Submissions

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Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
  • Articles is up to 3500 words (unless otherwise arranged).
  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  • Articles for peer review are in Times New Roman, size 11 font, and one and half spaced and suitable for blind review.
  • The submission file is in Microsoft Word format. The text is one and a half spaced; uses a Times. 11-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines.
  • Blind Review: Your peer-review article will be automatically rejected if your submission is not blind review ready. Check the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed. If using Google Docs please file/make a copy and then remove identifiers—name, self-references. Export as either Word or pdf then follow the relevant file type instructions as a double check.
  • Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
  • All references have been thoroughly checked and adhere to the guidelines published in the Publication Guidelines of the latest version of the American Psychological Association.
  • Where available, DOI numbers for articles must be provided.
    Consistent with current APA Guidelines, the journal requires authors to include the DOI of manuscripts they reference where this information is available. One quick resource for doing this is https://doi.org
  • Unless the Journal Manager has been notified prior to publication, you agree for the lead author's contact email address being included on the front page of the article. Email [email protected] if this is not acceptable.
  • You have declared any potential conflicts of interest – professional or financial – that may arise from publication of the article. If note, please contact the Editor or Journal Manager to advise any potential conflicts.
  • You have signed consent to use any photo where people/a person can be identified. This must state permission to publish. These can be attached to your on last section of your submission.

Author Guidelines

The readers of this journal include initial teacher education providers and early childhood institutions. However, the majority of subscribers work in early childhood centres. Consequently, articles should be relevant to practitioners. We accept material that is based on accepted good practice, preferably with clear examples from working with children and adults. We seldom publish articles that are argument only. 

Length:

Early Education welcomes:

  • Innovative practice papers with a maximum of 3,500 words, plus an abstract or professional summary of 150 words and up to five keywords.
  • Research informed papers with a maximum of 3,500 words, plus an abstract or professional summary of 150 words, and up to five keywords.
  • Think pieces with a maximum of 1500 words.
  • Commentaries on management matters with a maximum of 1500 words.
  • Book or resource reviews with a maximum of 1000 words.

Style:

Language should be relatively clear and jargon free. Ask yourself: ‘Could the staff read this while the children are sleeping?’

‘I, ‘we’ and ‘you’ are OK words. Beginning a sentence with ‘it’ is seldom OK, nor are large quantities of text in the third person.

Citations should be kept to a minimum: no long lists of citations, though there may be writers and researchers to whom you want to draw the reader’s attention. Please use first and family names (Anne Smith) the first time you mention a person within the article. This is so that women who write become visible - many students (and probably practitioners) still assume that all writers and researchers are 'he'.

Please do not feel that you are on your own when you write. We are happy to look at your draft and either give advice or find someone who can.

Layout:

All submission should be as Word documents. Text should use one and half spacing and Times New Roman , 11 point font. Only the first page should include the title, the name(s) of authors and the address to which reviews should be sent. To facilitate blind, peer reviewing, please do not include a running header with author names. Please include any tables or figures within the text where you want them sited at appropriate points, rather than at the end.

Referencing:

References, tables and figures should be prepared using APA format. However, it isn’t a problem for us to convert your reference list to APA if you send us all the details. This means for books: name, initials or first name. (year of publication). title of book. place of publication: publisher. For journal articles: name, initials or first name. (year of publication).  title of article. title of journal, volume(issus) or date, and page numbers.

References should be targeted, useful and appropriate. Please use APA format, 6th edition. Include a reference list that comprises any article or book that you have referred to in your work. Where possible (or necessary) there should also be a short ‘Further Reading’ list, which would be useful to teachers and/or researchers. Check that all citings are included in your reference list and vise versa. Add doi numbers if an artcile you are citing has one.

Tables, Figures and Images

Tables, figures or photos/images should be placed at the appropriate place in the text.

Footnote/Endnotes

Please avoid the use of footnotes and endnotes.

Use of Photos

You must obtain written consent for the use of photos within the journal where a person can be identified. The permission must state permission to publish online. 

 

Copyright Notice

Creative Commons License

  • The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.

    Attribution 
    You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use

    NonCommercial 
    You may not use the material for commercial purposes.

    ShareAlike 
    If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.

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