Prior to submission, please prepare your manuscript using the following guidelines:
Double-Blind Peer-Review. The JCM uses a double-blind peer-review process. Therefore, please ensure the anonymity of your manuscript. Ensure the authors(s) names do not appear anywhere on the manuscript. (Scholastica will ask for author names and contact
information separately during the submission process.) If you refer to your own work in the manuscript, please make sure it is worded in such a way that you as the author(s) cannot be identified (e.g., use "previous research has found…", not
"our previous research has found…". If the paper is accepted, you will have the opportunity to revise the final manuscript to reflect the authorship of your references.
Format: Manuscript files should be provided in Microsoft Word format, double-spaced, in 12-pitch font, Times New Roman.
Article length: Articles should be a maximum of 6,000 words in length, exclusive of references and appendices.
Article title: A title of not more than eight words should be provided.
Author details: All contributing authors’ names should be added to the submission (not within the manuscript itself). Correct e-mail addresses should be supplied for each author in their separate Scholastica author accounts.
Biographies and acknowledgments: Do not include these items within the manuscript, as it would compromise the double-blind peer review process. We will ask for author biographies and acknowledgments later in the process.
Structured abstract: Authors must supply a structured abstract in their submission, set out under 4-7 sub-headings:
- Purpose (mandatory)
- Design/methodology/approach (mandatory)
- Findings (mandatory)
- Research limitations/implications (if applicable)
- Practical implications (if applicable)
- Social implications (if applicable)
- Originality/value (mandatory)
Maximum is 250 words in total (including keywords and article classification, see below).
Authors should avoid the use of personal pronouns within the structured abstract and body of the paper (e.g. "this paper investigates..." is correct; "I investigate..." is incorrect).
Keywords: Authors should provide appropriate and short keywords in the Scholastic submission that encapsulate the principal topics of the paper.
Article classification:
At the top of the first page of the manuscript, authors must list the category that most closely describes their paper. Select the category from the list below:
- Research paper. This category covers papers which report on any type of research undertaken by the author(s). The research may involve the construction or testing of a model or framework, action research, testing of data, market research or surveys,
empirical, scientific or clinical research.
- Viewpoint. Any paper, where content is dependent on the author's opinion and interpretation, should be included in this category; this also includes journalistic pieces.
- Technical paper. Describes and evaluates technical products, processes or services.
- Conceptual paper. These papers will not be based on research but will develop hypotheses. The papers are likely to be discursive and will cover philosophical discussions and comparative studies of others’ work and thinking.
- Case study. Case studies describe actual interventions or experiences within organizations. They may well be subjective and will not generally report on research. A description of a legal case or a hypothetical case study used as a teaching exercise
would also fit into this category.
- Literature review. It is expected that all types of paper cite any relevant literature, so this category should only be used if the main purpose of the paper is to annotate and/or critique the literature in a particular subject area. It may be
a selective bibliography providing advice on information sources or it may be comprehensive in that the paper's aim is to cover the main contributors to the development of a topic and explore their different views.
- General review. This category covers those papers which provide an overview or historical examination of some concept, technique or phenomenon. The papers are likely to be more descriptive or instructional (“how to” papers) than discursive.
Headings: Headings must be concise, with a clear indication of the distinction between the hierarchy of headings. The preferred format is for first level headings to be presented in bold format and subsequent sub-headings to be presented in italics.
Notes/endnotes: Notes or endnotes must be identified in the text by consecutive numbers and listed at the end of the article.
Figures: All Figures (charts, diagrams, line drawings, web pages/screenshots, and photographic images) should be of high quality, legible, and numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals. Figures created in MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Excel, Illustrator
should be supplied in their native formats. Figures that cannot be supplied as above are acceptable in .pdf or .jpeg format. Photographic images should be submitted electronically and of high quality.
Tables: Tables should be typed and included in a separate file to the main body of the article. The position of each table should be clearly labeled in the body text of the article with corresponding labels being clearly shown in the separate file.
References: References to other publications must be in Harvard or APA style and carefully checked for completeness, accuracy, and consistency.
Timeliness: Manuscripts must have been written within the past two years and must incorporate the latest legislative and regulatory updates.