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Taylor & Francis

Prepare your manuscript for Higher Education Research & Development.

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
Research Article
Editorial
Clinical Trial
Protocol
Letter
Systematic Review
Lectio

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 200 words.
  • Use a unstructured abstract.
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  • Should be no more than 7000 words, inclusive of: Abstract.
  • Should contain an unstructured abstract of 200 words.
  • Should be no more than 3000 words, inclusive of: Abstract.
  • Final manuscript file: The title (page 1) should contain the title, author or authors’ affiliation and email address, followed by abstract, key words, and full text, all in the same document.
  • Your abstract should focus on what your research is about, what methods have been used, and what you found out.
  • It should be laid out as it would be published including all of the components: title, abstract, full authorship and contact details, tables and figures (placed in their designated locations within the body of the paper), references and acknowledgements, and any appendices.
  • 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 5-10 keywords chosen by the author.
  • Should contain between 5 and 10 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.
  • Should be no more than 7000 words, inclusive of: References.
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  • Should be no more than 3000 words, inclusive of: References.
  • Use en rule/option hyphen between spans of numbers (e.g., 20–40), including page numbers in references.
  • All references should include digital object identifiers (DOIs) for journal articles.
  • For books, book chapters, reports, and online sources, authors should provide URLs where no DOI exists.
  • Readers should be able to interpret the table without reference to the text.
  • All references in References list must be cited in your text, and vice versa.
  • Do not include in-text references.
  • 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. 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.
  • Should be no more than 7000 words, inclusive of: Tables.
  • Should be no more than 7000 words, inclusive of: Figure or table captions.
  • Should be no more than 3000 words, inclusive of: Tables.
  • Should be no more than 3000 words, inclusive of: Figure or table captions.
  • 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.
  • Figures and tables should be submitted as separate, editable files, as well as being located in the article versions of your submission.
  • PLEASE NOTE: If your paper includes figures or images, you must send separate files for each image AS WELL AS incorporating them in the body of your paper.
  • Figures should be saved as TIFF, PostScript or EPS files and submitted separately, as well as being placed in their designated locations in the body of the paper.
  • 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

  • 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: Remove author names, affiliations, acknowledgements, and other direct identifiers from the blinded manuscript file.
  • This should be anonymous also.
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  • Review: De-Identifying Manuscripts In order to maintain the integrity of its double-blind peer review process, HERD requires that the ‘main document’ file, in an original or revised submission is fully de-identified.

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.

Title page and author information

  • All authors of a manuscript should include their full name and affiliation on the cover page of the manuscript.
  • One author will need to be identified as the corresponding author, with their email address normally displayed in the article PDF (depending on the journal) and the online article.

Article structure and word limits

  • Margins Margins should be at least 2.5cm (1 inch).
  • Review: These instructions will ensure we have everything required so your paper can move through peer review, production and publication smoothly.
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  • 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.
  • Where text in imported graphics is not included in the automatic word-count, words must be counted manually and added into the total.
  • This file should outline your response to each of their comments, showing where and how you have addressed a comment, or why you have chosen not to.
  • Use commas to segment off opening words and phrases (dependent clauses that the sentence could do without).
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Please use SI units (non-italicized).
  • Submit two files in.doc or.docx format.
  • Please do not use track changes.
  • No biographical details are required.
  • Retrieved from is no longer required.
  • 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.
  • Quality assurance (including programme or course evaluation-based) articles that are mainly of local interest or relevance do not meet this latter criterion.
  • Initialisms and acronyms (e.g., USA, BBC, NZ, NASA) do not have periods between their letters.
  • Biggs’ rather than Biggs’s (i.e., do not add an extra ‘s’ after the apostrophe).
  • If you are at the early stage of your research, you may also need to read how to start writing a journal manuscript.
  • 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.

Authorship and originality

  • Include all authors, up to and including 20.
  • Review / Editorial: AI Policy All authors should review the Taylor & Francis AI Policy and consult the Editorial Policies page of our Author Services website to ensure compliance with our policy on the usage of AI before submitting to the journal.

Article type and manuscript length

  • Review: The total length of a ‘not for review’ file (including every component) is within HERD’s maximum word limit of 7,000 words.
  • Review: The total length of the revised ‘not for review’ file (including every component) is within HERD’s maximum word limit of 7,500 words for revised articles.
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  • Final manuscript file: The total length of the final file (including every component) must be within HERD’s maximum word limit of 7,500 words for final submissions.
  • Where text in imported graphics is not included in the automatic word count words must be counted manually and added onto the total.
  • 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).

Manuscript structure

  • Should be no more than 7000 words, inclusive of: Footnotes.
  • Should be no more than 7000 words, inclusive of: Endnotes.
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  • Should be no more than 3000 words, inclusive of: Footnotes.
  • Should be no more than 3000 words, inclusive of: Endnotes.
  • 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.
  • 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

  • Please use single quotation marks, except where ‘a quotation is “within” a quotation’.
  • Please note that long quotations should be indented without quotation marks.
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  • Optional spelling should be consistent throughout.
  • 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.
  • 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.

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

Abstract: 200 words
Paper: 7,500 words
Keywords: 5-10 keywords
Declarations: 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