Instructions to Authors

Manuscripts will not be considered for peer review unless they are in accordance with all of the following requirements.

IMPORTANT:
Please note that submissions now go directly through ScholarOne Manuscripts. As the old submission site will no longer funnel submissions, please do not submit new manuscripts to www.ntrjournal.org beginning 31 October 2008. Articles submitted prior to 31 October 2008 should still use the old submission site (www.ntrjournal.org), though, as existing submissions within that system will not be transferred over to ScholarOne Manuscripts.

Authors unable to submit electronic versions of manuscripts should contact the journal editors. You will be able to check the status of the review process by logging onto the online system. The submission date listed in the journal is the date the manuscript is uploaded in a form that can be reviewed; the acceptance date is the date it is accepted in final form for production and publication.

• Your manuscript should be in any version of Microsoft Word for Windows or Macintosh, or WordPerfect for Windows.
• Submissions should be written in English, double-spaced, in a Times Roman font. Contact the editors regarding submissions not in English.
• The journal conforms to the American Psychological Association’s Publication Manual, Fifth Edition (see Resources, below), although manuscripts in other styles can be reviewed. For publication, manuscripts must conform to the journal’s style.
• See the chart above (Types of Submissions) to determine the type and recommended size limit of your manuscript. Before submitting a manuscript that exceeds the journal’s size limits, authors must notify the editor-in-chief.
• Number all pages consecutively, starting with the title page.
• Resolve all Track Changes issues and turn off Track Changes.

Sections of your Main Manuscript Document

• Title page. On the title page include (1) title, (2) full names of all authors, (3) affiliations of all authors (at time of research and current, if they differ), and (4) contact information for the corresponding author (name, postal address including country, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address).
• Abstract. The abstract is limited to 250 words. It should include subheadings that match the major headings of the submission. For Original Investigations and Brief Reports, this would be: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Abstract headings for review and commentary submissions may differ.
• Main Text. Use the guidelines in the Types of Articles table to structure the sections. Original Investigations and Brief Report sections are: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion.
  
  Note:
  (1) Do not note in the manuscript where tables and figures should be inserted, but refer to them as they relate to the text (for example: “Table 1 lists the subject characteristics…” or “Group differences are depicted in Figure 2…”).
  (2) Citations should be inserted in parenthetical notation such as this: (Smith & Jones, 2005); citations should conform to APA style.
• Funding. List all sources of funding for the research. See Funding section below for further details.
• Competing interests. Please list any competing interests for any of the authors. If the authors have no competing interests, this must be stated.
• Acknowledgments. This section is for acknowledging individuals and institutions whose assistance and support the authors wish to mention.
• References. References must be alphabetized by author, not numbered. APA style provides many examples of different types of references. Do not abbreviate journal titles in references. If you provide references created with bibliography software such as EndNote, leave the reference library link intact in the submitted document.
• Tables. Tables longer than one published page will be included as online-only Supplementary Material accessed through the journal archive, but not published in the journal’s print or online PDF versions. Include tables at the end of the main manuscript, created in Word, using the Table function. Follow these rules:
  (1) Do not create a table using only tabs or spaces to create columns.
  (2) Do not create a table in Excel and embed it in a Word document. If you export a table from Excel, import it into the Tables function and format it for Word.
  (3) Do not use features such as Word Art in tables.
  (4) Mention the tables in the main text, but do not note in the manuscript where tables and figures should be inserted.
  (5) Tables should not duplicate material contained in the main text.
  (6) Number the tables consecutively, as they should appear in the text.

Instructions for preparing figures are available here. Figures can be color or black/white. Figures published in color in the print version of the paper will incur a publishing cost to the authors. The following guidelines for figures are essential:

• File formats. The journal prefers that figures be created in Excel. If you create figures in a program such as SigmaPlot or CorelDraw, you must export the file as .TIF. Do not embed a figure file as a picture into Excel or Word. The typesetters can work with figures in the following formats:
  .TIF (Tagged Image Format File)
  .DOC (Microsoft Word document)
  .XLS (Microsoft Excel)
  .PPT (Microsoft PowerPoint)
  .PDF (Portable document format, Adobe)
  .AI (Adobe Illustrator)
  .WMF (Windows metafile)
  .PNG (Portable Network Graphics)
• Figure size. Size the figure to the column or page width of the journal, and set the resolution at 300 dpi or greater.
• Microcharts. The journal encourages the use of microcharts (also called sparklines) where appropriate (see Resources, below). They can save considerable space and can include both data and a graphic element.
• Follow the instructions. Figures must conform to the journal’s guidelines before a manuscript can be accepted and sent to production. Submitting figures in a nonpreferred format will delay or prevent publication.
• Order. Number all figures consecutively, as they should appear in the text.
• Information about figures. For further requirements about figures, refer to Resources, below.

Supplementary Material

Unpublished material such as tables and figures that relate to the manuscript but are too lengthy to be printed with the manuscript can be submitted online as Supplementary Material. These should be in a final, viewable format such as PDF, with any track-changes hidden. You will be able to upload this material when you submit your manuscript. Do not include material that has been published previously or is otherwise under copyright restriction.

You will need to do the following when you submit your manuscript:

1. Contact Information. Provide contact information for all authors.

2. Author Keywords. If you are not in the online system’s database, you may need to provide keywords describing your areas of expertise. Use the pull-down list or enter your own terms.

3. Corresponding Author. Identify a corresponding author. You also can identify an alternate.

4. Type of Submission. Identify the type of manuscript you are submitting (see General Guide for descriptions and allowed size), along with the numbers of words, figures, and tables.

5. Topic Keyword. Identify keywords that apply to your manuscript. Use the pull-down list or enter your own terms.

6. Verification. Verify that the manuscript is not under review, in press, or published elsewhere. Also, verify that the manuscript meets ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements of the study country.

7. Authorship. Verify that all authors qualify for authorship under the guidelines of the American Psychological Association Publication Manual, 5th Edition. This involves “making a primary contribution and holding primary responsibility for the data, concepts, and interpretation of results” Authorship should include those who “have made substantial scientific contributions to the study” (p. 6).

8. Competing Interests. Declare any competing interests for each author. For questions about what constitutes a competing interest, see the journal Web site.

9. Copyright Permission. Identify any figures or other portions of the manuscript for which copyright permission is required. Authors are responsible for securing permission.

10. Supplementary Material. Upload any supplementary material linked to the manuscript that will be viewed online-only.

11. Special Issue. Identify any supplement or dedicated issue for which the manuscript is being submitted.

12. Upload files. Upload separate manuscript files for the Main Document and the Figures (note that you can upload them in any order and reorder them using a pull-down menu; be sure to save the revised order).

• Before uploading, turn off Track Changes and accept all changes as a “Final” version (not “Final Showing Markup”). Do not select “Show Comments.” Articles with tracked changes and inserted comments will not be considered for publication until the authors remove those features.
• Your manuscript should be in any version of Microsoft Word for Windows or Macintosh, or WordPerfect for Windows. If you use Office 2007, please use the Save As feature to save files in "97-2003" format.
• Your manuscript cannot be considered for publication until the figures are submitted in a viewable format.
• When you upload figures, you can add descriptive tags and comments.

13. Check PDF. Once the files are uploaded, click on the PDF link below them, to view the PDF. You must check the PDF at this stage or later in the submission process.

Style

American Psychological Association (2005). Concise rules of APA style. Washington, DC: Author.

American Psychological Association (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Figures

Figure guidelines can be found here.

Microcharts: http://www.bestshareware.net/download/microcharts-professional.htm

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