Guide for Authors

Licence to Publish Agreement

Authors retain the copyright and full publishing rights in their work without restrictions. Copyright is not transferred to the Journal of Psychology & Education or its publisher.

Upon formal acceptance, the authors grant the Journal of Psychology & Education and Nova Science Culture Communication Co., Limited a non-exclusive right of first publication and the non-exclusive rights necessary to publish, reproduce, distribute, archive, preserve, index, and maintain the article as the Version of Record.

All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0). This licence permits sharing, redistribution, adaptation, and commercial or non-commercial use, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and source, a link to the licence is provided, and any changes are indicated.

Authors may deposit and share the submitted manuscript, accepted manuscript, and published Version of Record in institutional repositories, subject repositories, personal websites, and academic networks without an embargo period. When sharing the Version of Record, authors should include the complete citation and DOI and identify the Journal of Psychology & Education as the original place of publication.

Authors of accepted manuscripts may be required to complete a Licence to Publish Agreement before publication.

Manuscript Submission Files

To protect the integrity of the journal’s double-anonymous peer-review process, authors must submit the following as separate Microsoft Word files:

1. Title Page: The title page must include the manuscript title, author names, institutional affiliations, corresponding-author information, ORCID identifiers where available, funding information, acknowledgements, author contributions, conflicts of interest, data-availability information, and complete ethics declarations where applicable.

2. Anonymous Main Manuscript: The main manuscript must include the title, abstract, keywords, main text, references, tables, figures, and appendices where applicable. It must not include author names, affiliations, email addresses, ORCID identifiers, acknowledgements, institutional logos, or other information that could identify the authors.

Authors should remove identifying information from the document properties and file name before submission. Detailed manuscript-preparation requirements are provided below on this page.

Guide to Authors

The Journal of Psychology & Education (JPE) accepts manuscripts written in English only. Authors should ensure that submissions are original, clearly written, methodologically or argumentatively rigorous, ethically compliant, and relevant to the journal’s aims and scope. Manuscripts should follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition (APA 7) unless otherwise stated below.

General Formatting

Manuscripts should be submitted in an editable Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx). The text should use Times New Roman, 12-point font, double line spacing, and margins of approximately 2.54 cm on all sides. Pages should be numbered consecutively. Headings should be clearly differentiated and used consistently. Tables and figures should be placed close to the first point at which they are discussed in the manuscript.

Authors should use one consistent form of academic English throughout the manuscript. Language-editing services may be used at the author’s discretion, but the use of such a service does not influence editorial assessment, peer review, acceptance, or publication.

Submission Files for Double-Anonymous Peer Review

The journal uses a double-anonymous peer-review process. Authors must therefore upload the title page and the anonymous manuscript as separate files.

1. Title Page

The title page is visible to the editorial office but is not sent to reviewers. It should contain:

• the complete manuscript title;
• the full names of all authors;
• the institutional affiliation of each author;
• the email address of the corresponding author;
• ORCID identifiers, where available;
• author contribution statements;
• funding information;
• acknowledgements;
• conflict-of-interest declarations;
• data-availability statements, where applicable;
• complete ethics approval and informed-consent information, where applicable;
• the name and contact details of the corresponding author.

All authors must have approved the submitted version and agreed to be accountable for their contributions.

2. Anonymous Main Manuscript

The main manuscript must not contain information that identifies the authors or their institutions. It should normally include:

• manuscript title;
• abstract;
• keywords;
• main text;
• references;
• tables and figures;
• figure captions;
• appendices, where appropriate.

The anonymous manuscript must not include:

• author names;
• institutional affiliations;
• email addresses;
• ORCID identifiers;
• acknowledgements;
• identifiable funding information;
• author biographies;
• institutional logos;
• self-identifying statements.

Where information could reveal the authors’ identity, use neutral wording such as:

[Institution blinded for peer review]

or:

Details have been removed for double-anonymous review.

Authors should also remove personal information from the document properties and file name before uploading the manuscript.

Self-citations should be written in the third person and should not be phrased in a way that reveals authorship. Relevant previous work should not be omitted solely to preserve anonymity.

3. Cover Letter

A separate cover letter should briefly confirm that:

• the manuscript is original;
• the manuscript has not been published previously;
• the manuscript is not under consideration by another journal;
• all authors have approved the submission;
• the work falls within the journal’s aims and scope;
• all relevant ethical approvals and permissions have been obtained;
• potential conflicts of interest have been disclosed;
• the authors agree to comply with the journal’s editorial and publication ethics policies.

The cover letter should not contain claims that acceptance has been promised or guaranteed.

4. Supplementary and Supporting Files

Where relevant, authors should upload additional materials separately, including:

• appendices;
• questionnaires or research instruments;
• reporting-guideline checklists;
• supplementary tables or figures;
• datasets;
• analysis code;
• study protocols;
• preregistration information;
• trial-registration details;
• high-resolution figure files;
• ethics approval documents, where specifically requested by the editorial office;
• permission letters for copyrighted material.

Supplementary materials should be clearly named and cited in the manuscript. Files containing identifying information should be marked for editorial use only and should not be included in the files sent to reviewers.

Abstract and Keywords

The abstract should normally not exceed 250 words and should provide a concise account of the purpose, methods or approach, principal findings or arguments, and main conclusions of the manuscript.

Empirical research articles should use a structured or clearly organized abstract covering the background or objective, methods, results, and conclusion where appropriate.

Authors should provide four to seven keywords that accurately describe the manuscript and support indexing and discoverability.

Recommended Manuscript Structure

Empirical Research Articles

Empirical manuscripts should normally include:

1. Introduction
2. Method
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusion, where appropriate
6. References

The Method section should provide sufficient detail to permit evaluation and replication. It should normally describe participants, sampling, materials or measures, procedures, research design, ethical approval, and statistical or qualitative analysis.

Authors should report sample-size justification where appropriate and identify exclusions, missing-data procedures, data transformations, primary and secondary outcomes, and deviations from preregistered plans.

Results should be reported accurately and transparently. Where appropriate, authors should provide effect sizes, confidence intervals, exact probability values, and other indicators of statistical uncertainty rather than relying only on statistical significance.

The Discussion should interpret the findings in relation to the research questions and existing literature, acknowledge limitations, avoid unsupported causal claims, and explain the theoretical, practical, educational, psychological, clinical, or social implications of the work.

Review Articles and Meta-Analyses

Review articles should clearly explain their purpose, scope, literature-search procedures, inclusion criteria, analytical approach, and limitations.

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should follow the PRISMA reporting guideline where applicable and should include a completed checklist and flow diagram.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative studies should clearly describe the research design, sampling, researcher role, data collection, analytic procedures, reflexivity, credibility procedures, and ethical considerations. Authors should use appropriate reporting guidance, such as COREQ or SRQR, where applicable.

Other Study Designs

Authors should follow established reporting guidelines appropriate to the research design, including:

• CONSORT for randomized trials;
• STROBE for observational studies;
• PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses;
• CARE for case reports;
• COREQ or SRQR for qualitative studies;
• ARRIVE for animal research.

Use of a reporting guideline does not replace the need to provide a complete and transparent account of the research.

Theoretical, Philosophical, and Ethical Articles

Theoretical, philosophical, and ethical manuscripts should present a clearly defined question or thesis, engage critically with relevant scholarship, use a coherent analytical or argumentative method, address plausible objections or alternative interpretations, and demonstrate a substantive connection with psychology, education, cognition, behaviour, learning, development, mental health, well-being, technology, or contemporary social life.

Purely descriptive summaries that do not provide an original analytical contribution may be considered outside the journal’s scope.

Research Ethics

Research involving human participants must include confirmation that the study received approval from an appropriate ethics committee or institutional review board, unless a justified exemption applies.

Authors should report:

• the name of the approving body;
• the approval number or code, where available;
• the date of approval, where appropriate;
• the informed-consent procedure;
• any consent required for publication of identifiable information.

Research involving animals must comply with relevant institutional and national welfare standards and must identify the approving authority and approval reference.

During double-anonymous review, identifying ethics information may be replaced in the anonymous manuscript with:

Ethical approval details have been blinded for peer review.

The complete information must be provided on the separate title page and restored in the final accepted manuscript.

Authors must not fabricate ethical approval information or obtain approval retrospectively when prior approval was required.

Research Transparency and Data Reporting

Authors should report research procedures, analyses, exclusions, measures, and outcomes transparently. Selective reporting, undisclosed outcome switching, data fabrication, data falsification, image manipulation, and misleading statistical presentation are prohibited.

Where appropriate, manuscripts should include a data-availability statement explaining whether and where the data, materials, code, protocol, or preregistration record can be accessed.

Authors are encouraged to share non-identifiable data and research materials in a recognised repository when legal, ethical, contractual, and participant-consent conditions permit. Authors are not required to disclose data where sharing would violate confidentiality, consent agreements, institutional rules, or applicable law, but the reason for restricted access should be stated.

Tables

Tables must be editable and created using the table function in the word-processing software. Authors should not use spaces or tabs to construct tables.

Each table should:

• be numbered consecutively;
• have a clear and concise title;
• be cited in the main text;
• define abbreviations in table notes;
• report statistical information accurately;
• avoid unnecessary duplication of information already presented in the text.

Figures

Figures should be clear, legible, and cited in numerical order. For initial submission, figures may be embedded in the anonymous manuscript near the relevant text.

For revised or accepted manuscripts, the editorial office may request separate production-quality figure files. Photographic or raster images should normally have a minimum resolution of 300 pixels per inch. Figure labels and text must remain readable at publication size.

Figure captions should appear in the manuscript rather than being embedded only within the image. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted figures, photographs, scales, or other third-party material.

Images must not be manipulated in a way that alters or misrepresents the underlying information.

References

References and in-text citations must follow APA 7 style. Every source cited in the text must appear in the reference list, and every reference-list entry must be cited in the text.

Authors should:

• verify author names, publication years, titles, journal names, volume and issue details, page ranges, and DOIs;
• include DOI links where available;
• cite software, datasets, scales, and research instruments appropriately;
• avoid excessive self-citation;
• avoid citing sources that have not been read or verified;
• identify retracted publications where their discussion is necessary.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and authenticity of all references.

Similarity Screening

All submitted manuscripts are routinely screened for text similarity using Crossref Similarity Check, powered by iThenticate, as part of the journal’s research-integrity assessment.

Similarity reports are evaluated by the editorial team. A numerical similarity score alone does not determine acceptance or rejection. Plagiarism, unattributed copying, duplicate publication, inappropriate text recycling, or other forms of publication misconduct may result in rejection or further investigation.

Peer-Review Materials and Editorial Assessment

Research articles and other substantive scholarly submissions that pass the initial editorial assessment are normally evaluated by at least two independent external reviewers with relevant subject expertise.

The editorial office may return a submission before external review when:

• required submission files are missing;
• the main manuscript is not anonymised;
• the manuscript is outside the journal’s scope;
• the English is not sufficiently clear for scholarly evaluation;
• the manuscript does not meet basic ethical or reporting requirements;
• the submission contains incomplete, inconsistent, or unreliable information;
• the work does not demonstrate sufficient scholarly quality or originality.

Authors invited to revise a manuscript must normally submit:

1. a clean revised manuscript;
2. a version showing or tracking revisions, where requested;
3. a detailed response-to-reviewers document;
4. any newly requested supplementary files;
5. updated declarations or ethical information where necessary.

The response-to-reviewers document should reproduce or clearly identify each editor and reviewer comment, followed by a specific response explaining what was changed and where it appears in the revised manuscript. Where an author does not adopt a requested change, a reasoned scholarly explanation should be provided.

Authors must not attempt to identify anonymous reviewers or contact reviewers directly.

Final Submission Checklist

Before submission, authors should confirm that:

• a separate title page has been prepared;
• the main manuscript has been fully anonymised;
• identifying information has been removed from the file properties;
• the abstract and keywords meet the journal’s requirements;
• the manuscript follows APA 7 style;
• tables and figures are numbered, cited, and legible;
• ethical approval and consent information have been provided where applicable;
• funding and conflict-of-interest statements are complete;
• all references have been checked;
• required reporting checklists have been uploaded;
• supplementary files are clearly labelled;
• the manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere;
• all authors have approved the submission;
• the submission complies with the journal’s publication ethics policies.

Submission of a manuscript does not guarantee external peer review, acceptance, or publication. Editorial decisions are based on scholarly quality, originality, methodological or argumentative rigour, ethical compliance, clarity, and relevance to the journal.