The following are the PanSIG Journal Submission Guidelines. A full copy of the guidelines can be downloaded here:

• Research-based Style Guide [PDF]
• Practice-based Style Guide [PDF]

Templates

Please use the templates provided for either article (research-based or practice-based) as your main reference. 

• Research-based Article Template [Word .docx]
• Practice-based Article Template [Word .docx]

Note: To download these files, if clicking the links do not work, then try right click (and "Save as") or, on Mac, hold down the "control" key when you click the link (and choose "Save as").

Recommended Outline

Articles can vary in structure depending on the content, field, or project being discussed. However, our journal editors suggest considering the following outlines to maintain clarity and coherence: 

Research-based Articles

1. Introduction: Opening statement and background information, problem statement, purpose of the study, research objectives, research questions/hypotheses, significance of the study.
2. Literature Review (can also be a part of the Introduction in shorter papers): Theoretical framework, review of previous research related to your topic, identification of gaps in the literature.
3. Methodology: Research design, participants, instruments or measures, procedure, data analysis plan.
4. Results: Presentation of the data collected, statistical or thematic analysis, findings in a logical sequence, with tables and figures as necessary.
5. Discussion: Interpretation of the results, implications of the findings, comparison with previous research, limitations of the study, suggestions for future research.
6. Conclusion: Summary of findings, restatement of the research's significance.
7. References: List of all sources cited in the paper (formatted according to APA 7th style).
8. Appendices (if necessary): Supplementary material that is too lengthy or detailed to include in the body of the paper.

Note: All tables and figures need to be inserted within the text following APA 7th guidelines. 

Practice-based Articles

1. Introduction: Overview of the teaching context, the challenge or issue the teaching practice addresses, an objective or goal that the teaching practice seeks to achieve, the importance or potential benefits of the proposed teaching practice.
2. Background or Theoretical Framework (based on Literature): Relevant theories or models that support the teaching practice, review of similar practices or prior applications, identification of gaps or opportunities in teaching methods.
3. Description of the Teaching Practice: Detailed explanation of the teaching practice, steps or stages in implementing the practice, materials and resources needed.
4. Implementation: How the practice was applied in the classroom or learning environment, any adaptations or modifications made, reflections on the process and student engagement.
5. Outcomes and Observations: Observable results or changes following the implementation, student feedback or outcomes, if available, teacher's observations and reflections.
6. Discussion: Interpretation of the outcomes and observations, comparison with existing teaching methods or practices, potential implications for teaching and learning.
7. Conclusions and Recommendations: Summarization of key points and takeaways, recommendations for other educators considering this practice, suggestions for further development or research.
8. References: List of all sources cited in the paper (formatted according to APA 7th style).
9. Appendices (if necessary): Supplementary material such as lesson plans, worksheets, or rubrics.

Note 1: All tables and figures need to be inserted within the text following APA 7th guidelines. 
Note 2: Practice-based papers should NOT include data, statistics, or extensive literature reviews or methodological descriptions.

Guidelines Summary

Below are the basic instructions for how to prepare your document. All of these instructions are taken from the style guides that are linked to at the top of this page.

If you are not sure about any of the formatting of the article, please check the 7th Edition of the APA Publication Manual.

Your manuscript should include these sections:

• Title 
• Abstracts (in both English and Japanese.)
• Text of the manuscript
• References: These should come at the end of the article
• Appendices: Start on a separate page

Note: Tables and figures should be included in the text of your manuscript not at the end. See below for more details about how to format tables and figures.

Word Limits

• Your paper should be no longer than the word count of 4,500 words, including the references but not including the Title, Abstracts and Appendices.
• The title of your paper should be no longer than 12 words long.
• The English abstract should be 150 words or less.
• The Japanese abstract should be 400 characters (字) or less.
• Appendices should be no longer than 3 pages.

Title & Author Information

AL the top of the first page of the document there should be:

1. The "running head" (ALL CAPS) in the header.
2. The title of the paper (no longer than 12 words)
3. The authors' names and affiliations.  This should be given in the following format:

• Author's name: Surname GivenName¹, Surname GivenName², and Surname GivenName³ [number in superscript]: Arial 12-point, centered. [If a middle name, only the initial]
• Affiliation:
  ¹ Affiliation A
  ² Affiliation B
  ³ Affiliation C [number in superscript]: Arial 12-point, centered.

Note 1: The author's name and affiliation should only be included in the complete manuscript and not the (anonymized) version intended for peer review.
Note 2: If the article is written by a single author, there is no need to numerate.
Note 3: If two authors have the same affiliation, names carry the same number and the affiliation is mentioned only once. 
Note 4: For part-time lecturers, list only one affiliation.

Abstracts

Right after the author's information, please include both the English and Japanese abstracts. The English abstract should be 150 words (or less) and the Japanese abstract should be 400 字 (or less). Please use Arial, 8.5 point for the English and Yu Mincho Regular, 8.5 point for the Japanese. Use single line spacing for both abstracts. The paragraphs in the abstract should be 0.5 cm indented (both sides), justified. You do not need to put a title above the English or the Japanese abstract and you should not include keywords on this page.

Your Article

This is where your article should start. Please do not use a header that says Introduction before the start of your 1st paragraph.

The article should use 10-point Arial and the paragraphs should be 1.15-spaced. Do not include extra lines between paragraphs. Do not indent your paragraphs. Please note if you are unsure about how to format your document correctly you can use the Microsoft Word version of the style guide as a template.

Formatting Details

All manuscripts to PanSIG Journal should have justified text alignment. Please insert only one space after a period or full stop at the end of sentences. Overall formatting for the document should follow the guidelines listed in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) 7th Edition. Do not indent your paragraphs, this causes problems when the articles are put into layout. Use 1.15 spacing. Do not leave a line space between paragraphs (use automated "after" space: 8-points).

Title

The title should be in Title Case with the initial letter of each word capitalized, except for articles, prepositions, and conjunctions. Center the title and use 14-point Arial.

Headings

Each section of the text should be prefaced by an appropriate heading: Level 1, at the start of a major new section, Level 2, at the start of a main subsection, and Level 3 for a sub-subsection. Do not add numbers to any of the headings. 

Center all Level 1 (Arial 12-point, bold) and Level 2 (Arial 11-point) headings using normal typeface for the font. Level 3 headings should not be indented and left aligned, and should be in 10.5-point Arial font. For both Level 1 and Level 2 headings should be in title case. Capitalize only the first letter of the Level 3 heading; do not capitalize any other words. 

Tables and Figures

You need to include all of your tables and figures in the article itself as well as submit any figures you have used in your article as a supplementary file in their native format (e.g., Excel, jpg, png). These supplementary files should be clearly labeled (for example: 1st_authors_last_name_figure_1.jpg) and submitted with your paper. Limit the content of your tables to essential materials. If a figure does not add substantively to the understanding of the paper or duplicates other elements of the paper it should not be included. When tables are referred to in the text, refer to tables as (Table 1). Do not use words such as (See Table 1 below), since during the graphical layout process figures may appear elsewhere in the paper for reasons of space.

References

References cited in the text should follow the APA 7th guidelines. References should be listed at the end of the main body of the text in alphabetical order by author last name. DO NOT format the spacing of this page using spaces or tabs; doing this will make it very difficult when putting the article into layout. For your submission, the references should be left justified, double-spaced and there SHOULD be a 0.5 inches (1.27 cm) hanging indent. DO NOT use the "return" key in the middle of a reference; this will cause it to be counted as two references when putting the article into layout (even if this causes the URL to be moved down onto the next line, these types of problems can be taken care of during the layout process). Also, do not add extra line returns between the entries in the reference section.

Appendices

Appendices go after the reference page. If your paper only has one appendix, label it "Appendix" (without quotes). If there is more than one appendix, label them "Appendix A," "Appendix B," etc. (without quotes) in the order that each item appears in the paper. In the main text, you should refer to the Appendices by their labels.