Author Guidelines

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.

These submission guidelines will help you prepare your submission so as to greatly reduce its processing time. Although there are no strict formatting requirements for you initial submission, we do require that it conforms to the document structure laid out below, so reviewers are able to assess the paper based on its scientific merits.

Online submission procedure

By submitting to ScienceEdu, authors attest that:

1. The submission is an original work, free from any form of plagiarism (text, data, and figures).
2. The submission has not been previously published, nor is it under consideration by another journal.
3. The submission has been approved by all co-authors and relevant authorities (e.g. an institution or sponsor).
4. 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.

Submissions to ScienceEdu should be through its online submission system. There are no strict formatting requirements for the initial submission, as long as the article structure conforms with our guidelines (see the manuscript structure section below). Manuscripts that advance to the revision stage will then be required to be formatted appropriately (see the formatting section). This enables authors to focus on the scientific content of their manuscript, along with speeding up the article's processing time.

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 submission.

Author(s) data. The submitting author is required to complete the author(s) data during the submission. Please ensure that the affiliation addresses are complete and written exactly as they appear on the manuscript.

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.

Cover letter. In addition to the manuscript and its supplemental files, include a succinct cover letter stating the significance of the study and novelty of the results, as well as how it will appeal to ScienceEdu's readership. Authors may optionally suggest two potential reviewers for their manuscript, with whom no conflicts of interest exist.

Manuscript structure

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, 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.

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, avoid using more than 25 references and less than 10. ScienceEdu uses an author-date citation system based on The Council of Science Editors' (CSE) Scientific Style and Format. For more comprehensive instructions, refer to CSE's Scientific Style and Format (8th edition). For references in a non-English language, provide the English translation between square brackets ([ ]) right after the title. Authors are strongly urged to use a reference manager such as Zotero or Mendeley to build their bibliography, saving the file in .bib format.

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.

Figures and tables

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), vector (eps, svg), or pdf. Do not send them in a PowerPoint presentation format.

Graphs

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.

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). Denote figure parts with lowercase letters (e.g. Figure 1a, Figure 1b).

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.

Figure formatting

Photographs must have internal scale markers and symbols, and arrows or letters should contrast greatly with the background. Lato is the recommended typeface for text within figures (download it here). 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.

Files submission

Submit every figure as a separate file, and all tables in one separate file. You should also provide the captions to tables and figures in a separate text file. For example, if your manuscript contains four figures and three tables, then you will have seven files to submit: 1 manuscript file, 4 figure files, 1 table file, and 1 caption 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.

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:

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.

For example author can download template below: