Author Guidelines

The Article General Guidelines

  1. The article is an authentic research result that has NEVER been published in any other publication media or publishing houses, either in printed or electronic form.
  2. The article does not contain any elements of plagiarism, including self-plagiarism. The editorial board will directly reject the article that indicates plagiarism.
  3. The submission and publication processes are free, without additional fees.
  4. The article that has been written under the guidelines of Nusantara Education Studies (NES) (in MS Word format or using an article template) shall be submitted through the Online Submission System using the Open Journal System (OJS) on the NES e-journal portal (https://iacs.co.id/nes/). Then, register as the author in the Register.
  5. The article template can be downloaded and is available in MS Word (.docx). Authors must write directly on the template file and must not create new styles, fonts, or spacing of their own.
  6. The article, inappropriate with the NES writing guidelines, will be returned to the author before the review.
  7. The article structure follows the NES template and consists of: title; authors' names and affiliations; abstract and keywords; introduction; literature review; research method; results and discussion; conclusion; acknowledgement (if any); declaration of conflicting interests; data availability statement; author ORCID iDs; and references.
  8. The article should be written in English with correct and consistent grammar. Authors for whom English is not their native language are encouraged to have their articles checked before submission for grammar and clarity. The language must be inclusive and free from bias, following the APA guidelines for bias-free language. Non-English words must be written in italics and must not be placed in quotation marks ("…"); authors are advised to follow standard transliteration guidelines. The article should contain 6000–8000 words, including pictures and tables.
  9. The body of the article is written as follows:
  • The article is written on A4-sized paper, with margins of 2.54 cm (1 inch) on all four sides: top, bottom, left, and right.
  • The body text uses Times New Roman 13 points, single line spacing, justified alignment, with a first-line indent of 0.78 cm for every paragraph. No blank line is inserted after a heading or between paragraphs, and no spacing before or after the paragraph is added.
  • Foreign terms should be written in italics.
  • Abbreviations should be followed with an explanation when first mentioned, except for the unit of measurement.
  • Tables are placed within the body of the text (not appended at the end of the manuscript) and are centred on the page. The table title is placed above the table and centred, using Calnesi 11 points with single line spacing; the label (e.g., “Table 1.”) is written in bold and the caption in regular type. The source and notes are placed below the table, centred and italic, in Calnesi 11 points, with the word “Source:” in bold italic. Tables are numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals (Table 1, Table 2).
  • Figures may be a graph, matrix, picture, diagram, or similar, and are placed centred within the body of the text. The source is written directly beneath the figure in italic Calnesi 10 points, and the figure caption is placed below the source, centred, in Calnesi 10 points, with the label (e.g., “Figure 1.”) in bold and the caption in regular type. Figures are numbered separately from tables using Arabic numerals (Figure 1, Figure 2). The figure must have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi with the extension .jpg or .tif so that the print quality is adequate. Figures and tables reproduced from previously published works must be accompanied by written permission from the original publisher or copyright holder.
  • Guidelines for Heading:
    • Section heading (level 1): numbered with an Arabic numeral followed by a vertical bar, e.g., “1. | INTRODUCTION”. Written in UPPERCASE, bold, Calnesi 14 points, left-aligned, with 6 points spacing before and after and no first-line indent.
    • Sub-heading (level 2): Sentence case, bold, Calnesi 13 points, left-aligned, with 2 points spacing before and 0 points after, and no first-line indent. Sub-headings are not numbered.
    • Further heading levels (level 3 and below) are not used.
  1. Please fill in your CV and Right Transfer Agreement for Publishing Form, then attach it when submitting the article.

The Article Body Guidelines

The article's title: Briefly describe the substance of the article in no more than 15 words. It has to be pinpointed with the issues discussed. The article title does not contain any uncommon abbreviations. The main ideas should be written first and followed then by their explanations. The title is written in Calnesi 20 points, bold, UPPERCASE, and left-aligned.

Authors' names and institutions. The author's name should be accompanied by the author's institution, the institution's address (city and country), and email addresses, without any academic titles or job titles. Author names are written in Calnesi 13 points, bold, and left-aligned, each followed by a superscript Arabic numeral linking the author to their affiliation. Affiliations are written on the next line in Calnesi 11 points in the order: Department, Faculty, University, Address, Country. The corresponding author is marked with the envelope icon provided in the template.

Abstract: An abstract is written as one concise paragraph of no more than 200 words, placed inside the bordered abstract box provided in the template, using Times New Roman 12.5 points with single line spacing. The abstract must not contain footnotes, references, or subheadings, and must not repeat the introduction or the conclusion of the article. It is encouraged to cover: 1) the main questions and the context of the discussion; 2) the role of the study; 3) the results of the data; 4) how the article is discussed; and 5) the main findings. The more concise the abstract is, the better the assessment it will receive.

Keywords: List four to five pertinent keywords specific to the article yet reasonably common within the subject discipline; use lowercase except for names, and separate with a semicolon (;). The keywords are placed inside the abstract box, written in italics, with the label “Keywords:” in bold italic.

Introduction: The introduction should contain (shortly and consecutively) a general background, objective, literature review (state of the art) as the basis of the brand new research question, statements of the brand new scientific article, main research problems, and the hypothesis (optional). The introduction contains previous similar research, the differences with the present research, and the contributions given. Three key questions should be addressed: 1) why the issues raised are important and warrant discussion; 2) how other scholars have responded to these issues; and 3) how the present work responds to and contributes to the subject. A detailed methodological description is not required here; the method is mentioned only in one or two sentences. In the final part of the introduction, outline the article's purpose, methodology, problem statement, and the research's relevance and expected contributions, without using numbering or alphabetical systems.

Literature Review: This section presents the theoretical core of the article. It does not merely summarise previous relevant research, but also evaluates and synthesises the works reviewed. Authors should consider which aspects to include, how the information is synthesised, how the review is organised, and which style is used in compiling it. Citations follow the APA (7th edition) author–date format, e.g., (Smith, 2023) or (Smith & Jones, 2022).

Research Method: In general, the research method includes the framework, data collection method, data analysis method, location, and research time. The research method describes the type, data source, and variable definition. The method provides detailed descriptions so that other authors can assess and duplicate the procedure. A brief justification of the chosen method is required, and this section is usually organised into the sub-sections of sampling (target population, research context, unit of analysis, and profile of respondents), data collection, and measures.

Result and Discussion: This part consists of the research results and how they are discussed. Research results can be presented in a table or figure, followed by information that is easy to understand. The discussion section states that there is a relation between results and basic concepts or the research hypothesis so that it can be seen in its suitability and contradiction with other research. The discussion also explains the limitation of the research and its implications theoretically and by the application. The results are first summarised in a statistical-descriptive form and then followed by the relevant inferential analysis (for example, hypothesis testing). All relevant findings must be stated, including those that contradict the proposed hypothesis. Tables and figures are placed in the middle of the text, not attached at the end.

Conclusion: This is the final part containing conclusions and suggestions. The conclusions will provide the answers to the research hypothesis, the research purpose, and the findings. The suggestion is based on the analysis result, and the conclusion is also associated with further ideas from the research. The conclusion may restate the main points of the paper but must not replicate the abstract, and it should also state the main shortcomings and limitations of the study that may affect the validity of the findings.

Acknowledgement (if any): Give credit to those who have been involved in the success of the article. Do not describe in detail what their contributions are or how they helped the authors.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) must declare whether or not there is any potential conflict of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Data Availability Statement: The author(s) must state how the data supporting the findings of the study can be obtained, for example that the data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Author ORCID iDs: Each author must list their name followed by their ORCID iD link (https://orcid.org/xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx) using the ORCID icon provided in the template.

References: The author should cite the publications on which the article's work is based. Cite only items that the author has read. Primary references should be ±80% of all references cited. References should be taken from the last ten years. All references are written in the American Psychological Association (APA) 7th edition style, arranged alphabetically by the first author's surname and not numbered, using a hanging indent of 0.95 cm. Each reference must provide complete publication details, including author names, year of publication, title, source (journal title in italics with volume and issue information, or the publisher for books), page range where applicable, and the DOI or URL for online sources when available. Where the same author has several works, the full name must be written again instead of using a dash. The references may be managed using reference management software such as Mendeley, EndNote, or Zotero.

Citation style: In-text citations follow the APA (7th edition) author–date format:

  • The author's last name and date, separated by a comma, in parentheses: (Ward, 2012);
  • Works with two authors: (Tirdasari & Dhewanto, 2013);
  • Works with more than two authors: (Alias et al., 2016);
  • More than one source cited together: (Ward, 2012; Tirdasari & Dhewanto, 2013);
  • Two or more works by one author: (Common, 2004, 2017a);
  • Where the reference list contains more than one work by an author published in the same year, the suffixes a, b, etc., follow the date: (Common, 2017a; Common, 2017b);
  • If the author's name is mentioned in the text, it is not repeated in the citation; only the year in parentheses is required;
  • Citations of institutional works should use acronyms or short titles where possible.

The Editorial Board reserves the right to amend and refine the article as long as it does not alter the substance of the article.

Notes for Usage of Generative AI in Scientific Writing

The following guidance refers only to the writing process, and not to the use of AI tools to analyze and draw insights from data as part of the research process:

  • Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies should only be used in the writing process to improve the readability and language of the manuscript.
  • The technology must be applied with human oversight and control, and authors should carefully review and edit the result, as AI can generate authoritative-sounding output that can be incorrect, incomplete, or biased.
  • Authors are ultimately responsible and accountable for the contents of the work.
  • Authors must not list or cite AI and AI-assisted technologies as an author or co-author on the manuscript since authorship implies responsibilities and tasks that can only be attributed to and performed by humans.
  • The use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in scientific writing must be declared by adding a statement at the end of the manuscript when the paper is first submitted.
  • We do not permit the use of Generative AI or AI-assisted tools to create or alter images in submitted manuscripts.