Author Guidelines

Thank you for choosing to submit your manuscript to JORS. These instructions will ensure everything required for successful submission is in place, so your manuscript can move through peer review, production and publication smoothly. Please take the time to read and follow them as closely as possible, as doing so will ensure your paper matches JORS requirements.

JORS uses the Open Journal Systems (developed by the Public Knowledge Project) to facilitate all submissions. Please note that submissions should meet one or more of the specific aims outlined by the editorial team of JORS. JORS publishes XML files of all articles at acceptance (Articles in Press), as well as a final design PDF version of the article once it has been assigned to an issue. 

JORS accepts the following types of submissions:

1. Original Research Reports


2. Brief Research Reports


3. Qualitative Manuscripts


4. Theoretical Manuscripts

Authors should use the JORS Microsoft Word Template files for all submissions. Submissions not using the appropriate templates will be returned to the corresponding author for correction. Using the templates facilitates XML in-press publication process.

Each submission must be accompanied by the following statements (attached as a separate .docx file labeled "author statements"):

1. The submission has not been published elsewhere and is not currently under consideration elsewhere.


2. Each author has contributed to the creation of the submission and has reviewed and approved the final submission files.


3. Any conflicts of interest (financial or otherwise) that should be noted from any author of the submission. If no conflicts of interest exist a statement reading "The authors report no conflicts of interest" will suffice.


4. All third-party content has been approved for reproduction, including derivative reproduction, and is correctly referenced.


5. The required ethics approval has been granted (or is exempt) for the underlying research used in the creation of the submission.


6. The location of deposited data sets for the underlying research used in the creation of the submission. A statement reading "Data is available with reasonable request to the corresponding author".


7. Funding and author acknowledgements.

All parts of the submission should be typewritten in 12-point font, double-spaced, with margins of at least one inch on all sides. Number submission pages consecutively throughout, with the exception of the title and abstract page. Authors should supply a shortened version of the title suitable for the running head, not exceeding 50-character spaces. Each submission should be summarized in a structured abstract of not more than 250 words; qualitative submissions should provide an unstructured or structured abstract of not more than 350 words. Avoid abbreviations, diagrams, and reference to the text in the abstract.

Structured abstracts should use the following headings: Background(Summary); Objectives; Methods; Results; Discussion (Conclusions).

Submissions should utilize the American Psychological Association (APA) 6th edition reference/citation style. JORS also encourages, but does not require, that all underlying data sets are maintained in a repository of the author(s) choosing.

JORS uses a double-blind review process. Final submissions should contain the following submission files in .docX format:

• Cover letter to the editors*


• Title Page (including all author affiliations and corresponding author contact information)*


• Blinded manuscript


• Figures (uploaded individually)


• Tables (uploaded individually)


• Supplementary data*


• Author Statements*

*These portions of the submission will not be sent out for peer-review.

JORS strives to meet a 4-month timeline from the time of original submission to the first decision. Factors unrelated to JORS may impact this timeline (i.e. reviewers are unavailable). At any time, an e-mail requesting additional information on your submission can be sent to the managing editor. 

All accepted submissions are licensed using the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY), which has been endorsed by the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA). Accepted submissions are first published as articles-in-press via the JATS XML standard. Once submissions are assigned to an issue, final article PDFs will be available to the author and on the journal website.