Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice

Style Sheet & Guidelines for Manuscript Preparation

Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice (LR: TMP) reports on contemporary research and theory in literacy and literacy education reflecting the content of the Literacy Research Association Annual Conference. LR: TMP includes refereed articles by both emerging scholars and more established researchers. We invite all presenters at the Annual LRA Conference to submit articles based on their presentations for possible inclusion in LR: TMP. 

LR: TMP is a refereed publication; acceptance of papers by the program committee does not guarantee publication. Only manuscripts that were presented at the 2022 Annual Conference and not under consideration for publication through another outlet will be considered for LR: TMP.

Please follow formatting requirements. Manuscripts should be no more than 8000 words including abstract, references, tables and figures using a 12-point Times New Roman font with 1-inch margins. All submissions will be made electronically through ScholarOne.

ScholarOne will automatically generate an email receipt when your manuscript is successfully submitted. After preliminary editorial review, at least three reviewers with expertise in the subject area will evaluate each manuscript. All manuscripts will receive double-anonymized review. Authors are cautioned to report their research in ways that will not provide unnecessary clues to their identities. References to the author’s work can be inserted upon acceptance. Manuscripts will be evaluated and selected for inclusion in LR: TMP based on the following criteria:

• significance of topic and findings
• adequacy of design and analysis
• clarity of presentation
• timeliness and relevancy
• contribution to the field
• appropriateness in terms of style and form

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION CHECKLIST

• Manuscripts: 8000 words or fewer including abstract (250 words), references, figures (1/2 page=205 words), and tables;
• Figures and tables submitted as separate documents
• Permissions for photos, videos, links, and texts
• Include 4-5 keywords
• Include order of authors and institutional affiliation and ORCID for each author
• APA guidelines (7th edition)
• A Microsoft Word document should be uploaded to: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/lrtmp

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

1. Follow APA style (7^th edition) when preparing the text, reference list, tables, and figures. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7^th edition) is available from the American Psychological Association (1200 17^th Street N. W., Washington, D.C. 20036). Please pay particular attention to APA guidelines for headings, references, and construction of tables and figures.

2. Content and clarity of communication are critical considerations for acceptance.

3. LR: TMP rarely publishes endnotes or footnotes. Please incorporate this information into the text.

4. To meet length specifications, consider the following:

• Eliminate nonessential words and phrases. Removing unnecessary prepositions, articles, and superfluous phrases often reduces an article by one to three pages.
• Use tables and figures only when absolutely necessary, as these items can add considerably to the length of the manuscript. Tables, figures, and images should be included only when they increase clarity. Information in tables/figures/images should not be repeated in the narrative. Authors must select tables/figures/images to be half or full page, although the final decision will be made by Sage based upon the quality of the tables/figures/images. Each table/figure/image included in the manuscript will be included in the word count (1-page image = 410 words; ½ page image = 205 words).

5. Figures should be uploaded as separate files according to the following guidelines:

• Format–TIFF, JPEG, PDF: Common format for pictures (containing no text or graphs). EPS: Preferred format for graphs and line art (retains quality when enlarging/zooming in). Microsoft Office files (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) are also accepted.
• Resolution–Rasterized based files (i.e. with .tiff or .jpeg extensions) require a resolution of at least 300 dpi. Line art should be supplied with a minimum resolution of 800 dpi.
• Color–Please note that images supplied in color will be published in color online and black and white in print (unless otherwise arranged). Therefore, it is important that you supply images that are comprehensible in black and white as well (i.e. by using color with a distinctive pattern or dotted lines). The captions should not include words indicating color.

6. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission for photos, videos, links, and texts included within their manuscripts. 

7. Name the file with the title of the article, not the author’s/authors’ names to ensure masked review. Please consult the APA guide (7^th edition) for information about masking manuscripts both in the body of the manuscript and reference list. Submit the masked Microsoft Word manuscript electronically on the ScholarOne website.

• Include 4-5 keywords. These keywords will appear beneath the abstract in the publication.      
• Authors should include an abstract up to 250 words. The abstract word count is included in the total 8000-word count.
• Specify the order of authors and include the institutional affiliation and ORCID for each author.

8. Confirmation of manuscript receipt will be sent to the contact author when the submission if successfully submitted via ScholarOne. If confirmation notice is not received, please contact lrtmp@ua.edu with “Confirmation Request” in the subject line.

9. Timeline for peer review and editorial decisions:

February 10, 2023: Author Submission Deadline
March 13, 2023: Peer Reviews Due
April 14-21, 2023: Decision Letters Sent to Corresponding Authors

Conflict of interest
It is the policy of Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice to require a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors enabling a statement to be carried within all published articles.

It is the policy of Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice to require a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors enabling a statement to be carried within all published articles. Please ensure that you have declared any conflict of interest during the submission process in ScholarOne. Visit this page for more information about identifying conflicts of interest.

Funding acknowledgement
Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice requires all authors to acknowledge any funding sources during the submission process in ScholarOne. For funded projects, you will be asked to list the name of the funding agency and the grant or award number in ScholarOne. Please visit this page for more information about funding acknowledgements. 
 
Informed Consent
All research studies with human participants must have been performed in accordance with the principles stated in the Declaration of Helsinki.

Ethical approval must have been obtained for all protocols from the local institutional review board (IRB) or other appropriate ethics committee. You will be asked to confirm this to be the case during the submission process in ScholarOne. For research articles, authors are also required to attest that participants provided informed consent (and assent, if applicable). 

Authors must be prepared to provide further information to the journal editorial office upon request

*Submissions that don’t honor these guidelines or failure to meet deadlines may result in refusal to review or rejection of the manuscript.

For more information, please refer to the Sage Manuscript Submission Guidelines.