• Register on the journal website: All authors must register on the journal website (https://jbpd.uok.ac.ir/) and create an account (for first-time users) to receive a password and username. This will give them their own author profile page. The article submission process can only be done through the journal website and the author's profile page.
• Obtain an ORCID researcher ID: All authors and reviewers who collaborate with this journal must register on orcid.org to obtain a researcher ID.

Manuscript Format and Style

• Prepare the manuscript in Word using the Persian font IR.Lotus 13 (IRLotus) and the English font Times New Roman 11. Only submit the manuscript through the journal system. Manuscripts submitted by email will not be processed.
• The manuscript should not exceed 9,000 words.
• The font and size of the text in different sections should be set according to the following tables.

Guide to setting the font and size for the Persian manuscript

Guide to setting the font and size for the English abstract

Submitted Files

Authors must submit the following two files:

a) Main manuscript file:

• Title, name and address of the author(s): On the cover page of the manuscript, include the names of the author(s), their job or academic titles, and the full name and address of the institution where the research was conducted. Also include the researcher ID (ORCID code) and email address and mobile phone number of the author(s).

b) File without author names:

This is the same file as the previous one but without any author names or addresses and without an English abstract. (Authors must remove their names, surnames, academic positions, emails, addresses, and phone numbers from the manuscript at this stage.)

Manuscript Structure

Authors must adhere to the following manuscript structure. Manuscripts that do not follow this structure will either not be processed or will be returned for revision and resubmission.

Title

• The title of the article should be concise (preferably between 10 and 15 words), concise and reflect the entire article.
• The title should use the main concepts of the research.
• In many cases, there is no need to write the research method in the title, unless the research topic has been done with a new method that the authors and the scientific community are not familiar with.

Abstract

• The abstract should provide a general overview of the entire research content. The abstract should have four main sections: Introduction, Method, Findings, Discussion and Conclusion. In other words, the details of the abstract should be as follows: Objective/main research question, theoretical/conceptual framework, paradigm and research method, field and statistical population (participants) of the research, method of data collection and analysis, findings, conclusion.
• The abstract should be written in one paragraph, in an unstructured format (without subheadings), without using abbreviations, and without using references.

Keywords

• The number of keywords should be between 5 and 6.
• Keywords should refer to the main concepts of the research, not to understandable, obvious and clear words such as gender and base; not to proper nouns such as province and city; and not to research methods such as grounded theory and phenomenology (except when necessary).

  Introduction and Statement of the Problem

  • In the statement of the problem, the issue of the research topic should be addressed using sufficient evidence (such as statistics, research background, etc.) and logical reasoning.
  • It is necessary to refer to the main question (goal) of the research at the end of the statement of the problem.

  Theoretical (Conceptual) Framework

  • In the theoretical framework, only the theories that the researcher intends to use to examine and analyze the topic should be mentioned. There is no need to refer to all related theories.
  • In this section, if necessary, and especially in explanatory studies that seek a cause-and-effect relationship between variables, a theoretical model of the research should be drawn and presented.
  • In quantitative research that deals with a conceptual framework, it is preferable to draw and present a conceptual model.
  • In qualitative research that deals with a conceptual framework, there is no need for a theoretical or conceptual model.
  • In explanatory studies that seek a cause-and-effect relationship between variables, hypotheses should be mentioned. These hypotheses can be brought in an independent title or at the end of the theoretical framework.

  Research Background

  • In the research background (both domestic and foreign), the most important studies related to the research problem should be mentioned, not side and marginal studies.
  • In the research background, the most important studies related to the research problem should be addressed organically and systematically, not in a mosaic and separate way.
  • In this section, studies done inside and outside the country should be mentioned and finally these studies should be summarized and criticized and it should be mentioned what difference, comparative advantage and innovation the present research has compared to previous studies. This is very important in the initial review of the article by the editor and sending it for review.

  Methodology

  • In the research method, appropriate method should be selected in accordance with the research questions, and cases such as paradigm and research method, field and participants, statistical population (participants) and sampling plan (sample size and sampling method) and data collection and analysis method should be mentioned.
  • In the measurement tool section, the specifications of the questionnaire and the method of its design and implementation (pre-test) should be mentioned. The conceptual and operational definition of variables should be done well.
  • The method of ensuring the quality of research and measurement tools (validity and reliability) should be clearly stated.
  • In the data analysis section, the names and reasons for using the statistical methods and tests used in the research should be specifically mentioned. For new and less common software, more explanation should be given about this software.

  Findings

  • Do not mix findings with discussion and conclusions. Some authors bring the content of the two sections of Findings and Discussion and Conclusion together. Avoid this.
  • Title the findings based on the test used. There is no need to divide the findings into descriptive and inferential sections.
  • The main findings should be mentioned. Avoid secondary findings.
  • Limit the number of tables in the findings. Preferably no more than 5 to 7 tables.
  • Similar findings should be presented in one table to reduce the volume of tables and findings.

  Discussion and Conclusion

  • Discussion and conclusion are not a repetition of findings. In this section, you should conclude from all the previous sections (problem, theory, method and findings) what the whole of your article implies.
  • The discussion and conclusion of the article should be based on the findings.
  • In the discussion and conclusion, be sure to refer to both the theoretical/conceptual framework of the research and the research background.

  Acknowledgments

  • Bringing this section into the article is optional.
  • In this section, you can thank people or organizations who have helped you in writing the article but did not have an authorship role.

  Author Contributions

  • In articles that have co-authorship and several authors have been involved in writing it, the roles of different authors in different parts of the article should be mentioned.
  • Some of the roles that authors have in writing an article include collecting, analyzing or interpreting data for work, preparing the draft of the article or critically reviewing it to provide important intellectual content, providing approval for the publication of the content of the article and the like.
  • An example of the text of author contributions is as follows: "All authors had an equal role in writing the article".
  • For single-author articles, simply write that "The article was written by a single author".

  Funding

  • In this section, if the article has been prepared with the financial support of an organization, the name of that organization should be mentioned.
  • An example of the text of financial resources is as follows: "This article was written independently and no financial support was received from any organization to write it".

  • 5. Referencing

    For referencing sources used in the text and the list of references, use the American Psychological Association (APA) style of referencing. Examples of referencing based on the APA style are as follows:

    Source Type	Example	In-text reference	List of references
    Authoritative book with one author	(Sirajzadeh, 2014: 234)	(Mohammadi, 2023: 112)	(Habibpour Ghotabi, 2018: 15)
    Authoritative book with two or more authors	(Ritzer, 2011: 125)	(Ritzer, 2011: 125-127)
    Translated book	(Mendel, 2010: 86)	(Kaf, Sharouk & Francis, 2009: 45)
    Book chapter	(Habibpour Ghotabi, 2017: 320)	(Thornberg & Charmaz, 2014: 189)
    Journal article	(Daneshmehr, 2023: 135)	(Ghaderzadeh, Sharifi & Hassan Khani, 2019: 99)
    Conference paper	(Khani, Moradi & Khani, 2012: 24)	(Golchin, 2018: 52)
    Newspaper article	(Sirajzadeh, 2019)	(Nozari, 2020)
    Thesis or dissertation	(Khani, 2015: 64)	(Wiktorsson, 2012: 82)
    Wikipedia	("Social issue", 2020)	(Social issue, 2020)
    News website	(Khani, 2017)	(Woodyatt, 2019)
    Government organization website	(Statistical Center of Iran, 2016: 78)	(National Institute of Mental Health, 2018: 41)
    International organization website	(UNICEF, 2017: 64)	(World Health Organization, 2018: 46)

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    Notes:

    • Journal title and volume number are italicized.
    • If the article has a DOI (Digital Object Identifier), write it at the end.
    • If the article does not have a DOI but has a URL (electronic address), write the URL at the end.
    • Newspaper article: Write the exact date of the article (day and month).
    • If the article is from an online newspaper, write the URL of the article at the end of the source.
    • Thesis or dissertation: The phrase "unpublished thesis" or "unpublished doctoral dissertation" is placed in brackets.
    • Wikipedia: Since Wikipedia reports information from other sources, it is considered a secondary source. Therefore, ask your supervisor to make sure you can use Wikipedia information for referencing.
    • Website: Write the exact date of the work (day and month) if possible.
    • Write the URL of the work at the end of the source.

    6. Completion and submission of author information forms, statement of commitment, conflict of interest and Samim Noor similarity checker

    • Authors must download the article similarity checker file and the author information, commitment and conflict of interest forms, which are listed at the beginning of this page under "Author Guidelines", and after receiving, typing or completing, signing and scanning, submit them as a separate file in the file upload section.
    • The text of the conflict of interest should be placed inside the article after "Financial Resources".

    Additional notes:

    • The guidelines are in Persian, so I have translated them into English.
    • The guidelines are for writing research articles in the social sciences.
    • The guidelines are based on the APA style of referencing.
    • The guidelines include information on how to complete and submit author information forms, a statement of commitment, a conflict of interest, and a Samim Noor similarity checker.