AUTHOR GUIDELINES AND SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Scientific Works «Adult Education: Theory, Experience, Prospects» is an open access scholarly journal published twice a year and accepts for consideration original scholarly manuscripts that have not been published before and are not under consideration by another publication at the same time.

The Journal publishes articles in Ukrainian and English.

Submission of a manuscript to the Journal means that the author(s) has/have read the Editorial Policy, Publication Ethics Policy, Conflict of Interest Policy, Peer Review Policy, AI Policy, Plagiarism Detection Policy, Authorship and Author Contributions Policy, Citation Manipulation Policy, Post-Publication Changes Policy, Open Access Policy, Copyright Policy, Privacy Policy, Declaration of Non-Discrimination and Equal Treatment, and also agrees/agree with their provisions.

The Editorial Office considers manuscripts with regard to the principles of academic integrity, editorial independence, non-discrimination, confidentiality, transparency of editorial procedures, and responsible assessment of scholarly results.

1. General conditions for manuscript submission

Only manuscripts that meet the following conditions are accepted for consideration:

1. The manuscript is original and has not been submitted at the same time to other journals, collections, or publishers.
2. The manuscript matches the scholarly profile of the Journal and contains scientifically grounded results, statements, conclusions, or generalisations.
3. The submitted material does not violate the rules of academic integrity, the intellectual property rights of third parties, or the current legislation of Ukraine.
4. All authors have made a real and meaningful contribution to the preparation of the article and have agreed to its submission to the Journal.
5. All sources, borrowings, tables, figures, diagrams, statistical data, and other materials are properly presented and have correct references.
6. If there is a conflict of interest, the author(s) must declare it.
7. All cases of the use of AI tools during the preparation of the article must be clearly and transparently declared in accordance with the Journal’s AI Policy.
8. For manuscripts prepared in co-authorship, the authors must submit a declaration of author contributions.
9. Submission of a manuscript means the authors’ consent to editorial consideration, checking the manuscript for text similarity, academic integrity review, editorial processing, and open access publication if the article is accepted.

2. When submitting a manuscript, the author(s) confirm(s) that:

• the manuscript has not been published before and is not under consideration by another publication;
• all authors have read the final version of the manuscript and agree to its submission;
• there are no unresolved disputes between the authors about authorship, the order of authors, or publication rights;
• the manuscript does not contain plagiarism, self-plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, citation manipulation, or other breaches of academic integrity;
• all sources, quotations, ideas, data, and visual materials of other authors have been used lawfully and with proper references;
• if copyrighted materials have been used, the author(s) has/have received the necessary permissions;
• the manuscript does not contain information prohibited from distribution in open access;
• if there is a conflict of interest, funding, acknowledgements, use of AI, or other important circumstances, this information is reflected in the Author Declarations block;
• the author(s) has/have read the Journal’s policies and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the article.

If non-compliance with these requirements is found, the Editorial Office has the right to return the manuscript for revision, reject it, or stop its consideration at any stage.

3. Submissions not considered by the Editorial Office

The Editorial Board will not consider manuscripts that:

• do not match the profile and scholarly subject area of the Journal;
• do not have scholarly novelty, analytical value, or a proper level of academic preparation;
• are submitted with serious violations of the requirements for structure, language, style, or formatting;
• contain signs of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, citation manipulation, unethical use of AI, or other breaches of publication ethics;
• are submitted without the required accompanying files or without properly completed author declarations;
• do not ensure the conditions for independent double-anonymised peer review.

Responsibility for the accuracy of facts, quotations, interpretations, references, statistical data, and conclusions lies only with the authors.

4. Number of authors and author contribution

The number of authors of an article must correspond to the real contribution to the research and preparation of the manuscript. The Journal does not support the practices of formal, honorary, gift, or fictitious co-authorship.

As a rule, only those persons who made a substantial intellectual or research contribution to the work should be listed as authors. If there is a large number of co-authors, the Editorial Office may ask for additional explanation of each author’s contribution.

Starting from 2026, for all manuscripts with two or more authors, a separate block “Author Contributions” is mandatory and must be prepared according to the Journal’s Authorship and Author Contributions Policy.

Scientific Works «Adult Education: Theory, Experience, Prospects» follows the principles of transparent authorship and uses the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy). When submitting a manuscript, authors must provide a clear description of each co-author’s contribution in a separate section “Author Contributions”. The CRediT taxonomy is used to clarify the roles of authors, but it does not replace the criteria for authorship. The corresponding author confirms that all listed persons have made a proper scholarly contribution, have approved the final version of the manuscript, and have agreed on the order of authors.

Examples of CRediT roles: conceptualisation, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, data curation, writing – original draft, writing – review and editing, visualisation, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition.

For a single-author article, this block may be given in a simplified form, for example:

The author takes sole responsibility for all stages of the preparation of the research and the manuscript.

The Editorial Board does not limit authors only to the standard CRediT roles and, where necessary, allows additional textual clarification of each author’s contribution if this is justified by the specific nature of the study.

5. Files that must be submitted to the Editorial Office

To submit a manuscript, the author(s) must first register on the Journal website (the button in the top right corner).

During the online submission process, the author(s) must confirm that the manuscript meets all the Journal’s requirements and upload the files listed in Sections 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4.

5.1. Main anonymised manuscript in .docx format

This file is submitted without information about the author(s) and must contain:

• the title of the article in Ukrainian;
• the abstract and keywords in Ukrainian;
• the title of the article in English;
• the abstract and keywords in English;
• the main text of the article;
• the reference list;
• if necessary, tables, figures, diagrams, appendices;
• the Author Declarations block in a form that does not reveal the identity of the author at the review stage, or this block may be submitted as a separate file at the request of the Editorial Office.

5.2. Title file with information about the author(s) in .docx format

This file must contain:

• the title of the article in Ukrainian and English;
• the first name and surname of each author;
• academic degree, academic title, and position;
• the full official name of the institution and country;
• e-mail of each author;
• ORCID ID of each author;
• if available, other author identifiers;
• information about the corresponding author;
• funding, acknowledgements, conflict of interest, use of AI;
• the Author Contributions block.

5.3. Author Declarations in .pdf format

A completed and signed Author Declarations form required by the Journal.

If necessary, the Editorial Office may additionally request:

• a cover letter;
• documents concerning permission to use certain materials;
• explanation of author contribution;
• clarification regarding funding sources, conflict of interest, or the use of AI.

5.4. Conflict of interest form (COI) in .pdf format

The submission package must also include a completed and signed Conflict of Interest form provided by the journal and signed by all authors.

5.5. DOCUMENT PACKAGE FOR MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

• Manuscript in .docx format - download template
• Title file in .docx format - download template
• Author declarations in .pdf format - download template
• Completed Conflict of Interest (COI) form in .pdf format - download template

Download full PACKAGE of templates FOR MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

6. Peer review and editorial consideration

All manuscripts go through:

1. initial editorial screening;
2. checking for compliance with the Journal’s requirements;
3. checking for text similarity and other signs of breaches of academic integrity;
4. double-anonymised peer review by independent experts;
5. editorial decision based on the review results.

The editorial decision is made on the basis of the scholarly quality of the manuscript, its compliance with the profile of the Journal, the content of the reviews, proper ethical presentation, and compliance with editorial requirements.

Submission, consideration, review, revision, acceptance, rejection, correction, or retraction of a manuscript are carried out in accordance with the current policies of the Journal.

7. Requirements for the length and technical formatting of the manuscript

Important

The length of the main text of the article must be at least 10 A4 pages, which approximately means at least 3000 words or about 30,000 characters with spaces.

This length does not include:

• abstracts in Ukrainian and English;
• keywords;
• the reference list;
• author declarations.

Technical requirements

• Page format: A4
• Margins: top and bottom — 2 cm; left and right — 2.5 cm
• Editor: MS Word
• Font: Cambria
• Main text font size: 12
• Line spacing: 1.0
• The text must be submitted without hyphenation.
• Artificial tightening or widening of spacing between letters is not allowed.
• Paragraphs should not be made with tabulation or repeated spaces.
• Quotation marks in the form « » must be used.
• A non-breaking space should be used between initials and surname.
• The sign “–” is used for a dash, and “-” for a hyphen.
• Illustrative materials must be of proper quality and suitable for electronic publication.

The design of the published article on the Journal website is provided by the Editorial Office. Authors submit a manuscript that is correct in content and technical formatting, not a ready publishing layout.

8. Main components of the manuscript

The manuscript must contain the following elements in the given order:

1. Title of the article in Ukrainian
2. Abstract in Ukrainian
3. Keywords in Ukrainian
4. Title of the article in English
5. Abstract in English
6. Keywords in English
7. Main text of the article
8. References
9. Author Declarations

Information about the authors is submitted separately in the title file, not in the anonymised manuscript.

9. Requirements for abstracts and keywords

Abstract in Ukrainian

At least 1800 characters with spaces. The abstract must briefly present:

• relevance;
• aim of the study;
• methods or methodology;
• main results;
• conclusions;
• future research prospects.

Keywords in Ukrainian

At least 6 keywords or phrases.

Abstract in English

At least 1800 characters with spaces. The content of the English abstract must correspond to the content of the Ukrainian version.

Keywords in English

At least 6 keywords or phrases.

10. Structure of the main text of the article

Starting from 2025, the Journal uses a flexible but structurally clear model of a scholarly article based on modern international editorial practice.

Depending on the type of research, the structure of the article may include basic mandatory and additional components.

10.1. Mandatory components

• Introduction (including relevance)
• Aim of the study
• Research objectives
• Research methods
• Theoretical framework (including the analysis of literature / important publications)
• Main text / Research results
• Conclusions
• Future research prospects
• References
• Author Declarations

10.2. Additional components

If necessary, the structure of the article may include:

• Research methodology
• Discussion
• Practical significance
• Research limitations
• Acknowledgements
• Funding
• Data / materials availability

10.3. Explanation of the structure

The Introduction should explain the scholarly problem, relevance, context, and importance of the study.

The Aim should be written clearly and directly connected with the topic of the article.

The Research objectives specify the logic of the study; it is desirable to provide at least 3 objectives.

The Research methods must be clearly named and, where necessary, justified.

The Theoretical framework should contain an analytical review of relevant scholarly literature.

The Main text / results should be presented logically, consistently, and in line with the stated objectives.

The Discussion is especially appropriate for empirical and comparative studies.

The Conclusions should be meaningful, not only declarative.

The Future research prospects should be presented as a separate subsection.

For empirical studies, it is recommended to clearly separate:

• research methodology;
• results;
• discussion / interpretation;
• research limitations.

11. Requirements for references

The reference list must be prepared in APA style.

Only those sources are included in the reference list that are:

• actually used by the author(s) in the research;
• analysed in the content of the article;
• mentioned in the text of the manuscript.

It is not allowed to include in the list:

• invented sources;
• sources that were not used;
• irrelevant sources added artificially;
• sources without checking bibliographic data.

For each source, where possible, the following must be given:

• DOI, or
• a direct active link.

For articles on current scholarly topics, preference is given to modern and relevant sources, especially international publications indexed in Web of Science, Scopus, and other respected scholarly databases. For historical-analytical, conceptual, or source-based studies, a wider chronological range of literature is allowed if this is required by the aim of the study.

It is recommended to use at least 10 sources, unless the specific nature of the material requires otherwise.

Self-citation must be scientifically justified and, as a rule, should not exceed 20% of the total number of sources, unless otherwise justified by the topic of the study. Artificial increase of self-citation or irrelevant citation of articles from the Journal, editors, reviewers, or отдельных authors is not allowed.

12. Use of AI during manuscript preparation

Authors may use AI tools only within the limits defined by the Journal’s AI Policy.

Permitted use includes, in particular:

• language editing;
• translation;
• technical structuring of the text;
• support in wording some elements of the text;
• technical help in formatting.

Not permitted are:

• writing the whole article or substantial parts of it without proper author participation;
• inventing sources, data, or results;
• falsifying illustrations, tables, or analysis;
• presenting AI as an author.

All cases of AI use must be declared in the Author Declarations block.

13. Requirements for figures, tables, diagrams, and other materials

All tables, diagrams, figures, charts, photographs, and other visual elements must be:

• of proper quality;
• numbered;
• mentioned in the text of the article;
• provided with captions;
• prepared in compliance with copyright rules;
• submitted with a proper reference to the source if they are not the original work of the author(s).

AI-generated images may be submitted only within the limits and under the conditions defined by the Journal’s AI Policy.

14. Author Declarations

Each manuscript must contain an Author Declarations block. Depending on the nature of the study, it must include, either obligatorily or where relevant:

1. Ethical basis of article preparation (mandatory)
2. Conflict of Interest (mandatory)
3. Funding (if applicable)
4. AI Use Statement (mandatory)
5. Author Contributions (mandatory from 2026)
6. Acknowledgements (if applicable)
7. Data Availability (if applicable or for empirical studies)

Important

Starting from 2026, the block “Author Contributions / Внесок авторів” is mandatory for all articles submitted in co-authorship.

Author contributions must be written clearly, specifically, and must correspond to the real contribution of each author to the preparation of the publication.

15. Open access model, copyright, and payment

The Journal works under the Diamond Open Access model.

This means that:

• submission of manuscripts is free of charge;
• peer review is free of charge;
• publication of articles is free of charge;
• readers have free open access to the full texts of articles immediately after publication.

The Journal does not charge submission fees, publication fees, or review fees (APC, submission fee, review fee) or any other mandatory payments from authors. The absence or presence of any payments cannot influence the editorial decision, because the decision on publication is based only on the scholarly quality of the manuscript, the results of peer review, and compliance with the Journal’s policies.

Articles in the Journal are published in open access in accordance with the Journal’s Open Access Policy, Licensing Policy, and Copyright Policy.

16. How to send a manuscript to the Editorial Office?

To submit a manuscript to the Journal, the author(s) must:

1. Prepare the article according to the requirements of this Guide.
2. Prepare an anonymised manuscript for review.
3. Prepare a title file with information about the author(s).
4. Complete and sign the Author Declarations form.
5. Send the following documents to the Editorial Office via a registered account on the Journal website:
   • the manuscript in .docx format;
   • the title file in .docx format;
   • the author declarations in .pdf format.
   • the COI form in .pdf format

If necessary, the Editorial Office may contact the author(s) to clarify certain information or ask them to correct technical or content-related shortcomings.

17. After the article is accepted for publication

After the article is accepted for publication, the Editorial Office may carry out:

• language and technical editing;
• unification of formatting;
• clarification of bibliographic descriptions;
• checking of declarations and metadata;
• checking of English-language elements;
• final agreement of editorial corrections with the author(s), if necessary.

The electronic version of the article, after publication, is placed in open access on the official website of the Journal.

18. Additional information

For additional information, please contact the Editorial Office by e-mail: zbirnyk_od_17@ukr.net