Author Guideline

AUTHOR GUIDELINES

This guideline is a comprehensive set of instructions detailing how to submit a manuscript for publication. It ensures consistency, clarity, and adherence to the journal's specific standards, facilitating the peer-review process and enhancing the overall quality of the publication. Author guideline and flowchart of article publication process are seen on this link.

1. Manuscript Types and Scope

UJCEd accepts Original Research Articles or Review Articles, including Systematic Literature Reviews and Meta-Analyses according to the focus and scope of the journal.

Submitted manuscripts must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration for publication by another journal or publisher.

2. Submission and Authorship

Manuscripts must be submitted through the UJCEd Online Journal System (OJS): https://ejournal.unesa.ac.id/index.php/journal-of-chemical-education/about/submissions

Authors experiencing technical difficulties may contact the Editorial Team at [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected].

The Corresponding Author must be clearly identified and serves as the primary contact with the journal throughout the submission, peer-review, revision, production, and publication processes.

Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission are subject to editorial evaluation and must comply with the UJCEd Authorship and Contributorship Policy.

3. Language, Length, and Typography

The manuscript must be written in English and should generally be 5–15 pages in length.

The manuscript must be prepared on A4 paper (210 × 297 mm) using the latest official UJCEd Manuscript Template.

Unless otherwise specified in the template:

  • The manuscript title must use Times New Roman, 12 pt, capital and bold;
  • Author names must be written in full without academic titles or degrees;
  • Each author must provide complete affiliation information and email address;
  • The Corresponding Author must be clearly identified;
  • The main text must use Times New Roman, 11 pt;
  • Line spacing must be single;
  • Paragraphs must be justified.

Authors must follow the margins, indentation, heading styles, layout, and other technical requirements provided in the latest official UJCEd Manuscript Template.

4. Abstract, Keywords, and SDGs

The abstract must be written in English using Times New Roman, 10 pt, italic and must not exceed 250 words.

The abstract should concisely include:

  • Background problem;
  • Research objective;
  • Brief methods;
  • Main results or findings; and
  • Conclusion, as well as suggestions or recommendations.

The abstract must not contain citations, tables, figures, formulas, or unexplained abbreviations.

Authors must provide 3–5 keywords.

5. Manuscript Structure

Original Research Articles should generally contain:

Title; Authors and Affiliations; Abstract; Keywords; Introduction; Method; Results and Discussion; Conclusion; Acknowledgement (where applicable); Author Contributions; Data Availability Statement; Declaration of Competing Interest; Declaration of Ethics; Declaration of Assistive Technologies in the Writing Process; and References.

Review Articles should follow an appropriate scholarly structure consistent with the review methodology used.

Systematic Literature Reviews and Meta-Analyses should adequately describe the search strategy, inclusion and exclusion criteria, source-selection process, data extraction, analytical methods, and other methodological components appropriate to the review design.

6. Core Manuscript Sections

Introduction

The Introduction must contain the state of the art, gap analysis, and research objectives.

Authors should use sufficient relevant scholarly literature, including at least 10 scientific articles, to establish an appropriate state of the art.

The state of the art should discuss relevant previous studies and developments in the field. The gap analysis should identify the research problem, scholarly gap, limitations of previous studies, or unresolved issues that justify the study and demonstrate its novelty or contribution.

The final part of the Introduction must clearly state the research objectives and/or research questions.

Excessive general definitions, broad theoretical descriptions, and textbook-style explanations should be avoided.

Method

The Method must describe the study in sufficient detail so that the research procedures can be understood, evaluated, and, where appropriate, reproduced by other researchers.

The Method should include, where relevant:

  • Research design;
  • Research procedures;
  • Research setting or context;
  • Data sources or participants;
  • Sampling techniques and procedures;
  • Data collection techniques;
  • Research instruments;
  • Instrument validity and reliability procedures;
  • Intervention or treatment procedures, where applicable;
  • Data analysis techniques; and
  • Software or analytical tools used, where relevant.

Commonly established methods or procedures do not need to be described excessively, but appropriate references should be provided where necessary.

Results and Discussion

The Results and Discussion must be presented as an integrated section.

The Results should clearly present the main findings and may be supported by tables, figures, graphs, statistical analyses, qualitative findings, or other relevant evidence. Results should not merely reproduce raw data but should emphasize findings directly related to the research objectives or research questions.

The Discussion should:

  • Address the research problem or research questions;
  • Interpret the findings;
  • Explain the meaning of the findings;
  • Relate the findings to relevant theories and previous studies;
  • Explain agreements, differences, or unexpected findings;
  • Identify the scholarly contribution of the study; and
  • Where relevant, develop or modify existing theoretical or practical understanding.

The Results and Discussion should address what was found, why it was found, and what else the findings imply.

At least 10 relevant scholarly references are recommended in the Discussion to support a sufficiently comprehensive interpretation of the findings.

The limitations of the study should be clearly stated before the final part of the Results and Discussion.

Conclusion

The Conclusion must be concise, written in paragraph form, and directly answer the research objectives and/or research questions.

The Conclusion must not merely repeat the Abstract, Results, or Discussion.

The Conclusion should emphasize the principal findings or scholarly contribution of the study. Appropriate directions for future research may be stated where relevant but should not be presented as an extensive recommendation section.

7. Figures, Tables, Equations, and Technical Format

Figures, photographs, graphs, diagrams, charts, tables, schemes, flowcharts, and other visual materials must be relevant to the manuscript, clearly presented, referred to in the text, and discussed where appropriate.

Visual materials must be of sufficient quality and resolution for publication.

Figure captions must be placed below the figure using Times New Roman, 10 pt, centered, and single-spaced.

Table titles must be placed above the table. Tables should generally use Times New Roman, 10 pt and single spacing. Font size may be adjusted where necessary to maintain readability.

Tables should contain clear column and row headings.

8. Acknowledgement, Contributions, Data, and Declarations

The Acknowledgement section is optional but must be included when the research receives grant funding or other financial or non-financial support. Where funding was received, authors should disclose the funding institution, grant or funding scheme, grant or contract number, and other relevant funding information.

Every manuscript must include:

  • Author Contributions using CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy);
  • Data Availability Statement;
  • Declaration of Competing Interest;
  • Declaration of Ethics; and
  • Declaration of Assistive Technologies in the Writing Process.

These declarations must accurately reflect the circumstances of the research and follow the format provided in the official UJCEd Manuscript Template. Mandatory declaration sections must not be removed.

9. AI and Assistive Technologies

Where Gen AI, AI-assisted technologies, or other assistive technologies are used, authors must disclose:

  • The name of each tool; and
  • The actual function or purpose for which the tool was used.

All AI-generated or AI-assisted outputs must be independently reviewed, verified, and edited by the authors. AI tools must not be listed as authors or co-authors. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, integrity, originality, ethical compliance, scholarly validity, and final content of the manuscript.

All use of AI and assistive technologies must comply with the UJCEd Gen AI Utilization Policy.

10. References

The reference list must contain at least 20 references from legitimate scholarly sources.

References should generally meet the following criteria:

  • At least 80% are primary scholarly sources;
  • At least 80% are up-to-date references (published within the last 10 years); and
  • More than 75% are from reputable international journals indexed in Scopus or Web of Science, where applicable.

All sources cited in the manuscript must appear in the reference list, and vice versa. Authors are strongly recommended to use Mendeley, EndNote, or Zotero following the APA citation style specified by UJCEd. Where available, a DOI or appropriate persistent link should be provided.

References and citations that are fabricated, non-existent, irrelevant, unverifiable, manipulated, misleading, or AI-hallucinated are strictly prohibited.