Submissions

This journal is not accepting submissions at this time.

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  • The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, RTF, or WordPerfect document file format.
  • Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
  • The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.
  • If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.

Author Guidelines

  • Authors should retain a copy of all contributions.
  • The manuscript should be ‘blinded’ to minimize any indication of the author(s) identity.
  • Contributions are reviewed by the Editor(s) and, if considered suitable, are sent to external reviewers without identification of the author(s).
  • After reviewing recommendations from the external reviewers, the Editor determines whether the manuscript is accepted, rejected, or if a request for revisions will be sent to the author(s). The Editor reserves the right to vary those processes.

Manuscript Requirements

  • No information regarding author identification should appear within the submitted article.
  • Manuscripts must be prepared using a standard word processing program and submitted in Microsoft Word® format (.docx - any recent version) or compatible format.
  • Pages should be numbered and double-spaced. Preferred font is Bell MT (12 pt).
  • Authors are expected to cite sources following the guidelines of the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
  • Notes should be kept to a minimum, and should be numbered within the text and then placed at the end of the article.
  • Submitted articles should be 7,000-10,000 words, including reference lists, notes, and ancillary materials.
  • All submissions must include an abstract of 100-150 words submitted separately from the manuscript (space provided on the submission form). The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is sometimes read separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone.
  • Authors should include a list of five to six keywords (space provided on the submission form) from the Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors, which is available online.

Manuscript Structure

Manuscripts submitted to FIRE should deal explicitly with as many of the following as are applicable, preferably in this order:
  1. Objectives or Purposes: Articulate your objective or purpose in writing the article or conducting the research. The purpose of the article, written in the present tense, should be clearly stated to orient the readers to the rest of the article. It should be no more than two to three sentences, written in the introduction section of the article, and should be significant, timely, and important.
  2. Perspectives or Theoretical Framework: The framework guides your research, determines the variables and the statistical relationship (if applicable), and orients the conceptual discussion throughout the article. Please identify the core connectors in the literature within a topic showing how they are related to the research topic. When writing the theoretical framework, include an outline of existing theories, which are related to the research topic.
  3. Methods, Techniques,or Modes of Inquiry: Describe in detail the activities from the initial stage to the end, which assisted in achieving the objectives or purpose of the article. Authors should justify the choice of methods or techniques and also include details about the study design (duration of study, demographics, etc), statement of participant protection (consent, IRB approval), and statistical methods (sample size determination, data analysis techniques, level of significance) as applicable. Additionally, any supplementary material relating to the results should be put in an appendix.
  4. Data Sources or Evidence (if applicable): The author will describe the evidence or sources used to answer the research question or test empirical hypotheses (if applicable). Appropriate citations as per APA 6th Edition is to be used to support the sources.
  5. Results and Findings: The results are the most important part of a research article and hence should be presented in a way that reduces the misinterpretation of any findings. Present and interpret the key findings in an orderly and logical sequence using text and illustrations. The results are always initially in the text; reporting the key findings and referring to the figures and illustrations that follow. In case of any negative results, they should be reported as objectively as any positive results.
  6. Discussion: Explain how the results relate to the hypothesis (if any) of the study. Interpret the findings in light of the theoretical/conceptual framework.
  7. Significance and Conclusion: Provide the implications or significance of the study to previous research on the topic and probable future directions for research.

Review Criteria

Every manuscript undergoes a blind peer review process by at least two external referees through FIRE’s online submission and reviewer system. Referees receive a reviewer rating sheet that invites them to comment on the manuscript in terms of writing quality, creativity, organization, importance of the problem, content of the literature review, suitability of the data analysis, adequacy of the conclusions, discussion of the limitations, and other relevant categories. Reviewers also provide comments and may track the article with explicit comments and questions. Articles deemed acceptable with minor or major revisions are returned to authors for revision and re-submission. The Editor is responsible for overseeing the peer-review process. Referees are chosen by the Editor based on their research and teaching expertise related to the topics and themes of the submitted manuscripts.

Certain issues may be given a specific topic, and manuscripts that relate to the topic will have a higher probability of being published within that issue.

Submission Checklist

The following list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal for review. Please consult this Manuscript standards and submission guideline for details of any item.

Have the following items prepared when submitting (included as part of the submission form):

  • One author to be designated as the corresponding author with contact details:
  • E-mail address
  • Full postal address
  • Telephone
  • “About the Author” section limited to 150 words
  • Abstract
  • Keywords
  • Full blinded manuscript
  • All tables (including title, description, footnotes)

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

  1. The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  2. The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, RTF, or WordPerfect document file format.
  3. Where available, DOIs for the references have been provided.
  4. The text is double-spaced; uses a 12-point font (Bell MT is preferred); employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  5. The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.
  6. If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.

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