AUTHOR GUIDELINES

STAIRS publishes research-based papers on English Learning and Teaching, Second Language Acquisition, English for Specific Purposes, ICT in English Education, and Translation, all of which are written in English.

 

SUBMISSION

Before submitting your manuscript, please carefully read and prepare the manuscript in accordance with the author guidelines and the manuscript template. All manuscripts are submitted electronically in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, or RTF document file format. Manuscripts may be returned to authors without a further assessment if they do not meet all submission requirements, if they are not in the correct format, or cannot be downloaded reliably.

During submission, authors are required to agree to the Author's Declaration confirming that their manuscripts submitted to STAIRS are original and have not been published in other scientific journals in print or online, or are not being sent to other journals, and all contributing authors have agreed to the submission. The manuscript should have been checked for its grammar and spelling mistakes and have been proofread by an English language expert.

The manuscript should be between 4000 and 8000 words in length, excluding abstract, references, and tables/figures, typewritten in Times New Roman with 1.15-space. It is written in one-column A4 size paper, with 3 cm top and bottom margin and 2 cm left and right margin. Do not input any headers, footers, or page numbers, as they will be added by the STAIRS editors. For other detailed writing guidelines, please refer to the manuscript template.

The manuscript consists of the title, authors’ names with affiliation, address, and email address, abstract and keywords, introduction, research methods, results and discussion, conclusions and recommendation, acknowledgment, and references. All illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.

The title should not be more than twenty words

The authors’ names are written without the title. Always give your First and Last names.

The abstract should present concise and factual information with no more than 200 words in one paragraph. It should state briefly the purpose of the research, the method, the principal results, major conclusions, and major contributions to the field of study. References are used only if essential. Provide a maximum of 6 keywords.

The introduction section should be 15-20% of the total article length. Authors should provide an adequate background, and a very short literature survey in order to record the existing solutions/method, to show which is the best of previous studies, to show the main limitation of the previous research, to show what you hope to achieve (to solve the limitation), and to show what scientific merit or novelties of your paper is. Authors should also highlight the objectives of the study and their importance. 

The research methods section should be 10-15% of the total article length. It consists of a description concerning the research design, data sources, data collection, and data analysis.

The Results and Discussion section should be 40-60% of the total article length. Either a combined Results and Discussion section or a separated one is appropriate. Results should be clear and concise. It summarizes (scientific) findings rather than providing data in great detail. Highlight differences between your results or findings and the previous publications by other researchers, yet, avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature. The discussion part should explore the significance of the study, corresponding to the results, not merely repeat the results.

The conclusion and Recommendation section should be 5-10% of the total article length. The conclusion should answer the objectives of the research and its significance with the advancement of the field of study from the present state of knowledge. Do not repeat the Abstract section here or just list the results. Indicate possible applications, extensions, and future research.

The acknowledgment section should be 5-10% of the total article length. Recognize those who helped in the research, especially funding supporters of your research if any. Include individuals who have assisted you in your study: Advisors, Financial supporters, Proofreaders, Typists, Suppliers, and others.

References should be primarily taken from journals in the last 10 years of publication using APA (American Psychological Association) style. Ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list. Management reference applications, such as Mendeley, Zotero, or Endnote, should be used when citing a reference.

 

ASSESSMENT

Manuscripts that pass the initial assessment are assigned to a subject expert in the STAIRS team of Associate Editors to oversee the review process. All papers are subject to peer review and authors can expect a decision, or an explanation for the delay, within a month of receipt. If a revision is invited, the corresponding author should submit the revised manuscript within two weeks. The final decision is taken by one of the senior editors based on the information gained through the peer review process.

 

DECISIONS

Decline is when the manuscript has followed peer review but is judged not to be acceptable for publication in STAIRS and resubmission is not possible.

Resubmit is when the submitted version of the manuscript is not acceptable and requires major revision but there is clear potential in the work. Authors are offered the opportunity to resubmit their paper as a new submission.

Revision is when the manuscript requires changes before a final decision can be made. Authors are asked to modify their manuscript in light of comments received from reviewers and editors and to submit a new version for consideration within 2 weeks of receiving the decision letter. Revisions may undergo further peer review and papers may undergo more than one round of revision. A manuscript is not accepted unless revision meets the reviewers’ and editors’ satisfaction.

Final acceptance is when the manuscript is acceptable for publication with some minor amendment to ensure the paper fully matches STAIRS criteria. After final checking in the editorial office and acceptance confirmation, the paper is ready for publication.