Manuscript Preparation

All parts of the blinded manuscript should have at least 1 inch margins, should be double spaced, and should use a standard 12-point font. Manuscripts should generally not exceed 12,500 words (including text, endnotes, research ethics statement, references, and appendices); the number of tables and figures should be kept to a minimum. Please refer to the ASA Style Guide for more information.

Note: Authors are responsible for securing permission to reproduce copyrighted materials before they are published by SOE. A copy of the written permission should be included with the manuscript submission.

The blinded manuscript should include the following sections (when applicable) in this order: (1) body of manuscript; (2) research ethics statement; (3) endnotes; (4) references; (5) tables; (6) figures; and (7) appendices. Do not include a title page or abstract in the blinded manuscript, do not use footnotes, and be sure that each table and each figure appears on separate pages after the references.

1. Body of Manuscript. Please use headings to structure the manuscript; see recent articles in SOE for examples. Please do not use language that identifies you as the author. Example: Instead of writing “I found … (LePore 2012)” please use “LePore (2012) found…”


2. Research Ethics Statement. Manuscripts submitted for publication in SOE must contain a statement affirming that all research on human subjects has been approved by an appropriate ethics committee (e.g., an IRB) and has therefore been performed in a way that is consistent with the ethical standards articulated in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent amendments and Section 12 (“Informed Consent”) of the ASA’s Code of Ethics. In particular, the statement should either (a) note—when appropriate and necessary—that all human subjects gave their informed consent prior to their participation in the research and that adequate steps were taken to protect participants’ confidentiality or (b) explain why such steps were inappropriate or unnecessary (e.g., because the research does not constitute human subjects research). These statements should be contained in a separate section—labeled “Research Ethics”—appearing immediately before the reference list. The Editor reserves the right to reject manuscripts that do not comply with these requirements.

3. Endnotes. Endnotes should be used sparingly, and should be brief. They should be numbered in the text consecutively using superscript Arabic numerals; be double-spaced and in the same font style and size as the rest of the manuscript; and appear in a separate section labelled “Endnotes.”
4. References. All references cited in the text must be listed in the "References" section, and vice versa. It is the author's responsibility to ensure that publication information for each entry is complete and correct. References should be double-spaced and should appear in the same style and sized font as the rest of the text. They should be listed in alphabetical order by first authors’ last names. Include first names and surnames for all authors; use first-name initials only if an author used initials in the original publication.

Author1 (last name inverted), Author2 (last name not inverted), and Author3. Year of publication. Name of Publication (italicized). Location of publisher: Publisher’s Name.
Example: Arum, Richard and Josipa Roksa. 2011. Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Author1 (last name inverted), Author2 (last name not inverted), and Author3. Year of publication. “Title of Article.” Name of Publication (italicized) Volume Number (Issue Number): Page numbers.
Example: Horvat, Erin M., Elliot B. Weininger, and Annette Lareau. 2003. "From Social Ties to Social Capital: Class Differences in the Relations Between Schools and Parent Networks." American Educational Research Journal 40(2) 319-351.
Example: Schafer, Daniel W. and Fred L. Ramsey. 2003. “Teaching the Craft of Data Analysis.” Journal of Statistics Education 11(1). Retrieved December 12, 2006 (http://www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v11n1/schafer.html).

5. Tables and Figures. Tables and figures should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they appear in the text and must include descriptive titles. Each table and each figure should appear on a separate page. Tables must be editable (e.g., in Word), and figures should be submitted as high-resolution black and white images; SOE does not print in color. All tables and figures should stand alone and should not require the reader to refer to the text. Use short notes to define key terms, briefly describe the data and research design, spell out acronyms, etc. When reporting results of hypothesis tests, use one, two, and three asterisks for p<0.05, p<0.01, and p<0.001, respectively.

6. Appendices. Appendices should be lettered to distinguish them from numbered tables and figures. Include a descriptive title for each appendix (e.g., “Appendix A. Variable Names and Definitions”). Please note which appendices are intended to appear in print and which might appear online; because of page limitations, most appendices will need to appear online.