Manuscript Submission Guidelines:

Young Exceptional Children features translational articles that bridge empirical research to everyday practice. YEC articles are no more than 15-pages in length (including references) and have a sound base in theory and/or research. Articles are reader-friendly and written for a broad audience who are primarily practitioners and family members. Articles describe practical and innovative strategies and approaches for supporting young children with special needs and their families. Technical terms are explained and information is augmented with descriptions, vignettes, and/or examples.

When preparing manuscripts for submission to YEC, authors are encouraged to address the following:

Preparing to Write for YEC

• Review recent issues of YEC to identify how your manuscript topic is unique and ensure that the same topic has not yet been published in YEC. Authors unsure of their manuscript’s fit with YEC should consult the editor: Angel Fettig; e-mail: afettig@uw.edu. Inquiries are welcome.
• Review recent issues of YEC to develop a sense of the general structure, style, and content included in YEC articles.

Structure

• Presents a single strategy, approach, or intervention.
• Includes vignettes to illustrate how practitioners and/or families can implement this strategy or intervention.
• Uses tables, figures, and/or images to exemplify, support, complement, and/or supplement information provided in the body of the manuscript.
• Does not exceed 15 typewritten, double-spaced pages (including references). Tables, figures, and images do not count toward pages (5 tables/visuals maximum). Note: When uploading files, the manuscript (body and references) should be uploaded as one file. Each table, figure, and image should be uploaded as a separate file.

Content

• Connects the strategy, approach, or intervention to relevant DEC Recommended Practices and is consistent with DEC’s mission.
• Reflects multiple diverse perspectives (e.g., ability differences, cultural, ethnic, linguistic, racial, professional role, family configuration).
• Has a sound empirical and/or theoretical base.
• Uses relevant professional and research citations to support statements of fact.
• Devotes majority of manuscript to recommendations for practitioners and/or families of young children with disabilities or considered at-risk.
• Is innovative; not a restatement of old ideas/strategies previously-published in YEC.

Writing Style

• Utilizes descriptions, vignettes, and examples to translate research to practice.
• Written in an understandable way for a variety of audiences; tone is user-friendly.
• Presents materials and ideas that are immediately useful to practitioners or families supporting positive development of young children with disabilities or considered at-risk.
• Reflects a professional style (e.g., limiting use of first person) with application across children, settings, and communities (i.e., personal case stories are not appropriate).
• Maintains anonymity of individuals and programs within vignettes.

Format

• Manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with the American Psychological Association (APA; 7th edition) guidelines, including 12-point, Times New Roman font, and 1-inch margins
• Manuscripts must not exceed 15 typewritten, double-spaced pages. This page limit applies to the body of the manuscript, including references.
• Manuscripts can include a maximum of 5 tables (double-spaced) and/or figures. Please upload each table, figure, and/or image as a separate file. These do not count toward the 15-page limit for manuscripts.
• Manuscript titles can be a maximum of 12-words in length.
• An abstract is not needed.
• Manuscripts must be accompanied by a separate title page that includes the authors’ full names, professional degrees, addresses, and e-mail addresses.
• Although APA recommends the inclusion of digital object identifiers (DOI) in reference lists, authors should not include DOIs in reference lists, unless the citation is only available OnlineFirst.
• Authors are required to include at least two photographs relevant to their manuscripts as part of their submission. Authors are responsible for ensuring they have all necessary rights releases for any individuals appearing in the photographs, in addition to permission from the copyright holders of the photographs, to permit publication of the photographs in YEC, and to provide a copy of the signed releases prior to publication of their article. Rights release and permission request forms can be found here.

ORCID

• As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent, and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.
• The collection of ORCID iDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID iD you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID iD will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.
• If you do not already have an ORCID iD please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

Manuscript Submission

For more information, please refer to the Sage Manuscript Submission Guidelines.

• YEC uses an online submission and review platform. Manuscripts should be submitted electronically to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/yec. The site contains links to an online user's guide (Get Help Now) for help navigating the site.
• Authors will be required to set up an online account on the Sage Track system powered by ScholarOne. From their account, a new submission can be initiated.
• Authors will be asked to provide the required information (author names and contact information, keywords, etc.) and to upload the "title page" and "main document" separately to ensure that the manuscript is ready for a masked review.
• Authors will be asked to provide a cover letter (initial submissions and revisions) and revision table (revisions only) and must de-identify both of these documents by removing all author names and professional affiliations.
• Authors submitting manuscripts to YEC should not simultaneously submit the manuscript to another journal, nor should manuscripts have been published elsewhere in substantially similar form or with substantially similar content. Authors in doubt about what constitutes prior publication should consult the editor: Angel Fettig; e-mail: afettig@uw.edu. Additionally, prior to submission, authors should ensure that YEC has not previously published on the authors’ manuscript topic.
• Please note that this journal does not allow submissions from papers that are already available as a preprint.