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Submission eligibility

For general issues, the journal accepts manuscripts in Czech and Slovak. These submissions may be made throughout the year. Studia paedagogica accepts English-language manuscripts only as submissions to an open, specifically announced Call for Papers for a special issue. Unsolicited English-language submissions outside an active call are not accepted. Each manuscript must fall within the topic and meet the submission deadline and any additional conditions of the relevant Call for Papers.

1. How to Submit a Manuscript

Manuscripts must be submitted to Studia paedagogica exclusively through the Open Journal Systems (OJS) editorial platform. An account is required. Existing users should sign in. New users must register before submitting.

• Log in to the submission system
• Register a new account
• Submit a manuscript

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2. Journal Sections, Manuscript Length and Language

Studies

A peer-reviewed section for empirical, theoretical and review studies. Manuscripts must be grounded in relevant international scholarship, demonstrate appropriate theoretical and methodological rigor, and offer original findings, new insights or well-substantiated interpretations. The key criterion is a clear scholarly contribution beyond the mere description of a phenomenon or summary of existing knowledge.

Emerging Researchers

A peer-reviewed section for authors who have not yet completed their doctoral studies. It primarily publishes empirical studies based on research conducted as part of a doctoral dissertation. Through this section, the journal supports the scholarly development of early-career researchers. The peer-review process places particular emphasis on detailed, constructive and development-oriented feedback. The requirements for scholarly and methodological quality are the same as for Studies.

Essays

A peer-reviewed section for scholarly essays that offer original arguments, critical reflection or new perspectives on issues in education and educational research. Essays are accepted for general issues in Czech or Slovak. Essays are generally commissioned by the editorial team. They may be considered for an English-language special issue only if the relevant Call for Papers explicitly permits essays. Authors wishing to submit unsolicited essays are advised to consult the editors in advance. Essays may follow a more flexible structure than empirical or theoretical studies, but they must draw on relevant scholarship, develop a coherent argument and make an original contribution to scholarly debate. The decisive criteria are intellectual originality, a sound scholarly foundation and persuasive argumentation.

Recommended Manuscript Length

The recommended length is 8,000 words of main text for all journal sections. This is a guideline rather than a strict limit. The editors assess the appropriateness of length in relation to the manuscript’s scope and scholarly contribution. The word count excludes the title, abstract, keywords, tables, figures, footnotes, acknowledgements, statements on ethics, funding, competing interests, data availability and AI use, references and appendices.

Manuscript Language and Issue Types

The manuscript languages and eligible submission routes are summarized in the submission policy above.

All English-language manuscripts must be written in American English (US English). Authors are required to use American spelling, punctuation and terminology consistently throughout the manuscript.

English-language special issues accept research articles, including theoretical and review studies, where relevant to the particular call. Essays and submissions to the journal’s Czech- and Slovak-language sections are not eligible through this English-language submission route, unless a specific call expressly provides otherwise.

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3. Manuscript Preparation and Formatting

Manuscript Template

We recommend using the manuscript template, which includes predefined formatting styles. The template helps authors comply with the journal’s formatting requirements and facilitates subsequent editorial processing.

Required Elements and Language Versions

Each manuscript must contain a title, an abstract of no more than 200 words, four or five keywords, the main text, declarations, and an alphabetically ordered reference list. The title, abstract and keywords must be provided in the appropriate language versions: for Czech-language manuscripts, in Czech and English; for Slovak-language manuscripts, in Slovak and English; and for English-language manuscripts, in English only. If two language versions of the abstract are required, the 200-word limit applies to each version separately.

Author Information

The non-anonymized manuscript must additionally identify all authors, their institutional affiliations, ORCID identifiers (if available) and the corresponding author’s contact information. These details must be accurate, complete and consistent with the metadata entered in OJS. Other identifying information belongs in the non-anonymized version. The anonymized version must follow the rules below.

Recommended Structure by Manuscript Type

The structure should reflect the type of article, research design and methodological approach. The journal does not impose a single mandatory outline, but expects a coherent organization, transparent procedures and sufficient information to evaluate the evidence and arguments.

Empirical studies are generally recommended to include:

1. Introduction (unnumbered section) and Background – definition of the research problem, review of relevant literature, theoretical framework and formulation of objectives, research questions or hypotheses. The sections explain the scholarly significance of the problem and the study’s contribution.
2. Methods – description of the research design, sample or participants, data collection, instruments and analytical procedures. The account must allow readers to assess the methodological quality and trustworthiness of the research. Relevant ethical aspects may be included here if they are not presented in a separate Ethical Considerations section following the Conclusions.
3. Results – systematic presentation of findings in relation to the research objectives, questions or hypotheses, supported by appropriate analytical outputs and empirical evidence.
4. Discussion – interpretation of the results in relation to the existing literature, theoretical and practical implications, scholarly contribution, a critical reflection on the study’s limitations, and, where relevant, recommendations for future research.
5. Conclusions (unnumbered section) – a brief summary of the principal findings and contribution of the study.

This structure is recommended, not mandatory. Qualitative and mixed-methods studies in particular may use a different structure. What matters is transparency in the generation and analysis of data, procedures for ensuring research quality, and the connection between evidence and interpretation.

Theoretical studies should clearly define the issue and theoretical foundations, develop systematic critical arguments and articulate an original theoretical contribution. Merely describing established theories without original argumentation will generally be insufficient.

Review studies should explain the scholarly context and objectives and transparently describe literature searching, selection, appraisal and synthesis as appropriate to the type of review. We recommend PRISMA 2020 for systematic reviews and meta-analyses and PRISMA-ScR for scoping reviews. The JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis may also be consulted. Authors should identify the reporting standard used and document the study selection process where appropriate, for example with a flow diagram.

Scholarly essays must have a clearly defined topic, substantively supported arguments and conclusions grounded in the reflection presented. An essay should offer an original analytical or critical perspective rather than merely an unsupported personal opinion.

File Formats for Submission to OJS

Submit editable text files, preferably DOCX, or alternatively ODT or RTF. Use Times New Roman, 1.5 line spacing and consecutive page numbering. Number headings to a maximum of three levels (e.g., 1, 1.1, 1.1.1) and use consistent formatting. Manuscripts submitted as PDF or in typesetting source formats (e.g., LaTeX or InDesign) are not accepted.

Tables, Charts and Figures

Number all tables, charts and figures consecutively, give each a title and place it at the relevant point in the manuscript. Refer to every item in the main text. Label tables Table 1, Table 2, etc., with titles above. Label charts, diagrams, photographs and other illustrations Figure 1, Figure 2, etc., with captions below. Provide explanatory notes, abbreviations and source credits in line with APA.

All tables and figures must be included directly in the manuscript so that reviewers can assess them in the context of the study. Tables must be editable and must not be embedded as images. Charts, diagrams, photographs and other illustrations must also be uploaded to OJS as separate files of suitable quality for editorial preparation and typesetting:

• Photographs and raster images: at least 300 dpi at the intended publication size.
• Mixed images containing text, graphics and photographs: at least 600 dpi at the intended publication size.
• Charts, diagrams and line drawings: preferably vector files (e.g., SVG or EPS) or original editable files. For rasterized line art, at least 1,000 dpi is recommended.

Suitable raster formats include TIFF and PNG. High-quality JPG may also be used for photographs. Avoid screenshots and low-resolution images. Ensure captions, labels and lines will remain legible after resizing. Name separate files according to their manuscript numbering (e.g., Figure_1). For charts based on numerical data, also provide the underlying data in an editable spreadsheet format (e.g., XLSX or ODS).

Citations and References

Citations and the reference list must comply with APA Style, 7th edition (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association); see the official APA Style website. Authors are responsible for the completeness, accuracy and authenticity of references, including checking that cited works exist and support the claims attributed to them.

Scholarly and Language Quality

Authors are responsible for the scholarly, linguistic and formal quality of their submissions. Manuscripts must be clear, terminologically consistent and suitable for academic publication. Accepted manuscripts subsequently undergo editorial and language editing without altering their scholarly meaning.

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4. Ethical Requirements and Author Declarations

Originality, Authorship and Plagiarism Checks

A manuscript must be an original scholarly work that has not previously been published and is not simultaneously under consideration elsewhere. Authors must not submit the same work to another journal while it is under review. Authors must have the necessary rights and permissions for all material included and are responsible for the accuracy of authorship information. All co-authors must agree to the submission.

If the manuscript or any part of it has previously been made publicly available as a preprint or substantially overlaps with another publication, authors must disclose this information at the time of submission and provide the relevant link. The editorial team will assess any such overlap in relation to the originality of the manuscript and the journal’s policies on duplicate publication.

The editors check manuscript originality and may use the text-similarity detection tool available through Masaryk University’s Information System. Similarities are assessed substantively in context. Confirmed plagiarism is grounds for rejection.

Research Ethics and Informed Consent

Empirical studies involving human participants must report compliance with applicable research ethics requirements. Authors must state whether the research was approved by an ethics committee. If so, identify the committee and the approval details, particularly the approval number and date. If ethical approval was not required, explicitly state this and briefly explain why. Describe how informed consent was obtained or why it was not required. For minors, also describe applicable procedures for obtaining consent from legal guardians and age-appropriate consent or assent from participants. Participant privacy and confidentiality of research data must be protected.

This information belongs directly in the methodology or in a separate Ethical Considerations section at the end of the manuscript. Identifying committee or institution names may be temporarily replaced with neutral descriptions in the anonymized version. The non-anonymized version must provide complete details.

Funding and Competing Interests

Every manuscript must include a Funding statement and a Competing Interests statement. Disclose all financial support, if any, and any financial or other relationships that could influence the research or interpretation of its findings. If there are no competing interests, state this explicitly. If the research received no external funding, say so.

Research Data Availability

Empirical studies must include a Data Availability statement. Authors must indicate whether the data are publicly available (with a link or persistent identifier), available on request, or subject to justified ethical, legal or other restrictions. A Data Availability statement does not require public disclosure of data where legitimate restrictions apply.

The journal encourages long-term preservation and sharing of research data in trusted disciplinary, institutional or general-purpose data repositories (e.g., the Czech Social Science Data Archive, Harvard Dataverse or Zenodo), preferably with a persistent identifier (DOI). If public sharing is not possible for ethical, legal or other legitimate reasons, authors must explain the restrictions and specify any conditions for accessing the data.

Complete information must be provided in the non-anonymized version of the manuscript. Placement and anonymization rules are summarized below.

Use and Disclosure of AI

The journal distinguishes between generative and assistive uses of AI. Generative use includes producing or substantially revising text, images, research materials or program code, for example using ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity or Midjourney (this list is illustrative). Generative AI use must be disclosed. Authors must identify the tool, provider, model or version (where available), and specific purpose. If AI influenced the study design, development of research materials, data collection or data analysis, its role must also be described in the methodology.

Assistive use includes routine spelling and grammar checking and minor stylistic editing that does not change the content or structure of the text. Such uses need not be declared individually. However, if a tool generates new content or substantially revises the argument, disclosure is required.

Authors remain fully responsible for originality, factual accuracy and the integrity of their manuscript, including verifying all references and their interpretation. Unethical use of AI tools may be grounds for manuscript rejection. Publication-ethics violations include failure to disclose AI use where required, providing fabricated or nonexistent bibliographic sources, fabrication or falsification of research data, or other uses of AI that undermine the credibility and integrity of the research.

Examples of AI-Use Declarations

An AI-use statement is required even when no generative AI tools were used. Adapt the wording to the actual use. Examples:

• The authors declare that no generative AI tools were used in the preparation of this manuscript.
• The authors used [tool, provider, model/version] for [specific purpose]. The outputs were subsequently reviewed, verified and revised by the authors.
• The authors used [tool, provider, model/version] to develop or revise an analysis script. They subsequently tested and verified the script’s functionality and accuracy.
• The authors used [tool, provider, model/version] in the preparation of research prompts or materials. The outputs were critically reviewed and revised by the authors.

Overview, Order and Placement of Declarations

To support transparency, manuscripts must contain the applicable declarations below. We recommend placing all five sections at the end of the manuscript, before the References, in this order. If ethical procedures are described in detail in the methodology, the separate declaration may refer to that section. Ethical approval and consent requirements depend on the study. Data availability statements are mandatory for empirical studies.

1. Ethical Considerations – ethical approval or explanation of why approval was not required, and participants’ informed consent where relevant.
2. Funding – full details of funders and grants, or an explicit statement that no funding was received.
3. Competing Interests – any actual or potential competing interests, or an explicit statement that none are known.
4. Data Availability – for empirical studies, information about the availability of the data underpinning the research findings and the conditions for accessing them.
5. Use of AI Tools – for all manuscripts, a statement indicating whether and how generative AI was used, naming the tool, provider, model or version where available.

Anonymizing Declarations

All relevant declarations must be complete in the non-anonymized version. The anonymized version must preserve their substantive content but temporarily remove or replace identifying names of institutions, ethics committees and grants, identifying grant numbers, and potentially identifying data-repository links with neutral wording. Information about ethics approval, participant consent, funding arrangements and data-access conditions must not be omitted substantively for anonymization. Apply the same procedure to revisions.

For further details, see the journal’s Publication Ethics policy.

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5. Initial Submission Files and Anonymization

Required Manuscript Files

At initial submission, upload two separate versions of the manuscript to OJS:

1. Manuscript_non_anonymized – the complete version, including all author names, affiliations, ORCID identifiers (where available), corresponding author details and other relevant identifying information.
2. Manuscript_anonymized – the version for external peer review, with information allowing direct or indirect identification of authors removed.

Both versions must be identical in substance except for information removed for anonymization. Upload any separate illustration and data files in the formats described under Tables, charts and figures.

Section Selection and Accompanying Information

When submitting a manuscript, clearly indicate the journal section: Studies, Emerging Researchers, or Essays. For English-language submissions, also identify the relevant special issue and Call for Papers. English-language manuscripts may be submitted to the Studies and Emerging Researchers sections. Essays are eligible only if explicitly permitted by the relevant Call for Papers.

English-language manuscripts may be submitted only by authors whose abstracts have been previously selected by the guest editors and who have subsequently received an invitation to submit a full manuscript. Full manuscripts submitted without prior abstract approval and an invitation to submit will not be considered.

All required information may be provided in the comments to the editor in OJS or in a separate cover letter uploaded as Cover_letter. A separate cover letter is not mandatory if the required information is included in the comments. English-language manuscripts submitted outside an announced, active call will not be considered.

Anonymizing the Manuscript

The journal uses double-anonymous peer review. The anonymized version must therefore not disclose authors’ identities directly or indirectly. Anonymization applies to the title page and throughout the text, tables, figures, notes, references and file properties. Follow these steps:

1. Remove direct identifiers: author names, affiliations, contact details, ORCID identifiers and identifying acknowledgements or grant information.
2. Check the wording throughout: references to your workplace, research team, projects or earlier activities that could identify you.
3. Assess descriptions of the research setting: replace identifying names of schools, institutions, universities or projects with suitable neutral descriptions, while retaining information necessary for methodological assessment.
4. Revise self-references: avoid formulations such as “in our previous research” or “at our institution.” Cite your own published work in the usual APA form, generally in the third person, without indicating that the authors of the cited work are the authors of the submission. Do not remove relevant citations solely for anonymization.
5. Remove hidden identifiers: comments, tracked changes, author names in document properties, headers, footers and metadata. In Microsoft Word, use File → Info → Check for Issues → Inspect Document, after saving a copy of the file.

Anonymization must not undermine scholarly clarity or prevent assessment of the research methods. Keep complete details in the non-anonymized version. In the anonymized version, replace identifying information with neutral wording or a placeholder such as [anonymized for peer review], as appropriate.

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6. Manuscript Evaluation, Revisions and Decisions

Initial Editorial Screening and External Peer Review

Every manuscript first undergoes initial editorial screening for relevance to the specific Call for Papers, scholarly contribution, theoretical and methodological quality, and compliance with the journal’s basic requirements. The editors decide whether to send the manuscript for external review. English-language manuscripts falling outside an active call, or manuscripts that do not meet the journal’s publication standards, may be rejected without external review. All three journal sections are peer reviewed, but eligibility for an English-language submission depends on the relevant call. Manuscripts sent for external review are assessed by at least two independent expert reviewers under double-anonymous review. The assessment takes into account whether the submission is an empirical, theoretical or review study, or another manuscript type expressly allowed by the call.

Indicative Review Timelines

Authors are informed of the editorial decision following evaluation of the reviews and further editorial consideration. The journal aims to provide an initial editorial decision within approximately two weeks and the outcome of the first round of external review within approximately two months of submission. Actual timelines depend on reviewer availability and may be longer.

Revising the Manuscript and Responding to Comments

If revision is invited, authors receive reviewer reports and instructions. The standard revision period is 60 days from the editorial decision. Upload three separate files to OJS:

1. Manuscript_revision_non_anonymized – the complete, revised, non-anonymized manuscript.
2. Manuscript_revision_anonymized – the anonymized revised manuscript for possible further peer review.
3. Response_to_reviewers – an anonymized document responding to every comment from the reviewers and editors.

Upload editable text files. Mark revisions in red font, at least in the anonymized manuscript. Do not use Track Changes, as it may compromise anonymity. We recommend a two-column response table: one column for each reviewer/editor comment and the second for a specific response, the changes made and references to relevant passages. Any decision not to implement a suggestion must be explained.

Apply the same anonymization rules as for initial submissions, including to Response_to_reviewers. The two revised manuscript versions must be identical in substance except for identifying details.

Editorial Decisions and Appeals

The revised manuscript may be resubmitted to the original or additional reviewers or assessed directly by the editorial team, depending on the nature of the revisions. An invitation to revise a manuscript does not guarantee acceptance for publication. Based on the outcome of the peer review process and the assessment of any revisions, the Chief Executive Editor makes the decision to accept or reject the manuscript. Authors may appeal an editorial decision to the Editor-in-Chief. Further details on the submission and handling of complaints and appeals are provided in the journal's Publication Ethics policy. A rejected manuscript may not be resubmitted to the journal as a new submission, even in revised form.

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7. Open Access, Publication Fees and Schedule

Open Access and Publication Fees

Studia paedagogica charges no fees for manuscript submission, peer review or publication. All published articles are freely available online as Open Access, without subscription.

Publication Frequency and Online First

The journal publishes three issues per year: one general issue in Czech and Slovak and two English-language special issues. Manuscripts for the general issue may be submitted throughout the year. Accepted articles are published Online First following editorial and production preparation. Separate Calls for Papers are issued for special issues. English-language manuscripts are accepted only in response to a specific, active Call for Papers for a special issue. Current information on special issues, deadlines and submission requirements is available under Calls for Papers.

Submission and Publication Schedule – 2026

Submission and Publication Schedule – 2027

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