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Taylor & Francis

Prepare your manuscript for Australian Social Work.

Review the checklist, choose your article type, and turn your draft into a cleaner submission package.

Checked 2026-08-01
Check readiness freePrepare this manuscript

Article types

Review
Perspective
Book Review
Research Article
Letter
Original Article
Editorial
Lectio
Systematic Review
Commentary
Clinical Trial
Protocol

Readiness requirements

Review the key details below, or download the complete checklist with every stored source-backed requirement.

Abstract length

  • A typical article for this journal should be between 5000 and 7000 words, inclusive of the abstract, tables, references, figure captions, endnotes.
  • If conference articles are submitted, then only an abstract of the article must appear in the published conference proceedings.

Keywords

  • Include or confirm the keywords required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.

Reference style

  • Articlo formats your supplied references in APA style and checks that citations match the reference list; source validity is not verified.
  • Where applicable, this should include the hyperlink, DOI or other persistent identifier associated with the data set(s).
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  • Readers should be able to interpret the table without reference to the text.
  • Further, all potentially identifying material (e.g., reference to previous work by the authors, identification of employing organisation) within the body of the manuscript should be obscured.
  • A declaration must be included within the submission stating: Confirmation the authors take full responsibility for the integrity of the whole content, including accuracy of references.

Figure and table rules

  • Keep every figure and table numbered, captioned, and cited in the manuscript.
  • Group tables at the end of the manuscript.
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  • The presentation of tables and statistics must comply with APA 7th edition.
  • Figures should be high quality (1200 dpi for line art, 600 dpi for grayscale and 300 dpi for colour, at the correct size).
  • In submitting your manuscript, please place tables at the end of the article with an indicator, such as “Insert Table 1 here,” to signify where the table should be placed in the main body of the text.
  • Results should convey sufficient detail, example and illustration in order to evidence and support arguments and conclusions drawn.
  • Tables should be referred to directly in the text.
  • Figures should be saved separately from the text.
  • Tables should present new information rather than duplicating what is in the text.
  • Figures should be supplied in one of our preferred file formats: PS, JPEG, TIFF, or Microsoft Word (DOC or DOCX) files are acceptable for figures that have been drawn in Word.

Funding statement

  • You should declare only the acquired funds and grants that are directly relevant to the work reported in your article; for example, This work was supported by the [Funding Agency #1] under Grant [number xxxx]; [Funding Agency #2] under Grant [number xxxx]; and [Funding Agency #3] under Grant [number xxxx].

Competing interests

  • Include or confirm the competing interests required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.

Data availability statement

  • Include or confirm the data availability statement required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.

Ethics statement

  • Include or confirm the ethics statement required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.

Blinded manuscript

  • Review: For revisions, the anonymous author's response is required as a separate file (with file designation "Authors' responses - for review”).

Cover letter

  • Using Third-Party Material in your Article You must obtain the necessary permission to reuse third-party material in your article.
  • Review: The use of short extracts of text and some other types of material is usually permitted, on a limited basis, for the purposes of criticism and review without securing formal permission.
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  • If you wish to include any material in your article for which you do not hold copyright, and which is not covered by this informal agreement, you will need to obtain written permission from the copyright owner prior to submission.

Author contributions

  • Submitting authors should be prepared to submit CRediT roles for themselves and their co-authors (where applicable) as part of the submission process.

Title page and author information

  • Review: For revisions, all changes in the Main Document and Title Page (not for review) should be marked up with highlighted text (not using the track change function).
  • All authors of a manuscript should include their full name and affiliation on the cover page of the manuscript.
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  • One author will need to be identified as the corresponding author, with their email address normally displayed in the article PDF and the online article.

Article structure and word limits

  • Authors should be aware that only approximately 30% of articles submitted to the journal are published.
  • The text should be left justified, and in 12-point Times New Roman font and double line spaced.
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  • Article titles should be no longer than 12 words.
  • Numbers of 10 or more should be written in numerical form (except when they begin a sentence).
  • Manuscripts should be prepared in line with the American Psychological Association (APA) Publication Manual 7th edition, with the exception of any advice provided in these Instructions for Authors or by the Editor.
  • It should be a maximum width of 525 pixels.
  • Review: These instructions will ensure we have everything required so your paper can move through peer review, production and publication smoothly.
  • Authors intending to submit to the journal should prepare their manuscripts with both a social work audience and an international audience in mind.
  • Your research funder or your institution may require you to publish your article open access.
  • Use our APC finder to view the APC for this journal.
  • Authors should expect that their articles will be reviewed by the leading scholars in their field.
  • Review: Authors are required to submit a “for review” copy of their article, which does not include their name or contact details.
  • A clean version of the Main Document is not required at least until the article is conditionally accepted.
  • Data presented should be contextualised, interpreted and explained.
  • The distinction between data and their interpretation should be clear.
  • Implications for policy, research, practice, etc should be explained clearly and persuasively.
  • Articles should be uploaded as a MS Word file.
  • Paragraphs should be no shorter than three sentences.
  • Titles should clearly and accurately reflect the content of the article or the major finding. “Catchy” titles or ones that include a participant quote should be avoided.
  • Quotations from participants in a research project should be treated the same as other quotations.
  • Numbers up to nine should be written as words.
  • Terms such as “e.g.,” and “i.e.,” may only be used in parentheses, otherwise the full term must be presented (e.g., For example, and That is,).
  • Original Article: All original articles and PPP articles must include an implications statement.
  • Queries Should you have any queries, please visit our Author Services website or contact us here.
  • A declaration must be included within the submission stating: Originality and accuracy of content has been confirmed by the authors.
  • Authors must provide full methodological details and adhere to relevant reporting guidelines where applicable.
  • Authors must retain the original and revised versions which must be shared upon request.
  • The PLSP guidelines for authors must be followed at all times.
  • Perspective: If relevant, the literature will also be used to explain the theoretical perspective or paradigm that informs the study, and any key concepts or terminology should be adequately described and explained.
  • Quotations should not be italicised.
  • Please do not use “and/or” in the article.
  • Research Article: Structure: PPP articles are not research articles, but they must be carefully and systematically written in a style and with a structure that is accessible to readers and builds upon existing knowledge.
  • Authors are encouraged to be familiar with the topic they propose to critically analyse; hence scholarly connections to contemporary literature are required to support arguments.
  • This statement should be approx.
  • Please use SI units (non-italicized).
  • Please do not embed it in the manuscript file but save it as a separate file, labelled GraphicalAbstract1.
  • If you have not submitted an article to this journal before, you will need to create an account in ScholarOne.
  • Image descriptions are typically used by systems such as pronouncing screen readers to make images accessible to people that cannot read or see the object due to a visual disability.

Reporting guidelines

  • Include or confirm the reporting guidelines required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.

Preprints and prior publication

  • If you have shared an earlier version of your Author’s Original Manuscript on a preprint server, please be aware that anonymity cannot be guaranteed.

Artificial intelligence disclosure

  • Add or confirm the author-written Artificial intelligence statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
  • Please include a statement disclosing whether and how generative AI has been used in the research and manuscript preparation process.
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  • Use of AI tools as part of ethical research studies is permitted.
  • A declaration must be included within the submission stating: The name and version number of the AI tool used.
  • Systematic Review: Use of AI tools as part of ethically conducted literature reviews, systematic reviews, meta-analysis and bibliometrics studies is permitted.
  • Use of AI tool assisted plain language summaries (PLS) of authors own work is permitted.
  • Please read our guidance on using AI tools in your research and manuscript preparation to understand scenarios where their use may be permissible, and the required information that must be disclosed.
  • A declaration must be included within the submission stating: Confirmation the authors have checked terms of use for the specific AI tool used, and therefore confirm suitability for publication.

Article type and manuscript length

  • Review: Preparing Your Article Structure Your article should be compiled in the following order: title page; abstract; implications statement; keywords; main text introduction (review relevant literature, highlight gaps in previous research, clarify aims of current study); method (research design, sample, materials, procedure, data analysis); results; discussion (compare results with literature reviewed, discuss limitations); conclusion; acknowledgments; declaration of interest statement; references; appendices (as appropriate); table(s) with caption(s) (on individual pages); figures; figure captions (as a list).

Manuscript structure

  • Research Article: All research articles (including systematic literature reviews) must include a Method section.
  • It should be clear to the reader how the analysis was produced, so that any conclusions or insights drawn from the study are persuasive and compelling.
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  • Consideration of the limitations of the study should not be included in the Method section but rather located towards the end of the Discussion section.
  • The Discussion and Conclusion should be logically informed by the findings and other relevant evidence cited.
  • There should be no heading (e.g., Introduction) at the beginning of the article.
  • The method section should explain in clear detail how the study was undertaken, and it should use relevant social work or social science methods and methodology texts to support, justify and conceptualise the methods used.
  • They should demonstrate a critical engagement with the results of the study, and the argument advanced should be compelling and consistent with the study scope and its limitations.
  • The structure of a PPP article invites scholarly writing, not opinion pieces, and should follow this process: Introduction – outline the socio-political/contextual/cultural factors that you want to discuss and why this is impacting/improving the well-being of individuals, families, communities, and society.
  • Acknowledgments section, if required.
  • Authors must retain full records of the methods undertaken, including full descriptions and records of the prompts used, which must be shared with the journal upon request.

Language and text style

  • In line with APA 7th edition, please use double quotation marks, except where “a quotation is ‘within’ a quotation.” Long quotations of 40 words or more should be indented without quotation marks.
  • Please use Australian spelling style consistently throughout your manuscript.
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  • The implications statement should be written in non-technical, lay-persons’ language.
  • Abbreviations, such as the names of organisations (e.g., AASW), should be spelled out in full followed by the acronym in parentheses in the first instance, and then may be used alone for the remainder of the article.

Study reporting guidelines

  • Authors must provide full methodological details and adhere to relevant reporting guidelines where applicable (e.g. CONSORT-AI, STARD-AI, GAMER, TRIPOD-AI, etc).
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What your package checks

Paper: 7,000 words
References: APA
Declarations: Artificial intelligence

Source transparency

This preparation guide uses published journal-specific author requirements. Journal instructions can change, so authors should complete a final review before submission.

Open official guideline source