Author Guidelines

Author Guidelines

1. Scope and article types

Edukids: Journal of Growth, Development, and Early Childhood Education publishes original research on children aged 0–8 years and the people and systems that support them: child development, learning and curriculum, play, assessment, early childhood teacher education, parenting and family engagement, inclusion, educational media and technology for young children, and early childhood policy.

Edukids accepts two article types:

  • Original research articles (quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, or research and development). This is the main article type.
  • Review articles (systematic reviews, scoping reviews, or meta-analyses) that follow a recognised reporting standard such as PRISMA and offer the authors' own critical synthesis.

Manuscripts outside early childhood, or those that only describe a programme without research data, will be declined at initial screening.

2. Before you submit

Submit only through the online system at https://ejournal-education.upi.edu/edukids. Manuscripts sent by email are not processed. By submitting, all authors confirm that:

  1. The manuscript is original, has not been published, and is not under review elsewhere.
  2. The similarity index (checked with Turnitin, excluding references) is no higher than 20%, as shown in the Turnitin similarity report uploaded as a supplementary file at submission.
  3. Research involving children, parents, or teachers has ethics approval, or documented informed consent from parents or guardians and permission from the institution (see 4.6).
  4. All listed authors made a real contribution, approved the final version, and agree to submission.
  5. Any use of generative AI is disclosed according to the AI Policy.

Authors upload two manuscript files in Word format (.doc/.docx):

  1. Full manuscript, including the authors' names, affiliations, emails, and ORCID iDs, as well as the Declarations and Acknowledgments.
  2. Anonymized manuscript (blind manuscript), which is sent to reviewers. In this file, remove the authors' names, affiliations, emails, and ORCID iDs; any content in the Declarations and Acknowledgments that could reveal the authors' identity; and the author name in the document properties (in Microsoft Word: File > Info > Inspect Document). Cite the authors' own work as usual, but in the third person, for example "Rahman (2024) found that …", not "our previous study …".

Name both files without the authors' names, for example Full_Manuscript.docx and Anonymized_Manuscript.docx.

3. Language and length

Manuscripts may be written in English or Indonesian. English is strongly encouraged to reach an international readership. Articles are 5,000–8,000 words long, including tables and figures but excluding references (about 12–20 pages in the template). Use the Edukids template: A4 paper with the template's margins, single column, justified text, Calibri 12 pt, single spacing; table titles and figure captions in Calibri 11 pt. The editorial team sets the final layout.

4. Manuscript structure

Research articles follow this order: Title, Authors and Affiliations, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Method, Results and Discussion, Conclusion, Declarations, References. Review articles use Introduction, Method (search and selection strategy), Results and Discussion, and Conclusion. Number the main headings (1. Introduction, 2. Method, 3. Results and Discussion, 4. Conclusion, 5. Declarations, 6. References) and subheadings (2.1, 2.2).

The Edukids template uses Indonesian terms. English articles use the following equivalents so that all articles share one format:

Indonesian article

English article

1. PENDAHULUAN

1. INTRODUCTION

2. METODE

2. METHOD

3. HASIL DAN PEMBAHASAN

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4. SIMPULAN

4. CONCLUSION

5. DEKLARASI

5. DECLARATIONS

6. DAFTAR RUJUKAN

6. REFERENCES

Tabel 1. / Gambar 1. / Sumber:

Table 1. / Figure 1. / Source:

Abstrak / Kata kunci

Abstract / Keywords

 

4.1 Title

  • Concise: no more than 12 words for an English title or 15 words for an Indonesian title; specific and informative, without repeated words.
  • States the main variables or finding, the participants, and the research location when relevant.
  • Avoid abbreviations and phrases such as "A study of".
  • English articles: English title only. Indonesian articles: Indonesian title followed by its English translation.
  • Write full names without academic degrees or positions.
  • Every name in the metadata must have at least two words. Authors with a single name repeat it as first and last name (for example, Suharti Suharti).
  • Do not abbreviate the last name to a single letter.
  • Write the affiliation in full: department, institution, city, country.
  • Number affiliations with superscripts by institution, not by author. If all authors share one affiliation, no numbering is needed.
  • Mark the corresponding author with an asterisk (*) and give an institutional email address. ORCID iDs are strongly recommended.
  • Authors cannot be added or removed after acceptance without a written, justified request approved by the editor.
  • One paragraph of 150–250 words.
  • Covers the background and research gap, purpose, method (design, participants, analysis), main results with key figures, and conclusion or implication.
  • Contains no citations, tables, figures, or undefined abbreviations.
  • English articles: English abstract only. Indonesian articles: Indonesian abstract followed by an English abstract.

4.2 Authors and affiliations

4.3 Abstract

4.4 Keywords

Three to five words or phrases that represent the main concepts, separated by commas. Use standard terms that readers would search for, and avoid repeating words already in the title.

4.5 Introduction

Write the introduction as connected paragraphs without subheadings. It must contain:

  1. The problem and why it matters for young children.
  2. A state-of-the-art review of recent, relevant studies, mostly from the last 10 years.
  3. The research gap: what previous studies have not answered.
  4. The novelty of this study: what it adds.
  5. The purpose or research questions, stated clearly in the final paragraph.

4.6 Method

Describe the method in enough detail for another researcher to repeat the study:

  • Research design and approach.
  • Participants: number, age range, setting, and how they were selected.
  • Location and period of data collection.
  • Instruments, with evidence of validity and reliability where relevant.
  • Procedure and data analysis techniques.
  • Ethics: give the ethics approval number, issuing body, and year. Where formal approval is not available, state that informed consent was obtained from parents or guardians, that child assent was sought, and that the institution gave permission. Children must not be identifiable: use pseudonyms and blur faces in photographs.

Describe research flows in text; diagrams are not required.

4.7 Results and Discussion

Results and Discussion may be one section or two. Present findings with clear data, then discuss every finding:

  • Interpret what the finding means.
  • Compare it critically with relevant, recent studies and theory, explaining why results agree or differ.
  • State the limitations of the study.

Articles that only describe findings without interpretation and comparison will be returned for revision.

4.8 Conclusion

Write the conclusion in paragraphs, not bullet points. It answers the research purpose, highlights the new or important findings, and may state implications, recommendations, and directions for further research. Do not introduce new discussion or citations.

4.9 Declarations

Place these statements after the Conclusion and before the References. Every article must include them, even when the answer is "none".

  • Author contributions: each author's role, using the CRediT taxonomy (for example, conceptualization, methodology, data collection, analysis, writing).
  • Funding: the funder and grant number, or "This research received no external funding."
  • Conflict of interest: any financial or personal relationship that could influence the work, or "The authors declare no conflict of interest."
  • Use of generative AI: the tool, its version, and what it was used for, or "No generative AI was used in preparing this manuscript." AI tools cannot be listed as authors, and authors remain fully responsible for the content.
  • Ethics approval: the approval number, or the consent statement described in 4.6.
  • Acknowledgments (optional): people or institutions who helped but do not meet authorship criteria.
  • Number tables and figures consecutively and cite each one in the text by its number before it appears, never with position words such as "below" or "above".
  • Place table titles above the table and figure captions below the figure.
  • Submit tables as editable text, not images, with horizontal lines only; align table text left with single spacing.
  • Submit figures at 300 dpi or higher. Images must not be stretched or blurred.
  • State the source below each figure ("Source: …"), and obtain permission for any adapted table or figure where required.
  • Define every abbreviation at first use and use SI units.
  • Write equations with an equation editor and number them on the right.
  • Include at least 25 references.
  • At least 80% must be primary sources: journal articles, conference proceedings, theses or dissertations, and research monographs.
  • At least 80% must be published within the last 10 years. Classic works may support theory but not the main comparison of results or the claim of novelty.
  • Use APA 7th edition and a reference manager such as Mendeley, Zotero, or EndNote.
  • Every in-text citation must appear in the reference list, and every reference must be cited in the text.
  • Include a DOI as a link (https://doi.org/…) for every reference that has one.
  • Avoid non-scholarly sources such as Wikipedia, blogs, and lecture notes.
  • Edukids never asks authors to cite the journal. Cite Edukids articles only when they are relevant.

5. Tables, figures, and equations

6. References

In-text citations (APA 7): one author (Smith, 2021); two authors (Smith & Lee, 2021); three or more (Smith et al., 2021); narrative: Smith et al. (2021) found…

Reference list examples (APA 7):

  • Journal article: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (2023). Title of the article in sentence case. Journal Name, 12(3), 45–67. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx
  • Book: Author, A. A. (2020). Title of the book in sentence case (2nd ed.). Publisher.
  • Book chapter: Author, A. A. (2021). Title of chapter. In E. E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. 10–25). Publisher. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx
  • Proceedings: Author, A. A. (2022). Title of paper. In Proceedings of the Conference Name (pp. 100–108). Publisher. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx
  • Thesis: Author, A. A. (2024). Title of thesis [Master's thesis, University Name]. Repository Name. https://url
  • Government document: Ministry Name. (2024). Title of the regulation or report. https://url

7. Review and publication process

Every manuscript passes initial screening by the editor (scope, format, and similarity), then double-blind peer review by at least two reviewers with relevant expertise. Authors usually receive the first decision within 8 weeks. Edukids offers a paid fast-track service with a target first decision within 4 weeks. It only shortens the time to review and editorial decision; it does not guarantee acceptance or publication. Fast-track manuscripts receive the same double-blind review, by the same number of reviewers and to the same standard, and may be rejected. A Letter of Acceptance is issued only after the editor accepts the final revised manuscript. Once the manuscript is accepted, the corresponding author submits the signed Statement of Originality and Publication Agreement together with proof of payment of the publication fee, before copyediting begins. Accepted articles may appear online as Articles in Press before the issue is complete. Full details are in the Peer Review Policy.

8. Ethics and AI policy

Edukids follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, duplicate submission, and improper authorship are handled under the Publication Ethics policy and may lead to rejection, correction, or retraction. The use of generative AI by authors, editors, and reviewers is governed by the AI Policy.

9. Fees

Submission is free of charge. A publication fee of IDR 300,000 is payable after the manuscript is accepted. The optional fast-track service costs IDR 600,000, which includes the publication fee and is payable when the author chooses the service. Payment, including the fast-track fee, never affects editorial decisions. If a fast-track manuscript is rejected, the IDR 300,000 publication portion is refunded to the author; the IDR 300,000 for expedited review is not refunded, because it covers the expedited review process regardless of the decision.

10. Copyright and license

Articles are published open access under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0). Copyright of published articles is held by the Office of Journals and Publications (Kantor Jurnal dan Publikasi), Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. Under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, authors may still archive and share their articles, for example in institutional repositories, provided Edukids is acknowledged as the original publisher and the article's DOI is given.

11. Submission checklist

  • ☐ Manuscript uses the Edukids template and is 5,000–8,000 words long (excluding references).
  • ☐ Title, abstract, and keywords follow sections 4.1–4.4.
  • ☐ Introduction states the state of the art, research gap, novelty, and purpose.
  • ☐ Method includes ethics approval or consent information.
  • ☐ Declarations are complete.
  • ☐ At least 25 references in APA 7th edition, 80% primary and 80% from the last 10 years, with DOIs.
  • ☐ The full manuscript, the anonymized manuscript, and a Turnitin similarity report (no more than 20% similarity) are uploaded.
  • ☐ Author names and affiliations are complete, without degrees, with a corresponding author email.