Author Guidelines

Author Guidelines  ·  Jurnal Civics
Writing for the journal.
What a manuscript must contain, how to prepare it, and how to submit it.
Revised guidelines
These Author Guidelines are a revised version. They apply to manuscripts published from 2027, Volume 24 No. 1 onwards.
01
Before you start
—  Check the scope. The journal publishes work on citizenship and civic education. See Focus and Scope and Types of Manuscript.
—  Use the template. Write in the official manuscript template from the start. Manuscripts that do not follow it are returned without review.
—  Read the policies. Publication ethics, authorship, conflicts of interest, generative AI, and plagiarism apply to every submission. See Publication Ethics, Authorship, Conflict of Interest, Generative AI, and Plagiarism.
—  Prepare for double-anonymous review. Authors and reviewers do not know each other’s identities, so the manuscript must carry no author details.
02
Article types
Original research article 5,000–8,000 words, including the abstract and references, excluding tables, figures, and end-matter statements.
Systematic literature review Follows PRISMA 2020, with a flow diagram of the selection process. Same length as an original research article.
Book review 1,000–1,500 words, on a book published in the last three years. Contact the Book Review Editor before writing.
03
General requirements
Originality Unpublished, and not under review elsewhere. Any earlier version, such as a thesis or preprint, is disclosed to the editor. Every manuscript is screened for similarity.
Language Clear academic English in British spelling (organise, behaviour, programme). Italicise non-English words and give an English gloss at first use.
Format Microsoft Word, using the built-in styles of the template: Normal text in Cambria Math 12 pt, justified, and Heading 1, 2, and 3. Do not change fonts, margins, or spacing by hand.
Headings Up to three levels, not numbered, in sentence case. Use a subheading only when a section has at least two parts.
Referencing APA 7th edition.
Authorship Every author meets the authorship criteria. Changes to the author list after submission must be requested in writing and agreed by all authors.
04
Title, authors, abstract, keywords
—  Title. Concise and specific, ideally no more than 20 words, in sentence case. Include the key concepts and context, and where helpful the design, for example “…: A systematic literature review”. Avoid abbreviations and phrases such as “A study of”.
—  Authors (title page only). Full names without academic titles, in the agreed order, each linked by superscript letters to a university and country. Give an institutional email for every author and mark the corresponding author with an asterisk (*).
—  Short biography (title page only). 50–100 words for each author: position, university and country, research interests, and recent publications if relevant.
—  Abstract. 200–250 words in one paragraph, with no citations, footnotes, or undefined abbreviations. Cover the purpose, the method, the findings, and the originality or value.
—  Keywords. Three to five words or phrases, separated by semicolons and in alphabetical order. Do not repeat words from the title.
05
Structure of the manuscript
1.  Introduction: the background, a concise review of the literature, the research gap and its significance, and the research questions, ending with the objective. It includes a Theoretical framework (or Conceptual framework) subheading.
2.  Method: the design, setting, participants or sources, sampling, data collection, and analysis, in enough detail to be assessed and repeated.
3.  Results and Discussion: a Results part with findings organised by research question or theme, and a Discussion part that interprets them against theory and earlier studies.
4.  Conclusion: the answer to the research questions, the implications, the limitations, and directions for future research.
5.  End-matter statements, in this order: Acknowledgements; Disclosure Statement; Funding; Data Availability Statement; Ethics Approval and Informed Consent; Author Contributions; Declaration of Generative AI Use; ORCID; Supplemental Material and Notes, if any.
6.  References.
06
End-matter statements
These statements apply the COPE Core Practices on transparency and accountability. They are required, and a statement is made even when the answer is “none”.
Disclosure Statement All financial and non-financial interests that could be seen as a conflict of interest, and why. If there are none: “No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).”
Funding Each funder and grant number, and any role of the funder in the design, data collection, analysis, writing, or decision to publish. If there is no funding, say so.
Data Availability Where the data can be accessed (repository, DOI or link, conditions). If the data cannot be shared, for example for ethical or privacy reasons, say why.
Ethics and Consent For research with people: the approving or exempting ethics committee and reference number, and how informed consent was obtained.
Author Contributions Each author’s role, using the CRediT taxonomy.
Generative AI Any tool used, its version, the purpose, and how the output was checked. AI tools are not authors, and the authors remain responsible for the content. If none was used, say so.
ORCID The ORCID iD of every author as a full https://orcid.org/ link.
Acknowledgements People or institutions that helped but do not meet the authorship criteria, with their permission. Placed on the title page, not in the anonymised manuscript.
The corresponding author also completes and signs the Author Declaration Form at submission.
07
Tables and figures
—  Number tables and figures in the order they are first cited, and place each one after its first citation.
—  Put the number on its own line in bold (Table 1.) and the title on the next line in italic Title Case, both above the table or figure.
—  Tables use 11 pt text, horizontal lines only, no vertical lines, and no shading. Give the source or note below.
—  Figures are inserted in line with the text, centred, at least 300 dpi (JPG, PNG, or TIFF), with legible text in English, and readable in greyscale. Provide editable source files where possible.
—  Reproduce material from another source only with permission, and credit it.
08
Citations and references
—  Cite and list references in APA 7th edition, in alphabetical order by the first author’s surname, with a hanging indent.
—  Include more than 25 references, at least 80% of them peer-reviewed journal articles from the last 10 years. The rest may be books, theses, or research reports. This does not apply to book reviews.
—  Every source cited in the text appears in the list, and every listed source is cited.
—  Give each DOI as a full https://doi.org/ link.
—  Use endnotes sparingly, for explanations only, and never for references.
09
Preparing the files
—  Anonymised manuscript: remove author names, affiliations, biographies, acknowledgements, and self-identifying citations, and clear the author name from the file properties.
—  Title page (a separate file): the title, authors, affiliations, emails, biographies, and acknowledgements.
—  Author declaration form (a separate file): complete and sign the Author Declaration Form, with all co-authors’ consent, and upload it with the manuscript.
—  Supplementary files (optional): instruments, protocols, and datasets, each cited in the text.
—  Delete every blue guidance box and every highlighted placeholder from the template before submitting.
10
Submitting
1.  Register or log in at Register or Login, and add your ORCID iD to your profile.
2.  Read the submission guide and confirm every item of the pre-submission checklist.
3.  Upload the anonymised manuscript, the title page, the signed Author Declaration Form, and any supplementary files.
4.  Enter the title, abstract, and keywords, and the metadata of all co-authors.
5.  Finish the submission and keep the submission ID. Quote it in every message to the editors.
11
After submission
Screening Up to 7 days. A manuscript may be returned for technical fixes, or declined without review.
Peer review At least three reviewers, each with 21 days. See the Peer Review Process.
Decisions A first decision usually within about 6 weeks, and a final decision by week 14 or, at the latest, 4 months after submission. The whole process takes no more than 17 weeks.
Revisions 1 week for minor revisions and 3 weeks for major revisions. One extension of up to 1 week may be requested.
Appeals Within 30 days of a decision, in writing to the editors.
Publication Accepted articles are published online, open access, with a DOI. Charges are explained in Author Fees.