Manuscript Type

Jurnal Pendidikan Karakter (JPKA) publishes two types of manuscript: Original Research Articles and Systematic Literature Reviews. Choose the type before you begin writing and use the matching template, because the initial editorial screening checks the manuscript against the structure of the type it claims to be.

☰ The Two Types at a Glance

Type Length What it does
★ Original Research Article 5,000–8,000 words Reports original empirical research on character education, with data collected and analysed by the authors themselves.
▤ Systematic Literature Review 5,000–8,000 words Synthesises evidence from a body of prior studies through a transparent, replicable protocol, reported against PRISMA 2020.

The word count includes the abstract and the references, and excludes tables, figures, and the end-matter statements.

1 · Original Research Article

An empirical study with a clear theoretical framing and a method reported in enough detail to allow replication. The required order of sections is:

Section What it must contain
Introduction Background, a concise review of the literature, the research gap and its significance, and the research questions, ending with the objective of the study.
Theoretical framework A required Level 2 subheading inside the Introduction: the theories or concepts underpinning the study and how they inform the analysis.
Method Research design, setting, participants or data sources, sampling, instruments, data collection, analysis, and how ethical considerations were addressed.
Results and Discussion Divided into two Level 2 subheadings. Results presents the findings objectively; Discussion interprets them against the theoretical framework and prior studies, and states the novelty.
Conclusion A synthesis that answers the research questions, with theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and directions for future research.

2 · Systematic Literature Review

A review conducted with an explicit protocol that another researcher could repeat. It follows the same overall shape as a research article, with the Method section reporting the review protocol:

  • Protocol and registration — the review questions and, where applicable, the registration of the protocol.
  • Search strategy — databases, search strings, the period covered, and the date of the last search.
  • Eligibility — inclusion and exclusion criteria, stated before screening.
  • Screening — the selection process, reported with a PRISMA 2020 flow diagram.
  • Coding and appraisal — the coding scheme, how it was applied, and how the quality of the included studies was appraised.
  • Synthesis — a descriptive profile of the corpus followed by the thematic or construct-level synthesis, and a research agenda arising from it.
⚠ Note. Narrative literature reviews without an explicit, reproducible protocol are not accepted.

3 · Requirements Common to Both Types

▪ Title and authors
A concise, specific title in sentence case, ideally no more than 20 words. Author names without academic titles, with affiliation, institutional email, a short biography, and an ORCID iD.
 ▪ Abstract and keywords
200–250 words in one paragraph, with no citations, footnotes, or undefined abbreviations, structured around purpose, method, findings, and value. Three to five keywords, separated by semicolons and arranged alphabetically.
▪ Language and style
English throughout, in British spelling used consistently. Up to three heading levels, unnumbered. Keep the built-in styles of the template rather than formatting by hand.
 ▪ References
APA 7th edition with a hanging indent, more than 25 references, at least 80% of them primary sources published in the last ten years, with DOIs where available.

Every manuscript closes with the end-matter statements set out in the template: Acknowledgements, Disclosure Statement, Funding, Data Availability Statement, Ethics Approval and Informed Consent, Author Contributions, Declaration of Generative AI Use, ORCID, Supplemental Material, Notes, and References.

4 · Two Files for Every Submission

① Anonymised manuscript
The file sent to reviewers, uploaded as the Article Text. It carries no author names, affiliations, emails, ORCID iDs, acknowledgements, funding details, or self-identifying citations, and its file metadata is cleaned.
 ② Version with author details
The title page at submission and the final version after acceptance, uploaded as a Supplementary File. It carries the full author block and all end-matter statements.
▸ Templates. Both files are downloaded from the Manuscript Template page. A manuscript submitted in the wrong template, or in a template that does not match its type, is returned to the author at the screening stage.

⚠ Not Accepted

  • Manuscripts that do not engage with character, character education, or character formation.
  • Purely descriptive reports with no theoretical framing or analytical contribution.
  • Narrative literature reviews without a systematic protocol.
  • Opinion pieces, teaching notes, book reviews, and policy commentary without original analysis.
  • Student coursework submitted without substantive development into a research article.
  • Work already published elsewhere, or under review at another journal.

See also the Focus and Scope, Manuscript Template, Author Guidelines, and Peer Review Process.