Guidelines for Authors
Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development (MECD) invites manuscripts concerned with research, theoretical issues, and practical applications in assessment, measurement, and evaluation in a variety of settings, including schools and colleges, public and private agencies, business, industry, and government. All manuscripts must have clearly described implications for counseling or education and for practitioners, educators, administrators, researchers, or students in assessment, measurement, and evaluation.
Online Submission Guidelines
All new manuscripts to MECD must be submitted using the SAGE track manuscript submission website. Please read below for instructions on submitting manuscript to MECD.
Log onto the SAGE track manuscript submission website at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/MECD and click on “Create Account: New users click here.”
Follow the instructions and make sure to enter your current and correct email address. Once you have finished creating a user account, your User ID and Password will be sent via email.
Submission of a New Manuscript
Log onto the manuscript central website and select “Author Center.” Once at the Author Center, select the link “Click here to Submit a New Manuscript.” Follow the instructions on each page. Once finished with a page, click on the “Save and Continue” option at the end of each page. Continue to follow the instructions for loading a new manuscript and/or other files at the appropriate stages (e.g., abstract, title page, etc.). When loading the manuscript file, make sure to use the “Browse” function and locate the file on your computer drive. Make sure to “Upload Files” when you are finished selecting the manuscript file you wish to upload. NOTE: All text files must be in Word format and de-identified (please also remove any identifying information from the manuscript’s properties before you upload the manuscript). The system will convert the submission to a PDF file.
After uploading your manuscript, review your submission in one of the provided formats (e.g., PDF). Once you have reviewed your submission, click on the “Submit” button. You should receive a submission confirmation screen and an email confirming submission. You can revisit the website at any time to review the status of your submission.
Submission of a Revised Manuscript
To submit a revised manuscript to MECD, log onto the SAGE track manuscript submission website at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/MECD. Once at your author dashboard, view your “Manuscripts with Decisions” and select the option to “Create a Revision.” Continue to follow the directions to upload your revised manuscript. Make sure to upload de-identified version of your revision as with the initial submission. Also provide comments regarding changes that were made to your revised manuscript. These comments will be provided to reviewers.
Manuscript Guidelines
1. The submission should be accompanied by a brief abstract no longer than 50 words and also 3 to 5 keywords.
2. References both in the text and at the end of the manuscript should follow the style described in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed., APA). Authors are responsible for the accuracy of references. Do not use footnotes.
3. Author identification should appear only on the cover page so that it may be removed before blind review. A biographical sketch (maximum 50 words) for each author should be included in the cover letter.
4. Authors should not submit more than five tables and three figures with each manuscript. Electronic artwork must be a minimum resolution of 600 dots per inch (dpi) up to 1,200 dpi. Halftone line screens should be a minimum of 300 dpi. JPEG or PDF files are preferred. (See APA Publication Manual, pp. 188–201, for further details on figure preparation.) Figure captions are to be on an attached page, as required by APA style.
5. For lengthy quotations (generally 300–500 cumulative words or more from one source), it is the author’s responsibility to secure written permission for reproduction from the copyright holder. Quotations of any length should include the exact page number(s) along with the citation.
6. Authors are encouraged to use guidelines to reduce bias in language against persons on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, racial or ethnic group, disability, or age by referring to the fifth edition of the APA Publication Manual.
7. Authors are requested to provide detailed descriptions of their samples (e.g., specification of gender, ethnicity, age range) to assist readers in generalizing from the results.
8. Authors are encouraged to assist readers in interpreting statistical significance of their results. For example, results may be indexed to sample size. An author may wish to say, “This correlation coefficient still would have been statistically significant even if sample size had been as small as n = 33” or “This correlation coefficient would have been statistically significant if sample size had been increased to n = 138.”
9. Authors are required to provide readers with effect size estimates to accompany statistical significance tests that are reported. For example, in an analysis of variance, authors may wish to report R-squared, eta-squared, or omega-squared. Standardized effect size estimates (the difference between the intervention group mean minus control group mean divided by the control group standard deviation) are also helpful in interpretation.
10. Studies in which statistical significance is not achieved will still be seriously considered for publication if power estimates of protection against Type II error are reported and reasonable protection is available.
11. A manuscript that is currently being considered by another publication may not be submitted for concurrent consideration by MECD.
12. The period between acknowledgment of receipt of the manuscript and notification of disposition is generally 3 to 6 months.
