Submissions

Author Guidelines

When preparing manuscripts for submission and during the submission process, authors must ensure that all nine points in the checklist above are adhered to.

Papers can be between 4000 and 6000 words including tables and references.

The manuscript must include:

a. Title of the manuscript;

b. Keywords- no more than five;

c. Abstract of not more than 200 words;

d. Manuscript text beginning after Abstract;

e. Acknowledgment- Sources of financial support and/or affiliations must be acknowledged. If generative AI tools were used in preparing the manuscript, this should also be acknowledged;

f. Reference List. This Journal conforms to APA style. See the following guidelines for more detailed information.

g. Australian English. IJISME uses Australian English. This includes “is” rather than “iz” in words like recognise.

Australian English Language Editing

To be considered for double-blind peer review, the English language in your manuscript needs to be of sufficient clarity to allow editors and reviewers to accurately review your research. If assistance is needed, you may choose to ask a colleague who is proficient in the English language to proofread your work, or you may consider using a professional language editing service or appropriate generative AI tools for language improvement (which needs to be acknowledged). Please note that the use of a language editing service is not a requirement for submissions to this journal and the use of such a service does not guarantee that your submission will progress to the double-blind peer review phase.

IJISME Formatting Guidelines for Authors

APA Style Guidelines

Logistics

• All papers submitted must adhere to this format.

• Papers should be submitted in MS Word. Please do not submit as a pdf file. The most appropriate file format - Microsoft Word generated using Microsoft Office. 

• We ask that you DO NOT use EndNote for referencing as we may not be able to format your paper.

Page Setup

Page Size

Your page size should be set to A4 and the margins set at the following: Top: 2.54 cm Bottom: 2.54 cm Inner: 2.54 cm Outer: 2.54 cm Header from top: 1.27 cm Footer from bottom: 1.27 cm

Page Numbers

Bottom of page and centred.

Headers and Footers

Please do not include headers and footers in your submission other than the inclusion of the page number.

Font

All text should be Times New Roman font 12.

Spacing

All text styles (Headings, Normal and Bullet text, etc.) should be set at single line spacing with zero spacing before and after. There should be a 12 pt line break between paragraphs.

Justification

Abstract, body and acknowledgement justified (align text to both left and right margins). References are left justified.

Bullets

Bulleted lists should be left justified and use a small filled circles with a 0.5cm indent and hanging paragraph set to 1.0 cm.

Title Section

Title

24 pt and bold, left justified and capital for first letters. Place one blank line (12 pt not bold) after the title. There should be no separate title page.

Author Information

After the title, give the name of each author followed with a superscript letter which corresponds to their further information. Each author’s name should be in 12 pt left justified. Place one blank line (12 pt) after the authors.

Corresponding author’s name and email should be included in 10 pt left justified. Below this, further information about the author includes: Department or Centre, Institution, City, State, Postcode, Country in 10 point left justified.

William Tell^a, Nancy Regan^b and Denis Lowe^c

Corresponding author: William Tell (will.tell@iisme.edu.au)

^aScience Department, University of Moree, Brisbane QLD 4567, Australia

^bSchool of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia

^cSchool of Chemistry, Victoria University , Bendigo VIC 3331, Australia

Keywords

The word “Keywords” in bold with the first letter capital followed by a colon then a list of at least 3 keywords, all in 12 pt, separated by a comma. No full stop at the end of the keywords. Follow keywords with a single blank line 12 pt.

Keywords: collaborative learning, generic attributes, quantitative analysis, online learning

Abstract

Start the abstract with the heading “Abstract” in 14 pt bold followed by a blank line 12 pt. The abstract text should be in 10 pt and justified.

Main Text Details

Headings

Please use no more than 3 levels of heading and ensure they are applied consistently. All headings should be left justified with the first letter of the first word a capital:

1st level heading - 14 pt bold - 12 pt space before and after

2nd level heading – 12 pt bold - 12 pt space before and 0 after

3rd level heading – 12 pt bold italic – 12 pt space before and 0 pt after

1st level heading should be followed by a blank line 12 pt. All other headings are not followed by a blank line.

Body

The main text should be 12 pt and justified. Each paragraph should be followed by one blank line 12 pt.

Diagrams, tables and figures

All diagrams, tables and figures included in the paper should be clearly labelled and centred between the margins. Please leave one blank line (12 pt not bold) before the diagram, table or figure.

Insert the label below figures 12 pt bold and justified. Insert the label above tables in 12 pt bold and justified. Leave one blank line (12 pt not bold) after the label. If the figure has no label, insert one blank line (12 pt not bold) after the figure.

Graphics should be presented in a resolution that allows for printing with an acceptable clarity. Graphic legends appear below the image. All diagrams and figures created in programs other than Microsoft Word should be gif, tiff or jpeg images.

In-text citations

Please use the author-date system i.e. Australian Government Publishing Service or APA Style and avoid the use of footnotes.

Insert the sequence (Name, year) into the main text for a citation to a literature reference. Name refers to the family name of the author and year refers to the year of publication.

All in-text citations must be written in full the first time it is cited within the paper. et al. can be used for the following citations of three or more authors. In the case of more than five authors et al. can be used the first time.

The year is written in long form (i.e. 1999) and use running lower case letters if you refer to more than one article of an author of the same year (e.g. Jones 1999a, 1999b).

Where more than one reference is used, separate each reference with a semicolon (e.g. Jones 1999a; White & Beckett 1997).

Where a quote from the source document is included in the text, please refer to the page number, as in Jones (1999a; p.125). For quotations over two lines start a separate line (single space, no quotation marks) and indent the quotation 0.5 cm from the margin.

Ampersand: Use the word "and" between the authors' names within the text and use the ampersand in the parentheses. Use ampersand in reference list.

Examples ... this special form (Black & Lines, 1998b) is very ... ... as described by Black and Lines (1998a) ... ... and this argument (Keystone et al., 2000c) is used ... ... across time and space (Jones, 1999a; White & Beckett, 1997).

Please cross check your in text references with your reference list.

The publication of your paper will be delayed if it needs to be sent back to you due to errors in referencing.

Quotation marks

Please use the Australian Government Publishing Service or APA Style, i.e. single smart quotes, with the exception of a quotation within a quotation when double quotes are used. For short quotes from research participants, italicise the text and use double quotation marks. For long quotes from research participants (i.e. over 2 lines), start a separate line, italicise text, and indent the quotation 0.5 cm from the margin.

Software

All reference to software should be given in italics. For example, WebCT.

Abbreviations

Please avoid abbreviations such as labs, exams, tutes. e.g., i.e., etc. et al. (no italics)

Acknowledgements

This is an optional section. Acknowledgements or appreciation to individuals for assistance with the manuscript or with the material reported should be included and appear at the end of the article before the References. Start the acknowledgements with the heading “Acknowledgements” using the same formatting for a first level heading. The text should be in 10 pt and justified alignment. Authors who have used generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) in preparing their submission must acknowledge this use. For example: "ChatGPT 4o was used to assist with language editing and improving readability of this abstract." Authors remain fully responsible for all content in their submission, including any content assisted or generated by AI tools.

References

Start the literature references with the heading “References” using the same formatting for a first level heading. The text should be in 10 pt with left alignment. The second and subsequent lines for each reference should be indented by 0.5 cm. All references should be in APA Version. This means alphabetical order of the first author. Please use the referencing styles exactly as shown at the end of these guidelines to ensure consistency.

The following provides examples of referencing for different sources:

Titles in the reference list should be in sentence structure format, NOT capitalisation format.

Books

Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal publication. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Chapters in Books

McKenzie, H., Boughton, M., Hayes, L., & Forsyth, S. (2008). Explaining the complexities and value of nursing practice and knowledge. In I. Morley & M. Crouch (Eds.), Knowledge as value: Illumination through critical prisms (pp. 209-224). New Jersey: Rodopi.

Articles published in conference proceedings

Edge, M. (1996). Lifetime prediction: Fact or fancy? In M. S. Koch, T. Padfield, J. S. Johnsen, & U. B. Kejser (Eds.), Proceedings of the Conference on Research Techniques in Photographic Conservation, (pp. 97-100). Copenhagen, Denmark: Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts.

Journal Articles

Always write the journal name in full using capitalisation format. Ampersand: Use the word "and" between the authors' names within the text and use the ampersand in the parentheses. Use ampersand in reference list

Breen, R., Lindsay, R., Jenkins, A., & Smith, P. (2001). The role of information and communication technologies in a university learning environment. Studies in Higher Education, 26(1), 95-114.

Webpage with an author

Welch, N. (2000, February 21). Toward an understanding of the determinants of rural health. Retrieved January 9, 2002, from http://www.ruralhealth.org.au/welch.htm

Webpage with no author

ANCI national competency standards for the Registered Nurse and the Enrolled Nurse (2000). Retrieved January 28, 2002, from http://www.anci.org.au/competencystandards.htm

Internet article based on a print source

Swanson, H.L. (1999). What develops in working memory? A life span perspective [Electronic version]. Developmental Psychology, 35, 986-1000.

Ethics and Malpractice

The International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics education (IJISME) makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the content contained in our publications. However, IJISME our agents and our licensors make no representations or guarantees whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the content. Any opinions or views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by the IJISME. The accuracy should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. The IJISME shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages or other liabilities caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to, or arising from, the use of the content. Where appropriate, the submitted article should indicate whether the research has undergone an ethics approval process within the author's institution. All research must adhere to the NHMRC National Statement on Ethics and the Australian Association for Research Education Statement of Ethics. Any instances of research malpractice will be considered in relation to these guidelines. In no circumstances will the Editors encourage misconduct, or knowingly publish papers where misconduct has occurred. Should the Editors be made aware of allegations of misconduct they will take appropriate steps to remove the publication and investigate the allegations in accordance with NHMRC Guidelines – this includes reporting the matter to the lead authors institution and working with the relevant institutions Human Ethics Committee to investigate the allegation. In accordance with the NHMRC guidelines a minor oversight will be subject to correction and noted as a corrected version. Significant breaches will see the paper removed from the journal record and a retraction notice recoded in lieu.

Use of Generative AI in Research and Writing

Authors must disclose any use of generative AI tools in their research or manuscript preparation in the Acknowledgments section. Inappropriate use of AI, such as using AI to generate false data, fabricate results, or create citations to non-existent literature constitutes research misconduct. Authors remain fully responsible for all content in their manuscript, including any content assisted or generated by AI tools. The journal reserves the right to reject manuscripts where AI use raises concerns about academic integrity or where required disclosures are not made.