Author Guidelines
EDITORIAL POLICY
Biology Teaching and Learning (BTL) publishes original scientific research articles in the field of Biology Education and related areas for all educational levels in Indonesia and other countries. It is possible to publish special (thematic) issues of BTL. The papers should be submitted and will be published in English. BTL will promote to establish contacts between researchers and practical educators both in Indonesia and countries around.
The authors of the manuscripts are responsible for the scientific content and novelty of the research materials. Articles submitted for publication should not have been previously published. Articles, published before in other journals or papers' collections will not be accepted for publication in BTL.
As a publication that represents a variety of cross-disciplinary interests, both theoretical and practical, the BTL invites manuscripts on a wide range of topics, especially in the following areas:
- Ø Didactics of biology education.
- Ø Theory and practice in biology teacher education.
- Ø Biology and technological literacy
- Ø General and professional biology education.
- Ø Philosophical, political, economical and social aspects of biology education.
- Ø The supplementary biology education.
- Ø The standardization of biology education;
- Ø Quality of biology education;
- Ø Biology education for sustainable development;
- Ø History, Epistemology of Biology Education etc.
TYPES OF MANUSCRIPTS
Research Papers (Usually these papers present empirical work)
Theoretical/Conceptual Papers (These papers present non-empirical work)
Position Papers (Position papers can describe a problem or an issue with a suggested solution or direction).
Case Studies (Case studies highlight a particular issue in science education. They present what theory and/or the research literature reports on the problem or issue, what was done to try to solve or explore it, the results of the project and implications and suggestions for others interested in future research).
Reviews (Reviews are usually invited by the Editor. Those who submit Reviews should consult with the Editor-in-Chief in advance).
STRUCTURE OF MANUSCRIPTS
The body of the text of the manuscript must generally have the following parts:
- Abstract (an abstract is a shortened version of the paper and should contain all information necessary for the reader to determine: (a) what the objectives of the research were; (b) how the research was done; (c) what results were obtained; (d) and the significance of the results; abstract should not exceed 180-200 words).
- Introduction (introduction should provide sufficient background information and the rationale for the present research). This section discusses the results and conclusions of previously published studies, to help explain why the current research is of scientific interest.
- Methodology of Research (this part should provide sufficiently detailed information to allow the experiments/or other empirical work/ to be repeated by others. Methodology of research may be organized into subheadings). This section provides all the methodological details necessary for another scientist to duplicate your work.
- Results of Research (results may be organized into subheadings. Present the results as concisely as possible. Number figures and tables according to the order of citation in the text [e.g., (Table 1), (Figure 1), (Figure 1 and Table 1), (Table 1 and 2), (Figure 1A), (Figure 1 and 2)]).
- Discussion (discussion should be concise and provide an interpretation of the results in relation to previously published work). The objective here is to provide an interpretation of your results and support for all of your conclusions, using evidence from your experiment (research) and generally accepted knowledge, if appropriate. Suggest future directions for research, new methods, explanations for deviations from previously published results, etc.
- Conclusions and/or Implications. Your conclusion should be the best part of your paper. A conclusion should: (1) stress the importance of the thesis statement, (2) give the essay a sense of completeness, and (3) leave a final impression on the reader.
- Acknowledgements (if any).
- References (references must be in alphabetical order by first author. Each listed reference should be cited in text, and each text citation should be listed in the references section). Do not use Wikipedia for references. Do not use “et. al.” Provide issue numbers for papers. Reference section should not be used for commentary and notes. It is advisable to avoid citations of unpublished PhD or MSc Works – these are not internationally accessible for readers and any referencing them in the text is biased
- Appendix (if any). Acknowledgements of people, grants, funds, etc. should be placed in a separate section not numbered at the very end of the paper.
The structure of paper can be different if the paper is only theoretical qualitative research.
MANUSCRIPTS GUIDELINES
The structure of the research paper presented to the Biology Teaching and Learning should be as follows: abstract - short report of the investigation; introduction inc. aim and subject of the research; research methodologies and methods; results of the research incl. discussion; conclusions; list of references in APA style.
The papers should be submitted in English. If English is a second language for the author, please consider having the manuscript proof read and edited before submitting. The preliminary text of the article can be sent as a.doc file in the attachment by e-mail: btl@unm.ac.id
The document should not have any password protection.
The text must be elaborated in Word for Windows, using 12 point Times New Roman letters. An article should not exceed 7-15 A4 pages, included figures, tables and bibliography/references. Publishing of longer articles should be negotiated separately.
- Ø Texts margins: top and bottom 20mm, left - 25mm, right - 20mm
- Ø Manuscripts should be prepared for one side of the paper and have either single spaced text in one column.
- Ø The title: capital letters, 14pt, bold; space between the title and the author’s name is one line interval.
- Ø Author’s name and surname: small letters, 12pt, bold. Under the name, institution: 11 pt, italics; space between the title and the text: 1 line interval.
- Ø Abstract – about 150-200 words - precedes the text. The text: 12pt Single or Auto spacing, in one column.
- Ø Key words: no more than five words in an alphabetical order. Key words should closely reflect the topic and should optimally characterize the research
- Ø The language must be clear and accurate. The authors have to present the results, propositions and conclusions in a form that can suit scientists from different countries
- Ø Each paragraph should start with a 1.0 cm indention.
- Ø The use of footnotes to the text is not recommended.
Titles of the tables and figures (black and white colour): 12 pt, small letters. Space between figures or tables and the text: 1 line interval.
- Ø Introduction, titles of chapters and subchapters: 12pt, bold, small letters.
- Ø Figures, tables and captions should be inserted within the manuscript at their appropriate locations. Diagrams and graphs should be provided as finished black and white line artwork or electronic images. When there are a number of illustrations, the author should endeavour to reduce the amount of text to accommodate the illustrations in the limited space available for any article.
- Ø The figures/images should be black and white colour. Since the printed journal will be produced in black and white, be sure that your images are acceptable when printed in black and white.
- Ø It is the author’s responsibility to obtain permission to reproduce illustrations, tables, etc. from other publications.
Page numbers. Do not put page numbers on your document.
Acronyms: Acronyms should be defined the first time they appear.
References in the text should be presented in brackets (Knox, 1988; Martin, 1995). If necessary, the page can be indicated: (Martin, 1995, p.48). The list of references should be presented after the text. References: 11pt, small letters.
The author should make sure that there is a strict one-to-one correspondence between the names and years in the text and those on the list. The all references should be listed in alphabetical order by author`s name.
The work should be written in an impersonal style.
The references should be listed in full at the end of the paper in the following standard form (APA style, 6th ed.):
- For books: Saxe, G. B. (1991). Cultural and cognitive development: Studies in Mathematical Understanding. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
- For articles: Bekerian, D. A. (1993). In search of the typical eyewitness. American Psychologist, 48(1), 574-576.
- For chapters within books: Bjork, R. A. (1989). Retrieval inhibition as an adaptive mechanism in human memory. In: H.L. Roediger III & F.I.M. Craik (Eds.), Varieties of memory & consciousness (pp. 309-330). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
- For Website: Russell-Bowie, D. (2010). Cross-national comparisons of background and confidence in visual arts and music education of pre-service primary teachers. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 35 (4), 65-78. Retrieved from http://ajte.education.ecu.edu.au/
Note 1: Manuscripts in which references are not in this format (APA style) will be returned without review.
Note 2: References to online sources should include the type of medium (such as "serial online" or "monograph online"), the date of that specific reference (if applicable), the uniform resource locator (URL), and the date that the source was accessed. A source accessed online should always be referenced accordingly, even if it is also published in printed form.
Note 3: All papers must meet the criteria of originality and scientific quality. Obviously, they must also comply with style and format requirements. The paper will not be subject to further review, if the manuscript is NOT WITHIN THE SCOPE and/or there is POOR USAGE OF LANGUAGE (all manuscripts must be written in clear and grammatical English). If translation is necessary, we suggest you use a professional translation service. Authors are responsible for proper translation, and improperly translated papers may be rejected.
Note 4: Originality is very important aspect of a research paper. Take great care to avoid plagiarism in your writing and be sure that any text you pull from outside sources is properly quoted and noted in your list of references.
Note 5: A qualitative scientific paper is a description of an event, activity, observation, research or experience. The structure of a qualitative paper includes an abstract, introduction, background to the problem, the researcher's role, theoretical perspective, methodology, ethical considerations, results, data analysis, limitations, discussion, conclusions and implications, references and appendix.
EDITORIAL AND REVIEW PROCEDURES
Manuscripts will be sent anonymously to reviewers with expertise in the appropriate area. All manuscripts will be rewieved by two experts before BTL's accept them for publication. This process usually takes about two months (except July and August). The journal co-editors will make minor editorial changes; major changes will be made by the author(s) prior to publication if necessary. BTL's redaction will sent to author(s) only one correcture which must be sent back within 2 weeks. BTL will not review submissions previously published elsewhere through print or electronic medium.
In order to prevent bias, the following procedures are followed upon acceptance of a manuscript: a) the Editor will determine if the manuscript is appropriate for the journal scope; b) the Editor will remove all identification of the author(s); c) the Editor will distribute the manuscript to two reviewers who will follow guidelines; d) the reviewers will return the manuscript within 4 weeks to the Editor with the following recommendations: accept; accept with minor revisions; accept with major revisions; reject; f) the Editor will then forward the decision to the authors by e-mail; e) when a lack of consensus occurs, the Editor will make the final decision.
Manuscripts submitted to the BTL cannot be returned to authors. Authors should be sure to keep a copy for themselves.
Manuscripts, editorial correspondence (and other correspondence for subscription and exchange), and any questions should be sent to editor-in-chief or to regional redactors.
ARTICLE PROCESSING CHARGES
Authors required to pay the partial article processing charges in order to publish a paper in the journal. The article processing charges for 2017 has been fixed at the rate of 350.000 IDR. Additional page charge above fifteen - 10.000 IDR for each additional page.
We send invoices for payment after articles are accepted for publication. Individual cases can be negotiated individually with editors of BTL.
The article processing charges (APC) cover editorial service, production of an article and also dissemination / indexing activities.
ENDNOTES
Accepted papers become the permanent property of Biology Teaching and Learning and may not be reproduced by any purpose, in whole and in part, without the written consent of both Biology Teaching and Learning and the author(s) of the article.
Contributions submitted to BTL must be original works of the author(s) and must not have been previously published (in print or online) or simultaneously submitted to another publication. The author (authors) should confirm in writing (file in pdf. or jpg format including author`s signature), that the manuscript has not been published in other journal or handed over (transferred) to other journal for publication.
Author Biographical Summaries (on a separate page):
- A few sentences of biographical information (biosketch) about each author are required for inclusion in the "About the Author" section at the end of all published articles.
- The information for each author should include the following:
v First and last name of authors (in that order).
v Academic degrees (DDS, DMD, MS, MSc, MA, PhD, etc.).
v Academic and/or administrative rank if appropriate (Director, Chair, Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, etc.)
v Institution or organization affiliation.
v E-mail address.
v Institutional address.
v Institutional telephone number (including international calling codes).
v Institutional or own website address.
Article template DOWNLOAD HERE
One author must be designated as the corresponding author who assumes the responsibility of submitting the manuscript and corresponding with journal editorial staff. A current e-mail address is essential for communication with the journal.
Reprints. You may download the PDF from http://ojs.unm.ac.id/index.php/btl
