Author Guidelines

Instructions to Authors

1. Publication policies

   EduThinkers policy prohibits an author from submitting the same manuscript for concurrent consideration by two or more publications. It prohibits as well the publication of any manuscript that has already been published either in whole or substantial part elsewhere. It also does not permit publication of a manuscript that has been published in full in Proceedings.

2. Editorial process

   Authors are notified on receipt of a manuscript and upon the editorial decision regarding publication. Manuscripts deemed suitable for publication by the Editor-in-Chief are sent to the Editorial Board members. We encourage authors to suggest the names of possible reviewers. Notification of the editorial decision is usually provided within 3 to 4 months (average 14 weeks) from the receipt of the manuscript. Publication of solicited manuscripts is not guaranteed. In most cases, manuscripts are accepted conditionally, pending an author's revision of the material.

   Authors are responsible for all statements in articles, including changes made by editors. The liaison author must be available for consultation with an editor of the journal to answer questions during the editorial process and to approve the edited copy. Authors receive edited typescript (not galley proofs) for final approval. Changes cannot be made to the copy after the edited version has been approved.

3. Manuscript preparation

   EduThinkers accepts submission of mainly three types of manuscripts. Each manuscript is classified as regular or original articles, reviews, and proposals for special issues. Articles must be in English or Malay and they must be competently written and argued in clear and concise grammatical English or Malay, respectively. Acceptable English/Malay usage and syntax are expected. Do not use slang, jargon, or obscure abbreviations or phrasing. Metric measurement is preferred; equivalent English measurement may be included in parentheses. Always provide the complete form of an acronym/abbreviation the first time it is presented in the text. Contributors are strongly recommended to have the manuscript checked by a colleague with ample experience in writing English/Malay manuscripts or an English/Malay language editor.

   Linguistically hopeless manuscripts will be rejected straightaway (e.g., when the language is so poor that one cannot be sure of what the authors really mean). This process, taken by authors before submission, will greatly facilitate reviewing, and thus publication if the content is acceptable. The instructions for authors must be followed. Manuscripts not adhering to the instructions will be returned for revision without review. Authors should prepare manuscripts according to the guidelines of EduThinkers.

   1. Regular article

      Definition: Full-length original empirical investigations, consisting of Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, Conclusion. Original work must provide references and an explanation of research findings that contain new and significant findings. Size: Should not exceed 5000 words or 8-10 printed pages (excluding the abstract, references, tables, and/or figures). One printed page is roughly equivalent to 3 type-written pages.

   2. Review article

      Definition: Critical evaluation of materials about current research that had already been published by organising, integrating, and evaluating previously published materials. Re-analyses as meta-analysis and systematic reviews are encouraged. Review articles should aim to provide systematic overviews, evaluations, and interpretations of research in a given field. 
      Size: Should not exceed 4000 words or 7-8 printed pages.

   3. Special issues

      Definition: Usually papers from research presented at a conference, seminar, congress, or a symposium.
      Size: Should not exceed 5000 words or 8-10 printed pages.

   With few exceptions, original manuscripts should not exceed the recommended length of 6 printed pages (about 18 typed pages, double-spaced, and in 12-point font, tables and figures included). Printing is expensive, and, for the journal, postage doubles when an issue exceeds 80 pages. Long articles reduce the journal's possibility to accept other high-quality contributions because of its 80-page restriction. We would like to publish as many good studies as possible, not only a few lengthy ones. Therefore, short and concise manuscripts have a definite advantage.

4. Format

   The paper should be formatted in one column format with at least 4cm margins and 1.5 line spacing throughout. Authors are advised to use Times New Roman 12-point font. Be especially careful when you are inserting special characters, as those inserted in different fonts may be replaced by different characters when converted to PDF files. For example, it is well known that 'μ' will be replaced by other characters when fonts such as "Symbol" or "Mincho" are used.

   A maximum of eight keywords should be indicated below the abstract to describe the contents of the manuscript. Leave a blank line between each paragraph and between each entry in the list of bibliographic references. Tables should preferably be placed in the same electronic files as the text. Every page of the manuscript, including the title page, references, tables, etc. should be numbered. However, no reference should be made to page numbers in the text; if necessary, one may refer to sections. Underline words that should be in italics, and do not underline any other words.

   We recommend that authors prepare the text as a Microsoft Word file.

   • i. Manuscript, in general, should be organised in the following order:
     

     Page 1: Running title. (Not to exceed 60 characters, counting letters and spaces). This page should only contain the running title of your paper. The running title is an abbreviated title used as the running head on every page of the manuscript. In addition, the subject areas most relevant to the study must be indicated on this page. Select the appropriate subject areas from the Scope of the journals provided.

     A list of a number of black and white/colour figures and tables should also be indicated on this page. Figures submitted in colour will be printed in colour. See "Figures & Photographs" for details.

     Page 2: Author(s) and Corresponding author information. This page should contain the full title of your paper with name(s) of all the authors, institutions, and corresponding author's name, institution and full address (street address, telephone number (including extension), handphone number, fax number and e-mail address) for editorial correspondence. The names of the authors must be abbreviated following the international naming convention, e.g., Salleh, A.B., Tan, S.G., or Sapuan, S. M.

     Authors addresses. Multiple authors with different addresses must indicate their respective addresses separately by superscript numbers: For examples:

     Lay, Y.F.¹ and Zurida, I.² 1Faculty of Psychology and Education, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia 2School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.

     Page 3: This page should repeat the full title of your paper with only the Abstract (the abstract should be less than 250 words for a regular paper). Keywords must also be provided on this page (Not more than eight keywords in alphabetical order).

     Page 4 and subsequent pages: This page should begin with the introduction of your article and the rest of your paper should follow from page 5 onwards.

   • ii. Text. 
     Regular papers should be prepared with the headings Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, Conclusions in this order.

   • iii. Tables.
     All tables should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals. Explanatory material should be given in the table legends and footnotes. Each table should be prepared on a separate page. (Note that when a manuscript is accepted for publication, tables must be submitted as data -.doc, RTF, Excel, or PowerPoint file- because tables submitted as image data cannot be edited for publication.)

   • iv. Equations and Formulae.
     The equations and formulae must be set up clearly and should be typed triple spaced. Numbers identifying equations should be in square brackets and placed on the right margin of the text.

   • v. Figures & Photographs.
     Submit an original figure or photograph. Line drawings must be clear, with a high black and white contrast. Each figure or photograph should be prepared on a separate sheet and numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals. Appropriate sized numbers, letters, and symbols should be used, no smaller than 2 mm in size after reduction to single-column width (85 mm), 1.5-column width (120 mm) or full 2-column width (175 mm). Failure to comply with these specifications will require new figures and delay in publication. For electronic figures, create your figures using applications that are capable of preparing high-resolution TIFF files acceptable for publication. In general, we require 300 dpi or higher resolution for coloured and half-tone artwork and 1200 dpi or higher for line drawings. For review, you may attach low-resolution figures, which are still clear enough for review, to keep the file of the manuscript under 5 MB. Illustrations may be produced at extra cost in colour at the discretion of the Penerbit UMS, the author could be charged Malaysian Ringgit, RM 50 for each colour page.

      

   • vi. References.
     Literature citations in the text should be made by name(s) of the author(s) and year. For references with more than two authors, the name of the first author followed by 'et al.' should be used. For example, Swan and Kanwal (2007) reported that.., the results have been interpreted (Kanwal et al., 2009).

     • - References should be listed in alphabetical order, by the authors' last names. For the same author or for the same set of authors, references should be arranged chronologically. If there is more than one publication in the same year for the same author(s), the letters 'a', 'b', etc., should be added to the year.

     • - When the authors are more than 11, list 5 authors and then et al.

     • - Do not use indentations in typing References. Use one line of space to separate each reference. The name of the journal should be written in full. For example:

       Mellers, B. A. (2006a). Choice and the relative pleasure of consequences. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 910-924.

       Mellers, B. A. (2006b). Treatment for sexually abused children and adolescents. American Psychologist, 55, 1040-1049.

       Hawe, P. (2005). Capturing the meaning of "community" intervention evaluation: Some contributions from community psychology. Health Promotion International, 9, 199-210.

       Braconier, H., & Ekholm, K. (2006). Swedish multinationals and competition from high and low wage location. Review of International Economics, 8, 448-461.

        

     • - In case of citing an author(s) who has published more than one paper in the same year, the papers should be distinguished by addition of a small letter as shown above, e.g., Jalaludin (1997a); Jalaludin (1997b).

     • - Unpublished data and personal communications should not be cited as literature citations but given in the text in parentheses. 'In press' articles that have been accepted for publication may be cited in References. Include in the citation the journal in which the 'in press' article will appear and the publication date, if a date is available.

   • vii. Examples of other reference citations: Monographs: Chapter in book: Bjork, R.A. (2007). Retrieval inhibition as an adaptive mechanism in human memory. In H.L. Roedlger III & F.I.M. Craik (Eds.), Varieties of memory & consciousness (pp. 309-330). Hull: Hull University Press. Proceedings: Amir Awang (2006). Counselling, human resources development and counselling services. In Sulaiman M. Yassin, Yahya Mat Hassan, Kamariah Abu Bakar, Esah Munji and Sabariah Mohd. Rashid (Eds.), Proceedings of Asia Pacific Conference on Human Development (p.243-246). Serdang: Universiti Putra Malaysia.

5. Style of the Manuscript

   Formatting
   EduThinkers accepts manuscript of up to 9,000 words, including endnotes and references, and reserves the right to return any manuscript that exceeds that length. All texts must be double-spaced, type size must be at least 12 points with 1-inch margins on all sides, and paper size should be set to 8.5 x 11 inch, even if printed on A4 paper.

   Authors should refer to the Chicago Manual of Style for general questions on style, grammar, punctuation, format, and for endnotes of theoretical, descriptive, or essay-like materials.

   Authors should use the latest version of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA 6th edition) for reference and citation formats. Manuscripts with references and/or citations in another form will be returned to the author(s).

   English/Malay Language Editing
   EduThinkers emphasizes on the linguistic accuracy of every manuscript published. For articles written in English, the journal uses British spelling and authors may follow the latest edition of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary for British spellings. For articles written in Malay language, authors may follow the latest edition of Kamus Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. All authors are required to get their manuscripts adequately edited by professional English/Malay language editors. All possible costs incurred will be borne by the author(s).

6. Submission of Manuscripts

   All electronic files (including cover letter, manuscript, declaration and referral form) should be submitted electronically via email to the Editor-in-Chief to be properly acknowledged and rapidly processed. Please do not submit manuscripts to any other officers directly.

   Professor Dr Lay Yoon Fah
   Editor-in-Chief
   Journal of Educational Thinkers, EduThinkers (Jurnal Pemikir Pendidikan)
   Faculty of Psychology and Education
   Universiti Malaysia Sabah
   Jalan UMS, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
   Tel: +6088320000 ext 2285; Fax: +6088320268
   e-mail: layyoonfah@yahoo.com.my; layyf@ums.edu.my

Authors should retain copies of submitted manuscripts and correspondence, as materials cannot be returned. Authors are required to inform the Editor-in-Chief of any change of address which occurs whilst their manuscripts are in the process of publication.

All articles submitted to the journal must comply with these instructions. Failure to do so will result in return of the manuscript and possible delay in publication. Authors should retain copies of submitted manuscripts and correspondence, as materials cannot be returned. Authors are required to inform the Editor-in-Chief of any change of address which occurs whilst their manuscripts are in the process of publication.

Cover letter

All submissions must be accompanied by a cover letter detailing what you are submitting. Manuscripts are accepted for publication in the journal on the understanding that the article is original and the content has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. This must be stated in the cover letter.

The cover letter must also contain an acknowledgement that all authors have contributed significantly and that all authors are in agreement with the content of the manuscript. The cover letter of the paper should contain (i) the title; (ii) the full names of the authors; (iii) the addresses of the institutions with (iv) the full postal and email address, plus facsimile and telephone numbers of the author to whom correspondence about the manuscript should be sent. As articles are double-blind reviewed, material that might identify authorship of the paper should be placed on a cover sheet.

Peer review

EduThinkers follows a double-blind peer-review process. Peer reviewers are experts chosen by the Editor-in-Chief to provide a written assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of written research, with the aim of improving the reporting of research and identifying the most appropriate and highest quality material for the journal.

In the peer-review process, two referees independently evaluate the scientific quality of the submitted manuscripts. Authors are encouraged to indicate in the Referral form the names of three potential reviewers but the Editor-in-Chief will make the final choice. The editors are not, however, bound by these suggestions.

Manuscripts should be written so that they are intelligible to the professional reader who is not a specialist in a particular text. They should be written in a clear, concise, direct style. Where contributions are judged as acceptable for publication on the basis of content, the Editor-in-Chief reserves the right to modify the typescripts to eliminate ambiguity and repetition and improve communication between author and reader. If extensive alterations are required, the manuscript will be returned to the author for revision.

The Journal's review process

Typically, there are seven steps to the editorial review process.

• i. The Editor-in-Chief and the editorial board members examine the paper to determine whether it is appropriate for the journal and should be reviewed. If not appropriate, the manuscript is rejected outright and the author will be informed.

• ii. The Editor-in-Chief sends the article-identifying information having been removed, to two reviewers. Typically, one of these is the internal referee. External referees are specialists in the subject matter represented by the article. The Editor-in-Chief asks them to complete the review in three weeks and encloses two forms: (a) referral form and its reviewer's comment form along with the reviewer's guidelines. Comments to authors are about the appropriateness and adequacy of the theoretical or conceptual framework, literature review, method, results and discussion, and conclusions. Reviewers often include suggestions for strengthening of the manuscript. Comments to the Editor-in-Chief are in the nature of the significance of the work and its potential contribution to the literature.

• iii. The editorial board members, in consultation with the Editor-in-Chief, examine the reviews and decide whether to reject the manuscript, invite the author(s) to revise and resubmit the manuscript or seek additional reviews. Final acceptance or rejection rests with the Editorial Board, who reserves the right to refuse any material for publication. In rare instances, the manuscript is accepted with almost no revision. Almost without exception, reviewers' comments (to the author) are forwarded to the author. If a revision is indicated, the editor-in-chief provides guidelines for attending to the reviewers' suggestions and perhaps additional advice about revising the manuscript.

• iv. The authors decide whether and how to address the reviewers comments and criticisms and the editor's concerns. The authors submit a revised version of the paper to the Editor-in-Chief along with specific information describing how they have answered the concerns of the reviewers and the editors.

• v. The Editor-in-Chief sends the revised paper out for review. Typically, at least one of the original reviewers will be asked to examine the article.

• vi. When the reviewers have completed their work, the editor-in-chief examines their comments and decides whether the paper is ready to be published, needs another round of revisions, or should be rejected.

• vii. If the decision is to accept, the paper is sent to the Penerbit UMS and the article should appear in print in approximately three months. The Publisher ensures that the paper adheres to the correct style (in-text citations, the reference list, and tables are typical areas of concern, clarity, and grammar). The authors are asked to respond to any queries by the Penerbit UMS. Following these corrections, page proofs are mailed to the corresponding authors for their final approval. At this point, only essential changes are accepted. Finally, the article appears in the pages of the journal.

English/Malay language editing

EduThinkers emphasizes on the linguistic accuracy of every manuscript published. Thus all authors are required to get their manuscripts adequately edited by professional English/Malay language editors. All possible costs incurred will be borne by the author(s).

Author material archive policy

Authors who require the return of any submitted material that is rejected for publication in the journal should indicate on the cover letter. If no indication is given, that author's material should be returned, the Editorial Office will dispose of all hardcopy and electronic material.

Copyright

Authors publishing the journal will be asked to sign a declaration form. In signing the form, it is assumed that authors have obtained permission to use any copyrighted or previously published material. All authors must read and agree to the conditions outlined in the form, and must sign the form or agree that the corresponding author can sign on their behalf. Articles cannot be published until a signed form has been received.

Lag time

A decision on acceptance or rejection of a manuscript is reached in 3 to 4 months (average 14 weeks). The elapsed time from submission to publication for the articles averages 5-6 months.

Hardcopies of the journals

The corresponding author for all articles will receive one (1) complimentary hardcopy of the journal in which his/her article is published. Additional copies of the journals may be purchased by writing to the Editor-in-Chief.