Author Guidelines
ORCID
The Journal of Family Research uses ORCID iDs. When submitting an article, all authors must enter their ORCID iD in their author profile. If you do not have an ORCID iD yet, please register here: https://orcid.org/register
General
Please prepare and format the manuscript according to the guidelines below and submit it via the submission system. The contents of the manuscript should fit the journal's scope. The manuscript must not be under review, accepted for publication, or published elsewhere (please consult our preprint policy in case of doubt).
Types of articles
Regular articles
Regular articles usually have around 8,000 words (excluding abstract, figures, tables and references). Shorter manuscripts (between 5,000 and 8,000 words), for example particularly concise studies, replications, innovative designs, or important null findings, are welcome. Please contact the Editorial Office should you wish to publish a longer text. Please note that a separate appendix can be used to include materials not essential to the main text of the manuscript.
Research notes
Research notes are carefully selected and diligently written brief presentations of new empirical findings without an extensive theoretical discussion or a literature review. Research notes should not exceed 3,000 words (excluding abstract, figures, tables and references) and should use "Research note: …" to begin the manuscript title.
Removal of personal identifiers from the manuscript
The Journal of Family Research has a policy of double-blind anonymous peer review. The manuscript should not include authors' names, institutional affiliations, contact information, or acknowledgements - neither in the text, nor in the properties of the electronic file. This information should be included in a separate file.
Please ensure that self-citations do not reveal your or your co-authors' identities. Refrain from using the first person when citing your own work. You may temporarily delete self-citations from the text and reference list or you may replace names in the in-text citations with "Author" and delete the citations from the reference list.
File Format
Manuscripts should be submitted as editable DOCX or ODT files. Please do not submit PDF files.
Main Text
The manuscript should be formatted as plain as possible, for example use standard margins, 1.5 line-spacing, 12 pt font, may use italics but no underlining (with the exception of URLs). All illustrations, figures und tables should be placed at an appropriate position in the text. Please number all pages of the manuscript consecutively.
Structure of the Manuscript
The text should be structured as follows:
Separate (!) title page
Please prepare a separate title page, containing the title, all authors and their affiliation(s) as well as their contact details and ORCID iDs. If you wish to include acknowledgments, include them on the title page. This section may include supporting grants, presentations, and so forth.
Title page of the manuscript (p. 1)
Please provide a clear and concise title for your manuscript, remove authors' names and all other possible identifiers.
Abstract and key words (p. 2)
Each manuscript must include a structured abstract of about 200 - 225 words, in the following format:
- Objective (1 sentence): Describe the main question of the paper.
- Background (2-3 sentences): Briefly locate the study in the research context.
- Method (2-3 sentences): Briefly describe the sample (size, population, type), design, measures, and analytical approach.
- Results (2-3 sentences): Summarize main findings of the study.
- Conclusion (1 sentence): Briefly state the main message of the paper.
Authors must further supply at least 3 keywords that are not part of the title of the manuscript.
Please note that, upon acceptance, the abstract and key words are needed in German language, too. You will be asked to provide both before your manuscript will eventually accepted. The Editorial Office may provide support, if the author does not speak German.
Introduction (starting o p. 3)
This should cover the main research question and the motives for that question.
Main Body of Manuscript
The main body of a manuscript should include the main components of the research, including theoretical framework, methodology, data, and analyses. It should contain sufficient details so that all procedures can be followed and, if possible, repeated.
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments should be placed on the separate (!) title page and must include a note on possible conflicts of interest.
Data availability statement
Authors of empirical papers (qualitative and quantitative alike) are required to provide a data availability statement, which describes where and how the data used in their article can be accessed. Consult JFR's open science policy for more details.
Citation and reference guidelines
Upon acceptance, authors need to supply their citations and their references according to our guidelines. Please note that the manuscript will be returned to the authors if these guidelines were not applied correctly throughout the manuscript.
Replication files
JFR is committed to the ideals of open science and open data and, therefore, requires the authors of accepted quantitative empirical articles to provide all data and code necessary to reproduce the results of their article. Further information is detailed in our open science policy.
Information in German
Upon acceptance, authors need to supply the title, abstract and key words of the article in German language. Non-German speaking authors and authors who do not have a sound background in German writing, may receive help from the Editorial Office upon request.
Language Policy
The Editors will only consider for publication papers written in advanced English. It will be the sole responsibility of the authors to ensure high linguistic quality. To that end, authors may be asked to have their papers language-edited by a professional with a sound background in the social sciences at the authors' expenses. A high-quality language editing does not guarantee that the paper will be published.
