Submitting an Article Online

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Author Guidelines

Article types | Style | Structure |Permissions | Copyright | Review Criteria | Submissions

Submissions should be made electronically through this website. Once submitted, the author can track the submission and communicate with the editors via the online journal management system.

Please ensure that you consider the following guidelines when preparing your manuscript. Failure to do so may delay processing your submission.

Article types

• Empirical Research articles should describe the outcomes and application of unpublished original research. These should make a substantial contribution to knowledge and understanding in the subject matter and should be supported by relevant figures.
• Literature reviews should provide a comprehensive review of a particular area of inquiry, theory, or topic area. Literature reviews should include descriptions of specific methods used to specify scope and to identify and include research articles. They should also make the case of the value of presenting a literature review on the particular subject, and discuss the implications to the field of the findings from the review.
• Theoretical articles should employ one or more established theories (i.e., theory, theoretical framework, conceptual model) to explain, critique, or advance a relevant issue in engineering education research and/or practice.
• Responses can be submitted for any article type and should provide a professional and courteous critical analysis of the content and contributions of the article. The response should have a clear objective(s) that helps extend readers’ understanding of the significance and uses of the published work and/or the research domain broadly through.
• Guest editorials should be essays of about 1,500 words that present an opinion on an aspect of engineering education research. The opinion should be supported by scholarly arguments, with references.

Although the journal does not stipulate a word limit, Research Articles, Literature Reviews, and Theoretical Articles are typically 10,000-12,000 words, while Responses are typically 2500-3000 words. Importantly, the journal encourages authors to ensure that the length is appropriate to the goals of the paper and the needs and interests of the audience. 

Style

Format
The manuscript should be submitted using 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins.

Grammar, Mechanics, Style, and Reference Format

The text should conform to the most recent edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Spelling should conform to American English. Items not covered by the APA Manual are at the discretion of the authors, though copy editors may offer suggestions as appropriate.

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Structure

Cover Page

List the title, keywords, and abstract on the Title Page. Do not include names of all authors, affiliations, contact details, or biography on the title page

The Abstract and Keywords should also be added to the metadata when making the initial online submission

Keywords
List between two and six keywords.

Abstract
Research articles must have the main text prefaced by an abstract of no more than 300 words summarizing the article. The format of the abstract depends on the article type, as follows.

The format and subheadings for research article abstracts is:

• Background - Briefly describe the context and motivation for the study
• Purpose/Hypothesis - Summarize the research question/proposition(s) addressed
• Design/Method - Provide an overview of the research design, methods of data collection, and analysis
• Results - Summarize the key findings
• Conclusions - State the key conclusion(s) based on the findings

The format and subheadings for literature review abstracts is:

• Background - Briefly describe the context and motivation for the work
• Purpose - Summarize the research question/proposition(s) addressed
• Scope/Method - Provide a description of the literature considered and the methods used in the review process
• Conclusions - State the conclusion(s) of the review

The format and subheadings for theoretical article abstracts is:

• Background - Briefly describe the context and motivation for the theoretical proposition
• Purpose - Summarize the proposition(s) addressed
• Scope - Provide a description of the theories and literature considered 
• Discussion / Conclusions - Summarize the main points of the theoretical proposition

Responses and Guest Editorials do not require abstracts

The author must label each part of the structured abstract with the appropriate subheading. 

Main Text
The body of the submission should be structured in a logical and easy to follow manner. A clear introduction section should provide an understanding of the publication and a background of the issue(s) involved. Up to three levels of headings may be present; use bold, italics, and underline to delineate headings. .

Supplementary Files (optional)
Any supplementary/additional files that should link to the main publication must be listed, with a corresponding number, title and option description. Ideally the supplementary files are also cited in the main text 

• e.g. Supplementary file 1: Appendix. Research data.

Note: additional files will not be typeset so must be provided in their final form. They will be assigned a DOI and linked to from the publication.

Reproducibility

If data, structured methods or code used in the research project have been made openly available, a statement should be added to inform the reader how/where to access these files. This should include the repository location and the DOI linking to it. Read our reproducibility guide for more information on best practice and maximising the impact of your open data.

If data used in the research project has not been made available, a statement confirming this should be added, along with reasoning why.

The journal's data policy is available on the Editorial Policies page.

Ethics and consent (if applicable)
Research involving human subjects, human material, or human data, must have been performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Where applicable, studies must have been approved by an appropriate ethics committee and the authors should include a statement within the article text detailing this approval, including the name of the ethics committee and reference number of the approval.

Experiments using animals must follow national standards of care. For further information, click here.

Acknowledgements (optional)
Any acknowledgements must be headed and in a separate paragraph, placed after the main text but before the reference list. Should the research have received a funding grant, the grant provider and grant number should be included in the acknowledgements

Competing interests
If any of the authors have any competing interests then these must be declared. A short paragraph should be placed before the references. Guidelines for competing interests can be found here. If there are no competing interests to declare then the following statement should be present: The author(s) has/have no competing interests to declare.

Footnotes and Endnotes
Use endnotes rather than footnotes. These will be labeled ‘Notes’ in the online publication, and will appear at the end of the main text, before ‘References’. All notes should be used only where crucial clarifying information needs to be conveyed.

Avoid using notes for purposes of referencing, with in-text citations used instead. If in-text citations cannot be used, a source can be cited as part of a note.
Please insert the endnote marker after the end punctuation

Authors' contributions
A sentence or a short paragraph detailing the roles that each author held to contribute to the authorship of the submission. Individuals listed must fit within the definition of an author, as per our authorship guidelines.

References
All references cited within the submission must be listed at the end of the main text file. Reference formats must conform to the most recent edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

Permissions

The author is responsible for obtaining all permissions required prior to submission of the manuscript. Permission and owner details should be mentioned for all third-party content included in the submission or used in the research.

If a method or tool is introduced in the study, including software, questionnaires, and scales, the license this is available under and any requirement for permission for use should be stated. If an existing method or tool is used in the research, it is the author's responsibility to check the license and obtain the necessary permissions. Statements confirming that permission was granted should be included in the 'Method' section

Copyright

Submitted manuscripts must not have been published as copyrighted material nor be submitted for consideration for publication as copyrighted material while in review by  SEE, whether in print or electronic form. By submitting a manuscript, the author(s) agree to a Creative Commons license, as detailed elsewhere.

If earlier versions of the article have been published (e.g., as a conference paper or dissertation), in the cover letter, please describe those publications and the differences between this submission and previous publications. If no previous versions have been published, please state that fact.

Review Criteria

Manuscripts are reviewed and evaluated on the basis of the following criteria, which are adapted from the Journal of Engineering Education and the International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Also see the "Standards for Reporting on Empirical Social Science Research" in AERA Publications.

Empirical Research
1. Focus: All empirical articles should report original research that significantly extends the body of knowledge in the field of engineering education. Is the manuscript's focus congruent with the Journal's stated mission and focus (see Research Areas on Overview page)
2. Problem: Does the manuscript clearly state and explain the problem or issue that is addressed by the research, the warrants for claims made, and the significance of the problem? Is the statement of the problem directly linked with and in alignment with the subsequent review of the literature?
3. Literature: Does the article identify, synthesize and evaluate the relevant the literature that led the author to propose the research? Is there a specific and persuasive explanation of how the present study will contribute to the literature as well as to practice or policy? What conceptual or theoretical framework informs the study?
4. Methods and Analysis: Does the manuscript present a well-developed, clearly articulated, and appropriate method or set of methods for the expressed problem, supporting literature, and research approach ? How detailed is the description of the context of the study? Are the data that are collected, regardless of form (e.g., interview transcripts, survey results), analyzed using appropriate procedures? Are the results of these analysis reported accurately and fully in the manuscript?
5. Quality of Data and Findings: Regardless of the method(s) used, the data should be of sufficient quality to address the hypothesis and/or research questions. were the data collected in a way to provide an in-depth understanding of the context? Are findings supported by data and results? Are findings sufficiently compelling to support publication.
6. Conclusions: Are the conclusions specific to the research questions posed? Are they supported by the data analysis? In addition, does the conclusion address both the original problem and the implications of the research findings? Do the conclusions address the research question? Does the manuscript connect the findings to the conceptual framework that informs the study, discuss the limitations of the study, and describe the implications of the findings for further research or educational practice?
7. Clarity and Organization: Is the manuscript organized in accordance with currently accepted formats for reporting qualitative research?
8. Style and Mechanics: Is the article written in an appropriate style? Is the article free from grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors? Is the length appropriate?

Literature Reviews
1. Focus: Is the focus congruent with the stated mission and focus of SEE?
2. Topic: Does the manuscript clearly state and explain the topic or issue that is addressed by the review? Is the statement of the topic delineated and distinguished from related topics, and directly linked with inclusion criteria described in the manuscript's methods section?
3. Methods and Analysis: Does the manuscript clearly describe how articles were identified for the review (including databases, keywords, and other search strategies used), and is the approach appropriate for the type of review? Are the methods of categorizing and analyzing the articles clearly explained, and appropriate to the goals of the article?
4. Synthesis and Critique: Does the manuscript sufficiently describe what is known about the topic? Does it advance knowledge and identify future directions of research? Is it a complete treatment of the topic?
5. Conclusions: Are the conclusions meaningful and the scholarly contributions supported by the literature review? Do the conclusions suggest further directions for research, areas that are missing from our current understanding, or implications for engineering education practice?
6. Clarity and Organization: Is the manuscript organized in accordance with currently accepted formats for literature reviews?
7. Style and Mechanics: Is the manuscript written in an appropriate style? Is the manuscript free from grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors? Is the length appropriate?

Theoretical Articles
1. Focus: Is the focus congruent with the stated mission and focus of SEE?
2. Topic: Does the manuscript clearly state and explain the topic or issue that is addressed by the review? Is the statement of the topic delineated and distinguished from related topics, and directly linked with inclusion criteria described in the manuscript's methods section?
3. Methods and Analysis: Does the manuscript clearly describe how articles were identified for the review (including databases, keywords, and other search strategies used), and is the approach appropriate for the type of review? Are the methods of categorizing and analyzing the articles clearly explained, and appropriate to the goals of the article?
4. Synthesis and Critique: Does the manuscript sufficiently describe what is known about the topic? Does it advance knowledge and identify future directions of research? Is it a complete treatment of the topic?
5. Conclusions: Are the conclusions meaningful and the scholarly contributions supported by the literature review? Do the conclusions suggest further directions for research, areas that are missing from our current understanding, or implications for engineering education practice?
6. Clarity and Organization: Is the manuscript organized in accordance with currently accepted formats for literature reviews?
7. Style and Mechanics: Is the manuscript written in an appropriate style? Is the manuscript free from grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors? Is the length appropriate?

Note: Responses and Guest Editorals are reviewed by the editors and not subjected to external peer review

Submissions

Manuscripts must be submitted in electronic form through the Journal's Web site. An automatic and immediate e-mail confirmation is provided if the submission process is completed successfully. An Editor subsequently evaluates manuscripts for their compatibility with the Journal's mission and review criteria. The Editor typically is able to complete the evaluation and inform the author within two weeks of the submission of the manuscript. The Editor forwards appropriate manuscripts to one of the Journal's associate editors, who handles the peer review.

The author details must be completed online as part of the submission process. Author names should include a forename and a surname. Forenames cannot include only initials.

● J. Bloggs is not preferred. The full name, Joe Bloggs is required (this will enhance the 'findability' of your publication)

The affiliation should include ‘Department, Institution, City, Country’

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

1. The file is submitted as an MS Word or RTF file, with all text double-spaced.
2. You have removed all identifying information from the text AND reviewed the document properties to be sure the file itself contains no identifying information (following the instructions to ensure anonymous peer review).
3. The submission has not been previously published, in part or in whole, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
4. All third-party-owned materials used have been identified with appropriate credit lines, and permission has been obtained from the copyright holder for all formats of the journal. Authors acknowledge their responsibility to gain all permissions prior to submission.
5. All authors qualify as authors, as defined in the authorship guidelines, and have given permission to be listed on the submitted paper.
6. The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines. Every effort has been made to ensure that the submission is ready for peer review according to the journal's review policy (following the instructions to ensure anonymous peer review).
7. Tables are all cited in the main text and are included within the text document.
8. Figures are all cited in the main text and included in the main document for review purposes. Once an article is accepted, if it includes images produced outside of MS Word, you will have the option to upload supplementary files. These supplementary files should have a resolution of at least 150dpi (300dpi or above preferred). The files are in one of the following formats: JPG, TIFF, GIF, PNG, EPS (to maximise quality, the original source file is preferred).
9. All participants included within empirical articles in which an individual or a group of individuals can be identified have signed informed consent forms, or had had their legal guardian do so, giving permission to publish the submitted content under a CC-BY licence.
10. Research has been approved by an appropriate ethics committee, with the name of the committee and reference number of approval included within the submitted file. (Note - in initial submission, please include a general statement in the text, with "Hidden for Review" substituted for name and number to preserve author anonymity.) Otherwise, a statement that ethics approval was not required has been added to the file.
11. The corresponding author is submitting an ORCID identifier in their author data and co-authors have been recommended to also provide an ORCID, as per the journal policy.

Copyright Notice

Copyright Notice

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms. If a submission is rejected or withdrawn prior to publication, all rights return to the author(s):

1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

Submitting to the journal implicitly confirms that all named authors and rights holders have agreed to the above terms of publication. It is the submitting author's responsibility to ensure all authors and relevant institutional bodies have given their agreement at the point of submission.

Note: some institutions require authors to seek written approval in relation to the terms of publication. Should this be required, authors can request a separate licence agreement document from the editorial team (e.g. authors who are Crown employees).

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

Publication Fees

Due to rising publication costs, SEE's APC will be $1000 beginning Dec. 15, 2020. Of these fees, $799 goes to the publisher for publishing services and language copy editing and the remaining $201 goes to the journal's owner to cover running costs and educational outreach.

Articles initially submitted before Dec. 15, 2020 will remain at the previous APC of $750/article. Of these fees, $658 goes to the publisher for publishing services and language copy editing and the remaining $92 goes to the journal's owner to cover running costs and educational outreach.

APC support can normally be sourced from your funder or institution. This mechanism ensures that all of the content is fully open access, maximizes the potential readership of publications and allows the journal to be run in a sustainable way.

Many institutions have funds available to support open access publications by their staff, therefore we ask that you contact the relevant body to cover the APC.

If you do not know about your institution’s policy on open access funding, please contact your departmental/faculty administrators and institution library, as funds may be available to you.

If published, you will receive an APC request email along with information on how payment can be arranged.

NB: Tax will be added to all fees charged, when applicable (includes VAT/Sales tax or any other applicable taxes).

Waiver Information

If you do not have funds available to pay the APC (e.g., because your institution/funder will not cover the fee) then we may be able to offer a discount or full waiver. Should you need to discuss waiver options or the APC in general, please ensure that you contact the editor as early as possible. Editorial decisions are made independently from the ability to pay the APC. Waiver requests must be received as part of the submission information (e.g. in the cover letter).