Final Manuscript Preparation Guidelines

This document provides details on typesetting and layout requirements pertaining to final manuscript submission to The Rural Educator.

Formatting Requirements

• Submit your manuscript, including tables, figures, appendices, etc., as a single file
• Page size should be 8.5 x 11-inches.
• All margins (left, right, top and bottom) should be 1.0 inches (3.8 cm), including your tables and figures.
• Manuscripts should include an unstructured abstract, free of citations.
• In-text citations and reference list entries should adhere to the most recent APA guidelines.
• If tables are included, they should be embedded near where they are referenced in the manuscript, and they should be formatted as tables using APA guidelines. Images of tables should not be inserted into the manuscript.
• If figures are included they should be high quality, embedded near where they are referenced in the manuscript, and formatted for both electronic/online and print versions of the journal. Figures others than photographs (e.g. charts and graphs) should not be inserted as images.

Additional Recommendations

Article Length

A general guideline is that research and review of literature articles are about 25 double-spaced pages in length, including references, and excluding tables and figures. Promising practice articles are generally under 10 pages in length.

Colored text

Any images or text in color will be published with color for the online version of the journal and will be converted to black and white for the print version of the journal. Authors should consider whether any color images or text will reproduce well in black and white.

Footnotes

Footnotes are discouraged.

Tables and Figures

To the extent possible, tables and figures should appear in the document near where they are referenced in the text. Large tables or figures should be put on pages by themselves. Avoid the use of overly small type in tables. In no case should tables or figures be in a separate document or file. All tables and figures must fit within 1.0" margins on all sides (top, bottom, left and right) in both portrait and landscape view.

In-text Citations and Reference Entries

• Use the handing indent tool to format the reference list.
• Update all reference entries and in-text citations in the most recent APA style.
• Confirm that all references are cited in the manuscript and vice versa.
• Include a DOI for as many references as possible. DOIs should be formatted as https://doi.org/XXXXX.
• If a reference does not have a DOI, provide a direct website if available, excluding weblinks that require a login and institutional library-generated access links.