Author Guidelines
Prepare Research That Is Clear, Rigorous, and Ready for Review
These guidelines explain how to prepare and submit a manuscript to Decision, Learning, and Human Development (DLHD). Authors should confirm journal fit, follow the required article structure, report methods transparently, and complete all ethical and disclosure statements before submission.
Confirm that the manuscript is suitable for DLHD
Journal Fit
The manuscript must address decision-making, learning, human development, or a clearly theorized relationship among these domains.
Original Contribution
The manuscript must identify a specific gap and explain its conceptual, empirical, methodological, policy, or practical contribution.
Exclusive Submission
The work must not be published previously or under active consideration by another journal. Related outputs must be disclosed.
Ethical Readiness
Required approvals, consent, authorship, funding, conflicts, data, and AI-use declarations must be complete and accurate.
Presentation Quality
The manuscript should use clear academic English, consistent terminology, readable tables and figures, and verified references.
Select the category that best represents the contribution
Word ranges include the main text but normally exclude the abstract, references, tables, figures, and supplementary materials. Editors may permit justified variation.
Original Research Article
6,000–9,000 wordsQuantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, experimental, longitudinal, comparative, computational, case-based, or design-oriented research.
Review Article
7,000–10,000 wordsSystematic, scoping, integrative, critical, or meta-analytic reviews with a transparent search, selection, appraisal, and synthesis method.
Theoretical or Conceptual Article
5,000–8,000 wordsTheory development, conceptual integration, framework construction, or a defensible reinterpretation of a significant scholarly debate.
Methodological Article
5,000–8,000 wordsDevelopment or critical evaluation of instruments, measurements, designs, analytical procedures, or methodological reasoning.
Policy or Practice-Oriented Research
4,500–7,000 wordsAnalytically rigorous research on implementation, intervention, institutional change, policy application, or professional practice.
Scholarly Perspective
3,000–5,000 wordsA focused, evidence-based argument concerning an emerging theoretical, ethical, technological, methodological, or policy issue.
Prepare separate files for editorial administration and review
Title Page
Upload separately. Include the article title, all author names, affiliations, institutional addresses, email addresses, ORCID iDs, corresponding-author details, author contributions, acknowledgements, funding, and competing-interest declarations.
Anonymous Manuscript
Upload as an editable DOCX file without author names, affiliations, acknowledgements, biographies, tracked changes, identifying headers, or file metadata. Use neutral references to the authors’ previous work.
Figures and Supplementary Files
Upload high-quality figures, instruments, datasets, code, appendices, reporting checklists, permissions, and supplementary materials as separate files where appropriate.
Cover Letter
Briefly state the problem, principal contribution, journal fit, article type, originality, related manuscripts, preprints, and any information requiring editorial attention.
Provide complete and verifiable authorship information
The title page is not shared with reviewers and must remain separate from the anonymous manuscript.
Use a precise, informative title, preferably no more than 18 words. Avoid unexplained abbreviations, promotional language, and unnecessary geographic detail.
Provide each author’s full name in publication order. Confirm that every listed author satisfies the journal’s authorship criteria.
State the department or unit, institution, city, and country for the location where the work was conducted.
Provide authenticated ORCID iDs for all authors wherever available. Do not create or edit an ORCID record on another author’s behalf.
Identify one corresponding author and provide a stable professional email address and complete communication details.
Include contributions, funding, conflicts of interest, acknowledgements, data availability, ethics, consent, and AI-use statements as applicable.
Build a transparent and logically connected research narrative
Section headings may be adapted to the article type, but the manuscript should allow readers and reviewers to locate the problem, evidence, analysis, contribution, limitations, and declarations efficiently.
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Title
Specific, accurate, searchable, and consistent with the study.
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Abstract
200–250 words stating the background or problem, purpose, methods, principal results, and main conclusion or contribution. Do not cite references unless indispensable.
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Keywords
Provide 4–7 specific terms that support discovery. Avoid simply repeating every word in the title.
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Introduction
Establish the problem, significance, relevant context, critical literature, gap, objective or questions, and expected contribution.
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Theoretical or Conceptual Foundation
Explain the concepts, relationships, propositions, or interpretive lens guiding the study. Integrate this section with the introduction when that produces a clearer argument.
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Methods
Report design, context, participants or data sources, sampling, instruments, procedures, analysis, quality safeguards, ethics, and sufficient detail to evaluate the study.
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Results
Present findings in a logical order without duplicating all values across text, tables, and figures. Separate results from interpretation when appropriate to the research tradition.
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Discussion
Interpret the findings, explain mechanisms or meaning, compare with relevant scholarship, address alternative explanations, and state theoretical and practical implications.
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Conclusion and Limitations
Provide a concise answer to the research problem, identify the main contribution, acknowledge meaningful limitations, and state justified directions for future work.
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Declarations and References
Include all required transparency statements followed by a complete numbered IEEE reference list matching every in-text citation.
Use the guideline appropriate to the study design
Reporting guidelines provide a minimum set of information needed to evaluate, reproduce, synthesize, and use research. They do not replace methodological judgment.
Method choice must be justified by the research question
DLHD welcomes quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, experimental, interpretive, computational, participatory, design-based, comparative, longitudinal, and evidence-synthesis approaches.
Regardless of method, manuscripts must demonstrate alignment, transparent reporting, credible evidence, and conclusions that remain within the limits of the design and data.
Question, design, sample, data, analysis, and claims are coherent.
Procedures and analytical decisions are reported clearly.
Appropriate quality, validity, reliability, or trustworthiness checks are used.
Interpretation does not exceed the evidence or design.
Use the journal template and prioritize readability
File Format
Submit the manuscript in Microsoft Word DOCX using the current DLHD article template. Do not submit a PDF as the only editable manuscript.
Text and Headings
Use consistent heading levels, paragraph styles, spacing, numbering, abbreviations, and terminology. Avoid manually simulated formatting.
Language
Manuscripts must be written in clear academic English. Authors remain responsible for accuracy after language editing or translation.
Numbers and Units
Use SI units where applicable, define symbols and abbreviations, and report statistical values with consistent precision.
Footnotes
Use footnotes sparingly for necessary clarification. Do not use footnotes as a substitute for evidence, argument, or reference entries.
URLs and Identifiers
Use persistent identifiers such as DOI, ORCID, repository handles, registration numbers, and stable dataset links whenever available.
Visual evidence must remain interpretable and verifiable
- Number tables and figures consecutively in order of citation.
- Provide informative titles and self-contained notes or legends.
- Refer to every table and figure explicitly in the main text.
- Do not duplicate the same data in text, table, and figure form.
- Use editable tables rather than screenshots.
- Ensure text, symbols, and labels remain readable at publication size.
- Provide source files or high-resolution images when requested.
- Obtain permission and preserve credit lines for third-party material.
Use IEEE numeric style consistently and cite for scholarly relevance
Every source cited in the manuscript must appear in the reference list, and every reference-list entry must be cited in the text. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of all bibliographic data.
Numeric In-Text Citations
Number sources consecutively according to their first appearance and cite each source in its own square brackets, for example [1]. When citing multiple sources, write every citation number separately, including consecutive references: [1], [2], [3], [4]. Do not compress consecutive citations into a range such as [1]–[4]. Place sentence punctuation after the final citation.
Reference-List Sequence
Arrange references numerically in the order in which they are first cited—not alphabetically. Retain the same number each time a source is cited, and assign one separate numbered entry to each source. Multiple references must remain individually identifiable in the text.
IEEE Entry Formatting
Place author initials before surnames. Use quotation marks and sentence case for article or chapter titles. Provide the journal or book title, volume, issue, page range or article number, year, and DOI or stable URL when available.
Citation Quality and Ethics
Cite sources that directly support, contextualize, or challenge the argument. Avoid irrelevant citation, excessive self-citation, citation padding, inaccurate secondary citation, and references added solely to influence author, reviewer, editor, or journal metrics.
Recent evidence supports this interpretation [1]. Related findings were reported in [2], [4], [7]. Several studies reached comparable conclusions [5], [6], [7], [8]. Smith [9] identified a similar pattern.DLHD house style: citation ranges are not used. Consecutive references must be written individually, for example [1], [2], [3], [4], not [1]–[4].
Transparency statements belong in every submission
Include each declaration below in the title page or manuscript as directed by the journal. Use “Not applicable” only when genuinely inapplicable.
Author Contributions
State who contributed to conceptualization, methodology, data, analysis, writing, supervision, administration, and funding.
Funding
Name every funder, provide grant numbers, and explain the funder’s role in design, conduct, analysis, writing, or publication.
Competing Interests
Disclose relevant financial, personal, professional, institutional, or intellectual interests—or state that none exist.
Ethics Approval
Identify the approving or exempting body, approval number where available, and applicable ethical standard.
Consent
State how informed consent and, where relevant, consent for publication were obtained, waived, or not applicable.
Data Availability
Explain where data and materials can be accessed or why access is restricted for ethical, legal, contractual, or practical reasons.
Generative AI
Disclose material AI-assisted use, tool and version, purpose, affected content, verification, and human responsibility.
Acknowledgements
Recognize non-author contributions, technical assistance, language editing, access support, or other relevant help with permission.
Read the relevant policy before submitting
Submit and manage the manuscript through OJS
The submitting author must have an OJS account, complete all required metadata, upload the correct files, and monitor editorial communication through the submission record.
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Register or Log In
Create an account with the Author role or access an existing account.
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Start New Submission
Select the appropriate section and confirm every submission requirement.
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Upload Files
Label the title page, anonymous manuscript, figures, and supplements correctly.
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Enter Metadata
Provide accurate title, abstract, keywords, authors, affiliations, and references.
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Confirm and Submit
Review the submission summary before final confirmation.
Respond to reviewers analytically and transparently
An invitation to revise does not guarantee acceptance. Revised work is evaluated on the quality and completeness of the response.
Prepare a Point-by-Point Response
Reproduce or summarize each comment, state the response, and identify the exact location of every change.
Explain Disagreement Respectfully
When a suggestion is not followed, provide a concise scholarly, methodological, ethical, or evidentiary justification.
Upload Clean and Marked Files
Provide a clean revised manuscript and a version showing changes when requested by the editor.
Preserve Anonymity
Keep identifying information out of review files and response letters during double-anonymous review.
Publication requires final verification and author cooperation
Accepted manuscripts proceed through copyediting, layout, metadata verification, author proofing, DOI registration, and online publication. Acceptance may be reconsidered if serious integrity or authorship concerns emerge before publication.
Publication terms must be understood before submission
DLHD provides immediate open access under CC BY 4.0. Any submission, processing, publication, waiver, or exemption arrangement is stated on the Author Fees page. Editorial decisions are independent of an author’s ability to pay.
Complete this check before selecting “Finish Submission”
Present your contribution with clarity and methodological discipline
Authors who have completed the checklist may proceed to the OJS submission page. For technical or policy questions, contact the editorial office before final submission.
Guidelines last reviewed: Insert Date