Author Guideline

General Requirements

  • The manuscript must be an original scholarly work that has not been published previously and is not under consideration by another journal.
  • The manuscript must demonstrate a clearly formulated research problem, engagement with relevant scholarship, an identifiable research gap, methodological clarity, analytical depth, and a clear scholarly contribution or novelty.
  • All manuscripts must be written in English. Manuscripts written wholly or substantially in a language other than English will not proceed to peer review. Non-English terms, quotations, or source excerpts may be retained only when academically necessary and should be accompanied by an English translation or explanation where appropriate.
  • The journal accepts original empirical research articles, conceptual or theoretical papers, methodological studies, and rigorous literature reviews, including systematic, scoping, integrative, structured narrative, or critical reviews where methodologically appropriate.
  • Research articles should normally contain 4,500–6,000 words, excluding references, tables, figures, appendices, and supplementary materials.
  • Book reviews should normally contain 1,500–2,500 words.
  • Manuscripts should use Times New Roman, 12-point font, single spacing, unless otherwise specified in the official journal template.

Langauge and Academic Quality

Manuscripts must be written in clear, coherent, and academically appropriate English. Authors should ensure accurate grammar, discipline-appropriate terminology, logical paragraphing, and international scholarly readability. Either British or American English may be used, but the chosen variety must be applied consistently throughout the manuscript.

Literal or unedited machine translation that reduces conceptual accuracy or readability should be avoided. Authors whose first language is not English are strongly encouraged to obtain careful language editing before submission when necessary. Authors remain fully responsible for every claim, citation, interpretation, translation, and reference in the submitted manuscript.

Title

  • Accurately reflect the central research problem, phenomenon, or contribution.
  • Be concise, informative, discoverable, and academically meaningful.
  • Avoid unnecessary introductory expressions such as “An Analysis of”, “A Study of”, or “An Overview of” unless analytically necessary.
  • Avoid unexplained abbreviations.
  • Normally not exceed 16 words.

A strong title should communicate the substantive focus of the study rather than merely identify the research location.

Abstract and Keywords

Every manuscript must contain one abstract written in English. The abstract should consist of one paragraph of approximately 150–250 words, typed in Times New Roman 11-point font and single spacing. It must be self-contained, concise, and free of citations.

The abstract should communicate the following elements clearly and concisely:

  • research problem or background;
  • purpose of the study;
  • method or analytical approach;
  • main findings;
  • principal contribution or conclusion.

Avoid unsupported claims such as “proven effective” or “significant impact” unless the design and evidence directly support such conclusions.

Provide 3–5 keywords that represent the main concepts of the manuscript and support discoverability in academic databases.

Introduction

The Introduction should establish the scholarly rationale for the study rather than provide only general background information. It should normally develop the argument in the following sequence:

Research Context and Problem

Explain the specific educational, social, cultural, theoretical, or empirical problem that motivates the study. Avoid excessively broad opening statements.

State of the Art

Critically synthesise recent and relevant scholarship to show what is already known, what debates exist, and how the topic has previously been investigated.

Research Gap

Identify the unresolved theoretical, methodological, empirical, contextual, or pedagogical problem that justifies the study.

Novelty and Scientific Contribution

Explain how the manuscript advances existing scholarship. Novelty may arise from new evidence, a new interpretation, a new empirical context, a methodological contribution, integration of previously disconnected concepts, or a new pedagogical framework.

Research Purpose, Questions, and Hypotheses

The final part of the Introduction must clearly state the purpose of the study and, where appropriate, the research questions or hypotheses.

The statement that “few studies have examined this topic” should not be used as the sole justification for novelty.

Method

The Method section must provide enough information for readers to understand how evidence was generated, selected, and analysed. Authors must accurately report what was actually conducted and must not add procedures that were not performed.

Empirical Research

Where applicable, describe the research design, research setting, participants or population, sampling strategy, data sources, instruments, data-collection procedures, analytical methods, validity/reliability/trustworthiness procedures, and ethical considerations.

Quantitative Research

Quantitative manuscripts should explain the operationalisation of variables, instrument validity and reliability, statistical procedures, assumptions underlying statistical tests, and software used where relevant.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative manuscripts should explain participant or data selection, interview/observation/documentary sources, coding or interpretive procedures, development of categories or themes, and procedures used to establish analytical credibility.

Literature Reviews

Review articles should identify the databases or information sources searched, search terms, publication period, inclusion criteria, exclusion criteria, screening procedures, size of the final analytical corpus, and method of synthesis.

Authors should not describe a review as a systematic review unless a genuinely systematic and reproducible search and screening procedure was conducted. Terms such as integrative review, structured narrative review, qualitative literature synthesis, scoping review, and systematic review should be used according to the actual procedure.

Conceptual and Theoretical Articles

Conceptual manuscripts should explain the literature or intellectual traditions considered, criteria for selecting theoretical materials, analytical framework, procedure for comparing or synthesising concepts, and process through which the proposed contribution was derived.

Results and Discussion

Charta Educa normally uses an integrated Results and Discussion section unless disciplinary conventions require separate sections.

Results

  • Report the main empirical or analytical findings.
  • Organise findings according to research questions, analytical themes, or hypotheses.
  • Provide sufficient supporting evidence.
  • Avoid unnecessary repetition of information already presented in tables or figures.

Qualitative findings should be supported by appropriate evidence such as interview excerpts, observational evidence, documentary material, thematic patterns, or analytical categories. Quantitative findings should report appropriate statistical information.

Discussion

The Discussion must move beyond description. Authors should explain what the findings mean, connect them to relevant theory, compare them with previous research, identify points of agreement or difference, explain the mechanism or process underlying the findings where possible, and demonstrate the manuscript’s contribution.

The Discussion must explicitly return to the research gap and explain how the findings address, refine, extend, or challenge previous scholarship. Authors are encouraged to engage with recent international literature and, where genuinely relevant, research previously published in Charta Educa.

Tables

  • Number tables consecutively.
  • Place a concise and informative title above each table.
  • Refer to and discuss every table in the manuscript.
  • Use clear column headings and avoid unnecessary decorative formatting.
  • Identify the source beneath the table when the data originate from another source.
  • Use “Source: Authors’ analysis.” when the table presents the authors’ own analysis.

Figures, Photographs, and Illustrations

  • Number figures consecutively and provide an informative caption.
  • Ensure sufficient resolution for publication.
  • Refer to and discuss every figure in the manuscript.
  • Identify the source where appropriate.
  • Obtain permission to reproduce copyrighted material when required.
  • Use figures to support the scientific argument rather than for decoration.

Conclusion

The Conclusion should provide a concise synthesis of the principal contribution of the article. It should answer the research purpose or questions, highlight the most important findings, state the theoretical, empirical, methodological, or educational contribution, and identify implications where appropriate.

The Conclusion should not merely repeat the Results and Discussion. Recommendations should be included only when they follow logically from the evidence.

Declarations

  • Author Cntribution
  • Funding
  • Conflict of Interest
  • Use of generative AI

References

Charta Educa uses the American Psychological Association (APA), 7th edition referencing style. Authors are strongly encouraged to use a reference manager such as Mendeley, Zotero, EndNote, or another compatible tool.

  • Every source cited in the manuscript must appear in the reference list, and every source in the reference list must be cited in the manuscript.
  • Research articles should normally contain at least 20 academically relevant references.
  • For most research articles, approximately 70–80% of references should consist of peer-reviewed journal articles.
  • Historical, policy, documentary, and heritage-based studies may appropriately use a higher proportion of primary sources, official documents, archival materials, and scholarly books when required by the research design.
  • Authors should prioritise recent scholarship published within the last five years while retaining older seminal literature, primary historical sources, or foundational theoretical works where academically necessary.
  • References should be academically traceable. Authors must verify author names, year, article title, journal title, volume, issue, page range or article number, and DOI where available.
  • Predatory, unverifiable, or academically unreliable sources should not be used.
  • Quality and relevance are more important than merely increasing the number of references.

Examples using APA 7th edition:

  • Single author: (Rosenlund, 2021)
  • Two authors: (Marovah & Ncube, 2024)
  • Three or more authors: (Miguel-Revilla et al., 2024)
  • Narrative citation: Chapman (2024) argues that historical interpretation is central to history education.
  • Multiple references: (Chapman, 2024; Marovah & Ncube, 2024; Rosenlund, 2021)

Direct quotations should include page numbers where available.

Final Submission Checklist

☐ The manuscript fits the aims and scope of Charta Educa.

☐ The manuscript is original and not under consideration elsewhere.

☐ The title clearly represents the study.

☐ The entire manuscript is written in English.

☐ An English abstract is included.

☐ The abstract contains approximately 150–250 words.

☐ 3–5 keywords are provided.

☐ The Introduction establishes the research problem, state of the art, gap, novelty, and research purpose/questions.

☐ The Method accurately describes what was actually conducted.

☐ Findings are supported by sufficient evidence.

☐ The Discussion returns to the research gap and explains the study’s contribution.

☐ Limitations are acknowledged explicitly.

☐ References follow APA 7th edition.

☐ Recent scholarship is adequately represented while appropriate seminal or primary sources are retained where necessary.

☐ All bibliographic information and DOIs have been checked.

☐ Every in-text citation appears in the reference list and vice versa.

☐ Tables and figures are numbered, sourced where appropriate, and discussed in the text.

☐ Author-identifying information has been removed from the review manuscript.

☐ Academic English has been carefully proofread and is used consistently throughout the manuscript.

☐ All ethical, authorship, AI-use, data, and disclosure requirements have been fulfilled where applicable.