Author Guidelines

Before You Submit

1. 1

   Choose the right journal

   Confirm that your research fits the journal’s aims and scope.

2. 2

   Prepare your manuscript

   Follow the journal’s formatting and article requirements.

3. 3

   Prepare your declarations

   Complete ethics, authorship, funding, and conflict disclosures where required.

4. 4

   Submit Your Manuscript

   Use the journal’s official submission system.

Article Types

PenScholar journals may accept several kinds of scholarly contributions, including research articles, review articles, case studies, research notes, book reviews, and editorials. The specific article types accepted, and any length guidance, are confirmed on each journal’s page.

Manuscript Preparation

Manuscripts should be submitted as an editable document, formatted clearly and consistently throughout, with a legible font, numbered pages, and a language and spelling convention used consistently from start to finish.

Detailed formatting specifications — page layout, line spacing, and margins — are confirmed on each journal’s page rather than applied as a single fixed standard across every PenScholar journal.

Recommended Manuscript Structure

Unless a journal specifies otherwise, the following structure is recommended rather than strictly required:

• Title, author information, abstract, and keywords
• Introduction, literature review, and methodology
• Results, discussion, and conclusion
• References

Title Page

Include the article title, author names and affiliations, ORCID iDs where available, the corresponding author’s contact information, and any funding or acknowledgements to be disclosed. Where a journal uses anonymized review, it will specify what to remove from the manuscript itself before submission.

Abstract & Keywords

Provide a concise, self-contained summary of the manuscript and a short list of keywords reflecting its subject and scope. Maximum abstract length and keyword count, where a journal sets one, are confirmed on that journal’s page.

References & Citation Style

Each PenScholar journal specifies its required citation style — for example APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, or Vancouver — on its own page. Authors should follow the style specified by the journal they are submitting to for both in-text citations and the reference list.

Where a cited work has a DOI, preserve it in the reference list using the https://doi.org/ format rather than the bare identifier alone.

Figures & Tables

Figures

Number figures sequentially and give each a clear caption. Use sufficient image resolution for clear reproduction, and secure permission before reusing any copyrighted material.

Tables

Number and title tables clearly, with source notes where relevant. Submit table data in editable form rather than as an image wherever possible.

Supplementary Material

Supplementary files may include datasets, appendices, research instruments, or additional figures and tables supporting the manuscript.

Ethics & Integrity

Authorship

Authorship should reflect meaningful contribution to the research and its reporting. The corresponding author is responsible for managing communication with the journal on behalf of all authors.

ORCID

Authors may connect an ORCID iD to their submission. Learn more at orcid.org.

Research Ethics

Where a study involves human participants, informed consent, institutional approval, sensitive data, or animal research, authors should confirm and disclose the relevant approvals as part of submission.

Originality & Plagiarism

Manuscripts must be original, not under consideration elsewhere, and free of undisclosed duplicate publication or improperly attributed text.

Declarations

Conflict of Interest

Authors must disclose relevant financial or non-financial conflicts of interest as part of submission.

Funding

Where research was funded, disclose the funder’s name and any applicable grant number.

Data Availability

Where a journal requires a data availability statement, provide one describing how the underlying data can be accessed. See PenScholar’s Research Data & Data Sharing policy for guidance on repositories, sensitive data, and responsible data sharing.

Copyright & Licensing

Copyright ownership, author rights, and any open access license are set out in PenScholar’s copyright and licensing policy.

Publication Fees

Fee information for each journal, if applicable, is confirmed on that journal’s page.

Submission Checklist

A practical check before you submit. Some items apply only where the journal requires them.

• Manuscript fits the journal’s scope
• Correct article type selected
• Manuscript follows the journal’s formatting requirements
• Abstract included where required
• Keywords included where required
• References follow the required citation style
• Figures and tables are correctly labeled
• Required ethical declarations are included
• Conflict of interest disclosed
• Funding disclosed where applicable
• Data availability statement included where applicable
• Author information is complete
• ORCID information added where required
• Manuscript is ready for peer review

Peer Review

Each PenScholar journal follows an editorial review process before reaching a publication decision. The specific review model, reviewer selection approach, and revision process for a given journal are set out in its peer review policy.

Read Peer Review Policy

What Happens Next?

Timelines vary by journal and are not guaranteed; submission does not guarantee acceptance.

How to Submit

1. 1

   Create or sign in to your account on the journal’s submission system.

2. 2

   Start a new submission.

3. 3

   Select the journal and article section.

4. 4

   Enter manuscript metadata.

5. 5

   Upload manuscript files.

6. 6

   Add authors and affiliations.

7. 7

   Complete required declarations.

8. 8

   Review your submission.

9. 9

   Submit to the editorial office.

Submit Manuscript

Resources for Authors

• Research Integrity
• Publication Ethics

Frequently Asked Questions