Submissions

Author Guidelines

Please prepare your manuscript according to the instructions below before submitting it online. Manuscripts submitted for publication in JPESS should be between 1,500 and 5,000 words, or between 6 and 20 pages when typed in double spacing, including tables and figures. The abstract should be a maximum of 250 words.

Preparation

Use of word processing software. Save the file in the native format of the word processor used. The text should be in single-column format. Keep the layout as simple as possible. Do not use the word processor's options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts, etc. When preparing tables, if you use a table grid, use only one grid for each individual table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs, not spaces, to align columns. To avoid unnecessary errors, you are strongly advised to use the spell-check and grammar-check functions of your word processor.

Article Structure

Subdivision – numbered sections. Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ...), 1.2, etc. (the abstract is not included in section numbering). Use this numbering for internal cross-referencing as well; do not just refer to "the text." Any subsection may be given a brief heading, and each heading should appear on its own separate line.

Introduction. State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

Material and Methods. Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference; only relevant modifications should be described.

Results. Results should be clear and concise.

Discussion. This should explore the significance of the results, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.

Conclusions. The main conclusions may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.

Essential Title Page Information

Title. Concise and informative. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.

Author names and affiliations. Clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled. Present the authors' affiliation addresses below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lowercase superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.

Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, and post-publication. Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date.

Abstract

A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results, and the major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, references should be avoided; but if essential, cite the author(s) and year(s). Non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential, they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract.

Highlights

Highlights are mandatory for this journal. They consist of a short collection of bullet points that convey the core findings of the article and should be submitted in a separate editable file in the online submission system. Please include 3 to 5 bullet points (maximum 85 characters, including spaces, per bullet point).

Keywords

Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 6 keywords. Avoid general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, "and," "of"). Be sparing with abbreviations: only those firmly established in the field may be used. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.

Acknowledgements

Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article, before the references. Do not include them on the title page or as a footnote to the title. List here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., language help, writing assistance, or proofreading).

Units and Formulae

Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions, and use the International System of Units (SI). If other quantities are mentioned, give their SI equivalent. Please submit math equations as editable text, not as images. Present simple formulae in line with normal text where possible, and use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms (e.g., X/Y). Variables should be presented in italics. Number consecutively any equations that are displayed separately from the text.

Footnotes

Footnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article. Do not include footnotes in the reference list.

Tables

Please submit tables as editable text, not as images. Tables may be placed next to the relevant text or on separate page(s) at the end. Number tables consecutively according to their appearance in the text, and place any table notes below the table body. Ensure that the data presented do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Please avoid using vertical rules.

References

Citation in text. Ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list, and vice versa. Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. Citation of a reference as "in press" implies that the item has been accepted for publication.

Web references. As a minimum, the full URL should be given, along with the date the reference was last accessed. Any further information (DOI, author names, dates, source publication) should also be given where known.

Reference management software. Authors are encouraged to use reference management software such as Mendeley or Zotero, which support the citation style used by this journal.

Reference style. Citations in the text should follow the referencing style of the American Psychological Association (APA), Seventh Edition. In the reference list, references should be arranged first alphabetically and then sorted chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must be identified by the letters "a," "b," "c," etc., placed after the year of publication.

Examples:

Journal article: Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J. A. J., & Lupton, R. A. (2010). The art of writing a scientific article. Journal of Scientific Communications, 163, 51–59.

Book: Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (2000). The elements of style (4th ed.). New York: Longman.

Chapter in an edited book: Mettam, G. R., & Adams, L. B. (2009). How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In B. S. Jones & R. Z. Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the electronic age (pp. 281–304). New York: E-Publishing Inc.