TOPIC 9. FINALIZING, REFLECTING, AND PREPARING FOR ARTICLE SUBMISSION

INTRODUCTION

A. Learning Objectives

After completing this session, students are expected to be able to:

1. Evaluate and refine their manuscript using a pre-submission checklist to ensure compliance with the target journal’s formal, ethical, and content requirements.
2. Submit the manuscript to a journal following the demonstrated procedure. 
3. Reflect on their journal submission experience, identifying challenges encountered and strategies used to address them.
4. Reflect critically on their entire research and writing process from idea development to journal submission.

B. Skill Focus of This Session

This session emphasizes final manuscript preparation, journal submission, and reflective academic practice. Students focus on ensuring compliance with journal standards, executing formal submission procedures, and critically reflecting on their end-to-end research and writing journey.

C. Micro Skills Developed

In this session, students will develop the ability to:

1. apply a structured pre-submission checklist to verify manuscript completeness, formatting accuracy, originality, and ethical compliance,
2. identify and correct remaining issues related to language quality, citation accuracy, and alignment with journal guidelines,
3. follow step-by-step journal submission procedures using online submission systems,
4. document and articulate challenges encountered during the submission process,
5. reflect on specific strategies used to address technical, rhetorical, or ethical difficulties,
6. evaluate individual sections of the manuscript in relation to reviewer and journal expectations.

These micro skills strengthen students’ procedural accuracy, attention to detail, and awareness of academic publishing conventions.

D. Macro Skills Developed

Building upon these abilities, students will develop the capacity to:

1. finalize a research manuscript that meets professional and ethical standards of reputable journals,
2. navigate academic publishing workflows independently and confidently,
3. engage in critical self-reflection on the full research and writing process, from idea generation to submission,
4. identify transferable strategies for future academic writing and publication tasks,
5. develop a reflective academic mindset that supports continuous improvement as a researcher and writer.

Through these macro skills, students transition from manuscript development to authentic participation in scholarly publication practices, consolidating both technical competence and reflective academic maturity.

BRAINSTORMING

At this stage, students have already revised and refined their articles in the IMPROVE phase. Now, they focus on finalizing the manuscript, reflecting on their learning process, and preparing it for submission to a target journal. Before submission, each student should carefully review the revised manuscript using the provided checklist. This activity aims to ensure that the paper fully meets the journal’s formal and content requirements, thereby reducing the likelihood of rejection or major revisions after submission.

A. Worksheet 9.1 – Submission Process and Final Checks

Steps to follow:

1. Read each aspect and indicator listed in the checklist.
2. Evaluate your manuscript honestly for each item and mark Yes if it fulfills the requirement or No if it does not.
3. Take notes on any items marked No, and plan revisions to address these issues before submission.
4. Pay special attention to formatting, language, originality, and completeness of content, including title, abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusion, and references.

Completing this checklist will help you produce a polished, journal-ready manuscript. The following pre-submission checklist is adapted from the Cakrawala Pendidikan Journal. It can be accessed online at the following link: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15AXM10xsE1kFw_3eOHK2rhOxF36Ukbq5/view 

Manuscript Pre-Submission Checklist Cakrawala Pendidikan Journal

Once authors find some aspects/indicators do not meet the checklist, they need to revise the manuscripts prior to the submission.

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INDIVIDUAL EXPLORATION

In this stage, students watch a video tutorial demonstrating how to submit their article. You can access the tutorial video through this link: https://youtu.be/PzzOS9NwzGA. The class discussion addresses any questions regarding the submission process and final checks. This stage ensures students are confident and prepared to submit their final manuscript.

A. Worksheet 9.2  – Proof of Article Submission

Instructions:

1. Watch the tutorial video on the article submission process via this link:
   https://youtu.be/PzzOS9NwzGA
2. Submit your research article according to the journal or platform’s guidelines.
3. After successful submission, upload proof of submission, such as:
4. Screenshot of the submission confirmation page, or
5. Confirmation email from the journal/platform.
6. Ensure that the proof shows:

• Article title
• Author name(s)
• Submission status
• Submission date
• Upload your proof of submission on the class learning platform.

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SHARING AND DISCUSSION

In this stage, students independently apply what they have learned about the submission process by carefully following the steps demonstrated in the tutorial video. After watching the tutorial, each student proceeds to submit their manuscript to the selected journal following the journal’s author guidelines and submission template. Through this activity, students experience the actual process of manuscript submission, from completing the required metadata to uploading the main document and supplementary files. The accompanying worksheet helps guide their submission process and encourages them to reflect on each step, potential challenges, and important details to pay attention to before clicking the final “Submit” button. The reflections recorded in this stage will serve as the basis for the next class activity, where students will share their submission experiences and discuss lessons learned during the process.

After completing the submission process, students share their experiences with peers. This stage allows them to reflect on what they learned, discuss any difficulties they encountered, and exchange practical insights about submitting manuscripts to academic journals. Through this discussion, students can better understand the publication process and learn from one another’s experiences.

A. Worksheet 9.3 – Sharing the Submission Experience

DRAFTING AND REFINING

In this final stage, students reflect on their entire journey of writing and submitting a journal article—from developing initial ideas to completing the submission process. This stage encourages students to think critically about their progress, challenges, and achievements throughout the course. By revisiting each step of their learning experience, students identify the strategies that helped them improve, the difficulties they overcame, and the skills they need to continue developing as academic writers. Through this reflective process, students strengthen their awareness of themselves as responsible, ethical, and independent researchers ready to contribute to the academic community.

B. Worksheet 9.4 – Final Reflection on the Writing and Submission Journey