. At this stage, a manuscript can either be rejected, asked for revisions (minor or major), accepted as is, or (if significant changes to the language or content are required) recommended for resubmission for a second review process. If it is accepted, the manuscript will be returned to the submitting author for formatting. The final decision to accept the manuscript will be made by the Editor-in-Chief based on the recommendation of the handling editor and following approval by the board of editors.
Revision stage. A manuscript that requires revisions will be returned to the submitting author, who will have up to two weeks to format and revise the manuscript, following which it will be reviewed by the handling editor. The handling editor will determine whether the changes are adequate and appropriate, as well as whether the author(s) sufficiently responded to the reviewers' comments and suggestions. If the revisions are deemed to be inadequate, this cycle will be repeated (the manuscript will be returned to the submitting author once more for further revision).
Final decision. At this stage, the revised manuscript will either be accepted or rejected. This decision is dependent whether the handling editor finds the manuscript to have been improved to a level worthy of publication. If the author(s) are unable to make the required changes or have done so to a degree below ScienceEdu's standards, the manuscript will be rejected.
Proofing and typesetting. If the manuscript is accepted, it will go through a final round of editing and proofreading by an in-house language editor, following which it will be typeset and returned to the submitting author for final approval. All authors must approve this final version of the article before it can be officially published.
Manuscript processing time
Processing time varies from one manuscript to another, depending on how long it takes to receive all of the reviewers' reports and how quickly the author(s) revise the manuscript. On average, ScienceEdu's manuscript processing time ranges from 4 to 8 weeks. ScienceEdu cannot guarantee a specific publishing time for a manuscript, nor can it under any circumstances promise a sped-up publication process.
Language editing
Authors whose first language is not English (and many times even those for whom it is) will greatly increase the chance of their article being published if it is checked by a language editor or native speaker prior to its submission. A well-written manuscript enables editors and reviewers to accurately assess the content of the manuscript, thus accelerating the reviewing process. It also ensures that the scientific merit of the research can be fully conveyed to readers.
Checklist
Author(s) can use the following checklist when preparing their submission.
Files to send
- Cover letter (in doc, docx, rtf, or odf format).
- Manuscript file (in doc, docx, rtf, or odf format).
- Images (png, jpeg, tiff, eps, svg, pdf; at least 300 dpi); one figure per file.
- Tables file (put all tables into one file).
- Captions file (put all captions for figures and tables into one file).
- References file in BibTeX format (.bib).
General formatting
- Ideally between 4000--6000 words in length (excluding tables, captions, and references).
- Either British or American English spelling, not a mixture of both.
- Standard 11pt serif font (e.g. Times New Roman); double-spaced.