Author Guidelines

Instructions for Authors

SEI follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/)

(Updated February 2022)

1. Copyright

As the author(s) of the article, author(s) retain the copyright of their articles.

Please be aware that as SEI uses the Open Journal Systems (OJS), SEI users are able to: Read, Download, Copy, Distribute, Print, and/or Search SEI for the full text of all current and archived articles. 

2. Corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions

In accordance with COPE, SEI acknowledges that after an article has been published it may be necessary to make a change to the article. There are four possible changes that may be made:

-        Correction

-        Expression of Concern

-        Retraction

-        Removal

(see https://publicationethics.org/postpublication)

For articles published in SEI, this will be done by the Editor. In the event that a post publication change is necessary, a notice will be linked to the original article.

3. Plagiarism code

COPE (https://publicationethics.org/category/keywords/plagiarism) defines plagiarism as:

“When somebody presents the work of others (data, words or theories) as if they were his/her own and without proper acknowledgment.”

For SEI, this applies to data, images, words, or ideas taken from any materials in electronic or print formats without sufficient attribution. Please be aware that this includes any author’s own previously published material – known as self-plagiarism. The use of any such material either directly or indirectly should be properly acknowledged in all instances. You should always cite your source.

4. Research Ethics

COPE defines ethical considerations to be:

“Ethical oversight should include, but is not limited to, policies on consent to publication, publication on vulnerable populations, ethical conduct of research using animals, ethical conduct of research using human subjects, handling confidential data and ethical business/marketing practices” (https://publicationethics.org/oversight)

Therefore, all articles published in SEI must have been conducted according to guidelines ensuring ethically conducted research.

Research involving humans

Prior to starting the study, ethical approval must have been obtained by the researcher(s) from an appropriate ethics committee to confirm the study meets guidelines for research on humans. For SEI:

• - Statement(s) concerning the voluntary participation and informed consent of all participants must be included in the Methodology section of the article. SEI is aware that different countries have a minimum age for participants to be able to provide informed consent, for participants under the age of 18 this needs to be made explicitly clear what the guidelines are for participants included in the study.
• - A statement to confirm Ethics has been obtained by an appropriate ethics committee must be included within the manuscript after the Conclusion and before References, which must provide details of the name of the ethics committee and reference/permit number where available. This will be removed for blind review purposes but is a required addition before publication.

SEI does acknowledge that some studies may be conducted as non-interventional studies with minimal intrusiveness (e.g. surveys that do not require any personal details). In such studies, ethical approval may not be required. SEI also understands that a study may have been granted an exemption by an ethics committee. For both of these cases, the author(s) will still be required to include an Ethics statement in the Methodology section indicating that ethics was not required and provide the reason(s). Similarly, the article will still require and Ethics statement after the Conclusion and before the References that includes the name of the ethics committee which provided this exemption and the reasons why ethics was not required.

Author(s) should adhere to non-stigmatizing and non-discriminatory language when describing different groups, such as: Race, Ethnicity, Age, Ability, Religion, Gender, and Sexual orientation. If participants need to be described by a particular grouping, this must to be explained withing the article.

Consent to Publish

As part of the ethical considerations, author(s) need to ensure that part of the Informed Consent provided by all participants includes their understanding that research material obtained may lead to publication. Participants must be aware of how this material will be altered for possible publication while not distorting the scholarly meaning, such as: Anonymised data, Pseudonyms, etc.

Author(s) should obtain written informed consent, however, if only verbal informed consent was obtained, author(s) will need to include a full explanation for why as part of the Ethics Statement to be included after the Conclusion and before the References

Consent to publish identifiable information

SEI acknowledges that in some cases, articles may include identifiable information such as: Photographs, Illustrations, Images, etc. If there is any identifiable information included, this may be noted as part of the informed consent provided by participants. Please be aware that for participants under the legal age (as determined by your country or appropriate ethics committee) or anyone who is not able to provide their own informed consent this will require informed consent from their parental or legal guardian. In the event a participant has passed away this may be provided by their legal aged next of kin.

In the case of publishing identifiable information, the consent to publish should note that the article was shared with the individual or all identifiable participants so that they are able to provide informed consent. For those participants underaged or unable to provide their own informed consent, the parent or legal guardian must be provided with this material before publication to provide their informed consent.

Author(s) must include as part of the Ethics statement after the Conclusions and before the References, a Consent to Publish Identifiable Information has been obtained and who granted this consent to publish. If necessary, author(s) must be prepared to provide copies of signed consent forms to the Editor.

Research involving animals, plants, and heritage sites

SEI publishes on a wide range of science related issues and topics as it seeks to support the teaching of science across all years (Early Childhood Education through Tertiary Study) and subject areas (e.g., Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Socioscientific Issues, etc.). As such, some articles may include animals, plants, or heritage sites.

• - A statement to confirm Ethics has been obtained by an appropriate Animal Ethics committee must be included within the manuscript after the Conclusion and before References, which must provide details of the name of the ethics committee and reference/permit number where available. This will be removed for blind review purposes but is a required addition before publication.
• - A statement to confirm Ethics has been obtained for Research Using Plants (either cultivated or wild) by the appropriate institutional, national, or international ethics committee must be included within the manuscript after the Conclusion and before References, which must provide details of the name of the ethics committee and reference/permit number where available. This will be removed for blind review purposes but is a required addition before publication.
• - A statement to confirm any necessary Permits for Access to any heritage sites has been obtained by an appropriate governing organisation must be included within the manuscript after the Conclusion and before References, which must provide details of the name of the appropriate governing organisation which has provided authorisation to access the heritage site.

Biosafety, biosecurity, and emerging biotechnology

SEI journal will only consider research which has been carried out in compliance with institutional biosafety and biosecurity policies, which in turn should be informed by national or international recommendations.

• - A statement to confirm Ethics has been obtained by the appropriate institutional, national, or international ethics committee must be included within the manuscript after the Conclusion and before References, which must provide details of the name of the ethics committee and reference/permit number where available. This will be removed for blind review purposes but is a required addition before publication.

5. Language

Articles and all appendices are accepted in English only.

Any Reference that is in a foreign language will need to include English Translations. For example:

Henno, I., Kollo, L., & Mikser, R. (2017). Eesti loodusainete õpetajate uskumused, õpetamispraktika ja enesetõhusus TALIS 2008 ja 2013 uuringu alusel [Estonian science teachers’ pedagogical beliefs, teaching practices and self-efficacy based on the results of the TALIS 2008 and 2013 reports]. Estonian Journal of Education, 5(1), 268–296.   https://doi.org/10.12697/eha.2017.5.1.09

Manuscripts should be concisely written with strong consistency and coherency in order to appeal their significant findings to SEI Users (also see Non-native English authors).

6. Material submission

All manuscripts should be submitted electronically by the online submission system.

Authorship

Listing authors’ names on an article is an important mechanism to give credit to those who have significantly contributed to the work. It also ensures transparency for those who are responsible for the integrity of the content.

Authors listed on an article must meet all of the following criteria:

1. a) Made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that’s in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, or in all these areas.
2. b) Have drafted or written, or substantially revised or critically reviewed the article.
3. c) Have agreed on the journal to which the article will be submitted.
4. d) Reviewed and agreed on all versions of the article before submission, during revision, the final version accepted for publication, and any significant changes introduced at the proofing stage.
5. e) Agree to take responsibility and be accountable for the contents of the article and to share responsibility to resolve any questions raised about the accuracy or integrity of the published work.

Defining authorship

It is the collective responsibility of all the individuals who have conducted the work to determine who should be listed as authors, and the order in which authors should be listed.

The SEI editor will not decide on order of authorship and cannot arbitrate authorship disputes. Where unresolved disputes between the authors arise, the institution(s) where the work was performed will be asked to investigate.

7. Formatting

All materials should conform to styles in the latest Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), currently 7^th edition. This includes the presentation of statistics data (e.g., M = 4.3, SD = 2.4; t(4) = 23.5, p < .01; F(3, 10) = 76.4, p < .05), the in-/direct quotations, the in-text citations, and the reference list (see http://www.apastyle.org).

Unless manually composed with no error, the in-text citations and the reference list should be composed by means of using reference software such as Endnote, Zotero, Mendeley, or any alternatives for complying with the APA style.

A submitted article for publication must restrict its length to 5,000-8,000 words, including tables and references.

Manuscripts should be written in 12-point font-size and double-spaced on A4 paper with every margin of 2.54 cm (1 inch).

The first page of the manuscript is the Title Page and should carry the title, the author (s) name (s), affiliation, address, and e-mail.

The second and later pages should carry the title, the abstract, three to five key words, and the main manuscript removing any author information for blind reviews.

A concise and informative abstract of approximately 200 words must be provided.

Sections (e.g., 1. Introduction, 2. Literature review, 3. Methodology, 4. Findings, 5. Discussion and conclusion, 6. Appendices, etc.) should be clearly and coherently divided with all headings numbered (1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, etc.).

Authors are encouraged to include relevant diagrams, graphs, tables, and photos to illustrate their articles (see Supply of artwork and photos).

Materials should be submitted using Microsoft Word.

Citations

Research and non-research articles must cite relevant, timely, and verified literature peer-reviewed, where appropriate) to support any claims made in the article.

You must avoid excessive and inappropriate self-citation or prearrangements among author groups to inappropriately cite each other’s work, as this can be considered a form of misconduct called citation manipulation. Read the COPE guidance on citation manipulation (https://publicationethics.org/citation-manipulation-discussion-document) .

If you are the author of a non-research article (e.g. a Review or Opinion) you should ensure the references you cite are relevant and provide a fair and balanced overview of the current state of research or scholarly work on the topic. Your references should not be unfairly biased towards a particular research group, organization or journal.

If you are unsure about whether to cite a source you should contact the journal editorial office for advice.

8. Supply of artwork and photos

Diagrams and graphs should be provided as finished black and white line artwork or electronic images.

Electronic graphics included in your manuscript should be either inserted in the word document or as .gif or .jpg formats. Please check with the editor if you wish to submit any other type of graphic for conversion suitability.

Photos should be supplied un-screened in the original form or in electronic form.

All illustrations (diagrams, graphs, tables, photos) must be fully captioned and mentioned in the body text.

When there are a number of illustrations, the author should link the text to the illustrations in the article.

9. Peer Review Process

Articles published in SEI undergo peer review following the COPE guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines-new/cope-ethical-guidelines-peer-reviewers) for reviewers.

The SEI journal operates with a double-blind peer review process. As such comments from a minimum of two independent experts are required to ensure complete assessment of the article.

The details of the comments as well as the overall recommendations by peer reviewers will be considered by the Editor when making a decision, but ultimate responsibility for acceptance or rejection lies with the Editor.

In accordance with COPE recommendations on ethical editing for new Editors (https://publicationethics.org/node/19871), the Editor will assign any submissions they cannot handle (e.g. if they are the author of an article submitted to their own journal) to a member of the Editorial Board or a guest editor.

SEI does not permit you to recommend peer reviewers. If you wish to suggest potential reviewers this information can be included in the covering letter, but it is at the discretion of the Editor to consider these reviewers or not. Providing any false information about potential reviewers may lead to rejection of the article.

Articles are generally able to be reviewed within three months after submission.

Manuscripts will be returned to the lead authors when the peer review process is completed.

Confidentiality of peer review

It is a requirement to maintain confidentiality and integrity of the peer review and editorial decision-making process at all stages, complying with data protection regulations (including GDPR - https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/eu-data-protection-rules_en). The invited reviewer should declare any competing interest before submitting their report to the journal. If they wish to involve a colleague as a co-reviewer for an article, they should ask the journal editorial office before sharing the manuscript and include their names, affiliation and any relevant competing interests in the comments for Editors when they return their report.

In the process of investigating an ethical query, the submitted manuscript, author, reviewer, and any other person (including whistleblowers) involved will be treated in confidence. During an investigation it may be necessary for the Editor to share information with third parties, such as the ethics committee and/or the authors’ institution.

10. Non-native English authors

It is highly recommended, author(s) have the manuscript edited by a professional English proof-reader before submitting it.

Depending on its quality, a manuscript could be returned for resubmission which asks to resolve language issues.

11. Publication Layout Fee

SEI outsources the layout of accepted articles to provide a consistent professional appearance.

The layout requires a €50 fee by authors. This layout fee will be invoiced to those authors who have had articles accepted for publication.

12. Inquires

Please check with the Editor if questions arise.

Upon receipt of the electronic submissions, a confirmation will be e-mailed to the primary author. If you do not receive a confirmation e-mail within one week, please contact the Editor.