Manuscript Submission Guidelines:
Guidelines for Authors (updated November 2009)The Editor and Associate Editors of the Journal of Early Intervention (JEI) publish articles related to research and practice in early intervention for infants and young children with developmental delays and difficulties and their families. Early intervention is defined broadly as procedures that facilitate the development of infants and young children who have developmental delays and difficulties or who are at risk for school failure. The early childhood years in which early intervention might occur begin at birth, or before birth for some prevention programs, and extend through the years in which children traditionally begin elementary school (i.e., birth through 8 years of age).
Authors are strongly encouraged to submit the following types of manuscripts to JEI:
research reports that have clear relevance for early intervention practices
scholarly reviews that have clear implications for practices
policy analyses that contain significant implications for early intervention practices
Although the readers of the JEI are a diverse group, many are early interventionists or early childhood special education teachers, and their interests are best represented in articles that have clear implications for practice and practitioners.
Manuscript Preparation
The Editor and Associate Editors of the Journal of Early Intervention employ a blinded peer review process to promote anonymous and constructive reviews of any manuscripts submitted. The editorial team requires that all manuscripts submitted for review follow the formatting rules and conventions of the American Psychological Association found in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed., 2010; all page and chapter numbers in parentheses refer):
Authors’ responsibilities (see pages 70 - 77)
Manuscript structure and content (Chapter 2)
Writing clearly and concisely (Chapter 3)
Mechanics and Style (Chapter 4)
Presentation of data (for Figure checklist see page 157 and for Table checklist see page 150)
Manuscript Formatting
Articles should be formatted in the following manner: (a) double spaced, (b) 1 inch margins, (c) left alignment, (d) nonproportional font and 12-point font [preferably Times New Roman 12-point font], and (e) on 8 ½ inch by 11 inch paper.
Because JEI uses blind peer review the authors’ names should only be on a separate title page from the narrative manuscript and accompanying tables and figures. Please remove all authors identifying information from the main manuscript file before uploading and submitting or resubmitting your manuscript.
The title page should consist of five elements: (a) running head, (b) title, (c) author byline, (d) institutional affiliation, and (e) author note (see page 229).
The complete title of the manuscript should appear centered on the first page of the manuscript above the first paragraph.
The manuscript should include (a) an abstract of no more than 150 words, (b) 4 to 5 keywords, and (c) a running head beginning on the title page and no more than 50 characters.
Use hanging indents to indent new paragraphs or indent references in your Reference subsection (do not use the space bar or tab functions; see page 37).
Endnotes should be used as sparingly as possible. Number them with Arabic numerals starting with 1 and continuing through the article (i.e., see Note 1).
Do not use footnotes.
Accompanying figures and tables should be entered as separate files. Indicate the location of tables and figures in text in boldface, enclosed in angle brackets, on a separate line (i.e., <Fig. 1 here>)
Quotations longer than 40 words should be “blocked.” (see pages 170 - 171).
Writing Guidelines
Avoid language that is biased.
Employ “people first language” when referring to an individual or group (e.g., children with developmental delays, an adult with autism, children with Down syndrome).
Manuscript narrative should be written in the active voice (e.g., “The experimenter showed the stimuli...,” “The teachers assessed participants daily...”).
Avoid the passive voice (e.g., “The stimuli were shown by the experimenter…,” “Participants were assessed by the teachers daily…”).
Carefully avoid anthropomorphisms. For example, “studies investigated learning;” studies do not investigate, researchers investigate.
Avoid shifting tenses abruptly, particularly within paragraphs and related subsections.
Use the past tense when referring to what has been written (i.e., past events and statements) and to report the results of a study.
Use the present perfect tense to indicate a past action or condition beginning in the past for a period of time or that continues to the present (i.e., when the timing of the action, condition, or event is indefinite).
The present perfect tense is appropriate when discussing a line of research that has relevance today (e.g., “Social interaction researchers have shown...”).
Use the present tense in the Discussion subsection to discuss the basic findings and implications your research and to articulate your conclusions and opinions (this convention invites the reader to think along with you).
Remember that you should not be interpreting your findings in the Results subsection.
Whenever possible and if not referring to a specific individual, use plural constructions for participants or people you discuss throughout the paper (e.g., “Teachers...” vs. “The teacher...,” “children” vs. “The child”) and avoid the generalized singular (e.g., “the teacher,” “the individual with learning disabilities”).
Give credit to other authors when you use their ideas or their information and provide appropriate citations for important points that are made in the manuscript (see pages 169 - 179). All quotations require a citation and the specific page number of the material quoted.
Clearly and explicitly indicate what is your opinion vs. an empirical fact or someone else’s opinion (e.g., “We believe that . . .,” “Although speculation at this time, logic indicates that . . . .”
Figures and Data Display
Figures must be provided as production-ready.
Do not use rules or tick marks smaller than 1 point in size.
Acceptable electronic formats for figures or other art are: TIFF, EPS, Word, or Excel. If you have trouble loading Excel files, copy and paste them into a Word document.
Scans must be at least 300 dpi (also sometimes called lpi).
Permissions
Obtaining written permissions for material such as figures, tables, art, and extensive quotes taken directly—or adapted in minor ways—from another source, including material taken from software of downloaded from the Internet, is the author’s responsibility, as is payment of any fees the copyright holder may require.
Because permissions often take a considerable amount of time to be granted, authors should start the request process as soon as possible.
The Sage Permissions Request form is available at
http://www.sagepub.com/repository/binaries/RequestForPermissionForm.pdf. The form has been written to cover all necessary provisions; however, copyright holders may require use of their own form. In these cases, the author should read any forms carefully to make sure that the language is broad enough to allow publication in all formats, worldwide, as well as in both electronic and print versions.
Failure to obtain permission will result in either removal of the particular item or the article being pulled from the journal issue.
Electronic Manuscript Submission
JEI uses an online submission and review platform. Manuscripts should be submitted electronically to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/dec-jei. Authors will be required to set up an online account on the SageTrack system powered by ScholarOne. Authors will be asked to provide the required information (e.g., author names and contact information, an abstract, keywords) and to upload the "title page" and "main document" separately to ensure that the manuscript is ready for a blind peer review. The site contains links to an online user's guide for help navigating the site (Get Help Now). Questions about the submission process can be sent to the Editor.
Manuscript Review Process
Manuscripts will be acknowledged upon receipt. Following a preliminary examination by the Editor, manuscripts will be sent to an action editor for review process oversight. The Editor and Associate Editors will assign the manuscript to three or four qualified reviewers. This review will be "double-blind," in that the reviewers will not know who the authors are and vice versa. Our goal is to inform the authors of the editorial decision on their manuscript within 3 months.
Copyright
After your article has been accepted for publication, authors will be required to sign a Transfer of Copyright form.
Journal Contact Information
William H. Brown, PhD
Professor
Department of Educational Studies
820 Main Street
Wardlaw College of Education 235-K
University of South Carolina at Columbia
Columbia, South Carolina 29208
Telephone: 803-777-6582
Fax: 803-777-2824
E-mail bbrown@mailbox.sc.edu
Subscription Information:
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