Author Guidelines
Summary of important information
- No article processing charge (APC) or other fees.
- Articles must be submitted as a .docx file using the journal's Article Template.
- Research articles must be 5000-10,000 words in length, including references and contents of any tables but not including abstract. The paper also publishes non-peer reviewed 'Engagements', which are exempt from the length restrictions.
- AI (including LLMs) may be used for certain tasks, but any use of AI must be noted in the paper’s Methods section or in Acknowledgments included during initial submission. Papers that breach these rules will be rejected.
- Maximum of four figures/tables, though see exceptions below.
- No footnotes or endnotes.
- Submit as Microsoft Word (.docx) file.
- Double-blind peer review of research papers.
- The journal is committed to expanding accessibility and provides free language editing following acceptance, but initial submissions must be in easily comprehensible English that is suitable for peer review.
Authors should read the below detailed guidelines carefully as manuscripts that do not adhere to these guidelines will not be published.
Paper Types
Research papers
Research papers are subject to both editorial review and double-blind peer review. Research papers may be more or less creative and formally innovative, but they must make a clear argument, include appropriate references, and be suitable for peer review. These articles must be between 5000-10,000 words, including references and the contents of any tables. The title and abstract are not included in the word count. These length guidelines also apply to resubmissions and revisions of existing submissions: Papers that exceed the maximum word count at any stage in the editorial process will be returned to authors for shortening.
Engagements
The journal also publishes creative and artistic work, interviews, and other content in its 'Engagements' section. This section is clearly distinguished for the 'Research Papers' section and is subject only to editorial review, not to peer review. There is no maximum or minimum length for such content, which is also exempt from the requirements regarding the maximum number of illustrations. However, the editors will consider the appropriateness of word counts and numbers of illustrations when considering these pieces.
Article template
To streamline copyediting and layout processing, all authors of research papers must format their text using the official Article Template: Download Article Template. Do not alter the Article Template's margins, font selections, spacing, or page setups. You may add or remove sections and subsections and alter the wording of titles as necessary. You must submit your paper as a .docx file. When undertaking your initial submission, keep your paper anonymised, and do not add author information to the Article Template until requested to do so by the editors.
The journal's Article Template must be used for text- and image-focused 'Engagements' submissions such as essays, photo essays, poems, and interviews. Videos and multimedia pieces may be submitted in other formats. If in doubt, contact the editors.
AI policy
AI (including LLMs) may be used during the research process. It may also be used to translate text and to undertake simple language editing. AI may not be used to write all or part of your article text, may not be used to create a textual synthesis of the results of your study, and may not be used to respond to reviewer comments/requests. Any use of AI must be noted in the paper’s Methods section or in Acknowledgments included during initial submission. Papers that breach these rules will be rejected.
Papers that include false/hallucinated quotes or references, repetitive writing that fills space without contributing meaning, overuse of bulleted lists, and other examples of research misconduct or lack of substance will be rejected.
Ordinarily, research papers can have a maximum of four figures/tables. This is due to production costs. In the event that more figures/tables are necessary for your paper, these can be included at a cost of $75 Singapore dollars per figure/table in excess of four. That is, if your accepted manuscript has six figures/tables, it will be necessary pay the journal $150 Singapore dollars prior to publication. This fee will be payable by credit card or debit card. Contributions to the 'Engagements' section need not adhere to these restrictions, but only appropriate illustrations should be included.
Submit photographs as JPEG files with a resolution of 300 dots per inch (dpi). Submit other images as PNG files. Please insert photographs, tables, and other figures in the appropriate places in the manuscript to assist in the review process.
Make sure that it is possible for your figures and tables to fit legibly within the ordinary margins of the Article Template page. It is not acceptable to change the orientation of the page from portrait to landscape. If you submit a larger image, it will probably look worse when shrunken down to the size necessary to fit it into the journal.
If you are designing a table using Microsoft Word or other software, that is fine; however, please ensure that all elements of your table fit within the page margins, and make the table as stylistically simple as possible.
If authors incorporate any images from third parties, they must ensure (at their own expense) that any copyrighted material submitted for publication in the journal is appropriately cleared with the respective copyright holders. Do not include third-party images in your manuscript unless you have already received permission from the copyright holder to include it, or unless the source of the image clearly states that it may be freely reproduced. If your manuscript includes a third-party image that is not self-evidently freely reproducible (for example, if it has been appropriately attributed to its creator and linked to a file on Wikimedia), then please include a document from the image’s copyright holder confirming that you have the right to reproduce the image. If you are unable to determine the copyright holder of an image or are unable to contact the copyright holder, then you are not permitted to include the image in your manuscript.
Footnotes and endnotes are not permitted. All information must be placed in the body of the manuscript. Please remove all reference-linking field codes and automatic formatting (for example, for section heads and sub-section heads) prior to submitting your manuscript.
All papers must be written in easily comprehensible English. Any regional variety of English is acceptable as long as authors are consistent. Papers that are not written in easily comprehensible English will be rejected immediately or sent back to the authors for revisions.
Style and references
The final version of research papers and most 'Engagements' contributions must be submitted using the journal's Article Template, which applies the APA 7 reference format. You may find it useful to submit the initial version of the paper using the journal's Article Template, but this is not required.
You can find a guide to citing and referencing in line with the APA 7 format here: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/. You are welcome to use reference management software to assist you with your references and citations, but it will always be necessary for you to manually check to ensure that references are complete.
Quoted matter, whether in text or notes, should be between double quotation marks (“xxx”), with punctuation occurring within the quotation marks (“xxx,”). Quotations of 40 words or more should appear as a standalone, indented paragraph, without quotation marks. Single quotation marks (‘xxx’) should be used for labelling concepts and other kinds of emphasis but not for direct quotes.
Always provide a full citation; do not use (ibid.). Please ensure that in-text citations always either immediately follow the author(s)’ name(s) or include the author(s)’ name(s). It is the authors’ responsibility to ensure that citations and references are correct and in the APA 7 style. Papers that are not presented in the APA 7 style will be rejected immediately or sent back to the authors for revisions.
Editorial and peer review process
Papers must fit within the journal’s stated scope. In submitting a manuscript to the journal, authors are confirming that they do not have an identical or similar manuscript under review, or somehow being considered for publication, with any other journal at the same time. They are also confirming that no version of the paper is already published online in any form and in any language.
The journal follows the Committee on Publication Ethics’ ‘Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors’. With the exception of editorial introductions, all research papers published in the journal are subject to double-blind peer review by a minimum of two double-blind reviewers, with at least one reviewer being external to the editorial board. This standard also applies to papers authored or coauthored by members of the editorial board. Reviews are owned by the authors of the reviews. Peer reviewers are asked to abide by the Committee on Publication Ethics’ ‘Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers’.
Copyediting and typesetting
Once a paper has been accepted, it will be sent out to a professional copyeditor and typesetter, who will make any necessary corrections to the paper in consultation with the corresponding author. After the paper has been copyedited, it will be typeset for publication in both PDF and HTML formats. Authors will have the opportunity to make final, minor corrections at this stage. However, major corrections and revisions should be made prior to a paper being accepted or (at the latest) during copyediting.
Conflicts of interest
Actual, potential, or apparent conflicts of interest must be declared at the time of article submission or as soon as such conflicts arise. Conflicts of interest include professional, business, financial, personal, or legal relationships between an author and an organisation being studied or discussed in a paper, which could influence the manner in which the research has been conducted and/or presented. Conflicts of interest are not in themselves reasons for rejecting a paper, but such conflicts may affect the way in which a paper is assessed. Failure to declare actual, potential, or apparent conflicts of interest may result in rejection of submitted articles or retraction or clarification of published articles. For questions involving conflicts of interest and other ethical issues, please contact the editor-in-chief.
Copyright
Copyright on manuscripts is held by the authors, and articles are published under the CC BY 4.0 license.
