Author Guidelines

Guidelines for the Author of JCER (Journal of Chemistry Education Research)

Authors can submit manuscripts through the online submission system of the Journal of Chemistry Education Research (JCER).

Submission Preparation

All manuscripts submitted to JCER must present original research or scholarly work in the field of chemistry education. The manuscript must not have been previously published and must not be simultaneously submitted to another journal.

Authors are required to ensure that the manuscript is consistent with the focus and scope of JCER and follows the journal's manuscript template and author guidelines.

Manuscripts should be written in English and prepared according to the JCER template. Authors are responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of their manuscripts.

Manuscripts must be submitted through the JCER online submission system. Authors are required to register and create an account before submitting a manuscript.

Manuscript Format

  1. The manuscript must be prepared using the JCER manuscript template.

  2. The manuscript should be written in Microsoft Word format using Times New Roman font.

  3. The manuscript should be typed on A4 paper (210 × 297 mm) with margins of 2.5 cm on the top, bottom, left, and right sides.

  4. The main body of the manuscript uses Times New Roman 11 pt, single spacing, justified alignment, with 4 pt spacing after each paragraph. The first line of each paragraph should be indented by 0.75 cm.

  5. The manuscript should not exceed 10 pages, including tables, figures, references, and other components of the manuscript.

  6. The title must be written in English, in uppercase letters, Times New Roman 13 pt, bold, centered, and should not exceed 15 words.

  7. Author names must be written without academic degrees or professional titles. The authors' affiliations must be stated completely, including the study program, faculty, university, and country.

  8. The corresponding author's email address must be provided and should preferably use an institutional or academic email address.

  9. The abstract must be written in English, using Times New Roman 11 pt, italic, single spacing, and must not exceed 250 words.

  10. The abstract should provide a clear and concise description of the study without presenting the authors' personal opinions. For research articles, the abstract should include the research objective, methodology, and main findings or results.

  11. Authors should provide 3–5 keywords that are relevant to the content of the manuscript.

  12. Section headings must not be numbered. Heading levels should follow the JCER template:

  • Heading 1: uppercase, bold, aligned left.

  • Heading 2: title case, bold, aligned left.

  • Heading 3: title case, bold italic, aligned left.

  1. A research article should generally contain the following sections:

  • Introduction

  • Method

  • Result and Discussion

  • Conclusion

  • Acknowledgement, if applicable

  • Funding

  • Author Contribution

  • Conflicts of Interest

  • Ethical Clearance

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use Disclosure

  • Data Availability Statement

  • References

  1. Tables, figures, mathematical equations, and chemical reactions must be numbered consecutively according to their order of appearance and must be cited in the main text.

  2. Tables should be provided with their titles above the tables. Table titles should follow the format provided in the JCER template.

  3. Figures should be provided with captions below the figures. Figures must be numbered consecutively and cited in the main text.

  4. Figures should have sufficient resolution for publication, preferably at least 300 dpi. Authors may be requested to provide figures separately in JPEG, GIF, TIFF, or PNG format when necessary for the production process.

  5. Mathematical equations and chemical reactions must be numbered consecutively. Equation numbers should be placed in parentheses and aligned to the right.

  6. The discussion should connect the research findings and their analysis with the research questions or objectives and relevant theoretical or empirical perspectives. Discussion should be presented directly in relation to the results being discussed.

Article Components

INTRODUCTION

The Introduction should explain the background and rationale of the study, identify the research problem or gap, provide a concise review of relevant literature, explain the urgency or significance of the study, and clearly state the research objectives or research questions.

Relevant and up-to-date references should be used to support the rationale and significance of the study. Authors should clearly identify previous findings and explain how the present study contributes to the existing body of knowledge.

METHOD

The Method section should describe the research design, participants or population and sample, research setting where relevant, data collection techniques, research instruments and their development or validation, research procedures, and data analysis techniques.

The description should contain sufficient information to allow readers to understand and evaluate the research procedure.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

The Results should present the main findings of the study clearly and systematically. Results may be presented using narrative descriptions, tables, figures, graphs, or other appropriate forms of data presentation.

The Discussion should interpret the findings and relate them to the research objectives, relevant theories, and previous studies. Authors should explain the meaning and significance of the findings rather than merely repeating the results.

Tables and figures must be cited and discussed in the text.

CONCLUSION

The Conclusion should clearly summarize the main findings of the study in relation to the research objectives or research questions. The conclusion should not merely repeat the results but should emphasize the contribution and implications of the study.

Recommendations for future research or practical applications may be included when relevant.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This section is optional. Authors may acknowledge individuals, institutions, organizations, or other parties that provided financial support, technical assistance, academic guidance, facilities, or other substantial contributions to the research but do not meet the criteria for authorship.

FUNDING

Authors must disclose all sources of financial support received for conducting the research and preparing the manuscript.

If the research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors, authors should state:

"This research received no external funding."

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTION

Authors must provide a statement describing the contribution of each author to the research and manuscript preparation.

The author contribution statement should accurately reflect the actual contributions of all authors, including, where applicable, conceptualization, methodology, data collection, data analysis, interpretation of results, manuscript preparation, manuscript revision, and approval of the final manuscript.

All authors must agree to the authorship, research data, conclusions, and final version of the manuscript.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The corresponding author, on behalf of all authors, must disclose any financial, professional, institutional, or personal relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research or its interpretation.

If no conflicts of interest exist, authors should state:

"The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest."

ETHICAL CLEARANCE

Authors must state whether ethical clearance was obtained for the study.

Research involving human participants, including surveys, interviews, classroom observations, or educational interventions, should provide the name of the ethics committee or institution that granted ethical clearance and the approval number, where applicable.

Authors should also confirm that informed consent was obtained from participants or their legal guardians, where applicable.

If ethical clearance was not required under the applicable institutional regulations, authors should provide a brief explanation or justification.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) USE DISCLOSURE

Authors must disclose the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the preparation of the manuscript, including tools used for generating, editing, translating, analyzing, or otherwise assisting with the manuscript.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of the submitted manuscript.

If no AI tools were used in preparing the manuscript, authors should state:

"No artificial intelligence (AI) tools were used in the preparation of this manuscript."

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

Authors should provide a statement describing the availability of data supporting the findings of the study.

Research data may be:

  • publicly available through an appropriate data repository;

  • available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request; or

  • restricted because of ethical, legal, privacy, or other legitimate considerations.

Any restrictions on data access should be clearly explained.

References

References must follow the American Psychological Association (APA) 7th edition style.

At least 80% of the references should consist of literature published within the last 10 years. Authors are encouraged to prioritize recent and relevant primary sources, particularly research articles published in reputable scientific journals.

The reference list should contain only sources cited in the manuscript and should be arranged alphabetically according to the surname of the first author.

Authors are strongly encouraged to use reference management software such as Mendeley, Zotero, or EndNote to ensure consistency in citation and reference formatting.

In-text citations should use the author–date system according to APA 7th edition.

DOIs must be included for journal articles whenever available and should be presented in the following format:

https://doi.org/xxxxx

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to confirm that their manuscript complies with all of the following requirements. Manuscripts that do not comply with the requirements may be returned to the authors for revision.

  1. The manuscript is original and has not been previously published or submitted to another journal for consideration.

  2. The manuscript is within the focus and scope of the Journal of Chemistry Education Research.

  3. The manuscript has been prepared using the current JCER manuscript template and follows all applicable author guidelines.

  4. The manuscript is written in English and follows the required manuscript format.

  5. The manuscript does not exceed 10 pages.

  6. The title is written in English, uppercase, bold, centered, and does not exceed 15 words.

  7. The abstract is written in English, does not exceed 250 words, and contains the objective, method, and main findings of the research.

  8. The manuscript contains 3–5 relevant keywords.

  9. Author names are written without academic degrees or professional titles, and complete affiliations and the corresponding author's academic or institutional email address are provided.

  10. All tables, figures, mathematical equations, and chemical reactions are numbered consecutively and cited in the manuscript.

  11. Figures are provided with adequate resolution for publication.

  12. Citations and references follow APA 7th edition style.

  13. At least 80% of the references have been published within the last 10 years.

  14. DOI information is provided for journal articles whenever available.

  15. The manuscript includes the required statements on Funding, Author Contribution, Conflicts of Interest, Ethical Clearance, AI Use Disclosure, and Data Availability Statement.

  16. Any individuals, institutions, or organizations that provided significant assistance or financial support are appropriately acknowledged.

  17. The authors have declared any financial, professional, institutional, or personal conflicts of interest, or have stated that no conflicts of interest exist.

  18. The authors have provided an appropriate ethical clearance statement or justification when ethical clearance was not required.

  19. The authors have disclosed the use or non-use of artificial intelligence tools in manuscript preparation.

  20. The authors have provided an appropriate data availability statement.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in the JCER journal system will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of the journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.