Instructions for authors

Submit your publication idea or manuscript to the Editorial Board by email to metrospektiivi@metropolia.fi. For text articles, a manuscript with attachments should be sent. For podcast and video series, a plan and episode-specific manuscripts should be provided.

At the Editorial Board, a responsible editor is assigned to your submission to manage the publication process from start to finish, provide editorial feedback on the structure, message and language of the manuscript and provide guidance on the technical production of audiovisual material. Finally, the responsible editor will publish the content online. In the editorial process of professional articles, the responsible editor is accompanied by a member of our Expert Group who assesses the proposed publication from a content perspective, comments and suggests changes where necessary. There are one to three editorial rounds. The Editorial Board also has the right to decide not to publish a proposal.

Authors grant Metropolia UAS the right to publish their work in Metrospective by submitting a publishing consent at the end of the publishing process. The authors retain the copyright that is not transferred by the consent. The authors are responsible for ensuring that the publication respects any copyright of third parties. 

The editors reserve the right to make minor revisions (e.g. correction of typing errors). Any major edits or changes will be negotiated with the authors. 

The authors affirm that they have produced the publication themselves and that it is previously unpublished. Both the authors and the publisher agree to comply with The Finnish Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and Procedures for Handling Alleged Violations of Research Integrity in Finland 2023 (pdf) by The Finnish National Board on Research Integrity. 

All publications of Metrospective are openly available to all, free of charge. Articles are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International licence. This means that the article may be freely quoted, remixed, edited, distributed and copied anywhere and by anyoneafter publication, as long as the author and original source are acknowledged and any new material edited, shared or based on the work is always redistributed under the same licence (CC BY-SA 4.0). Podcasts and videos are licenced under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives (CC BY-ND) 4.0 International licence. This means that the publications can be used and distributed freely, including for commercial purposes, but may not be modified or edited. You can find out more about CC licences on the Creative Commons website.

Please include the following information with your publication proposal: 

• Name, title and organisation 
• Brief description of yourself (100–150 characters with spaces) 
• A longer description of yourself (300–400 characters with spaces) 
• Link to your PeopleFinder profile (staff members of Metropolia) 
• Links to the author’s LinkedIn, Research.fi researcher, and Orcid profiles can be added to the description. 
• If you are not a staff member of Metropolia, we attach a 1200×1200 px photo of the author. For Metropolia staff, we use PeopleFinder photos. 
• 3–5 suggestions for keywords for your publication. Please, also suggest one or several themes from the following list: Business, Technology and technical fields, Culture, Wellbeing and health, Learning, Research and development or Society and working life. 

Student publications are always produced as part of the studies and their content is guided by the degree programme. New expertise in the field, such as insights gained from the student’s thesis should be the core of the content. The articles, podcasts and videos will be submitted to Metrospective through the supervising teacher.

Metrospective can publish:

• Articles based on the student’s Master’s thesis, e.g. a maturity test written in the form of an article or part of a thesis written in the form of an article.
• Consideration may also be given to other specialist texts written and supervised as part of the studies.
• Podcasts and, in the future, video publications are also possible. In this case, please be in touch at the planning stage.

Student articles, podcasts and videos will be published in Metrospective Pop or Metrospective Pro depending on their target audience. They are subject to the general guidelines of Metrospective. However, the length of student texts may be shorter than the general guidelines indicate. If a student publication is based on a thesis, the publication should include details of the thesis and its Theseus link.

Publications produced by Master’s students do not entitle the supervising teacher to a publication bonus paid by Metropolia, as they cannot be included in the publication data collection of the Ministry of Education and Culture. Publications produced jointly by a teacher and a student can also be published in Metrospective. When the teacher is a co-author, the content can be included in the publication data and the teacher is entitled to the publication bonus. In this case, all the guidelines of Metrospective apply and the content goes through the normal editorial process. All teachers and students involved in the creation of the content are jointly responsible for the whole publication.

We use the Harvard Name-Year System for citations in Metrospective. References are presented in parentheses within the text, and a list of references is included at the end.

References within the text:

• The reference consists of three parts: name of author, publication year, and page number(s), i.e. Sillinen 2012, 25–29.
• If the author is unknown, use either the title of the source or, in some cases, the co-author, i.e. the organisation behind the source.
• If the year of publication is not known, it is replaced by ‘n.d.’ which stands for ‘no date’.
• If the reference is to the whole work, no page number is needed, otherwise the page number indicates the point in the text to which reference is made.
• When the reference is to a single sentence, a full stop is placed after the closing parenthesis of the reference, for example (Sillinen 2012, 25–29). If it applies to more than one sentence, it is placed inside the parentheses, for example (Sillinen 2012, 25–29.).
• If there are 3–5 authors, all authors are listed in the reference when it is referenced for the first time. The names of the last two authors are separated by an ampersand (&). Subsequent references to the same source may be made by adding only the first author followed by ‘et al.’ and the year. If there are six or more authors, ‘et al.’ is used immediately.
• When there are several works by the same author published in the same year, the works are separated by a lowercase letter a, b, c after the year.
• Different works within the same reference are separated by a semicolon.
• When referring to works published in the same year by authors with the same name, the reference includes the first letter of the author’s name.
• Page numbers are always written as whole numbers, i.e. ‘136–138’ not ‘136–8’, with an en dash (–) between them.
• Please use primary sources. If you must use a secondary source, you should indicate this to the reader in the text, for example, in the following way: ‘Valokivi (2008) has looked at the clientelism of social and health services and identified different ways in which citizens can relate to professionals (see Harra 2014, 30).’ Here, Valokivi is the primary source, Harra the secondary source. Only the secondary source is included in the list of references.

The following guidelines should be applied when compiling the list of references:

• Only mention sources referred to in the text.
• The structure of the reference is four-part: (Author) (Year of publication) (Title of the work) (Place of publication: Publisher).
• The surnames and first initials of the authors are included in the reference.
• Use alphabetical order. If there are several works by the same author mention the oldest one first.
• For a translated work, please also indicate the original work including year of publication as well as the translator.
• If the work is part of a series, please indicate the name of the series and the serial number of the work. For example: Sipari, S., Vänskä, N., Lehtonen, K., Helenius, S., Väisänen, S. & Harra, T. 2022. Participatory Research Partnership in Rehabilitation. Publications of Metropolia UAS, OIVA-series 55. Helsinki: Metropolia UAS.
• If the source is published online, please include the web address at the end of the source information.
• If an online source does not have a permanent address (e.g. doi, urn, handle), add ‘Accessed Date Month Year’ (5 March 2025) before the web address in the source information.
• If an online source has a permanent address, always use it, not the browser address.
• Translate abbreviations in foreign languages (e.g. ‘toim.’ in Finnish = Ed. or Eds. and ‘teoksessa’ = In).

Examples:

Sipari, S., Vänskä, N., Lehtonen, K., Helenius, S., Väisänen, S. & Harra, T. 2022. Participatory Research Partnership in Rehabilitation. Publications of Metropolia UAS, OIVA-series 55. Helsinki: Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-328-342-8

Wojnarowska, M. & Ingrao, C. (Eds.) 2025. Design and Assessment of Sustainable Products: A Conceptual and Practical Framework. Hoboken: Routledge.

Lemettinen, O., Jäppinen, T., Pitkäpaasi, P., Pääskyvuori, M., Saarikko, L. & Säteri, J. 2021. Education models developing competence in the sales, service and construction sectors. In Stenberg, H., Antikainen, M., Lintala, E., & Roivas, M. (Eds.) Towards a Finland of talents together – Insights on the SIMHE operations. Publications of Metropolia UAS, TAITO-series 70. Helsinki: Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-328-264-3

Haapasaari, A., Engeström, Y. & Kerosuo, H. 2016. The Emergence of Learners’ Transformative Agency in a Change Laboratory Intervention. Journal of education and work 29(2), 232–262. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2014.900168

Silman, M. 2024. Facing Challenges in Virtual Healthcare Teams: a Scoping Review. Master Thesis. Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. Master of Health Care, Health Business Management. https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202401241762

Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare n.d. Chronic Diseases. Updated 7.12.2023. Accessed 27 February 2025. https://thl.fi/en/topics/chronic-diseases

Toivola, T. 2022. Learning for the future: systemic solutions require new ways of learning and collaborating. News article 13.1.2022. Aalto University website (aalto.fi). Accessed 27 February 2025. https://www.aalto.fi/en/news/learning-for-the-future-systemic-solutions-require-new-ways-of-learning-and-collaborating

Korpela, E. 2024. A language-aware Metropolia busts the myth of monolingualism. Various Variables blog of Metropolia UAS 17 October 2024. Helsinki: Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. Accessed 27 February 2025. https://blogit.metropolia.fi/variousvariables/2024/10/17/a-language-aware-metropolia-busts-the-myth-of-monolingualism/

Browne, R. (presenter) 2025. How do you find a job in Finland? All points North podcast. Published 31 January 2025. Yle. Accessed 27 February 2025. https://areena.yle.fi/podcastit/1-72923934

Universities of Applied Sciences Act 14.11.2014/932. https://www.finlex.fi/en/legislation/translations/2014/eng/932

Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriön asetus ammattikorkeakoulujen perusrahoituksen laskentakriteereistä 171/2024. (Ministry of Education and Culture Decree on the Calculation Criteria for the Basic Funding of Universities of Applied Sciences) https://www.finlex.fi/fi/lainsaadanto/saadoskokoelma/2024/171

• Please follow professional writing conventions regarding objectivity, formality, cohesion, clarity, logic, correct grammar and spelling as well as precise, consistent and idiomatic word structures and word choices. Avoid everyday expressions and wordiness.
• The title of your publication should be succinct and memorable. Use sentence case in headings and subheadings, i.e. only capitalise the first letter of the first word of your title or subheading.
• Use descriptive and succinct subheadings. A simple ‘Introduction’ or ‘Conclusion’ is not sufficient as a heading. Do not use all capital letters or full stops in headings. Stick to a maximum of two levels of subheadings.
• The introductory paragraph of your text is important. The introduction hooks the reader, presents your text and clarifies or completes the title. A good introduction is short, two or three sentences.
• Please indent long quotations (more than forty words or more than two sentences) in the manuscript. Do not use bold, italics or quotation marks.
• Spelling: do not use automatic spelling in the manuscript file.
• It is possible to insert links in the body text. Formulate accessible descriptive link texts that show the reader where they are going and what they will find. For example, ‘Read more’ is a bad link text. ‘Read more about Metropolia’s trainings’ or ‘More information about accessibility, pdf file’ describe both the content found through the link and the format of the material. Similarly, if the link leads to material in a foreign language, this should be indicated.
• Use tenses correctly. To describe what the article contains, use the present tense. To report on what was done in a project and its results, use the past tense.
• Pay attention to subject-verb agreement, the use of articles and prepositions, and basic comma rules.
• Do not use etc. in your academic texts. Use ‘among others’ instead or reformulate.
• Avoid contracted forms: it is or cannot instead of it’s or can’t.
• Avoid using the -‘s genitive, of-genitive is often better or a simple noun: the principles of publication > publishing principles.
• Write out numbers 1 to 10. Check the use of hyphen and en-dash. Hyphens are used to connect words, as in compound adjectives (e.g. co-creation), en-dashes are used for ranges (e.g. in chapters 8⁠–⁠12).
• Please use UK English in your writing.

• Please submit photos and illustrations as separate files, either as email attachments or via the cloud. If you use a cloud service, save the images in a web folder (e.g. Google Drive or Sharepoint) and share the link to the folder with your editor. Make sure that they have access to the folder.
• Tables containing only text can be made in the body text using the table function of a word processor. It is important that the table is not locked so that the text can be copied. Tables can also be supplied as a separate Excel file. For accessibility, keep the tables as simple as possible. Also consider whether a large table can be split into several parts.
• All pictures, figures and tables need a caption.
• For all pictures and figures, create an alternative text (alt text) that explains the essential content of the picture to those who cannot see it. Do not repeat the caption as it is in the alternative text, as the screen reader will read both. Illustrations or images whose content is explained in the main text do not need an alternative text.
• All graphic material is copyrighted. Copyright and licensing information should always be included with the images, preferably as part of the caption. You should mention the author of the image, even though the image is published under the Creative Commons license, you should mention the author of the image. It is the responsibility of the authors to obtain the copyrights to the images.
• Make sure that the images you publish in your article have the necessary permissions.

Image banks where you can search for a header image

Metropolia Media Bank

Free of charge image banks (please note the licence conditions, author’s details included):

• Pexels.com
• Pixabay.com
• Unsplash.com
• Helsingin kaupunginmuseo: Helsinkikuvia.fi (Finnish)
• Kansallisgallerian kuvapalvelu (Finnish)

Diversity imagery:

• Disabled and here, Affecttheverb.com
• Queer in Tech, Flickr.com
• Gender spectrum, Vice.com

If you can’t find a suitable image from a free source, you can also use the Adobe Stock selection.

• Please provide a link to the Adobe Stock photo you want to  milla.amankyyro@metropolia.fi
• Indicate the publication to which the image is linked.

Metrospective’s Editorial Board gets acquainted with the plans for the podcast series and the manuscript for each episode, and comments on them before you record the episodes. You can get in touch when you have an idea or, at the latest, when you have planned the podcast series in more detail and made a manuscript for each episode.

• Use this template for planning and scripting the series (Word file, docx).
• In the plan, define the target audience of the series, i.e. the listener profile, as well as the aim of the series. You can use the following questions:
  • What change do you want to achieve?
  • Why is it important to address the topics covered in the series?
  • After writing the objectives, reflect again on the audience profile of the series – is it the right one?
• The script for an episode is a rough blueprint that can very well change during the recording session. However, it will help the authors to remember the key issues and to sequence the episode, and the editors to assess whether the publication criteria of the Ministry of Education and Culture are met.
• The final length of the episode will be influenced by the number of panelists and the manner in which the discussion flows in the recording session. However, a good guideline is that a 20-minute episode will allow you to cover two topics, and a 30–45-minute episode will allow you to cover three topics or delve deeper into one topic. Consider what makes sense for the aim of the series and the target audience.
• Send the series plan and manuscripts to the Editorial Board for comments well in advance of the recording sessions.

The production phase includes recording your episodes. The pre-production is vital for a successful recording session.

• The services of Metropolia’s digital studios are at your disposal. You can record in Metropolia’s self-service studios or use the services of trainees at the digital studios.
• Remote recording through Zoom is also possible.
• For tips on external service providers, please contact the Editorial Board.

Read more about Metropolia’s Digital Studio Service

Your editor will publish the audio files on SoundCloud. They will be embedded to Metrospective from there. The author will provide the editorial board with all the necessary material for publication:

• the edited audio files
• the alternative text for each episode
• the series and episode-specific images, e.g. of the recording session
• short introductory texts about the series and each episode
• publishing consents from as well as author information of all scriptwriters and those who appear in the podcast episodes.

Editing, audio file format

You can download the theme music for your podcast from Metropolia’s Media bank.

To ensure the best sound quality, it is recommended that the edited file be delivered in a lossless recording format:

• WAV
• FLAC
• AIFF
• ALAC

If required, any SoundCloud-accepted file format is acceptable, including OGG, MP2, MP3, AAC, AMR and WMA.

Alternative texts to episodes

An alternative text is made for each episode in accordance with the accessibility requirements.

• The alternative text should be as accurate a text version of the audio content as possible. Finnish-language podcasts are transcribed in Finnish, English-language podcasts in English. The text must be readable, i.e. unnecessary repetition and filler words must be removed.
• Please, tell us who is speaking in each case. When the speaker appears for the first time, mention their full name. After that, you can use just their first name. If there are several speakers with the same name, the full name is used throughout the alternative text. Start a new paragraph when the speaker changes.
• In addition to the speech, other sounds in the podcast are mentioned in square brackets in the alternative text, for example [upbeat music] or [laughter].

Podcast series and episode descriptions and author information

• Each podcast series will have its own series page. We will need:
• the name of the series
• a concise and informative description of the series, 250–450 characters with spaces
• a photo describing the content of the series (see header photo instructions for more details)

See example: Korkeapainetta podcast (in Finnish)

Each episode is a separate publication. For this, we will need:

• the title of the episode, including the episode number, e.g. Episode 1: The importance of community in writing
• An inviting, succinct and informative introduction, including the names of the panelists, 250–450 characters with spaces.
• a photograph of the recording session, 1400 x 1095 px or alternatively the header photo of the series will be used
• author information about the panelists and the scriptwriters of the episode (see author description guidelines)
• any other author information, e.g. recording, editing.

Remember the publication consents for all scriptwriters and those who appear in the episodes.

Submission of the materials for publishing

Save the audio files to be published, the alternative text files and the documents containing the name, description and author information in an online folder (e.g. Google Drive or Sharepoint) and share the link to the folder with your editor. Make sure that the editor has access to the folder.

Metrospective publishes both single videos and series of videos. The Metrospective Editorial Board will review the plan for your video series and the manuscript for each episode before your recording session. You can get in touch when you have an idea or, at the latest, when you have planned your video or video series in more detail and written a manuscript.

• Use this template for planning and scripting your video or video series (Word file, docx). Coming!
• If your video is an expert video with slides, please use the official slide template of Metropolia. The slide set is also reviewed by the Editorial Board.
• Include a title slide as well as a list of any images and their authors, the references that you use, and any other author information at the end of your video.
• In the plan, define the target audience and purpose of your video or video series.
• Include both what is said during each scene as well as what is visible in the frame in your manuscript.
• Send your plan and individual manuscripts to the Editorial Board for comments well in advance of your recording session.

The production phase includes recording your videos. The pre-production is vital for a successful recording session.

• The services of Metropolia’s digital studios are at your disposal. You can record in Metropolia’s self-service studios or use the services provided by trainees at the digital studios.
• For tips on external service providers, please contact the Editorial Board.

Read more about Metropolia’s Digital Studio Service

Your editor will publish the videos on YouTube, from where they will be embedded into Metrospective. The author submits the necessary materials to the Editorial Board for publication. These include:

• edited video file(s)
• subtitle file for each video
• series and episode-specific images
• short introductory texts about the series and each video
• publishing consents from as well as author information of all scriptwriters and those who appear in the video.

Video file format

When saving a video file for publication, it is a good idea to use the most common file formats, for example:

• MP4
• MOV
• WMV
• AVI

If required, the published video file can be submitted in any of the formats accepted by YouTube.

Video subtitling, audio description or alternative text

All videos published in Metrospective must be subtitled in accordance with accessibility requirements.

• We recommend that you use the .srt file format for subtitling. This is more accessible than ‘burning’ (open captions) into the video and also allows the addition of translation subtitles where necessary.
• In addition to speech, other sounds in the video are also mentioned in the subtitles in square brackets, e.g. [upbeat music] or [laughter].
• If the video does not contain speech, an audio description or alternative text will be provided in accordance with accessibility requirements.

Video series and episode titles, descriptions and author information

Each video series will have its own series page. For this, you will need:

• series name
• a concise and informative description of the series, 250–450 characters with spaces
• a photo describing the content of the series (see the detailed instructions for the header images).

Each video is a separate publication. For this, we will need:

• the title of the episode, including the episode number, e.g. Episode 1: The importance of community in writing
• an attractive, succinct and informative introduction, including the names of the people featured in the video, 250–450 characters with spaces
• screenshot as main image, 1400 x 1095 px or alternatively use the image chosen for the series
• author information on the persons appearing in the video and on the scriptwriters (see author description guidelines)
• any other author information, e.g. editing.

Remember the publication consents for all scriptwriters and those who appear in the episodes.

Submitting your material

Save the video file(s) to be published, the subtitle file(s) and a document containing the name, description and author information of the video in an online folder (e.g. Google Drive or Sharepoint) and share the link to the folder with your editor. Make sure that the editor has access to the folder.