Manuscript Format Guidelines

1.Core Page Setup
●Margins: 1 inch (2.54 cm) on all sides
●Font: Times New Roman
  ◎Article title: 16 pt, bold, centered, 1.5-line spacing
  ◎Abstract, keywords, body text: 11 pt
  ◎Author names and affiliations, author biographical information, figures, tables, supplementary remarks and acknowledgements: 10 pt
  ◎Footnotes, copyright statement, page numbers: 9 pt
●Heading rules: Level1 and Level2 headings are leftaligned and bold; Level3 headings are leftaligned and italic (not bold). Level4 headings are bold inline headings that do not occupy an independent line. A period is added after the numeric label of Level1 headings, followed by one space. No period follows the second numeral for Level2 headings (e.g., 2.1, with one space after the numeral). All headings are set with 0.5 line space before and after, with 1.5-line spacing.
●Line spacing: 1.5-line spacing for the title page, abstract, body, references, block quotes, tables and figures. Leave a blank line between paragraphs. Copyright statement and footnotes use fixed line spacing of 12 pt. 1.5-line spacing is reserved above and below each equation.
●Alignment: Justified alignment with both margins
●Indentation: Body paragraphs adopt a first-line indent of 0.5 character. The reference list uses a hanging indent of 0.5 inch (APA 7 default). Table notes have a first-line indent of 0.5 character.
●Page header (Professional only): Reserved for publishing information
●Page numbers: 9 pt, centered in the footer, numbered consecutively starting from 1 for each issue.
2. Paper Structure
●Title Page
●Abstract (mandatory for professional papers)
●Main Text (Introduction → Method → Results → Discussion → Conclusion). These subsections do not necessarily need to be explicitly labelled as long as the logical components are covered.
●Acknowledgements and other supplementary remarks
●Funding statement
●Competing interests statement, data availability statement, ethical approval statement, informed consent statement, author contribution statement, preregistration statement (where applicable)
●References
●Footnotes (in-text notes are presented as footnotes, not endnotes)
●Tables (numbered consecutively; placed close to their first in-text citation; a 0.5-line space is added in the main text following each table)
●Figures (numbered consecutively; subfigures are labelled Figure 1a, Figure 1b; minimum resolution of 300 dpi; placed close to their first in-text citation)
●Appendices (if needed). Tables and figures within appendices are numbered Table A1, Figure A2, etc.
3. Title Page
●Layout: Centered content arranged in the upper-middle section of the page
●Full paper title (bold, title case)
●Author name(s): Presented with first name initial + middle initial + last name (e.g., Jane M. Smith); 10 pt, italic, with one blank line above and below the author block, 1.5-line spacing
●Institutional affiliation(s): Provide full names of secondary affiliations, complete institutional addresses including city and postal code (no subdistrict-level administrative information), and country for every author. The email address of the corresponding author must be clearly indicated.
●Copyright statement: Placed exclusively in the footer of the title page; 9 pt, fixed line spacing of 12 pt, separated from the main text above by a solid black horizontal rule.
●Header: Running head + page number; page number centered in footer
4. Abstract
●Header: “Abstract” (full-width bold)
●No first-line indent
●Length: 150–250 words, single paragraph

●Content: Include research purpose, method, participants, key results, conclusions, implications. The abstract must contain no citations, ●figure/table abbreviations or equations.
●Keywords: 4–6 terms, separated by semicolons, title case (first letter of each keyword capitalized). No blank line between the abstract and keywords; one blank line separates keywords from the main text.
5. In-Text Citations (APA 7th Professional Rules)
●One author: (Author Last, Year) | Author Last (Year)
●Two authors: (Last1 & Last2, Year) | Last1 and Last2 (Year)
●Three+ authors: Always use et al. for both first and subsequent citations (Last1 et al., Year)
●Direct quote: (Author, Year, p. X) | (Author, Year, pp. X–Y)
●No page number (web source): (Author, Year, para. X)
●No named author: (Title, Year) | (Shortened Title, Year)
●No date: (Author, n.d.)
●Group/Organizational Author
●First citation: (American Psychological Association [APA], 2020)
Subsequent citations: (APA, 2020)
6. References Page
●Header: “References” (bold, left-aligned)
●Format: 10 pt, 1.5-line spacing, hanging indent of 0.5 inch, APA 7th edition. Journal titles and volume numbers are italicized; issue numbers (when available) are placed in parentheses immediately after the volume number and are not italicized. Full inclusive page ranges of the article must be provided. If an article uses an article number instead of page numbers, use “Article XXXX” in place of the page range.
●DOI required for all online sources (format: https://doi.org/xxxx)
●Omit “Retrieved from” for stable URLs and DOIs
●Common Examples
  ◎Journal Article: Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Article title (sentence case). Journal Title (title case, italic), Volume(Issue), page range. https://doi.org/xxxx
Example: Bali, T. G., Peng, L., Shen, Y., & Tang, Y. (2017). Liquidity shocks and stock market reactions. Journal of Financial Economics, 124(1), 122‑142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2017.01.003

  ◎Book: Author, A. A. (Year). Book title (sentence case, italic). Publisher Name. https://doi.org/xxxx
  ◎Edited Book Chapter: Author, A. A. (Year). Chapter title. In B. B. Editor (Ed.), Book title (pp. xx–xx). Publisher. https://doi.org/xxxx
  ◎Website/Online Report: Organization Name. (Year). Report title. Website Name. https://xxxx/
7. Tables & Figures
●Tables (three-line table format required):

◎Table caption: Table 1 (10 pt, centered above the table)

◎Table title: title case, placed below the label

◎Table notes: Single-spaced; ordered as general note → specific note → probability note; placed below the table with a first-line indent of 0.5 character

◎Cell content: Single-line cell content centered; multi-line cell content left-aligned
●Figures:
  ◎Figure label: Figure 1 (10 pt, centered below the image)
  ◎Figure caption: title case, placed below the label
●Number consecutively; place after the first in-text citation.
●Equations: Numbered sequentially as (1), (2), with equation numbers right-aligned. 1.5-line spacing is reserved above and below each equation. See variable specification format requirements.

8. Writing Style
●Active voice is preferred (e.g., “We analyzed” rather than “Data were analyzed”)
●Third-person perspective; first-person is permitted when describing authors’ research actions
●Avoid contractions, slang, and colloquial language
●Define abbreviations on first use (e.g., American Psychological Association [APA])
●Numbered hierarchical headings using Arabic numerals (1.1, 1.1.1, 1.2, 1.2.1, etc.) are recommended to improve logical clarity.