Author Guidelines

Paper Submission Guidelines

An APA formatted paper should contain a Title, Author(s) information, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion and References. Times New Roman, with 12-point font size should be used. Justifications or alter the spacing between words should not be used. The default settings are usually acceptable.Uniform margins of at least 1" (2.54 cm) should be used on the top, bottom, left and right sides of every page. The entire paper should be double-spaced. Flush left alignment should be used which leaves the right side 'ragged' and uneven. Allow the word processor to automatically wrap sentences. Do not divide words or use hyphenations functions to break words at the end of the line. Indent the first line of every paragraph using tab key.  Type all special characters using the keyboard or special character function of the word processor.

Title: The title needs to be simple and direct. It should be interesting, informative, specific, accurate, and functional with essential scientific “keywords” for indexing. It should not be misleading or misrepresentative. It should not be too long or too short. It should avoid whimsical or amusing words.

Author Information: Name of Author(s), Designation, Affiliation, Official Email, ORCID

Abstract: The abstracts should not be in more than 250 words. The abstract should be non-evaluative, concise, coherent, readable and accurate.

Introduction: The introduction part should state: Why is this problem important?How does the study relate to previous work in the field?What are the primary and secondary hypotheses and objectives of the study and do they link to theory?How do the hypotheses and research design relate to one another? And, what are the theoretical and practical implications of the study?

Method:The method part should comprise: Participant Characteristics (sample used, selection criteria, and detail demographic characteristics used for generalizing findings, making comparisons or creating groups), Sampling Procedures (Procedures for selecting participants or samples, including the sampling method, the percentage of the sample approached, and the number of actual participants), Sample size, Measures and covariate, Research Design, Experimental manipulations or interventions. 

Results: The author should report any analyses performed, including subgroup and adjusted analyses and describe which were exploratory and which were descriptive. If interventions or experimental manipulations were used, the author should provide evidence on whether they were delivered as intended. The baseline demographic of each group must be provided.

Discussion:After presenting the results, the author should evaluate and interpret their implications, especially with respect to original hypothesis. The discussion section should open with a clear statement of the support or non-support for hypotheses, distinguished by primary and secondary hypotheses. Similarities between the present work and the previous works should be used to contextualize, clarify and confirm conclusions. Also discuss sources of potential bias, overlap among tests, effect sizes of observed and limitations or weakness of the study. The author should also discuss validity, and generalizability of the findings.

Conclusion: The discussion section of the research article should end with a reasoned and justifiable commentary on the importance of the findings.In this section author should consider explaining what larger issues might hinge on the findings and what propositions are confirmed or disconfirmed by the extrapolation of the findings. The author should alsoconsider the theoretical implications of the findings and what problems remain unanswered or arise anew because of the findings.

Acknowledgment: The author(s) should properly acknowledge any grant or fund received to pursue this research.

Conflict of Interest: The author must state any conflict of interest such as if the validity of the research is influenced by a secondary interest like financial gain or not. If there is no such conflict the author should state that there is no conflict of interest in his/her knowledge.

Citations: When a work has two authors cite both names every time the reference occurs in the text. Use an ampersand (&) between the two names at the end of sentence citation, but spell out and for in-text citations. For example: Kessler and Joseph (2007) found that the symptoms...Early onset caused severe symptoms (Kessler & Joseph, 2007). If a work has more than two authors cite the name of the first author in the intext citation using et al.  for example, Kessler et al. (2007) and end of sentence citation as (Kessler et al., 2007).

Referencing:The author should follow APA VI referencing guidelines while submitting the manuscript. Provide the DOI, if one has been assigned to the content, exactly as published in the article. While referencing arrange entries in alphabetical order by surname of the first author. Single-author entries precede multiple-author entries beginning with the same surname: Kaufman, J. R. (1981). Kaufman, J. R., & Cochran, D. C. (1978). References with the same first author and different second or third authors are arranged alphabetically by the surname of the second author, and so on: Kaufman, J. R., Jones, K., & Cochran, D. F. (1982). Kaufman, J. R., & Wong, D. F. (1978). References with the same authors in the same order are arranged by year of publication, the earliest first: Kaufman, J. R., Jones, K. (1977). Kaufman, J. R., Jones, K. (1980). The order of several works by different authors with the same surname is arranged alphabetically by the first initial: Eliot, A. L. (1983). Eliot, G. E. (1980). Although the format for books, journal articles, magazine articles and other media is similar, there are some slight differences. Items in a reference list should be double-spaced. Also, use hanging indents: entries should begin flush left with subsequent lines indented.

BOOKS:

One author:

Castle, E. B. (1970). The teacher. London: Oxford University Press.

Two authors:

McCandless, B. R., & Evans, E. D. (1973). Children and youth: Psychosocial development. Hinsdale, IL: Dryden Press.

Three or more authors: (list each author)

Smith, V., Barr, R., & Burke, D. (1976). Alternatives in education: Freedom to choose. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa, Educational Foundation.

Society, association, or institution as author and publisher:

American Psychiatric Association. (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington, D.C.: Author.

Editor or compiler as author:

Rich, J. M. (Ed.). (1972). Readings in the philosophy of education (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Chapter, essay, or article by one author in a book or encyclopaedia edited by another:

Medley, D. M. (1983). Teacher effectiveness. In H. E. Mitzel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of educational research (Vol. 4, pp. 1894-1903). New York: The Free Press.

JOURNAL ARTICLES:

One author:

Herrington, A. J. (1985). Classrooms as forums for reasoning and writing. College Composition and Communication, 36(4), 404-413.

Two authors:

Horowitz, L. M., & Post, D. L. (1981). The prototype as a construct in abnormal psychology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 90(6), 575-585.

Society, association, or institution as author:

Institute on Rehabilitation Issues. (1975). Critical issues in rehabilitating the severely handicapped. Rehabilitation Counselling Bulletin, 18(4), 205-213.

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES:

No author:

More jobs waiting for college grads. (1986, June 17). Detroit Free Press, pp. 1A, 3A. MAGAZINES:

One author:

Powledge, T. M. (1983, July). The importance of being twins. Psychology Today, 19, 20-27.

No author:

CBS invades Cuba, returns with Irakere: Havana jam. (1979, May 3). Down Beat, 10.

Internet article based on a print source (exact duplicate) with DOI assigned:

Stultz, J. (2006). Integrating exposure therapy and analytic therapy in trauma treatment. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76(4), 482-488. doi:10.1037/0002-9432.76.4.482

Article in an Internet only journal with no DOI assigned:

Sillick, T. J., & Schutte, N. S. (2006). Emotional intelligence and self-esteem mediate between perceived early parental love and adult happiness. E-Journal of Applied Psychology, 2(2), 38-48. Retrieved from http://ojs.lib.swin.edu.au/index.php/ejap/article/view/71/100

Daily newspaper article, electronic version available by search:

Botha, T. (1999, February 21). The Statue of Liberty, Central Park and me. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

Webpage:

Raymon H. Mulford Library, The University of Toledo Health Science Campus. (2008). Instructions to authors in the health sciences. Retrieved June 17, 2008, from http://mulford.mco.edu/instr/

Annual report:

Pearson PLC. (2005). Reading allowed: Annual review and summary financial statements 2004. Retrieved from http://www.pearson.com/investor/ar2004/pdfs/summary_report_2004.pdf