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Guidelines (summary)

The International Journal of Self-Directed Learning is a refereed, electronic journal founded to disseminate scholarly papers that document research, theory, or innovative or exemplary practice. It is published twice annually.

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Three types of submissions are invited for the Journal:

1.Articles: 3500-5000 words (10-15 pages), excluding references

2.Research or Practice Briefs: 1500-2500 words (4-6 pages) excluding references

3.Announcements (Conferences, book publications, etc.): 50-1500 words

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Journal Submissions

Requirements

Manuscript Requirements  Originality

All submissions must be original manuscripts, submitted in English. Previously published papers are ineligible.

01

Originality & Research

Submissions must address some aspect of self-directed learning, such as:

 

A.  Original research, theoretical or conceptual papers, reviews of research, or self-directed learning applications; 

B.  Some aspect of self-directed learning in specific contexts or practice, such as continuing professional education; distance education; human resource development; lifelong learning or leisure studies; medical education; any school level (elementary to higher education and professional education).

 

 

03

Style

Follow the guidelines provided in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed., 2020), which addresses content and organization, expression (including ways to reduce bias in language), and standards for punctuation, capitalization, headings, figures, tables, citations and references.

 

For updated information on citing online sources, visit the APA website

 

EXCEPTION:

 

You are preparing your text as it will appear online; therefore, you will need to single-space your manuscript and include all tables, figures, and notes exactly as they need to be placed in the text, rather than separating them.

02

Content/Sections

2. Symposium papers, journal articles and research/practice briefs should include, whenever appropriate, the following sections:

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  • Abstract (50 words for Symposium papers, 150 words for IJSDL articles),

  • Introduction

  • Method

  • Findings

  • Discussion

  • Conclusions

  • References

04

Formatting

Prepare manuscripts for Journal submission as a Word file, prepared in Normal style, Times New Roman font.

Format your manuscript according to the following guidelines (for a sample, see IJSDL 17(2), 

 

APA 7th ed guidelines):

  • Single-spaced: 1.2" left margin; 1.2" right margin; Justified left and right margins; 1" top margin; 1.2" bottom margin;header .5" from top; footer .75 from bottom. Paragraph indentation: .5".

  • 14 point all caps for article titles;

  • 14 point upper and lower case for authors;

  • 12 point for headings, abstract, text, reference list.

  • 8 point is the minimum for tables and figures

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