ZEJSTEM Notes to Contributors - Publication Guidelines, Rules and Regulations

The Zambia Educational Journal of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (ZEJSTEM) is domiciled at the Directorate of National Science Centre of the Ministry of Education. The ZEJSTEM is an annual publication which publishes both on-line and hard copy issues once a year in December. The common paper categories include research articles, practice papers and book/paper reviews.

The up-coming publication will be the second issue (ZEJSTEM, Volume 2, Issue Number 1).

Publication themes for the journal should resonate around research issues and debates on STEM Curriculum Development, Implementation and Assessment, Teacher Professional Development in STEM, School Culture and Learning in STEM, ICT Integration in STEM Education, Professional community of practice in STEM Teaching and Learning.

The submitted manuscript should not be for a paper that has been published in another journal before, should have a suitable title, author(s)' names, postal and email addresses, institutional affiliation(s) and phone number.

The abstract of not more than 250 words is a necessity, followed by not more than five key words reflecting the main terms on the essence of paper. The title and the abstract, together with key words should be on the first page.

The structure of the paper should contain the essential elements of a research paper logically organized into headings and sub-headings, followed by a reference list of not more than 1½ pages using the latest edition of the American Psychological Association (APA) referencing style for all sources referred to in the paper (in-text and reference list). The maximum length of the papers is 7,500 words (Research article), 5,000 words (Practice paper) and 1,000 words for Book review (excluding abstract and references), typed in Times New Roman, font size 12. Use 1.15 text line spacing, with paper margins of 2.54 cm all round (top, bottom, left and right).

Email your submissions as Microsoft (MS) word text format (wtf) only, to the Editor, ZEJSTEM on stemedu2020@yahoo.com. No portable document format (pdf) will be accepted.

Sample of ZEJSTEM Template Format

Paper Title [Times New Roman, 16 point, Bold, Centered, Capitalize the Each First Letter of Word except for article, proposition and conjunction, no full stop at the end]

¹Author Name, ²Author Name

¹Author email address

²Author email address

Author 1 & 2s' Institutional Affiliation, City, Country [Times new Roman, 14, centered]

³Author Name

¹Author email address

Author 3's Institutional Affiliation, City, Country [Times new Roman, 14, centered]

Abstract

A body of abstract should be composed of maximum 250 words and paper should be composed of not more than maximum number of words. This template will assist you in formatting your paper. Please, insert the text keeping the format and styles. The parts of the paper (title, abstract, keywords, section headings and sub-headings, text, etc.) are already defined on the style sheet. [Times new Roman, 12, justified alignment, right and left indent 2 words]

Keywords: Teacher education, pedagogy, constructivism, etc. [Times new Roman, 12 point, justified alignment, right and left indent 2 words].

1.0 1st Heading 1[Times New Roman, 14 point, bold, left alignment]

All pages size should be A4 (21 cm x 29.7 cm). The line spacing is 1.15. The top, bottom, right and left margins should be 25 cm (all round). All the text must be in one column and Times New Roman font size 12. For writing and editorial style, authors must follow guidelines in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) (latest edition).

The text included under the headings or subheadings must begin one line spacing under the heading or subheading title. At the end of a paragraph, make a blank line like below.

You can use as many headings/subheadings as you need but Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Results, Discussion, Conclusion and References are requisites for manuscript submission of all research papers to the journal. Also, the content of the paper should resonate with the publication themes of issues and debates on STEM education and dynamics. Conceptual and theoretical frameworks are also essential as part of the introduction if manuscript is an empirical study. Further attention to be given to appropriateness of research questions as well as adequate description of methods (including data collection and analysis, rigor of methods), findings, conclusions in relation to the research focus and objectives/research questions and overall contribution to knowledge in STEM education.

1.1 Heading 2 [Times New Roman, 12 point, bold, left alignment]

Tables and figures should be centred, numbered and accompanied by a legend. Figure captions should be below figures; table heads should appear above tables. Insert figures and tables after they are cited in the text. Use the abbreviation "Fig. 1", even at the beginning of a sentence.

[Examples of Tables]

Table 1: Number of Children with and without proof of parental citizenship [Times New Roman, 12 point, Italic, left alignment]

Table number and title should appear on the top of the table itself. Table should be formed with only horizontal line (without vertical line.) Words and numbers in any cells should be centered and start with capital letter.

[Examples of Figures]

[Times New Roman, 12 point, Italic, left alignment, capitalized major words]

After one month exercises, the pupils' calculation speed was significantly increased (Post-test) and the progress had been maintained after 3 months.

A brief and well descripted caption could be given below the figure. After the descriptive caption, add any information needed to clarify the figure: Units of measurement, symbols, and abbreviation which is not included in the legend have to be explained. Lines/Bars of the graph should be recognizable even if it is printed out in black and white.

2.0 2nd Heading 1

Define abbreviations and acronyms the first time they are used in the text, even after they have been defined in the abstract. Do not use abbreviations in the title or heads unless they are unavoidable. Provide extant literature review

2.1 Heading 2: Guidelines for References

The list of the references should be given at the end of the paper. References are sorted by alphabetical order of authors' names.

Acknowledgments [Times new Roman, 12-point, bold, left alignment]

Optional statement to thank other contributors, assistance, or financial support.

References span class="text-dabger">[Times new Roman, 12, bold, left alignment, alphabetical order]

Bruckman, A. (1977). MOOSE Crossing: Construction, community, and learning in a networked virtual world for kids (Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Retrieved from http://www-static.cc.gatech.edu/~asb/thesis/

Employee Benefit Research Institute. (1992, February). Sources of health insurance and characteristics of the uninsured. Washington DC, USA

Light, M. A., & Light, I. H. (2008). The geographic expansion of Mexican immigration in the United States and its implications for local law enforcement. Law Enforcement Executive Forum Journal, 8(1),73-82

Shotton, M. A. (1989). Computer addiction? A study of computer dependency. London, England: Taylor & Francis.

[Times new roman, 12 point, justified alignment, hanging 15mm]

 

[Examples of reference formats]

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, xx, pp-pp. [article]

Author, C. C. (Year). Title of chapter. Title of book (pp. xx-xx). Location: Publisher. [book]

Author, D. D. (Year). Title of doctoral dissertation or master’s thesis (unpublished doctoral dissertation or master’s thesis). Name of institution, Location [thesis etc.]

Institution. (Year). Name of report. Location or Retrieved from http://www.xxx.xx/xx.html. [for report from institution]

Presenter, A. A. (Year, Month). Title of paper/poster. Paper/Poster presented at the meeting of Organization Name, Location [for presentation at conference]