Authors are invited to consult the About JCOM webpage and in particular the JCOM’s Ethical Policy before preparing or submitting a manuscript to ensure that their work aligns with the journal’s ethical and publication standards.
Authors are expected to remove all personal information from their manuscripts (in any version or format) to ensure that the double-anonymous peer review can be properly carried out.
All authors are requested to make sure before submission that their personal profile page includes their profession, institution, Country, ORCiD id and biography.
Article types and specific guidelines
The Journal of Science Communication (JCOM) welcomes submissions falling within the scope of the Journal, at any time in any of the following forms:
Articles (i.e, research articles) present new empirical research using quantitative and/or qualitative methods. Your research article should be supported by a comprehensive literature review, a thorough theoretical grounding, enough detail within the methodology section to orient readers to how the authors plan to address the aims of the study, strong and original findings, and a conclusion with implications for the research and practice communities. Research articles are peer-reviewed. Your manuscript should be 5,000 - 8,000 words long, including an abstract of 100 - 150 words and literature references.
Practice insights present critical reflections on science communication in practice, including project evaluations, action research, and innovative case studies. These articles focus on how science communication is practised in real-world contexts and, notably, on how new and creative approaches are shaping the field. We particularly welcome contributions that introduce and critically examine novel, imaginative, or experimental approaches to science communication, especially those that challenge conventional practices or open new possibilities for engaging diverse publics. Submissions should go beyond describing what was done: they must analyse why the approach matters, how it addresses a clearly defined practice issue or problem, and how it contributes to broader science communication practice beyond the specific context. Authors should describe the evidence base for their practice (e.g. evaluation methodology, action research approach, or potential for such work) and discuss the implications of their findings for practitioners and researchers internationally. Contributions should also reflect on transferability and scalability - how the lessons learned could inform science communication in other contexts or settings. Practice Insights are peer-reviewed and should be written in a reflective and analytical style. Submissions are typically 3,000 - 5,000 words, including references, and should include an abstract of 100 - 150 words.
Editorials (invited contributions only)
Essays explore and reflect on current issues, e.g. a policy, theory, or emerging trend in science communication. We aim to stimulate discussion in science communication communities, and such essays may be specifically designed for that purpose. Therefore, authors should be prepared for critical responses. Essays must be original and relevant, and authors' views and opinions must be grounded in robust science communication research or practice scholarship. Before submitting an Essay, please send a brief pitch to Marina Joubert, the deputy editor of JCOM (email: marinajoubert@sun.ac.za), for pre-approval. Submissions of Essays that have not been pre-approved for submission will not be considered for publication. Please note that all Essays submitted will undergo the standard review process and pre-approval does not imply acceptance for publication. Your text should be 3,000 - 4,500 words long, including an abstract of 100 - 150 words and literature references.
Review articles (i.e, research reviews) provide a comprehensive review of a topic pertinent to science communication. Reviews are commissioned based on a proposal. Authors wishing to propose a research review should contact the Editorial Office with a proposal that outlines the area to be explored and explains why this topic is pertinent to science communication and why a review is needed. The reporting of systematic review contributions in JCOM is guided by the standards of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) Statement. The systematic review should present a clear supporting context and motivation and a thorough critique, including the major themes and gaps relevant to the reviewed science communication topic. Research reviews are peer-reviewed. Your review should be up to 9,000 words long, including an abstract of 100 - 150 words and literature references.
Book reviews draw attention to current and significant scholarly and non-fiction books in the field of science communication, thereby helping JCOM readers stay up to date on the latest book titles in the field. A book review includes a broad overview, a summary of its contents and an introduction to the authors. Reviewers should reflect critically on the book's argument and contribution to the field, including a perspective on its strengths and weaknesses. Before writing a book review, please get in touch with Marina Joubert, the deputy editor of JCOM (email: marinajoubert@sun.ac.za). The JCOM Editorial Board reviews book reviews. A book review should be no more than 1,000 words, including a short abstract (about 50 - 100 words) and a list of references.
Conference reviews share the outcomes of science communication events relevant for JCOM readers. JCOM publishes a limited number of conference reviews annually and aims to achieve geographical diversity in the events covered. Conference reviewers should not be involved in organizing the conference. Conference organizers or delegates are welcome to suggest possible events for review by contacting Marina Joubert, the deputy editor of JCOM (email: marinajoubert@sun.ac.za) at least three months before the event. The JCOM Editorial Board reviews conference reviews. Please don’t submit a conference review before we have reached an agreement about the relevance and timing of the event and the subsequent review. A conference review should be no more than 1,000 words, including a short abstract (about 50 - 100 words) and a list of references.
Letters may be submitted as responses to published papers or to comment on topical issues. They should make a scholarly and reflective contribution. The JCOM Editorial Board reviews letters. A letter to JCOM should be no more than 1,000 words, including a short abstract (about 50 - 100 words) and a list of references.
Commentary sets (invited contributions only). They comprise several author perspectives on a shared topic. We welcome topic proposals and possible contributors, but these commentaries will be commissioned directly by the journal's editors. The JCOM Editorial Board reviews contributions to commentaries.
Manuscripts posted to preprint repositories can be submitted to JCOM, as long as the copyright and licence allow for it.
Authors are allowed to upload the Version of Record (VoR) of their manuscript published in JCOM to an institutional and/or subject repository starting from 1 week after publication. In this case, the file name must be the same as the one in JCOM and the following credit must be included: Version of Record. Originally published in JCOM – Journal of Science Communication, [full citation as written in the "how to cite" on the manuscript's landing page], © [Year] The Author(s), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Available at: [DOI].
Manuscript submission style and template
This section provides an overview of the general style guidelines that JCOM authors are asked to follow when preparing their manuscripts. After acceptance, manuscripts will undergo further typesetting, during which the text will be adjusted to comply fully with the Journal’s style.
Please use the following template to prepare your manuscript: Author template.
File format:
Manuscripts should be submitted in docx format. Other formats like doc, rtf and odt are accepted, but can slow down the publication process. If manuscripts comprise more than 1 files, a compressed archive (.zip, .tar.gz or .tgz) should be uploaded.
Language:
The Journal’s main language is British English (BrE), measures must be in SI units. Manuscripts may be submitted in other languages, but the Journal reserves the right to ask for an English translation if editors or reviewers knowing that particular language are not available. If manuscripts can be reviewed in the original language and are accepted, the Journal will take care of the English translation after acceptance and will publish both versions.
Test style:
Text should be presented in left-aligned one-column Arial 12pt with the standard baseline for the main text. Other fonts which may impede the conversion process during typesetting. Italicized text is allowed, meanwhile bold text can be used sparingly in the content and only when strictly necessary. Underlined text should be avoided and will be automatically reverted to italicized text during typesetting.
Before acceptance for publication, every edit highlighting must be removed (i.e. coloured text, highlighted text, comments, strikeout text) since it can produce unwanted errors or involuntary insertions during the production phase.
First page:
Titles and abstracts should be provided filling in the appropriate spaces in the template. Author names should not be included, unless you prefer to have your paper undergo a single-anonymous review process.
Abstracts should provide the context or background for the study and should state the purpose, basic methodology and procedures, main results and principal conclusions. They should emphasize new and important aspects of the study or observations. See Article types and specific guidelines for details
Keywords must be selected during the submission process, any other keyword listed inside the paper’s file will be automatically removed.
Main content:
Content should be organized using sections, subsections (up to the third level) and paragraphs. Sections and subsections should be numbered using the hierarchical style (e.g. section 1, subsection 1.2, subsection 1.2.2, etc.), and must be referred in the text either as section or subsection. No table of contents or index may appear in the work.
Lines must be numbered and the text left-aligned. Please avoid using multiple spaces, tabs or artificial spacings, since they will be lost during the typesetting phase. As a general rule, no graphical aesthetic adjustments in the text should be applied, since they can be dropped during the final publication.
Notes are allowed and should be put at the bottom of the page where they are cited, and their text reference should be put after punctuation, if any.
Figures:
Figures should be numbered sequentially (figure 1, 2, i.e. non section-specific). In the main text they should be referenced as figure (i.e. not as fig. 1). During typesetting phase they will be put at the top or the bottom of the page where their first reference occurs.
Every figure must have a caption, and cannot contain floating text or shapes inserted through the word editor since this can generate errors during the typesetting process, slowing down publication.
Figures must not overlap with the main text, please also note that during typesetting original (or new) figure files can be requested by typesetters if the extraction process failed or the quality/resolution does not match the QA standard. Suggested resolution is 300dpi, in pdf or png format.
Authors must make sure they have have obtained/possess the rights to reproduce the image or provide one which is free from copyright.
In both cases, they should provide the image credits (i.e: who owns the image rights or, if free of copyright, which website/platform it was downloaded from).
Tables:
Tables should be numbered sequentially (table 1, 2, i.e. non section-specific). In the main text they should be referenced as table (i.e. not as tab. 1). During typesetting phase they will be put at the top or the bottom of the page where their first reference occurs.
Every table must have a caption, and its content should not be split across pages. If a longer table is required (i.e. must span multiple pages), it should preferrably start at the top of the page.
In order to enhance readability, auhtors should consider transforming very small tabular environments into a numbered list.
Acknowledgments:
An acknowledgments paragraph can be added and must be written in a separate non-numbered section before the bibliography. Funders and grants should be declared here.
Data/Software/Code Availability Statements:
JCOM strongly encourages posting data files and similar supplementary material to publicly-accessible, discipline-specific, community-recognised repositories that comply with the FAIR principles as much as possible.
In cases where a suitable discipline-specific resource does not exist, such files may be submitted to a generalist repository (for example, Zenodo), including any such repositories provided by universities, funders or institutions for their affiliated researchers.
Authors may also wish to explore repository registries such as FAIRsharing.org and re3data.org.
If necessary, these statement should be included at the end of manuscripts to improve their discoverability.
References:
Bibliographies and text references should follow APA 7 style, with the additional requirement that every entry should have either a DOI, ISBN or, in case these are not available, a public working web page link, in order to clearly identify the reference and to correctly process and check the bibliography during the typesetting phase; if a reference is missing a clear (or working) identifier further checks will be done and clarifications may be requested at the proofing stage.
References in the text should be in-line (i.e. not as footnote). Authors should check that every referenced work appears in the bibliography together with its bibliographical data. Bibliography section should start on a new page in order to streamline reference processing during the typesetting phase.
Submission
The submission link is available on the JCOM home page. Submission requires registration and login. The step-by-step submission procedure guides authors through the process. Partial submissions can be saved and completed at a later time.
Revisions, appeals, corrections and withdrawals
Revised versions can be submitted only if requested by the editor, contributions must therefore be submitted originally in their final form.
Authors that have been asked to revise their manuscripts must attend to the requested modifications and provide a new version within the specified deadline. Extensions may be agreed upon by contacting the editor and explaining the reasons for your request of a new deadline.
Revised manuscripts must be uploaded from the manuscript page by clicking "submit revision". Authors who object an editor’s request for revision can confirm the previous version to be reconsidered for publication. A cover letter must be included in both cases describing in details the revisions made or providing the reasons why revisions have not been made. By default, cover letters are received by the editor and the reviewer(s). Confidential communications for the editor should be sent by using the “write a message” button.
Contributions are considered, processed and reviewed as fairly as possible. Authors of contributions that have been rejected may appeal for reconsideration and reply to the editor report. Appeals must be scientifically justified and not polemic. Please send your rebuttal letters by connecting to the manuscript page and writing a message addressed to the JCOM Editorial Office.
In case corrections or additions to published papers are needed, authors should contact the Editorial Office from their paper’s webpage.
Authors may withdraw their contributions at any time during the review process, by clicking on the appropriate button on the manuscript webpage. As a matter of publication ethics, withdrawal is necessary before the manuscript is eventually submitted to another journal.
Proofreading and publication
After manuscripts are accepted and typeset, authors will be notified and be able to:
- proofread manuscripts for mistakes or minor changes (e.g. typos, small sentence rewording, etc.);
- reply to any typesetter’s query;
- send a short description and an image to be used for posting on social media, if requested;
- approve the document for publication , if there are no queries.
Adding and removing authors is not allowed. Modifying reference lists or changing large chunks of text must be avoided due to research integrity standards; moreover, any stylistic modification may be rejected if against the publication style or if it interferes with the publication process.
If requested corrections are not minor, manuscripts are sent back to the review stage for approval by Editors-in-charge. If they reckon that changes affect the content significantly, a new review process will begin.
Publication dates and article IDs will be temporary until the manuscript is actually published, so authors should refrain from using them before then. DOIs will be assigned upon acceptance but will not be working until publication.
When authors approve manuscripts for publication, or after their requested corrections have been implemented, manuscripts are ready to be published in pdf, epub and html formats. Publication will take place according to the journal schedule. Please subscribe to the JCOM publication alert to be notified about publication.
Terms and policies
Submission to JCOM implies that the corresponding author accepts all the JCOM policies and in particular the conditions available in the Editorial policy, Ethical policy and Access and copyright sections of the JCOM help pages.