Instructions for authors

УПУТСТВО ЗА АУТОРЕ / INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

 

The Editorial Board of the Methodical Theory and Practice / Metodička teorija i praksa will accept for publishing only articles submitted in accordance with these Instructions. The journal Methodical Theory and Practice publishes only previously unpublished articles. Articles in extenso, which were previously partially presented at a scientific/professional convention, may also be accepted, whereas the authors are obliged to disclose this in a suitable manner. Any attempt of plagiarism or auto-plagiarism will be sanctioned (ban on publishing articles in the Methodical Theory and Practice for all authors during a period of time corresponding to the degree of plagiarism, and notifying management of institutions where the authors work, as well as relevant professional associations). The Editorial Board retains the right to edit/proofread every received article in accordance with the current standards of the Serbian and English languages. Starting with the No. 1/2024, the journal Methodical Theory and Practice is using a system for electronic journal editing of the articles sent to the following address:

 

https://aseestant.ceon.rs/index.php/metpra/login

 

Technical guidelines for using the Asistent system for the electronic editing of articles are also available at:

 

https://aseestant.ceon.rs/public/podsetnik.pdf

 

Articles submitted through the Methodical Theory and Practice electronic editing system need to be accompanied by a scanned declaration, signed by all the authors and co-authors, stating the observance of the technical requirements of this journal, including the declaration that the paper has never been published or accepted for publication, either in part or on the whole, in any other journal.  The declaration about authors’ individual contributions must be signed by each author of the article, scanned and sent with the paper as a supplementary file. Moreover, the authors must also submit a signed declaration proving that there is no conflict of interest. With all this in place, the authors accept responsibility for meeting all the required conditions, which is followed by the decision about a formal acceptance for the further editorial procedure by the journal:

 

http://www.metodickapraksa.rs/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Izjava-autora-EN.pdf

 

The articles whose authors/co-authors do not submit the necessary declarations in the application of the paper will not be taken into consideration for publication, and their authors/co-authors will not be sent any notification about it.

The system of electronic editing and publishing, Asistent, is using CrossCheck service and, as an initial step in the editorial process, all submitted articles will be checked automatically for plagiarism or auto-plagiarism.

Accepted articles are published in the order planned and agreed by the Editorial Board following suggestions of the Editor-in-Chief. For articles published in thematic issues or thematic blocks of the journal Methodical Theory and Practice, he Editor-in-Chief will consider suggestions of the editor of the thematic issue (guest-editor), if an editor is appointed for the specific thematic issue, before forwarding the content to the Editorial Board.

The articles published in the Methodical Theory and Practice cover the field of sciences and scientific disciplines dealing with teaching and learning at all levels of education and upbringing with the aim of improving and innovating the teaching process. The Editorial Board is particularly interested in those articles in which the authors demonstrate the application of didactical, methodological and pedagogical knowledge in their professional work and practice.

The articles are categorized in accordance with the Rulebook on Categorization and Ranking of Scientific Journals promulgated by the Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (“Official Gazette of the RS”, No. 159 of 30th December 2020). The categories are:

 

Scientific articles:

  1. Original scientific article. Previously unpublished results of author’s research based on and displaying use of scientific methods. These papers should not exceed 28,800 characters (with spaces). This does not include the following: name, middle name initial, surname, affiliation, article title, abstract (up to 800 characters with spaces), keywords (up to 5 words or phrases), reference list, or footnotes;
  2. Review article. It contains an original, detailed and critical review of a research problem or a field in which the author has given a specific contribution, evident also on basis of auto-quotations. The length should be up to 28,800 characters with spaces. The elements not included in the number of characters are the same as for the original scientific work;
  3. Short or preliminary communique. It constitutes an original scientific work in full format, but with a length of up to 18,000 characters with spaces, or a work of a preliminary character. The elements not included in the number of characters are the same as for the original scientific work;
  4. Scientific critique, polemic (a debate regarding a specific scientific topic based exclusively on scientific argumentation) and retrospection. The length of this type of work is up to 10,000 characters with spaces. In addition to name, middle name initial, surname and affiliation of the author and title of the article, this type of work also includes an abstract of up to 400 characters with spaces, keywords (up to 5 words or phrases), list of references, whereas the number of the characters in them is not included in the volume of the work.

 

Professional articles:

  1. Professional article is a contribution in which experience useful for improvement of professional practice is discussed and presented, though not necessarily based on a scientific method. The length is up to 18,000 characters with spaces. The elements not included in the number of characters are the same as for the original scientific work;
  2. Review (of a book, research, scientific event, etc.). Up to 7,000 characters with spaces. If possible, it should be submitted with a photograph as an appendix (book cover, an event that is the subject of review etc.), which is counted as 500 characters with spaces. Submission for this category does not contain the abstract or keywords, although it should include adequate references.

 

The Methodical Theory and Practice will not publish an article that does not contain at least two references. The Editorial Board strongly encourages authors to use more recent references as much as possible. For journal references and all other types of papers, whenever possible, the electronic address should be listed where they can be found online. Whenever possible, use of DOI address, alternatively URL address, is strongly recommended by the Editorial Board. Whenever possible, use of DOI address, alternatively URL address, is strongly recommended by the Editorial Board. All the above-mentioned types of articles can contain photographs, graphs, tables and other types of illustrations. Every illustration will be counted as 500 characters with spaces.

 

The Editorial Board strongly encourages the use of illustrations, especially tables and graphs, for displaying data which subsequently should not be repeated, but only referred to in the text. Illustrations in the text are titled numerically and with words. Each table should be numbered (1 to n) followed by title, while every figure (graph, photo, etc.) should be numbered in the same way and followed by signature. Illustrations are supplied within the text itself.

When submitting articles, authors and co-authors propose a category the article falls under. Reviewers do the same; however, the Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision on categorization. Standard abbreviations are used when writing articles, except in the title and abstract. The full name with the abbreviation in brackets is used at the first mention, then only the abbreviations further in the text. Foreign names in the Serbian version of the article are transcribed into the Serbian language, while their original spelling is given in brackets at the first mention in the article.

Foreign terms are written in the original spelling, in italic, while their translation and meaning can be explained in a footnote if required. Texts should be submitted in Word text file format, with 1.5 line spacing on A4 format, single side, with 2.5 cm margins, justified. The typeset used is Times New Roman, 12pt, while bold and italic (reserved for subtitles) should be avoided. The abstract, keywords and footnotes are typed without line spacing (Line Spacing: Single 1.0). Received articles (with author’s details removed) are sent for review to at least two reviewers. Written remarks and suggestions of editor(s) and reviewers (without the reviewers’ names) are forwarded to the author for final consideration and editing. The reviewers cannot be employees of the institution one or more authors of the article are affiliated with.

After being reviewed and edited, the accepted paper is sent to its author for final reading before publication. Any potential changes should be made within three days. At this stage, it will not be possible to make significant interventions, only proofreading and minor corrections.

If the corrected text is not returned within this period, it will be considered that the author has no further remarks. The copies of the articles accepted for printing will not be returned to the author.

Article preparation

Articles are formatted following the APA abridged bibliographical standard. Parts of the article are: title page, abstract with keywords, the text of the article, acknowledgments (if needed), list of references, appendices (tables, figures). Pages should contain numbers (in the upper or in the lower right-hand corner), starting from the title page.

 

  1. Title page
  2. a) Title of the article should be short, clear and informative, in the Serbian and the English languages, without abbreviations and correspondent to the content of the article.

Captions and subtitles should be avoided. If the article is a result of research on a project or if the author(s) feel that they should express an acknowledgment for the support of an institution or an individual, it should be done in a footnote marked at the end of the text title.

  1. b) The upper left-hand corner above the title contains a suggestion of the article’s category in capital letters, then in the line below the name, middle name initial and surname of the author and/or co-authors. Scientific articles can have maximum three authors, while the Editorial Board strongly encourages submissions from individual authors. Articles with more than three authors/co-authors will not be considered for publication. A footnote link (numerical, starting from 1) is placed after surname of each author/co-author, with institutional, associate/scholastic/scientific title of the author/co-author, the electronic address (e-mail) and ORCID. The same footnote/footnotes should contain the year of birth of each author/co-author: Born in ХХХХ (e.g., “Born in 1968”). It is assumed that the lead author is responsible for correspondence with the Editorial Board, and if that is not the case, the person responsible for correspondence should be stated clearly in the footnote “for correspondence”, with a mobile phone number included.
  2. c) Full institutional/organizational affiliation is given under the name of each author/co-author. For institutions with complex structure all organizational levels should be listed, from the highest to the lowest (e.g., the name of the university, the name of the faculty, the name of the department or lectureship), followed by the seat of the head office, and the name of the country/state in brackets.
  3. Abstract and key words

The second page contains a structured abstract in the Serbian and the English languages, written in concise and clear sentences covering introduction and aim, basic research assumption(s), methods (research methods, main procedures, samples), results (the most important findings), and conclusion. It should also emphasize new and important aspects covered in the research presented. The structured abstract should not exceed 800 characters with spaces, while for scientific critique, polemic, retrospective, the limit is 400 characters with spaces. Keywords, i.e., maximum five words or phrases, are written after the abstract. At the end of the paper, a Summary is provided in English as a longer version of the Abstract, up to 1/10 of the paper, and the translation of the Keywords into English. An abstract is not required for articles categorized as reviews, but the data about the reviewed work (event) should be given in the following order: the author’s Name and Surname (in case of an event, the organizer’s name as well); Title of the work in italic (alternatively, Name of the event in italic). Place of publication: Publisher, year of publication (venue and time of the event), total number of pages (omitted for an event).

A photograph of the work/event that is presented should be submitted in .jpg or .tiff format as an attachment, with a resolution of at least 300×300 dpi.

An example of a review:

Talcott Parsons: Social System and Other Experiments. Sremski Karlovci, Novi Sad: Izdavačka knjižarnica Zorana Stojanovića, 2009, 907 pages

 

  1. Text of the article

The text of the article starts on the third page. It is advised, though not obligatory, that original and review articles, especially if they are mainly based on empirical research, should follow the structured IMRD format: Introduction/Goal of the research, Presentation of the research methodology used, Results, Discussion and Conclusions. As for the scientific articles categorized as “Short announcement” and/or “Scientific critique, polemic, retrospective”, this structure is not necessary. Drawings, maps, photographs, graphs and other illustrations are submitted in JPG or TIFF format, in resolution not larger than 300×300 dpi.

Each illustration (table, drawing, graph…) must be marked with a number and a title, centred, as follows:

– tables with a title written on top

Example:

Table 1: Display of ethnic distance average value scores

– graphs, photographs and other illustrations with titles and labels below

Example:

Graph 1: Ethnic distance average value scores

Tables should be simple, without colours and shadows. Indents and justifications in tables must be made by automatic formatting, not by manually adding spaces.

Graphs and photographs, if necessary, can be displayed in colour.

International labels and abbreviations generally accepted in the international scientific communication are written in the commonly accepted script (Latin alphabet, Greek script etc.).

3.1. Citation and reference to other articles and sources in the text

In accordance with the APA standard, citations and references are given EXCLUSIVELY within the text, in bibliographical parentheses.

Use of footnotes is allowed only for the purpose of annotations, in order to avoid altering integrity of the text, in cases where the author deems it necessary to provide some additional information (e.g., the author’s electronic address, acknowledgement and similar), short explanations regarding the meaning of some terms, ideas (e.g., if a Latin phrase, not widely used, is mentioned, translation can be given in a footnote), biographical data important for better understanding of the basic text (for example, a short biographical reference about a theoretician can be given as important for understanding a particular context). Moreover, a footnote may be used for a comment, remark or critique about some other author’s attitude regarding, for example, his/her inconsistency in presenting an attitude or for giving an example, illustration or a curiosity that is not crucial for the argumentation in the text, but is still useful to be mentioned to readers. No matter whether a cited work was published in the Serbian language in Cyrillic or Latin script and signed with a name or surname transcribed into Serbian or left in the original form, bibliographic parenthesis as well as the References will always list the name written in the original spelling (in English, French, German) or transcribed into English (from Russian, Arabic, Chinese). Therefore, the parentheses and the References should always list Durkheim, not Dirkem, and Brzezinski, not Bžežinski. Surnames of Serbian authors are written using the Serbian diacritic signs in Latin script: č, ć, dž, đ, š, ž.

 

AUTHOR(S) BIBLIOGRAPHICAL PARENTHESIS AT THE FIRST MENTION IN THE TEXT BIBLIOGRAPHICAL PARENTHESIS AT THE SECOND AND OTHER MENTION IN THE TEXT
Article by a single author (Lukić, 1995a, str. 209) (Lukić, 1995a, p. 30)
Article by an author which was published in the same year as the author’s previously cited work (Lukić, 1995b, str. 30) (Lukić, 1995b, p. 20)
Article by two authors (Haralambos & Heald, 1989) (Haralambos & Heald, 1989)
Article by three to five authors (Marković, Golenkova, Šuvaković, 2009) (Marković et al., 2009)
Article by more than seven authors (Mihailović i dr., 2012) (Mihailović et al., 2012)
GROUP (INSTITUTION, ORGANIZATION) WITH A REMARKABLE ABBREVIATION (Republički zavod za statistiku [RZS], 2005) (RZS, 2005)
GROUP WITHOUT A REMARKABLE ABBREVIATION (Centar za profesionalni

razvoj zaposlenih u

obrazovanju, 2010)

(Centar za profesionalni

razvoj zaposlenih u

obrazovanju, 2010)

 

 

The bibliographical parenthesis contains the author’s surname, year of publication, and where necessary, page number with the quote. If multiple authors cited or mentioned in the text have the same surname, the APA standard requires the use of name initial before the surname, for each author. The page number in the bibliographical parenthesis, if required for direct citation, is separated with a comma, with the added abbreviation “p.”. It is not necessary to add the page number in those cases when the general source (article, book) or a particular idea presented in it are referred to without giving the literal quote.

Example:

In his text Antonić disputes findings of several of our methodologists and researchers of social mobility, pointing at their formulaic approach in interpreting statistical indicators, such as Yasuda’s Index, as well as at unrealistic understanding of the idea of “open society” (Antonić, 2013).

For sources and references in a language other than Serbian instead of “and others” Latin “et al.” can be used, and the ampersand sign “&” instead of “and”, especially in Anglo-Saxon literature.

When simultaneously referring to several authors, following the APA style, their works within the same bibliographical parenthesis are listed in the alphabetical order.

Example:

Not a small number of authors considers globalization as a historical process reaching centuries into the past, though dating is different (Brzezinski, 2015, p. 14; Chumakov, 2010, p. 49; Mandelbaum, 2004, p. 257; Robertson, 1992, pp. 58-59; Hatibović, 2002; Šuvaković, 2004, p. 53).

Citation in the text is embedded within the sentence structure. However, if a citation comprises of 40 and more words, it needs to be separated as a new paragraph (automatically) and quoted WITH QUOTATION MARKS. The bibliographical parenthesis is placed after the final punctuation mark. Then a new line starts, marking the beginning of a new paragraph.

 

Example:

“Basic elements of gay movement actually correspond with main tendencies of the (post)modern capitalism. In the social production of personal or collective identity, the emphasis is transferred from the place in a production system to “lifestyle” (pattern of consumable behaviour). Therefore, popular (hypnocratic) culture contains so little information on the class identity, while the sexual identity is placed in the middle of the social and personal interest. The lower is the possibility for satisfying the needs of people for freedom in the field of work or politics, the more promoted “freedom” in the patterns of consumption or “lifestyle” in the public (cultural) sphere is – including “sexual freedoms”. (Antonić, 2014, p. 210)

Continuing this research, a clear and explicit conclusion has been reached…

3.2. Format of the List of References – overview of the most common cases

3.2.1. General remarks

References SHOULD NOT BE LISTED NUMERICALLY. Reference titles are always given in English, even when the original is, for example, in Serbian and not in English. In such case, the language of the original text is written in square brackets [e.g., In Serbian]. References are printed in the order of the British alphabet. The references that begin with the Serbian letters (Đ, Ž, Ć, Č, Š) are listed in the same order as in the Serbian Latin alphabet.

When referring to Serbian surnames, the Serbian diacritic symbols are used When several references of the same author are listed in the References, they should be in the chronological order of their publishing – from the oldest to the most recent ones. If an author has published one of the cited articles independently, another one in co-authorship with another author, and the third one with other two authors, the independent work is listed first, followed by the one with another co-author, and then with other two authors. In the list of references, authors’ surnames should be listed consistently in the alphabetical, i.e., Latin alphabetical order. In case of the works by the same author published in the same year, the years of publication should be followed by letters a, b, c, for example (Lukić, 1995a) or (Lukić, 1995b). This is the same order for listing these works in the list of references.

 

3.2.2. Monographs

Surname, Initial of the name. (year of publication). Title of the monograph (in italic). Place of publication: Name of the publisher.

If there are several cities with the same name in several federal states (which is not uncommon in the USA), the name of the state is listed after the name of the city. If a monograph is available online, it is preferable to put the link at the end, with a note: Available at:

 

Example:

Antonić, S. (2014). Power and sexuality: the sociology of the gay movement. Istočno Sarajevo: Sociološko društvo Republike Srpske. Available at https://fedorabg.bg.ac.rs/fedora/get/o:7605/bdef:Content/download [In Serbian]

Blagdanić, S. (2014). Historical Content in Teaching Nature and Science. Beograd: Učiteljski fakultet [In Serbian]

Lukić, R. (1995a). Basics of sociology. Beograd: Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva, BIGZ [In Serbian]

Lukić, R. (1995b). Political parties. Beograd: Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva, BIGZ [In Serbian]

 

3.2.3. Articles in periodicals

Surname, name initial. (year of publication). Title of the article. Name of the journal in italic vol. (issue for the corresponding year): pagination from – to. If the article has a DOI code, it is supplied at the end; if it does not have a DOI code, it is recommended to put the link at the end, with a note ‘Available at’.

Example:

Savina, S. V. (2021). The Smart City Concept. Ekonomika: vchera, segodnya, zavtra, 11 (1А),

403–409. DOI: 10.34670/AR.2021.17.93.006. [In Russian]

 

In the journal Methodical Theory and Practice all articles published in it since 2017 onwards have been assigned a DOI address which may be found through the Serbian Citation Index by typing the author’s surname and name.

3.2.4. Articles in thematic collections, chapters in scientific monographs, papers in collections from academic conferences:

Surname, Name Initial. (year of publication). Title of article. In: Name initial and surname of editor(s) with a note in brackets (ed. or eds.) Name of publication in italic (p. from – to). Place of publication: Name of the publisher. If the text is available online via an URL address or has a DOI address, they must be listed at the end, just as in the case of journal articles.

Example:

Yudkowsky, E. (2011). Artificial Intelligence as a positive and negative factor in global risk.

In: N. Bostrom, M. Ćirković (eds.). Global Catastrophic Risks (308–345). Beograd: Helix [In Serbian]

 

3.2.5. Text in periodicals (weekly publications, fortnightly publications, monthly publications, annual publications)

 

Surname, Initial of author’s name (year of publication, month, day). Title of the article. Name of the newspapers, issue, pages from to (UNABBREVIATED p.)

Example:

Chomsky, N. (2009, September, 4). Victims of the Imperial Mentality of the West (interview). NIN 3041, 19-21. [In Serbian]

 

3.2.6. Citation of an unpublished doctoral dissertation or a master’s thesis which are available through a database: Surname, Initial of the name. (year of defence). Title of dissertation in italic (doctoral dissertation/master’s thesis) name of institution where it has been defended, place of head office of the institution [In Serbian]

Example:

Grmuša, A. (2022). Bullying as security risk in secondary schools (doctoral dissertation). Fakultet bezbednosti, Beograd. Available at: https://nardus.mpn.gov.rs/handle/123456789/21087?locale-attribute=sr_RS. [In Serbian]

 

INSTRUCTION FOR ARTICLE FORMATTING

PROPOSED PAPER CATEGORY

Name, middle initial and surname of the first author[1]

Affiliation [if complex, from general to specific, e.g., University of Belgrade, Faculty of Education, Department of Pedagogy and Psychology, Belgrade (Serbia).

Name, middle initial and surname of the second author[2]

Affiliation [if complex, from general to specific, e.g., University of Belgrade, Faculty of Education, Department of Pedagogy and Psychology, Belgrade (Serbia).

Name, middle initial and surname of the second author[3]

Affiliation [if complex, from general to specific, e.g., University of Belgrade, Faculty of Education, Department of Pedagogy and Psychology, Belgrade (Serbia).

UNLESS stated differently, the first listed author will be considered the author for correspondence! Apart from the official electronic mail, the author for correspondence can also provide another e-mail with the note “for correspondence”, as well as his/her telephone number.

 

TITLE OF THE ARTICLE [4]

 

Abstract: On the second page of the article, the structured abstract is given in Serbian and in English (please use the term Abstract and NOT Summary!), written by the IMRD Model, with short and clear sentences, and including Introduction/Aim, Basic research hypothesis, Methods (research methods, basic procedures, samples), Results (most important findings) and Conclusion. It is necessary to emphasize new and significant aspects of the presented research. The structured abstract should not exceed 800 characters with spaces and, for the articles from the category of scientific critique, polemic or retrospective, up to 400 characters with spaces. After the Abstract, with one line spacing, the following is written:

Keywords (to be written TOGETHER!), containing up to five words and/or phrases which are separated by commas. In the article, maximum three levels of subtitles can be used. The subtitles should be stated without numbers as follows:

 

FIRST-LEVEL SUBTITLE

Used for marking: INTRODUCTION, RESEARCH METHOD OR THEORETICAL-METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK, RESEARCH RESULTS, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION (whereas the titles of these chapters need not to be given exactly in this manner; if given differently, their function in the article must be clear), Литeратура / References, Прилог / Appendix.

 

Second-level subtitle

Third-level subtitle

 

Tables, graphs and figures should be given at the end of the text in the manner described in detail in the Instruction.

The References should be followed by the Summary and Keywords in the above-described manner.

[1] e-mail, institutional recommended, ORCID and year of birth XXXX

[2] e- e-mail, institutional recommended, ORCID and year of birth XXXX

[3] e-mail, institutional recommended, ORCID and year of birth XXXX

[4] If necessary, one of the following (or similar) data should be provided. 1) name and number of the project within which the article was written, or the information that the paper was written within the scientific-research activity of a certain scientific-research institution funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (if possible, state the number of the Agreement signed by your institution with the Ministry thereof); 2) that the paper has previously been presented at a scientific conference in the form of an oral statement under the or similar title; or 3) that the research presented in the article has been conducted for the purpose of writing the author’s doctoral dissertation; 4) if you consider it justified to express gratitude to a particular individual or institution for the assistance provided in the course of conducting research or writing the article.