Guidelines for Authors

1. Introduction

 The Faculty of Education, Allama Iqbal Open University, welcomes you to come forward in participation of our peer reviewed journal in different disciplines of teacher education. The journals provide a platform for the publication of the most advanced research in the areas of learning development, instruction and teaching. These journals welcome original empirical investigations. The paper may represent a variety of theoretical perspectives and different methodological approaches. This may refer to any age level, from infants to adults and to a diversity of learning and instructional settings, from classroom to informal and non-formal learning. This may rest on the full spectrum of established methodologies from experiments to field observations. The major criteria in the review and the selection process concern the significance of the contribution to the area of learning and instruction.

 2. General Instructions

  • Manuscripts should not be exceed 20 pages and must conform to the style of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA 6th edition).
  • Author’s name(s), should be given above abstract with asterisk signs and their affiliations, address/email must be given in footnote (after abstract and keywords) on the same page.
  • An Abstract must comprises 170-180 words.
  • The manuscript should consist of 4000-8000 words.
  • The authors are requested to check the article thoroughly with spellings, figures, and illustrations, etc., before sending for publication. Incomplete articles will not be entertained.
  • The research papers are accepted for publication on the understanding that they have not been published earlier and are not being considered for publication elsewhere.
  • Research papers/articles should be an original piece, including methodology, contents, data analysis and interpretation.
  • Add something new to the existing stock of knowledge.
  • The maximum number of authors for an article should not be more than three.
  • Authors should be clearly specified as
    • main/corresponding author
    • co-author, and/or
    • Supporting author.
  • Manuscripts will be reviewed by at least three consulting editors/reviewers. This process normally takes 6-12 months.
  • After approval, these will be edited thoroughly. If conditionally approved, the authors will be required to revise within a specific time.

3. Formatting

  • Margins: One inch on all sides except left side with 1.5 inch.
  • Font size and Type: 12-pt Time New Roman.
  • Line Spacing: Double-space throughout the paper, including the title page, abstract, body of the document, references, appendixes, footnotes, tables, and figures.
  • Spacing after Punctuation: Space once after commas, colon, and semicolons within sentences. Insert two spaces after full stop or any other punctuation mark.
  • Alignment: Flush left (creating uneven right margin)
  • Paragraph Indentation: 5-7 spaces.
  • Referencing: Sources cited appear in parentheses after each reference (direct or otherwise), giving author’s name (unless mentioned in text), year of publication, and page number(s) in the case of direct quotes. Enclose quotes of 40 or fewer words in double quotation marks in the text; indent quotes longer than 40 words in block format; page numbers must be given. List all sources alphabetically at the end of the manuscript under the heading References using APA (6th Edition) style.
  • Footnotes (other than author’s address), are not allowed anywhere in the paper and the use of end notes are discouraged; however, necessary brief explanatory notes, numbered consecutively and marked in the text with superscript numeral may appear before the References under the heading Notes; citations in notes follow the same format.
  • Graphics: Mathematical symbols should be clearly marked. Number the tables and figures with Arabic numerals. Prepare tables using tabs without vertical lines; provide figures, charts, and diagrams in camera-ready form.

4. Section of Research Article

Research articles should present innovative research that clearly addresses selected hypothesis or question. A research article should be divided into the following sections:

  1. Title Page
  2. Introduction
  3. Literature Review
  4. Methodology
  5. Results and Discussion
  6. Conclusions
  7. Acknowledgment (if any)
  8. References

5. Plagiarism Policy

As per HEC policy, plagiarism will not be accepted in any journal of the Faculty of Education. With the submission author is required to declare the originality of his/her work, properly citing or copying previous publications. If plagiarism is detected during the peer review process, the manuscript may be rejected.  If the plagiarism is detected after publication, the publisher has the right to issue a correction or retract the paper.

6. Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest about a research study exists when any part of the research study might be/is influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain or non-monetary benefit). Conflict of interest can affect the credibility of a research study, author and the journal. Perceptions of an editor/author/reviewer about conflict of interest are as important as actual conflicts of interest.

Conflict of interest may arise due to financial relationship (such as employment, consultancies, rewards and patents) or non-financial reasons such as personal relationships, academic competition, and intellectual beliefs.

Conflict of interest for Editor

Editor(s) and editorial staff members should recuse themselves from editorial decisions/judgments if they have conflicts of interest or relationships that pose potential conflicts related to articles under consideration. Editorial staff must not use information gained through working with manuscripts for private gain. Editors should publish regular disclosure statements about potential conflicts of interests related to the commitments of journal staff. Guest editors should follow these same procedures.

Conflict of interest for Reviewer

Reviewer(s) must declare any conflict of interest which may affect their review work e.g., in cases, they have received paper of a colleague or an intellectual opponent. In cases of conflict of interest, the reviewer(s) are requested to notify the editorial team of their inability to review a particular research paper.

Conflict of interest for Authors

All articles that are published in the journal will be accompanied by a conflict-of-interest disclosure statement, or a statement that the authors have replied that they have no conflicts of interest to declare.

All authors must privately disclose ‘ALL their potential conflicts of interest’ to the editors of the journal at the time of submission. These include all financial and non-financial interests and relationships, direct employment with a private sector entity (whether full or part-time), and service on private sector and non-profit boards and advisory panels, whether paid or unpaid. At the time of submission of manuscript, add the authors who made significant contribution in the article and finalize the list of author(s); once the article is submitted, addition and deletion of author(s) is not allowed as per policy of publication ethics of PJE, however, in case of conflict, request for permission may be sent to the editorial committee.  Authors should also disclose any conflict of interest that may have influenced either the conduct or the presentation of the research to the editors, including but not limited to close relationships with those who might be helped or hurt by the publication, academic interests and rivalries, and any personal, religious or political convictions relevant to the manuscript.

Note: In case of a concern, complaint or dispute / grievances raised by any one or more of the co-authors of a written or submitted and or published research paper prior to the publication or post publication and that may be related to the inclusion, exclusion or order of authorship or any related mishandling, such issue/issues must be communicated to the editor/Editorial Committee and request must be made to look into the matter within 30 days of printing or publishing online issue. After thirty days, no such issues will be entertained.

7. Open Access Policy

Open Access is an unrestricted online model that allows the distribution of research papers through the internet to everyone in the global community with no price restraint. Thus, all articles published under open access can be accessed by anyone with internet access. All articles published by the Journal of the Faculty of Education will be freely accessible online to the global community.

Important Note: Authors are required to agree to the Author’s Declaration confirming that the work as submitted has not been published or accepted for publication, nor is being considered for publication elsewhere, either in whole or substantial part; the work is original and all necessary acknowledgements have been made; all authors and relevant institutions have read the submitted version of the manuscript and approve its submission; all persons entitled to authorship have been so included.

The Editor

Pakistan Journal of Education (PJE)
Faculty of Education, ICT Building,
Room No.111, Allama Iqbal Open University,
Islamabad.