Briefly describe the focus of the journal or special issue so authors can check whether their work is a good fit. This will help avoid causing unnecessary frustration for authors and prevent yourself from having to spend time on submissions that are not suitable for your journal.

Specify which article types you accept (e.g. original research, reviews, commentary) and indicate typical word counts, structure (e.g. abstract, sections), and file formats. By providing an article template, you can avoid misunderstandings and reduce your editorial workload.

State which language(s) are accepted and define the preferred reference style (e.g. APA, Chicago Manual of Style), including any specific formatting rules.

Provide basic requirements for tables and figures (file types, resolution, captions) and how statistical information (such as p‑values and confidence intervals) should be reported.

To comply with internationally recognised standards, ask authors to include ethics approval where relevant, a funding statement and whether they have any possible conflicts of interest.

If the journal uses anonymized (blind) peer-review, explain clearly how manuscripts should be anonymised (e.g. by removing names and affiliations and handling self-citations neutrally).

Describe the main steps after submission (initial check by editors, peer review, possible decisions and revision rounds) so authors know what to expect.

In addition, it can be helpful to link to or briefly outline the review criteria used by your journal (e.g. originality, methodological quality, clarity, relevance), so authors understand how their work will be assessed. The following text examples are provided by the Journal HTCE (Historical Thinking Culture and Education). They can be used as a model and adapted as needed.

Scientific criteria for reviewers

HTCE_Review Form for Research Papers_v2023-12-13-OTH (1).dotx

Template Editorial Process 

HTCE_20editorial_20process_research_20papers_v2023-12-20-OTH

Example for submission guidelines of EJHC: https://ejhc.org/about/submissions