Author Guidelines

These guidelines describe how to prepare and submit a manuscript to JACOBS. Manuscripts that do not follow them will be returned to the authors before peer review. Please read the guidelines together with Manuscript Type, Authorship Criteria, Reference Management, and the manuscript template.

1. General Requirements

• The manuscript reports original work that has not been published previously and is not under consideration by another journal. Posting a preprint is permitted and must be disclosed at submission.
• The topic falls within the Focus and Scope of the journal.
• All authors meet the authorship criteria and have approved the submitted version.
• Research involving human participants has received approval from a research ethics committee, and informed consent was obtained (see Section 9).
• The use of generative AI is disclosed in accordance with the AI Use Policy.

2. Language

Manuscripts may be written in English or Indonesian. English is strongly encouraged to reach an international readership. Manuscripts written in Indonesian must include the title, abstract, and keywords in both Indonesian and English. Authors who are not native English speakers are advised to have the manuscript checked by a professional editor or a fluent colleague before submission. Use either American or British spelling consistently.

3. Before You Submit: Checklist

• The manuscript is prepared in the JACOBS template (.docx) and does not exceed the word limit for its article type.
• The main manuscript file is fully anonymized: no author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, funding numbers, or self-identifying citations (cite your own work in the third person), and the document properties are cleared.
• A separate title page contains all author information and the declarations listed in Section 10.
• Every in-text citation appears in the reference list and vice versa; references follow APA 7th edition and were produced with a reference manager.
• The relevant reporting guideline checklist (for example CONSORT, PRISMA 2020, or COREQ) is completed and uploaded as a supplementary file.
• The corresponding author has an ORCID iD, and all co-authors' names, affiliations, and email addresses are complete.
• The ethics approval number and the name of the approving committee are stated in the Method section.

4. Submission Procedure

1. Register and log in. Create an account on this website with the Author role. Registration is free.
2. Start a new submission. Select the appropriate section (article type), confirm each item of the submission checklist, and read the copyright notice.
3. Upload files. Upload the files listed in the table below, choosing the correct component for each file.
4. Enter metadata. Enter the title, abstract, keywords, and references, and add every co-author with full name, affiliation, country, email address, and ORCID iD. Metadata must match the manuscript exactly, because they are deposited with Crossref and indexing services.
5. Confirm. Review and finish the submission. You will receive an automatic acknowledgment by email and can track the progress of the manuscript from your dashboard.

5. Files to Submit

6. Manuscript Structure

Original research articles follow the IMRaD structure. Requirements for other article types are described in Manuscript Type.

7. Reporting Statistics and Qualitative Evidence

• Follow the APA Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS-Quant, JARS-Qual, or JARS-Mixed).
• Report exact p values to two or three decimals (for example, p = .032), except p < .001. Do not report p = .000.
• Report an appropriate effect size (for example, Cohen's d, Hedges' g, η², R², or odds ratios) and its 95% confidence interval for every primary analysis.
• Describe how statistical assumptions were checked and how violations, outliers, and missing data were handled.
• For structural equation models and confirmatory factor analyses, report the estimator and fit indices (χ², df, CFI, TLI, RMSEA with 90% CI, SRMR).
• For qualitative studies, describe the sampling strategy and saturation, the data collection procedure, the analytic approach and coding process, researcher reflexivity, and strategies used to establish trustworthiness. Identify participant quotations with pseudonyms or codes only.

8. Tables and Figures

• Format tables in APA style, without vertical lines, as editable text (not images). Number them consecutively, place the title above the table, and place notes below it.
• Figures must be legible when printed in grayscale, have clearly labeled axes, and be supplied at a resolution of at least 300 dpi.
• Abbreviations must be defined in a note to each table or figure.
• Material reproduced from other sources requires written permission from the copyright holder, which must be supplied at submission.

9. Research Ethics and Participant Protection

• Studies involving human participants must be approved by an institutional or independent research ethics committee. State the committee name and approval number in the Method section.
• Obtain informed consent from all participants. For children and other participants who cannot consent for themselves, obtain consent from a parent or legal guardian and assent from the participant.
• Remove any information that could identify participants, including photographs, names of small institutions, and detailed case descriptions, unless written consent for publication has been obtained.
• Clinical trials must be registered in a public trial registry before enrollment of the first participant, and the registration number must be stated in the abstract and Method section.
• Copyrighted psychological tests must not be reproduced in full in the article or supplementary files without permission from the copyright holder.

10. Declarations

Every manuscript must include the following statements on the title page. After acceptance, they are placed before the reference list.

• Acknowledgments: contributors who do not meet the authorship criteria, with their permission.
• Funding: funding bodies and grant numbers, or "This research received no specific grant from any funding agency."
• Author contributions: the contribution of each author using the CRediT taxonomy.
• Conflict of interest: any financial or non-financial interests, or "The authors declare no conflict of interest." See Conflict of Interest.
• Data availability: where and under what conditions the data can be accessed, or why they cannot be shared.
• Ethics approval and consent: the committee, approval number, and consent procedure.
• Use of generative AI: a disclosure statement as described in the AI Use Policy.

11. Revision

Revised manuscripts must be returned within 14 days for minor revisions and 30 days for major revisions. Upload (a) the revised manuscript with changes highlighted or tracked, (b) a clean revised manuscript, and (c) a point-by-point response to each comment from the editors and reviewers, stating where each change was made. If you disagree with a comment, explain your reasons respectfully. Manuscripts not returned within the deadline, without an agreed extension, may be treated as withdrawn.

12. After Acceptance

• The corresponding author confirms the publication license (see Copyright and License) and settles the Article Processing Charge upon receiving the invoice.
• The copyedited manuscript and the galley proof are sent to the corresponding author. Proofs must be checked and returned within three working days. Only corrections of errors are permitted at the proof stage; substantive changes are not accepted.
• After publication, authors are encouraged to share the article through ORCID, institutional repositories, and academic and social networks, always citing the DOI.