Submissions

Author Guidelines

Content types

The journal publishes four main types of contribution:

1. Research Papers
2. DemoGraphics data visualisations
3. Introductory Guides
4. Commentaries.

Research Papers are standard format journal papers, but in a concise form (see the word limits below). DemoGraphics data visualisations consist of one or two data visualisations with a small amount of accompanying text. Introductory Guides introduce postgraduate students and practitioners to methods, approaches, data, theories, or public domain software which are not well covered in the textbooks. Authors of Introductory Guides are encouraged to contact Associate Editor Dr Elin Charles-Edwards prior to writing to discuss potential topics. Authors of commentaries are requested to contact the Editor, Dr Tom Wilson, prior to writing.

Template files

Authors are encouraged to use the Microsoft Word template files available here:

Research paper template

Introductory Guide template

DemoGraphic template

Commentary template

Title page template (for all submission types)

Scope

Research Papers, DemoGraphics, and Commentaries must focus primarily on Australian population issues. Introductory Guides should be of relevance to Australian population researchers and practitioners and incorporate Australian data examples where relevant.

Originality

Research Papers and DemoGraphics should make an original contribution to Australian population studies. Submissions should not have been previously published elsewhere, either in a journal or conference proceedings, or be submitted for publication elsewhere whilst under consideration by this journal.

Language

All submissions must be written in high quality English. Use Australia/UK spelling.

Fees

The journal charges no fees for submission, processing, or publication.

Audience

Write clearly and for a wide-ranging population studies audience (academics, postgraduate students, and practitioners). Methods, theories, concepts, terminology, and data commonly found in the textbooks (e.g. Rowland’s Demographic Methods and Concepts) do not need to be explained in any detail. More advanced topics should be explained.

Word limits

Research Papers          up to 4,000 words (excluding references and acknowledgments)

DemoGraphics            up to 1,000 words (excluding references and acknowledgments)

Introductory Guides   up to 4,000 words (excluding references and acknowledgments)

Commentaries             up to 2,000 words (excluding references and acknowledgments)

Ethics

All submissions must adhere to the highest ethical standards. Statements of ethics approval should be included in papers where appropriate. For details, see http://publicationethics.org/files/International%20standards_authors_for%20website_11_Nov_2011.pdf

Authorship

All named authors of a paper must have contributed to the text of that paper, and not just be supervisors or funders of the research.

Tables and figures

The combined number of tables and figures should not normally exceed 8 for Research Papers and Introductory Guides, and 2 for DemoGraphics. All tables and figures should be easily understood independently of the text. Any graphs or other material reproduced from elsewhere must have the copyright holder’s written permission to do so.

Submissions

All contributions should be submitted as Microsoft Word documents via this website. Please use the Word document templates, which can be downloaded from the links above, and supply a title page containing the names, contact details, and affiliations of authors.

Please also supply a Microsoft Excel, or other appropriate, file of graphs and data used to create them.

Equations should be created using the Word equation tool. Tables and figures should be incorporated in the text of the paper (not placed at the end).

Research Paper structure

It is recommended that Research Papers are generally structured around the following headings:

• Abstract - Structured abstract of up to 250 words – see below for subheadings
• Key words  - Up to 6 key words
• Introduction - Introduction to the issue/context; summary of current knowledge; why the research was needed; purpose of the paper (aims, research questions or hypotheses), etc.
• Data and Methods - Data used; methods employed in answering research questions, etc.
• Results - Succinct and clear description of main findings, etc.
• Discussion - Might include: what the findings mean; relationship to other studies; implications for research, policy, practice, etc. (where relevant), etc.
• Conclusions - Might include: brief summary of findings; contributions of the paper; strengths/weaknesses; further research opportunities, etc.
• Key Messages - 3 – 6 dot points which summarise the main messages of the paper in a non-technical way
• Acknowledgments
• References

Alternative structures may be used where it is sensible to do so.

Abstract

Research Papers should be accompanied by a structured abstract of up to 250 words with the following subheadings:

• Background - Context and justification for the study
• Aims - Research questions, aims or hypotheses
• Data and methods - Data used and methods applied
• Results - Key findings
• Conclusions - What the findings mean and what the paper’s contribution is.

Introductory Guides

Introductory Guides should normally include an ‘Introduction’ and ‘Conclusions’ but the main body of the paper may take whatever structure is appropriate to the methods, approaches, data, theories, or software being introduced.

DemoGraphics description

The text accompanying DemoGraphics should be organised under the following headings:

• Introduction - a short introduction to the topic and any appropriate context;
• Data and methods - a description of the data used and a brief non-technical account of how the visualisation(s) were created;
• Key features - an outline of the main features of the data visualisation(s);
• Supplementary material (optional) - a note of any data or additional files and a URL of where they can be found.

DemoGraphics should be new, and must not have appeared elsewhere (in blogs, social media, reports, or in any other form).

Reviewing

All papers sent for review will be reviewed by at least 2 anonymous reviewers in a double blind peer review process.

Suggested reviewers

For submissions of Research Papers and Introductory Guides please include the names, affiliations, and email addresses of 3 possible reviewers for your paper. These reviewers should not include individuals with whom you have a close professional or personal relationship. The journal will normally approach at least one of the suggested reviewers.

References

From January 2022 Australian Population Studies will use the latest APA referencing style. See https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples.

Any other issues

For questions on any other formatting or style issues not covered here, please contact the editorial team.