Submissions

Author Guidelines

Before you submit

Confirm that your work is original, is not published elsewhere, and is not under consideration by another journal.

Manuscript format

Microsoft Word (.docx). PDF is accepted for initial submission only. A4, 1.5 line spacing, 12pt Times New Roman or equivalent. Continuous line numbering, pages numbered.

Structure

Upload two files. First, a title page, submitted separately and not part of the anonymised manuscript. It carries the title, all authors with affiliations and ORCID iDs, corresponding author contact details, acknowledgements, funding, and the conflict of interest declaration. Second, the anonymised manuscript, containing the title, abstract, keywords, body and references.

Abstract and keywords

250 words maximum, structured for empirical papers: purpose, methods, findings, implications. Four to six keywords.

Body

Empirical papers: introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion. Theoretical and review papers may be structured differently but must be clearly signposted.

Word counts

See the section descriptions below. Counts exclude references and appendices.

References

APA 7th edition. Include DOIs where available.

Tables and figures

Numbered, titled, and cited in the text. Supplied in editable form rather than as images. Figures at 300 dpi minimum.

Language

English. British or American spelling are both accepted, but be consistent. Authors whose first language is not English are encouraged to have the manuscript read by a fluent colleague before submitting. We do not reject work for language alone, and we will not decline a paper whose substance is sound because the prose needs editing.

Anonymisation

Remove author names from the manuscript file, from the document properties, and from self-citations. Refer to your own prior work in the third person.

Ethics and consent

State ethical approval and informed consent in the methodology section, including the approving body and reference number.

Data availability

Every submission must include a data availability statement. Where data cannot be shared, give the reason.

Generative AI

Disclose any use of generative AI tools, stating which tool was used and for what purpose. AI tools cannot be listed as authors.

Charges

There is no submission fee. Nothing is payable when you submit, and nothing is payable if your article is declined.

Accepted articles carry an article processing charge of USD 100, invoiced after acceptance and before publication. There are no page charges, colour charges or supplementary fees of any kind.

Authors without access to research funding may request a full waiver. Waivers are granted on request, with no documentation or means test. Requesting a waiver has no bearing on the editorial decision, and reviewers and handling editors are never informed of an author's payment status.