Style Guide

MANUSCRIPT SPECIFICATIONS

APA Style Guide:

• Where the ASC Style Guide does not provide guidance, manuscripts should conform to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th Edition (October 2019).
• Manuscripts also must conform to the guidelines for avoiding ethnic biases and sexist language.

Paper and Layout:

• Paper size will be – letter – 8½ in. x 11 in.
• Page orientation is to be portrait.
•  “Layout – section start” is set to “new page” and “vertical alignment” is to be “top”.

Margins:

• All margins are to be set at one inch (1″).
• The gutter is set at zero inches (0″).
• The header and footer are set at one-half inch (.5″).

Font:

• Font size is 12 pt., Times New Roman.
• Limit character enhancement to: bold, underline, italics, superscript, and subscript.
• Color is not encouraged.
• Color may only be used if the author arranges to do so and pays the additional publishing costs to the publisher.

Paragraph:  (Example)

• Each paragraph is single spaced, aligned left only, no indents.
• There is only one (1) hard return between paragraphs.

Journal Paper Length:  (NEW)

• Manuscripts shall not exceed 20-pages in length, including appendices.
• Authors of longer manuscripts seeking a waiver of this specification may request a review for waiver by sending their request to asc.journal@byu.edu or asc-ijcer@colostate.edu.
• Such waivers will be given at the editor’s discretion.

DO NOT INCLUDE IN MANUSCRIPT

Text Styles:

• Do not use any preformatted text style. (i.e., Heading 1, Body Text)

Tabs:

• Do not use tabs to indent text anywhere within the document.
• Do not use tabs to build tables.
• Use the table options of your text editor.
• You may use the increase indent or decrease indent button of your text editor.

Bibliography:

• It is not recommended to include works for further reading.

Footnotes or Comments:

• Do not use footnotes or comments within manuscript.
• (Citations are to be placed within the text and not at the bottom of the page.)

Headers And Footers:

• No headers or footers are to be placed in the document.

Abstract:  (Example)

• Do not include the word “Abstract” above the abstract paragraph.

Language:

• Language should remain non-gender specific unless germane to the content.
• Do not use “he/she”, “he or she” or like wordings.
• Example:
  • replacing . . . “men” at the jobsite . . . With . . . “workers” at the jobsite . . .;
  • replacing . . . Information to a superintendent for “her” . . . With . . . Information to a superintendents for” their,” etc.

Page Numbers:

• Do not include page numbers in the document.

Section Breaks:

• Do not include section or page breaks in the document.

Special Formats:

• Do not include date and time stamps, auto text, fields, captions, cross-references, or indexes in the document.

BODY OF MANUSCRIPT:

Title:  (Example)

• The title is one 18 pt. space from the top of the first page.
• Title font size will be 18 pt., Times New Roman, bold, centered, and upper and lower case (Title Case).
• The title summarizes the main idea of the manuscript, short, and descriptive of the contents.
• No hard returns are to be within the title.

Author’s Table:  (Example)

• Author information will be formatted within a single table, one aligned left 12 pt. hard return between the title and the author table.
• The table size is established by setting the table’s width to 100%” and alignment to “centered”.
• Borders and shading must be set to “none.”
• Authors from the same institution are placed within the same cell, joined by the word “and.”
• The number of cells will depend upon the number of authors from differing institutions.
• No table will be over two cells wide, but may contain multiple rows.
• The first line is (bold) and contains the author’s first name, middle initial, and surname followed by their degree i.e., Ph.D., MSCS and certifications and licenses i.e., CPC, PE.
• The second line (not bold) is their institutional affiliation.
• The third line (not bold) is their institution’s city and state.

Abstract and Key Words:  (Example)

• Do not include the heading “Abstract.”
• The abstract will be formatted within a single table, one aligned left 12 pt. return between the author table and the abstract table.
• The table size is established by setting the table’s width to 100%” and alignment to “centered”.
• The text within the table is justified left and right and is indented one-half inch from both side margins.
• Borders and shading must be set to “none.”
• Font is 10 pt., Times New Roman, and is limited to one paragraph under 200 words.
• No hard returns are to be included within the abstract.
• The key words are to be included within the abstract table one hard return below the abstract.
• Provide no more than five key reference words.
• Bold only the text “Key Words:”.

1st Level Headings:  (Example)

• Font size is 12 pt., Times New Roman, and bold.
• Headings are centered, upper and lower case (Title Case).
• Two (2) hard returns before the heading and one (1) hard return after the heading.

2nd Level Headings:  (Example)

• Font size is 12 pt., Times New Roman.
• Headings are centered, italicized, uppercase and lowercase heading, 1 line space before, and 1 line space after.

3rd Level Headings:  (Example)

• Font size is 12 pt., Times New Roman.
• Headings are flush left, italicized, uppercase and lowercase side heading, 1 line space before, and 1 line space after.

4th Level Headings:  (Example)

• Font size is 12 pt., Times New Roman and are flush left, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period (.),
• 1 line space before, 3 character spaces after, paragraph begins same line.

Citations:  (Example)

• Citations are within parenthesis, place (author’s surname and publication year) within the text at the appropriate point.
• All citations must refer to sources listed in the references, and all sources listed must be cited from within the text.
• See the references examples (under the support material section of the manuscript specifications) for proper listing of sources.

Tables & Figures: should not be embedded in the text, but should be included as separate  files.

Tables: (Example)

• Textual information presented in column and row format.
• All tables must be created using the table function within the same word processing system as the manuscript.
• No table may be included as an image file or inserted as a reference to another file document, i.e. Excel, Access.
• The table size is established by setting the table’s width to 100%” and alignment to “centered”.
• Table titles (use 12 pt.) Appear at top of table (note punctuation, capitalization, and formatting displayed by the examples) and within its own row cell.
• Borders and shading must be set to “none” except the title cell, header cells, and the last cell which should have the bottom cell boundary as a 1/2 pt. line.
• Column headings can be bold.
• Information within the table (except for the title cell) is to be formatted font size 10 pt., times roman.
• There should be a hard return before and after the table.
• Tables in excess of 40 lines in total will be included as an appendix.

Figures:  (Example)

• Figures include non-text entries such as graphs, illustrations, photos, and artwork (tables are not figures).
• Figures should be drawn using a suitable drawing package and submitted as separate files.
• The use of color is not encouraged.
• Color may only be used if the author arranges to do so and pays the additional publishing costs to the publisher.
• Only .gif and .jpg file formats are considered acceptable.
• Submitted images should adhere to the resolution setting of 300 dpi.
• A two (2) celled table contains the figures (center justified) and figure title (left justified).
• Figures will not have borders drawn around them and should be limited to two-thirds (⅔’s) of a page.
• The table size is established by setting the table’s width to 100%” and alignment to “centered”.
• Figure titles appear in the bottom cell of the figure table (note punctuation, capitalization and formatting displayed by the examples).
• Do not include the figure title in the figure itself.

Illustrations:

• Illustrations submitted (line drawings, halftones, photos, photmicrographs, etc.) should be digital files.
• Digital files are recommended for the highest quality reproduction and should follow these guidelines:
  • 300 dpi or higher
  • sized to fit on journal page
  • EPS, TIFF, or PSD format only

Color Reproduction:

•  Color illustrations will be considered for publication; however, the author will be required to bear the full cost involved in color art reproduction.

Bullets And Numbering: (Example)

• Items listed should be syntactically and conceptually parallel to the other items in the list and should be limited to itemized conclusions or steps in a procedure.
• Only minimal round bullets or Arabic numerals are to be used.
• The list is one space below the previous paragraph and indented 0.25″ and is followed by one left justified space.
• Each of the separate items in the series is followed by a comma or period.
• Do not force or hard text your own bullets or numbering using tabs or indents.
• Use auto formatted only.
• You may format them to your specific needs.

SUPPORT MATERIAL FOR MANUSCRIPT:

References: (Example)

• Alphabetical listing of sources that were used in the research and preparation of paper.
• Manuscripts should conform to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition (2001).
• References should be indicated in the manuscript by giving the author’s name, with the year of publication in parentheses, e. g. Jones (2004) or (Jones, 2004) as appropriate.
• If several publications are cited by the same author and from the same year, a, b, c, etc. should be put after the year of publication.
• All references cited in the text should be listed in full at the end of the paper.
• The use of lengthy explanatory footnotes should be kept to a minimum.

Appendix: (Example)

• Appendices are labeled A, B, and C (when there is more than one), and are placed in the order they are first referenced in the text.
• Please limit number of pages.
• Information within the appendix is to be formatted font size 10 pt., Times New Roman.