Author Guidelines

General Information

ICER Journal – International Counseling and Education Review welcomes original scholarly contributions in counseling, education, educational psychology, human development, student well-being, and related interdisciplinary areas.

Authors should ensure that their manuscripts are relevant to the journal's Aims and Scope before submission.

Types of Manuscripts

ICER Journal accepts:

  • Original Research Articles;
  • Systematic Literature Reviews;
  • Theoretical or Conceptual Articles; and
  • Evidence-Based Practice Articles.

Submitted manuscripts must be original and must not have been published or submitted to another journal.

Language

All manuscripts must be written in clear and academically appropriate English.

Manuscript Title

The title should be clear, specific, informative, and accurately reflect the content of the manuscript.

Authors are encouraged to limit the title to 15–20 words and avoid unnecessary abbreviations.

Abstract

The abstract should provide a concise and self-contained summary of the manuscript in 150–250 words and should be written in a single paragraph.

For empirical research articles, the abstract should briefly include:

  • the background or context of the study;
  • the research objective;
  • the methodology;
  • the participants or data sources, where relevant;
  • the main findings; and
  • the conclusions or implications.

The abstract should accurately reflect the content of the manuscript. Authors should avoid citations, references, footnotes, tables, figures, and unexplained abbreviations.

Recommended Abstract Structure

Authors are encouraged to organize the abstract according to the following sequence:

Background → Objective → Method → Results → Conclusion/Implication

For review, theoretical, conceptual, or other non-empirical articles, the abstract should summarize the purpose, scope or approach, main arguments or findings, and conclusions of the manuscript.

Keywords

Authors must provide 3–5 keywords or short phrases immediately below the abstract.

Keywords should accurately represent the main topics of the manuscript and support indexing and discoverability.

Manuscript Preparation

Manuscripts must follow the official ICER Journal Manuscript Template, including the required structure, formatting, headings, tables, figures, citations, and references.

Citation and Reference Style

ICER Journal uses APA Style, 7th Edition.

Authors must ensure that all citations and references are complete, accurate, and consistent with APA 7th Edition.

Reference Management Software

The use of reference management software such as Zotero, Mendeley, or EndNote is strongly recommended.

Authors remain responsible for checking the accuracy of all citations and references.

Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)

The DOI of each cited reference must be included where available.

Authors must ensure that DOI information is accurate and presented according to APA 7th Edition. Authors must not create or guess DOI information.

Ethical Research Requirements

For research involving human participants, personal information, sensitive data, counseling services, psychological interventions, or educational records, authors must describe the relevant ethical procedures.

Where applicable, the manuscript should include information about:

  • ethical approval;
  • the responsible ethics committee or institution;
  • informed consent;
  • participant confidentiality and anonymity; and
  • data protection procedures.

Personally identifiable information must not be disclosed without appropriate ethical justification and consent.

Authorship

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial contributions to the research and manuscript.

All authors must approve the final version of the manuscript and agree to be accountable for its content.

Originality and Multiple Submission

Submitted manuscripts must be original and must not have been previously published or be under consideration by another journal.

Authors must properly acknowledge and cite the work of others. The journal may use similarity-checking tools to identify plagiarism, duplicate publication, or substantial overlap.

Conflict of Interest

Authors must disclose any financial, institutional, professional, or personal relationships that may influence the research or manuscript.

If no conflict of interest exists, authors may state:

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding

Authors must disclose all sources of funding related to the research or publication.

If no funding was received, authors may state:

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial entity, or not-for-profit organization.

Double-Blind Peer Review

ICER Journal applies a double-blind peer-review process.

Authors must remove identifying information from the manuscript, including author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, and document metadata.

Author information should be submitted separately through the journal's submission system.

Use of Artificial Intelligence and Automated Tools

Authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of their manuscripts.

Artificial intelligence tools must not be listed as authors. Any substantial use of generative AI or other automated tools should be disclosed in accordance with the journal's policy.

Submission

Manuscripts must be submitted through the ICER Journal online submission system.

Before submission, authors should ensure that:

  • the manuscript follows the official template;
  • the manuscript fits the journal's aims and scope;
  • all required sections are complete;
  • author information is entered correctly;
  • the manuscript is prepared for double-blind review;
  • references have been checked;
  • ethical requirements have been addressed where applicable; and
  • the manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere.

Editorial and Peer-Review Process

All manuscripts undergo an initial editorial evaluation.

Manuscripts that meet the journal's requirements and fit its scope may proceed to double-blind peer review.

Reviewer recommendations are advisory. The final decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief or an authorized editor.

Author Responsibility

Authors are responsible for the content and accuracy of their manuscripts.

By submitting a manuscript, all authors confirm that they have read and agreed to comply with the journal's policies, ethical standards, copyright terms, and licensing requirements.