Preparing for Submission

Preparing your Work for Submission
 All submissions to JCEL must be submitted online through the journal’s website. Authors should carefully review the information found below as failure to comply with the guidelines below may result in works being returned to them or delays in the publication process.

Human Subjects Research
Research involving human participants must have been approved by the authors' institutional review board (IRB).

Originality and Prior Publication
Works submitted to JCEL should be the author(s) original creations. Authors should not submit works that have been previously published without the prior approval of a JCEL editor, with the exception of preprint archiving. Preprint versions posted online should include a citation and link to the final published version in JCEL as soon as the issue is available. Authors are encouraged to post preprint versions of their work to open access repositories.

Reuse of Third-Party Works
JCEL requires that the Author determine, prior to publication, whether it is necessary to obtain permission from any third party who holds rights with respect to any photographs, illustrations, drawings, text, or any other material (“third-party work”) to be published with or in connection with their submission. Copyright permission will not be necessary if the use is within fair use, if the work is in the public domain, or if the rightsholder has granted a Creative Commons or other license. If either the author or JCEL determines for any reason that permission is required to include any third-party work, the Author will obtain written permission from the rightsholder.

Preparation for Peer Review
If you are submitting a work that will undergo peer review you are responsible for deidentifying it prior to submission. This includes making sure there are no individually identifiable information/references to the author(s) should be included in the manuscript (e.g., the author names) or institutional affiliation (e.g., the name of the library or institution authors may work for). Acknowledgments should not be included in the work (authors will have the opportunity to submit these as a separate part of the submission process).

Submission Formats
Microsoft Word is the preferred format for submission of text documents though alternate formats such as OpenOffice will be accepted. All manuscripts must be submitted using 1-inch margins, Times New Roman 12-point font, and be typed double-spaced. If the work being submitted is a media work (e.g., a video or audio recording) authors should contact the journal editors prior to submission for guidelines.

 With the exception of reviews, an abstract of 250 words or fewer is required.

 Figures, tables, and illustrations should be embedded in works to facilitate the peer review process. However, upon acceptance, authors will be required to submit all figures, tables, and illustrations as separate files to aid in the production of the final article.

Citation Style
JCEL prefers the use of American Psychological Association (APA) style and format (7th Edition). However, alternate publication styles such as the Bluebook System of Citation can be considered. All works should be submitted in APA style unless authors have received prior approval from the journal editors to submit in an alternate format. Authors should consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed., 2019) or the Purdue Online Writing Lab APA Formatting and Style Guide when formatting their works.

Footnotes

APA style guidelines tell us that footnotes should only be used for comments or narrative asides, not references. Authors should use their word processing program's footnote feature to insert the notes.

Bibliography

Authors are responsible for ensuring they are submitting a complete and accurate bibliography and that it is properly formatted according to APA citation standards. DOIs should be provided for references, when available. Do not use the automatic reference and bibliography tools found in most word processing software. Instead, all references and notes should be typed directly into the document.

Identifying a Corresponding Author
For works that have more than one author, the authors should identify a corresponding author who will be responsible for submitting the work through JCEL’s website and be responsible for all communications related to it throughout the publication process. The corresponding author is also responsible for identifying all authors as part of the submission process, for communicating information to their fellow authors during the publication process, for ensuring that their fellow authors approve of the final version of the work to be published, and for signing the publication agreement on behalf of all of the authors.