Author Guidelines

About the Journal
Please see the journal's Aims & Scope for information about its focus and peer-review policy.
Please note that this journal only publishes manuscripts in English and Lithuanian.

Information & Media will consider submissions of different types:
Research Article: Describing original research. These papers are always externally peer reviewed. Short conceptual pieces aimed at providing a critical evaluation and roadmap for future research on an important science phenomenon, providing methodological commentaries, or promoting dialog among the research community will be also considered.
Practitioner's Views: Topics of current (academic) interest described from a practitioner's point of view. These papers are also peer reviewed, albeit less stringent.
Comment: Most Comments are commissioned by journal editors, but spontaneous Comments on topics relevant to the journal's aims and scope will also be considered. These may, for example, be our readers’ reflections on content published in the journal or on other topics of general interest. Comments are reviewed by the editorial board.
World Reports and News: Are commissioned by the journal editor and are undertaken by the Editorial Board, reporters or scholars. These pieces cover news about science, research funding, innovations, policy issues, and people. Book reviews will also be published in this section. World Reports and News are reviewed by the editorial board.

Information & Media also publishes Editorials: These are written in-house by the journal’s editorial team and are signed by the journal. Comments are reviewed by the editorial board.

All papers must be submitted via the online submission system.

Author details

• All authors of a manuscript should include their full name and affiliation in the submission form.
• If applicable, please also include ORCiDs.
• One author will need to be identified as the corresponding author, with the author’s email address provided in the submission form.
• Please note that no changes to affiliation can be made after the paper has been accepted for publication.
• Short biographic information must be provided by the corresponding author at the time of manuscript submission. Once the paper has been accepted for publication, all co-authors have to provide a short biographic information (no more than 200 words). This information will be visible on the published article’s landing page.

Note. All papers have to be prepared for a blind review. Any information that could help to identify the author(s) (author details, acknowledgements, etc.) should be omitted from the manuscript. This information can be added to the manuscript once the paper has been accepted for publication. With Microsoft Office documents, author identification should also be removed from the properties of the file by clicking on the following: File > Information > Check For Issues > Inspect Document > press Inspect > in section Choose Document Properties and Personal Information click Remove All > Save.

Preparing Your Paper
Submission files must be in one of the popular document formats – Microsoft Word (preferably 2007 XML format DOCX), or Open Document Format (OpenOffice ODT).

Structure
Your paper should be compiled in the following order:
Title. Provide a concise and informative title.
Abstract. Present the essence and value of the study; not exceeding 200 words.
Key words. Up to 5 keywords separated by semicolons that reflect the main aspects of the article.
Introduction. Present the relevance, objectives, background/motivation for the study and a concise summary of the results.
The main text. The structure may vary, depending on the specifics of a study. However, empirical studies typically should include (but not be limited to) sections of literature analysis, methodology, results, discussion and conclusions. Findings should be clear and concise.
Appendices (if needed). They are used to provide any helpful additional information (measurement scales, important calculations, etc.). If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc. or else submitted as supplementary files.

Word Limits
A typical paper for this journal should be no more than 40 000 characters (including spaces), inclusive of the abstract, tables, references, figure captions, endnotes.

Style Guidelines
All submitted papers must strictly adhere to the Journal’s style guidelines, as detailed below and in the journal’s manuscript template file. 

Font
Use Times New Roman font in size 12 with 1.5 or double-spacing.

Margins
Margins at 1”/2.5cm.

Title
Use bold for your article title, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns.

Abstract
Indicate the abstract paragraph with a heading or by reducing the font size.

When writing an abstract, you should focus on:

• What your research is about
• What methods and procedures have been used
• What are the research findings/results

The length of the abstract must not exceed 200 words.
Ensure that the abstract is self-contained, without abbreviations, footnotes, or incomplete references. Include keywords throughout, but make sure the writing still flows naturally.
You should also avoid including any images, background information or technical terms that may not be understood without further explanation.

Abstract checklist:

• Have you clearly summarised the article?
• Have you included your keywords?
• Does it encourage researchers to read on?
• Does it fit within the word count?
• Is it easy to understand without any prior knowledge of the topic?

Keywords
Provide up to five keywords separated by semicolons. When selecting the keywords, put yourself in the mindset of someone searching for articles on your topic.

Headings
First-level headings (e.g. Introduction, Conclusion) should be in bold, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns, adjectives, verbs.
Second-level headings should be in bold italics, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns.
Third-level headings should be in italics, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns.
Fourth-level headings should be avoided. If their use is justified, fourth-level headings should be in bold italics, at the beginning of a paragraph. The text follows immediately after a full stop (full point) or other punctuation mark.

Tables
It is very important that you have obtained permission to use any tables or figures you are reproducing from another source before you submit.
Tables should present new information rather than duplicating what is said in the text. Readers should be able to interpret the table without reference to the text, but ensure you refer to each table in the text.
Table captions should be placed above the table, table notes should be placed below it.
When including multiple tables, consistency in presentation is advised. Please note that colour, shading, and grids are not compatible with the final layout of the table in the published article.
Please also add notes explaining any acronyms or abbreviations in table titles or column headings.
For numbers, use as many decimal places as appropriate for your purposes. This number should be consistent throughout the column or the table, if possible.
Please ensure that spelling, punctuation and reference style within tables are consistent with the rest of the text (unless reproduced from another source).

Numbers

Number all tables with Arabic numerals sequentially. Do not use suffix letters (e.g. Table 3a, 3b, 3c); instead, combine the related tables. If the manuscript includes an appendix with tables, identify them with capital letters and Arabic numerals (e.g. Table A1, Table B2).
For more detailed instructions for tables please see APA style 7^th edition.

Figures
Just like tables, figures should be made as self-explanatory as possible, be referenced and explained or commented upon in the text.
A figure’s message and its readability are the ultimate criteria. Avoid the temptation to use any special effects just for the sake of it. Line drawings are usually a good option to achieve readability and simplicity; for photographs, high contrast between background and focal point is important, as well as cropping out extraneous detail to help the reader focus on the important aspects of the photo.
All figures that are part of the main text require a number using Arabic numbers (Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.). Numbers are assigned based on the order in which figures appear in the text and are bolded and left aligned.
The figure number (e.g., Figure 1) appears above the figure title and image in bold font. Number figures in the order in which they are mentioned in your paper.
Figures should be high quality (1200 dpi for line art, 600 dpi for grayscale and 300 dpi for colour, at the correct size). Figures should be supplied in one of our preferred file formats: EPS, PS, JPEG, TIFF or Microsoft Word (DOC or DOCX).
For more detailed instructions for figure setup see APA 7^th edition requirements.

Data availability statement
If you are submitting a data availability statement for your article, please include it within the text of your manuscript, before your ‘References’ section, with the heading ‘Data Availability Statement’.

Funding details
Please supply all details required by your funding and grant-awarding bodies as follows:
For single agency grants
This work was supported by the [Funding Agency] under Grant [number xxxx].
For multiple agency grants
This work was supported by the [Funding Agency #1] under Grant [number xxxx]; [Funding Agency #2] under Grant [number xxxx]; and [Funding Agency #3] under Grant [number xxxx].

Disclosure statement
This is to acknowledge any financial interest or benefit that has arisen from the direct applications of your research.

Spelling and punctuation
Please see a detailed instruction for spelling and punctuation (http://informationr.net/ir/StyleManual.html).

Note. Any spelling style (UK, US) is acceptable as long as it is consistent within the manuscript.

References
Please use APA 7^th edition referencing style. APA referencing styles are included in EndNote, Zotero and other bibliography management software, which are compatible with popular word processors. If possible, please provide references in RIS format.  Where applicable, this should also include the hyperlink, DOI or other persistent identifier associated with the data set(s).