Submissions

Author Guidelines

Please make sure your manuscript conforms to the following guidelines. Manuscripts that do not conform to these requirements will not be processed. 

We ask you to upload an anonymised manuscript file for the initial submission. In the anonymised version, please replace publications by the author with a wildcard at the end of the reference list. Please also ensure that the author is not mentioned in the file properties of your document.

Article submissions should have a total size of no more than 10.000 words, including bibliography, notes, etc. Country reports should not exceed 9.000 words, references excluded. Papers of more than 12.000 words will not be accepted for review.

1 Highlights, abstract, and keywords

Please start your text with up to five highlights (bullet points) and a structured abstract of no more than 150 words. Highlights consist of a short collection of bullet points that convey the core findings of the article (maximum 95 characters, including spaces, per bullet point). A structured abstract is an abstract with distinct, labelled sections. Structure your abstract into the following sections:

Keywords: keyword 1, keyword 2, keyword 3

Highlights: 

- Highlight 1 

- Highlight 2 ...

Purpose: What are the reason(s) for writing the paper or the research aims?

Design/methodology/approach: How are the objectives achieved? Include the main method(s) used for the research. What is the approach to the topic, and what is the theoretical or subject scope of the paper?

Findings: What was found in the course of the work? This will refer to analysis, discussion, or results.

Research limitations/implications (if applicable): If research is reported on in the paper this section must be completed and should include suggestions for future research and any identified limitations in the research process.

Practical implications (if applicable): What outcomes and implications for practice, applications and consequences are identified?

Please list keywords and expressions characteristic of your contribution at the beginning of the text after the abstract (nominative, singular, separated by commas).

2 Manuscript format

1) Use the APA 7th style or referencing (you are invited to write authors' first names in full). For detailed information, see: http://www.apastyle.org/ and http://blog.apastyle.org

2) Please use only minimal formatting.

3) Emphasises in the text should be italicised, never in bold.

4) Please use standardised structuring elements (levels of titles, listing, etc.) A numerical structure is desirable (e.g., 1.1; 1.2...).

5) Please use footnotes very sparsely and exclusively for textual explanations, not for references or further bibliographical notes.

6) Numbers up to ten are written out in full.

7) Please avoid abbreviations. Use them only if they are self-explanatory. Names and institutions have to be written out when first mentioned. The abbreviations are added in brackets.

8) Tables and figures should be inserted in the consecutive text. Titles of tables and figures need to be above the figures and tables.

9) We need all figures, pictures and diagrams with high resolution. If this does not work out in the text, please upload them as separate files (preferred: tif files).

3 Language editing

Please ensure that your manuscript is linguistically correct and stylistically appropriate. If English is not your first language, we recommend that you have your manuscript professionally edited before submitting it. Submissions with linguistic weaknesses cannot be accepted for peer review.

4 Note on the review of your submission

At least two referees write their double-blind review of a submission completely autonomously, based on their scientific expertise in the respective domain.

In addition, they are also asked to summarise whether the following criteria are met: Scientific relevance of the article's topic, fit to the profile of the JSSE, interest, relevance and comprehensibility of the contribution for an international audience, quality of the scientific content, coherence of the argumentation and interpretation of the results, quality of the presentation as a whole.

5 Revising your submission

If the paper is not rated “accepted”, a commented version of the revised paper must be made available in the OJS.

To minimise the risk of confusion, you should submit the revised version of your paper exclusively via the online submission system. Generally, papers sent to the editorial office directly (i.e., via email) will not be processed.

Plagiarism

JSSE uses plagiarism detection software (Turnitin) when manuscripts are submitted. The percentage of plagiarism is calculated by software and also assessed manually. The manuscripts in which plagiarism is detected are handled based on the extent and severity of plagiarism present in the manuscript. The authors may be advised to revise the plagiarised parts of the manuscript and resubmit it as a fresh manuscript, or the manuscript can be rejected by the editorial board for publication in the journal.

Charges and fees

The JSSE is supported by Bielefeld University, Bielefeld University Library, the non-profit organisation sowi-online e.V., Bielefeld (Germany) and CIIE-Centre for Research and Intervention in Education, University of Porto (Portugal). No publication and processing fees are demanded. 

The JSSE adopts the COPE Guidelines on publication ethics.