Author Guidelines

I. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

1. The scientific journal Applied Research in Studies and Practice, published by Panevėžio kolegija / State Higher Education Institution, publishes properly edited and formatted manuscripts presenting the results of scientific research and experimental development.

2. Manuscripts must be submitted in English, written in an academic style, and comply with the Journal’s Publication Ethics Policy. Manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with the requirements set out in Section II of these Guidelines.

3. Submission procedure:

3.1. Manuscripts may be submitted at any time. To be considered for publication in the current calendar year, an manuscript must be submitted no later than 15 November of that year.

3.2. The author(s) must complete the guarantee letter concerning publication of the manuscript in the Journal and upload the electronic manuscript file through the Journal’s online submission system.

3.3. To ensure publication quality, each submitted manuscript is evaluated by a reviewer appointed by the Editorial Board who is a researcher in the relevant field or group of fields. Reviewers are appointed confidentially and assess the manuscript’s compliance with the Journal’s requirements. The review procedure follows the double-blind peer-review model and is completed through the Journal’s online system.

4. Only manuscripts selected by the Editorial Board and successfully peer-reviewed are published in the Journal.

5. An manuscript will not be published if:

5.1. it does not comply with the requirements applicable to scientific manuscripts;

5.2. it does not comply with the Journal’s Publication Ethics Policy; or

5.3. the reviewer(s) provide a negative assessment of the manuscript’s content or the quality of its preparation.

II. REQUIREMENTS FOR MANUSCRIPTS

6. An manuscript must not exceed eight A4 pages. The manuscript must be submitted in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word or RTF format and prepared using Times New Roman (Baltic). The text must be laid out in a single column and use single line spacing. Page margins must be 2 cm at the top, 2 cm at the bottom, 3 cm on the left and 1 cm on the right. Each paragraph must begin with a 1.5 cm first-line indent.

7. The manuscript must contain the following elements:

7.1. Title of the manuscript;

7.2. Full name(s) of the author(s);

7.3. Institutional affiliation(s) of the author(s) and email address (institutional email preferred);

7.4. Abstract. The abstract must briefly state the research problem and aim, describe the methods used, summarise the principal results and present the main conclusion(s). It must be 150–200 words in length;

7.5. Keywords. Provide three to five keywords;

7.6. Introduction. The introduction must explain the relevance and novelty of the research from scientific and practical perspectives; formulate the questions defining the research problem; discuss the extent to which the problem has been investigated; and state the research aim, objectives, object and methods. The assessment of the existing level of research, as well as the relevance and novelty of the study, must be supported by internationally recognised and cited scientific literature, including publications in journals indexed in international databases with citation indicators such as Clarivate Analytics Journal Citation Reports (JCR) and/or Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) in Scopus;

7.7. Body text. The main text must be divided into clearly defined and logically structured sections appropriate to the nature and methodology of the study. Original empirical research should normally include sections on research methodology or methods, results and discussion. The Results and Discussion sections may be presented separately or combined. For theoretical, review or other types of manuscripts, an alternative section structure may be used where appropriate. The literature review and theoretical substantiation must be based on relevant, internationally recognised and cited scientific literature, including publications indexed in international databases;

7.8. Conclusions. The conclusions must summarise the most important findings and outcomes of the study, avoid unnecessary repetition of the discussion, and demonstrate the scientific and practical significance of the research;

7.9. References. The reference list must use the Roman alphabet, be arranged alphabetically and follow APA style. Every source included in the reference list must be cited in the text. The number, range and quality of sources must be sufficient to substantiate the need for, novelty, relevance and validity of the research. The reference list should be dominated by internationally recognised scientific sources indexed in international databases.

8. Font sizes and styles:

9. Figures and tables must be presented as follows:

9.1. Diagrams, graphs and schemes are collectively referred to as figures (Figure).

9.2. Each figure must have a sequential number and a title. The number and title must be centred below the figure. The figure number must not be bold. Figures must be informative and presented in black and white.

9.3. Each table must have a sequential number. The table number must appear above the table, aligned to the right and not in bold (for example, Table 1). The title of the table must be centred below the table number.

9.4. Requirements for the layout of charts:

9.4.1. The colours or fill patterns of bars or sectors must be selected so that the chart remains informative when reproduced in grayscale. Different shades of grey or subtle hatching patterns are recommended. Different symbols may be used to distinguish lines in line charts.

9.4.2. Legends should not be used in pie charts; instead, each sector should be labelled directly. Bar and line charts must include the name of the Y-axis and the applicable unit of measurement. In three-dimensional charts, the Z-axis must be labelled.

9.4.3. In the electronic manuscript, charts must be embedded as editable spreadsheet objects. The Paste Picture command must not be used.

10. In-text citations. Citations to sources must follow APA style https://apastyle.apa.org/ .

MANUSCRIPT TEMPLATE

Submitted publications must be prepared and submitted in accordance with these approved Guidelines. Authors must use the Journal’s manuscript template when preparing the manuscript template.