Submissions

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Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  • The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, RTF, or WordPerfect document file format.
  • Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
  • The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.
  • If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.

Author Guidelines

Every manuscript must be written in ENGLISH and using the CommLine template; manuscripts that do not follow the CommLine technical writing guidelines are declined at the pre-review stage. Submissions are made online through this website, not by email.
Download the manuscript template: CommLine Manuscript Template
  1. General requirements
  • ⁠The manuscript reports original research within the journal’s Focus and Scope, has not been published before, and is not under review elsewhere.
  • ⁠Length: 3,000–6,000 words, excluding the reference list, tables and charts.
  • ⁠File: Microsoft Word (.docx).
  • Layout: Times New Roman 12, 1.5 line spacing, one column, justified, all margins 2.5 cm.
  • Paragraph text must not contain bold.
  • The whole manuscript is written in essay form. Do not use numbered or bulleted lists; write enumerations inside the paragraph, for example: (1) first, (2) second, and (3) third.
  • ⁠Similarity: overall similarity below 20%, with no single source above 3%, checked before review.
 2.⁠ ⁠Title, authors and affiliations
  • Title: no more than 14 words, including names, places or brands; Times New Roman 14, bold, centered.
  • Authors: full names without academic titles, Times New Roman 12, centered, numbered to their affiliations.
  • ⁠Affiliations: one line per institution, Times New Roman 12.
  • Corresponding author: marked with an asterisk (*), with an email address.
 3.⁠ ⁠Abstract and keywords
  • ⁠Abstract: 300–500 words, Times New Roman 12, single spacing, covering the introduction, the theory and theoretical hypothesis or assumption, the method, and a brief conclusion of the results.
  • Keywords: 4–6 keywords or key phrases, no more than two lines, separated by commas, and related to the abstract.
 4.⁠ ⁠Manuscript structure
Section headings are written in capitals and bold, Times New Roman 12, in this order:
  1. INTRODUCTION: the background or rationale, supporting theory from relevant literature, the problem statement, and the research objectives, with a brief review of previous research and the research gap. Written as one section without sub-headings.
  2. LITERATURE REVIEW: the concepts, propositions and definitions used to analyze the phenomenon, ending with the theoretical hypothesis or assumption of the research. Sub-sections are allowed, with sub-titles in bold and Capitalize Each Word case. Use current, primary, trusted international sources (textbooks, journal articles, conference papers); every short paragraph cites at least one reference.
  3. RESEARCH METHOD: the approach, type of research, subject or unit of analysis and research object, research instruments, sampling procedure, data collection, and data analysis.
  4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: the main findings relevant to the objectives, interpreted and compared with previous research. No sub-headings.
  5. CONCLUSION: the main points without repeating the abstract, the academic, practical or social benefit of the findings, the study’s limitations, and suggestions for future research.
  6. ⁠Acknowledgement (if any): one heading and one paragraph.
  7. Declaration of AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process: required whenever AI was used (see the AI Policy).
  8. REFERENCES.
 5.⁠ ⁠Tables and figures
Number every table and figure and give it a title. Table titles go above the table and figure titles below the figure, in Times New Roman 10, bold, italic, centered. State the source below each table and figure, for example: Source: Research Results, 2026.
 6.⁠ ⁠In-text citations
  • ⁠Use author–year citations: (Griffin, 2019), or with a page number (Author’s last name, year: page).
  • Online sources: (author’s, editor’s or institution’s last name, year of posting), for example (Kompas, 2020) or (Kemenkominfo, 2020).
  • ⁠Secondary citations: write Mulyana (in Yoedo, 2020), not “Mulyana (2000) in Yoedo (2020)”.
  • Footnotes are allowed only for interviews.
 7.⁠ ⁠References
  • ⁠APA style, 7th edition; Times New Roman 11, single spacing, hanging indent 1.5, spacing after 0.5.
  • ⁠Arranged alphabetically, without numbers, and not grouped by source type.
  • Use a reference manager such as Mendeley, EndNote or Zotero.
  • At least 80% of references are from the last 10 years, and journal articles make up at least 60% of all references.
  • Examples:
    • Book: West, R., & Turner, L. H. (2010). Introducing communication theory: Analysis and application. McGraw-Hill.
    • Online journal: Anumudu, C. E., Yasin, M. A., Ghazali, A. A., & Alsagoff, S. A. (2020). Redefining immediacy for email satisfactory communication: South-East Nigerian lecturers’ perspectives. Jurnal The Messenger, 12(1), 84–96. https://doi.org/10.26623/themessenger.v12i1.1583
    • Website article: Goldsberry, K. (2015, October 28). Russell, the creator. Grantland. https://grantland.com/features/russell-the-creator-westbrook-nba-oklahoma-city-thunder-western-conference-kevin-durant-serge-ibaka-kevin-love/
    • Interview: Gunawan, I. (2019, October 18). Interview with the chairperson of KPI on the role of KPI in countering hoax news. Jakarta.
    • More examples (e-books, newspapers, magazines, encyclopedias) are in the template.
 8.⁠ ⁠Preparing for double-blind review
Submit two files: (1) the manuscript in the template with all author names, affiliations, emails, acknowledgements and self-identifying citations removed, and author data removed from the file properties; and (2) a title page with the title, authors’ full names, affiliations, emails, ORCID iDs and the corresponding author.
 9.⁠ ⁠How to submit
  1.  Register an account on this website and select the Author role.
  2. Log in and click New Submission.
  3. Confirm every item of the submission checklist and the copyright statement.
  4. Upload the anonymized manuscript and the title page.
  5. Enter the metadata exactly as in the manuscript: title, abstract, keywords, and all co-authors with affiliations and ORCID iDs.
  6. Finish the submission. You will receive an acknowledgment email and can track the status in your dashboard.
10.⁠ ⁠Submission checklist
☐ The manuscript is original, unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere.
☐ It fits the Focus and Scope and is written in the CommLine template.
☐ The title has no more than 14 words, the abstract 300–500 words, and there are 4–6 keywords.
⁠☐ The text is 3,000–6,000 words, in essay form, without numbered or bulleted lists.
☐ References follow APA 7th edition, at least 80% from the last 10 years and at least 60% journal articles, managed with a reference manager.
☐ The manuscript file is anonymized and author details are in a separate title page.
⁠☐ Any use of AI is declared in the AI declaration section.
☐ All authors approved the submission and agree to the license terms.
11.⁠ ⁠After acceptance
The corresponding author signs the Author Agreement (copyright and license) and returns the final proofread version by the editor’s deadline. CommLine charges no submission, processing or publication fees.

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