Author Guidelines
Manuscripts should be submitted electronically in one document in Microsoft Word format (.doc) to https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/submit.cgi?context=jscpe. Authors will need to create an account to submit a manuscript, which can be created in their first visit to the website. Authors should submit their manuscript (3,000 to 6,000 words or 20 pages) in English with an abstract in the authors’ native language and a translated version in English. For additional inquiries, contact the journal editor: Patrick R. Mullen, Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Education, 1015 W. Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23284-2020; phone: (804) 828-1332; email: mullenpr@vcu.edu.
Each manuscript is first vetted to determine whether it is appropriate for the journal by the managing editor. If it is appropriate, the manuscript will be sent to a minimum of two reviewers for input and recommendations. Reviewers are allotted 30 days to return the manuscript to the editor with an overall disposition and thorough comments covering of the manuscript’s strengths and suggestions for enhancements. The journal editor will make the final disposition on the manuscript and will communicate with the author(s) through email. All manuscripts submitted to JSCPE undergo a double-blind review process with the editorial board and expert ad hoc reviewers. Thus, authors must remove any information that would provide clues to who wrote the manuscript. Authors that have submitted manuscripts to this journal should not be submitting the same manuscript to another journal at the same time. In addition, the manuscript being submitted should not have been published elsewhere nor should the content be similar to other published works.
Format of the Manuscript
Authors should prepare their manuscript with close adherence to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.; American Psychological Association [APA], 2019). Specific attention should be given for the format of the manuscript abstract, headings, reporting of statistical methods and information, citations and references, and tables and figures. All manuscripts should be double-spaced with one inch margins and 12 point Times New Roman font.
Sections of the Manuscript
Title Page: The first page of the manuscript should include the title page without author information or author notes.
Abstract: The second page of the manuscript should include the abstract that describes the central idea of the manuscript. The abstract should be written in English with an abstract in the authors’ native language (no longer than 150 words).
Keywords: The second page of the manuscript should also include 3 to 5 keywords that also appear in the manuscripts title and/or abstract. These key words appear below the abstract.
Body of the Manuscript: The main body of the manuscript should be 3,000 to 6,000 words (approximately 20 pages) in the English language. Proper use of headers and adherence to the APA Publication Manual (7th ed.; APA, 2019) is important.
Tables and Figures: Tables should appear at the end of the manuscript and should be referenced in the body of the manuscript. Figures should be formatted with a minimum resolution of 600 dots per inch (DPI). See the APA Publication Manual (7th ed.; APA, 2019) for details on formatting this section.
References: The format of the references section and in-text citations should strictly follow the APA Publication Manual (7th ed.; APA, 2019).
Footnotes or Endnotes: Authors should not use footnotes or endnotes but instead incorporate this information into the narrative of the manuscript.
Lengthy Quotes and Permission: Quotes that include 500 cumulative words or more require written permission from the copyright holder. Similarly, previously published tables or figures that are used require the copyright holder’s permission. It is up to the authors to acquire this permission prior to the submission of the manuscript.
