Taylor & Francis

Prepare your manuscript for Educational and Developmental Psychologist.

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

Checked 2026-08-01

Article types

Review
Original Article
Commentary
Brief Report
Registered Report
Protocol
Lectio
Clinical Trial
Editorial
Case Report
Systematic Review
Review Article
Letter

Readiness requirements

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

Abstract length

  • Provide an author-written abstract of no more than 1500 words.
  • Use a structured abstract.
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  • Should contain a structured abstract of 200 words.
  • Should be no more than 3000 words (excluding abstract, tables, figures and references).
  • Should be no more than 1500 words (excluding abstract, tables, figures and references).
  • Should be no more than 750 words (excluding abstract, tables, figures and references).
  • Trial registration numbers should be included in the abstract, with full details in the methods section.
  • Your abstract should focus on what your research is about, what methods have been used, and what you found out.
  • The instructions for authors for each journal will give specific guidelines on what’s required here, including whether it should be a structured abstract or graphical abstract, and any word limits.

Keywords

  • Provide 3-6 keywords chosen by the author.
  • Should contain 6 keywords.
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  • Should contain between 3 and 6 keywords.

Reference style

  • Articlo formats your supplied references to the journal's stored style and checks that citations match the reference list; source validity is not verified.
  • This information should be included at the end of the article, but before the Reference list.
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  • Please include your data availability statement within the text of your manuscript, before your 'References’ section.
  • Readers should be able to interpret the table without reference to the text.
  • A statement specifying the tool, version, and purpose of use should be included before the References section.
  • If you reply yes, you will be required to provide the DOI, pre-registered DOI, hyperlink, or other persistent identifier associated with the data set(s).
  • Submitting authors are required to provide CRediT roles for themselves and their co-authors at the point of submission, and to include a CRediT contributor statement in the manuscript before the References section.
  • The DAS should include the hyperlink, DOI or other persistent identifier associated with the data set(s), or information on how the data can be requested from the authors.
  • 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.
  • Should be written with the following elements in the following order: discussion; acknowledgments; declaration of interest statement; references; appendices (as appropriate); table(s) with caption(s) (on individual pages); figures; figure captions (as a list).

Figure and table rules

  • Keep every figure and table numbered, captioned, and cited in the manuscript. Keep figures embedded; Articlo also extracts numbered source files for the package.
  • Group figures at the end of the manuscript.
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  • Group tables at the end of the manuscript.
  • Figures should be high quality (1200 dpi for line art, 600 dpi for grayscale and 300 dpi for colour, at the correct size).
  • Tables and figures Show clearly in your article text where the tables and figures should appear, for example, by writing [Table 1 near here].
  • Figures should be saved separately from the text.
  • Tables should present new information rather than duplicating what is in the text.
  • Authors must disclose any use of generative AI tools in the preparation of the manuscript, including writing assistance, data analysis, or figure generation.
  • It’s very important that you have been given permission to use any tables or figures you are reproducing from another source before you submit.
  • 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.
  • Check the instructions for authors to see how you should supply tables and figures, whether at the end of the text or in separate files, and follow any guidance given on the submission system.

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

  • Add or confirm the author-written Data availability statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
  • Authors are required to provide a data availability statement, detailing where data associated with a paper can be found and how it can be accessed.
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  • If data cannot be made open, authors should state why in the data availability statement.
  • Authors are required to cite any data sets referenced in the article and provide a Data Availability Statement.
  • Articles need to meet the Open Science Badges criteria in order to earn a badge.

Ethics statement

  • Add or confirm the author-written Ethics statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
  • In settings where ethics approval for non-interventional studies (e.g. surveys) is not required, authors must include a statement to explain this.
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  • Editorial: All authors are required to follow the ICMJE requirements and Taylor & Francis Editorial Policies on privacy and informed consent from patients and study participants.
  • Authors should familiarise themselves with our policy on participant/patient privacy and informed consent.
  • Review: All original research papers involving humans, animals, plants, biological material, protected or non-public datasets, collections or sites, must include a written statement in the Methods section, confirming ethical approval (including approval number) has been obtained from the appropriate local ethics committee or Institutional Review Board and that where relevant, informed consent has been obtained.
  • Authors must include a statement to confirm that any patient, service user, or participant (or that person’s parent or legal guardian) in any type of qualitative or quantitative research, has given informed consent to participate in the research.
  • Case Report: a clinical case report detailing their medical history, identifiable images or media content, etc.), authors must include a statement to confirm that they have obtained written informed consent to publish the details from the affected individual (or their parents/guardians if the participant in not an adult or unable to give informed consent; or next of kin if the participant is deceased).
  • Case Report: For submissions where patients or participants can be potentially identified (e.g.

Blinded manuscript

  • Review: Remove author names, affiliations, acknowledgements, and other direct identifiers from the blinded manuscript file.

Cover letter

  • Using Third-Party Material 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 paper 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

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

Title page and author information

  • Provide the author, affiliation, and correspondence details for the separate title page; Articlo creates the editable companion file.
  • All authors of a manuscript should include their full name and affiliation on the cover page of the manuscript.
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  • Please include all this information on the title page of your submitted manuscript.
  • 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

  • Margins Margins should be at least 2.5cm (1 inch).
  • It should be a maximum width of 525 pixels.
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  • Review: These instructions will ensure we have everything required so your paper can move through peer review, production and publication smoothly.
  • 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.
  • Clinical Trial: Clinical trials should be registered prospectively – i.e. before participant recruitment.
  • Editorial: Authors of retrospectively registered trials must be prepared to provide further information to the journal editorial office if requested.
  • Clinical Trial: The clinical trial registry should be publicly accessible (at no charge), open to all prospective registrants, and managed by a not-for-profit organization.
  • All research studies on humans (individuals, samples, or data) must have been performed in accordance with the principles stated in the Declaration of Helsinki.
  • Please include all relevant safety precautions; and cite any accepted standard or code of practice.
  • Authors should use their judgement, considering what constitutes a reasonable length for a quality publication in educational psychology given their research approach.
  • Review: Reviews should follow established reporting standards appropriate to the review type.
  • Review: Other review types should indicate the reporting guidance followed, where applicable.
  • 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.
  • Before you submit your article, make sure you’ve checked the instructions for authors for your chosen journal, so you are aware of everything required.
  • Most journals create image descriptions during the production process, but a minority may require authors to provide image descriptions.
  • Review: Running heads and received dates These aren’t required when submitting a manuscript for review.
  • If you submit a paper to a participating journal, you will then receive an email upon submission with: Details of the badges offered by the journal.
  • If you submit a paper to a participating journal, you will then receive an email upon submission with: Links to additional information.
  • If you submit a paper to a participating journal, you will then receive an email upon submission with: An open practices disclosure form.
  • If you submit a paper to a participating journal, you will then receive an email upon submission with: The journal editor’s email address.
  • Clinical Trial: In order to be published in a Taylor & Francis journal, all clinical trials must have been registered in a public repository, ideally at the beginning of the research process (prior to participant recruitment).
  • The process of obtaining consent to publish should include sharing the article with the individual (or whoever is consenting on their behalf), so that they are fully aware of the content of the article before it is published.
  • Please use SI units (non-italicized).
  • Please note that data should only be shared if it is ethically correct to do so, where this does not violate the protection of human subjects, or other valid ethical, privacy, or security concerns.
  • Special characters If you are preparing your manuscript in Microsoft Word and your article contains special characters, accents, or diacritics, we recommend you follow these steps: European accents (Greek, Hebrew, or Cyrillic letters, or phonetic symbols): choose Times New Roman font from the dropdown menu in the “Insert symbol” window and insert the character you require.
  • Special characters If you are preparing your manuscript in Microsoft Word and your article contains special characters, accents, or diacritics, we recommend you follow these steps: Asian languages (such as Sanskrit, Korean, Chinese, or Japanese): choose Arial Unicode font from the dropdown menu in the “Insert symbol” window and insert the character you require.
  • Such as: The standards on Data, Materials, and Analytical Code Transparency speak to the items generated over the course of the study and how you should preserve or share them.
  • Please do not embed it in the manuscript file but save it as a separate file, labelled GraphicalAbstract1.
  • Please place the Key Points after the key words in the manuscript, and write your Key Points with a practitioner audience in mind.
  • If you haven't submitted a paper to this journal before, you will need to create an account in ScholarOne.
  • If you are at the early stage of your research, you may also need to read how to start writing a journal manuscript.
  • Please confirm that all mandatory laboratory health and safety procedures have been complied with in the course of conducting any experimental work reported in your paper.
  • 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.
  • COS currently offers three badges in its program: The Open Materials badge is earned by making publicly available the components of the research methodology needed to reproduce the reported procedure and analysis.

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

  • Where an earlier version of the manuscript has been posted on a preprint server, authors should declare this at submission and cite the preprint appropriately.
  • Review: Authors should be aware that anonymity for double-blind peer review cannot be guaranteed where a preprint is publicly accessible.
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  • 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.
  • Use of generative AI.
  • 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.
  • Generative AI cannot be listed as an author.

Manuscript structure

  • Please use the headings: Objective, Method, Results, and Conclusions.
  • 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.
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  • Letter: Headings This will show you the different levels of the heading section in your article: First-level headings (e.g. Introduction, Conclusion) should be in bold, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns.
  • Clinical Trial: However, for clinical trials that have not been registered prospectively, Taylor & Francis journals requires retrospective registration to ensure the transparent and complete dissemination of all clinical trial results which ultimately impact human health.

Study reporting guidelines

  • For animal studies, approval must have been obtained from the local or institutional animal use and care committee.
  • Systematic Review: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should adhere to PRISMA, with the completed checklist uploaded at submission.
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  • Authors must provide full methodological details and adhere to relevant reporting guidelines where applicable (e.g. CONSORT-AI, STARD-AI, GAMER, TRIPOD-AI, etc).
  • Systematic Review: Preparing Your Paper Submissions adhering to relevant reporting checklists are encouraged to support the rigour of manuscripts published in the journal (e.g., use of reporting guidelines should be considered such as PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, STROBE for observational studies, and CORE-Q for qualitative studies).

Article type and manuscript length

  • Should be no more than 2000 words (excluding abstract, tables, figures and references; with a minimum word count for 800 words).
  • Should be written with the following elements in the following order: title page; abstract; keywords; main text introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion; acknowledgments; declaration of interest statement; references; appendices (as appropriate); table(s) with caption(s) (on individual pages); figures; figure captions (as a list).

Language and text style

  • Please use a consistent spelling style throughout your manuscript.
  • Please use double quotation marks, except where “a quotation is ‘within’ a quotation”.
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  • Please note that long quotations should be indented without quotation marks.
  • Headings This will show you the different levels of the heading section in your article: Fourth-level headings should be in bold italics, at the beginning of a paragraph.
  • Headings This will show you the different levels of the heading section in your article: Fifth-level headings should be in italics, at the beginning of a paragraph.
  • Authors must follow APA guidelines for inclusive language: https://www.apa.org/about/apa/equity-diversity-inclusion/language-guidelines.pdf.
  • Letter: Headings This will show you the different levels of the heading section in your article: Second-level headings should be in bold italics, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns.
  • Letter: Headings This will show you the different levels of the heading section in your article: Third-level headings should be in italics, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns.

What your package checks

Abstract: 1500 words
Keywords: 3-6 keywords
Title page: separate file
Declarations: Data availability, Ethics, Artificial intelligence
Format: Times New Roman

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