Instructions to Authors

• Original Research Articles
• Review Papers
• Policy Briefs and Case Studies
• Book Reviews and Commentaries

• Language: English (UK spelling)
• File Format: Microsoft Word (.docx) or LaTeX (with PDF). PDFs submitted alone will not be accepted.
• Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt
• Spacing: Double-spaced throughout (including abstract, references, tables, footnotes)
• Margins: 1 inch (2.54 cm) on all sides.
• Page Numbering: Consecutive numbering, starting from the title page.
• Line Numbering: Continuous line numbers.
• Equations: Use the Equation Editor. Number all the displayed equations sequentially. If you are submitting your manuscript as a Word document, ensure that the equations are editable. 
• Units: Use SI units (non-italicized).
• Disclosure: Acknowledge any financial or non-financial interest that has arisen from the direct applications of the research. Funding sources, conflicts of interest, and IRB/ethics approval must be stated on the title page. If there are no relevant competing interests to declare, please state this in the article. 

1. Tables should present new information rather than duplicating what is in the text. Readers should be able to interpret the table without reference to the text. Please supply editable files.
2. Place tables and figures at the end of the manuscript or in separate files. Provide editable source files for figures (minimum 300 dpi).
3. All tables and figures should be numbered, and each one must have a caption.
4. The position of each table and figure within the article should be clearly indicated, ensuring that the labels match those in the table file.

• Author Email Address: Preferably institutional.
• Author Name: Please ensure it is accurate since we will reproduce it as provided, including any middle names and/or initials they wish to include.
• Affiliation: Your affiliation in the manuscript and when entered into the submission system should be the institution where you conducted the research. You should also include details of any funding received from that institution.
  If you have changed affiliation since completing the research, your new affiliation can be acknowledged in a note. 
• Multiple Authors: If more than one author writes an article, you’ll choose one person to be the corresponding author. This person will handle all correspondence about the article and sign the publishing agreement on behalf of all the authors. They are responsible for ensuring that all the authors’ contact details are correct and agree on the order in which their names will appear in the article. The authors will also need to make sure that affiliations are correct and are the same in both the manuscript and the submission system.

For each named author, provide a concise professional biography that does not exceed 100 words. To include these items, please upload a separate file along with your submission.

Acknowledge all sources of external research funding in the acknowledgments section of your article.

1. Replace author names with "Author(s)".
2. Remove acknowledgments, grant numbers and institution names.
3. In citations, replace self-citations with “Author (Year)” or “Author (forthcoming)” and ensure the reference list does not reveal identity (e.g., do not include “Author’s own working paper” in the reference list unless anonymized as “Author (2023)”).
4. Ensure document properties (Word or PDF) do not contain author metadata.

Sharing your data can help fellow researchers and wider society, but it can also benefit you. It increases the discoverability of your work, fosters new research partnerships, and gets credit for your work: depositing data in a repository that mints a permanent identifier, such as a DOI, allows authors and others to cite your dataset. It increases citations.
1.    Select a data repository, an online platform where you can deposit datasets associated with your work.
2.    You can choose open data. You can do this by applying an open license that allows others to reuse your data and helps to maximize the impact of your research.
3.    Consider the FAIR Data Principles when depositing data. FAIR data is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.
4.    Once you have shared your data in a repository, include a Data Availability Statement (refer to the template in section 13) in any articles you publish based on that data, explaining where and under what conditions your data can be accessed.  

You may also choose to publish a data note: a peer-reviewed article type in which you explain how your data was collected, analyzed, validated, and any conditions of use.
When you are writing a journal article, you need to make sure that you properly cite any data you have used, whether it’s your own dataset or someone else’s.   

Research and non-research articles must cite relevant, timely, and verified literature to support any claims made in the article. Avoid excessive and inappropriate self-citation or prearrangements among author groups to inappropriately cite each other’s work, as this can be considered a form of misconduct called citation manipulation.

The following types of articles should be added to the Reference List:
“In Press” or “Forthcoming” articles: Articles that have been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, but have not yet been published, should be referred to as “In Press” or “Forthcoming” instead of publication dates.
Website links: Any references to websites should be included in the reference list. These should include the site title, the URL, and the date the site was accessed.
Preprints: Articles that have been published in preprint servers or institutional repositories should be cited in the Reference list. These should include the names of the authors, the title of the article, the DOI of the preprint, and the date the preprint was posted. If the preprint has been formally published in a peer-reviewed journal, authors should cite the published version rather than the preprint.
Preprints of your submission: If a submission to one of our journals has a preprint available, this should be declared in the manuscript and cited. Once the article has been published, authors should update the preprint to reflect this.
Datasets: A citation should accompany all data referenced in articles. In general, the following elements should be included in data citations:
1.    Author – the individual(s) responsible for the creation of the data
2.    Material Designator – the tag “[dataset].”
3.    Electronic Retrieval Location – a persistent identifier (e.g., DOI) where this is available
4.    Publisher Location – this is often the repository where the author has deposited the data set.

Software: When citing software that you’ve created or used in your research, you should include the following details:
1.    Creator(s): the authors or project that developed the software.
2.    Title: the name of the software.
3.    Publication venue: the venue of the software, preferably an archive or repository that provides persistent identifiers.
4.    Date: the date the software was published. This date is associated with a release or version of the software, or “n.d.” if the date is unknown.
5.    Version (optional): the identifier for the version of the software being referenced. If the version is unidentified or unknown, the date of access should be used.
6.    Type (optional): Some citation styles (e.g., APA) require a bracketed description of the citation (e.g., Computer software) to be included.
Thesis: Authors are encouraged to cite their thesis where this is relevant to their submission. In general, the following style should be followed for theses that are stored in a repository or database:
Author name, THESIS or DISSERTATION “Title”, University, Year published, Database (Identification Number); electronic retrieval location (DOI) where available.
7.    DOIs: Authors should provide DOI links wherever available.
8.    Important Note: References must be accurate, complete, verifiable and formatted consistently according to APA 6th Edition guidelines.
9.    Reference Management Software: Authors may use a standard and suitable software to ensure consistency.

Follow APA 6 Style

• Basic format for journal article with DOI: Author Surname, A. A., Author Surname, B. B., & Author Surname, C. C. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Title in Italics and Title Case, volume (issue), page range. https://doi.org/xxxxx
• Basic format for journal article without DOI (Print): Author Surname, A. A., Author Surname, B. B., & Author Surname, C. C. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Title in Italics and Title Case, volume (issue), page range.
• Basic format for journal article freely available online (without DOI, but public URL): Author Surname, A. A., Author Surname, B. B., & Author Surname, C. C. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Title in Italics and Title Case, volume (issue), page range. Retrieved from the journal’s homepage URL (not the direct article URL).
• Basic format for advance online publication/in press (no volume/issue attached yet): Author Surname, A. A., Author Surname, B. B., & Author Surname, C. C. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Title in Italics and Title Case. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/xxxxx
• Basic format for preprint/working paper: Author Surname, A. A., Author Surname, B. B., & Author Surname, C. C. (Year). Title of the paper. (Working paper no. xxx). Retrieved from URL.

1. (Author Surname et al., year) – first citation
2. (Author Surname et al., year) – subsequent citation (same for 3–5 authors; for 6+ authors, use first author et al. from the first citation)
3. Note: For 3–5 authors, list all authors in the first citation; in subsequent citations, use first author et al.
4. Note: For 6 or more authors, use first author et al. from the very first citation, but include all authors in the reference list.

Single author – Author Surname, A. A. (Year). Title of book in sentence case (X ed., Vol. X). Location: Publisher.
In-text citation: (Author Surname, year) – first and subsequent citations.
Narrative: Author Surname (year) argued that…

Two authors – Author Surname, A. A. & Author Surname, B. B. (Year). Title of book in sentence case (X ed., Vol. X). Location: Publisher.
In-text citation: (Author Surname & Author Surname, year) – first and subsequent citations.

Three to five authors (list all in reference) – Author Surname, A. A. & Author Surname, B. B. (Year). Title of book in sentence case (X ed., Vol. X). Location: Publisher.
In-text: First citation: (Author Surname, Author Surname & Author Surname, year)
Subsequent: (First Author Surname et al., year)

Edited book (Editor as author) – Editor, A. A. & Editor B. B. (Eds.). (Year). Title of book. Location: Publisher.
In-text: (Editor & Editor, year)
For an edited book with no individual chapter authors, cite the entire book.

Translated book – Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book (Translator Initial. Last name, Trans.). Location: Publisher. (Original work published Year).
In-text citation: (Author Surname, year) – cite the translation year, not the original.
Narrative: Author Surname (translation year) argued that…

Book published by a Government Agency or an International Organization – Organization Name. (Year). Title of book. Location: Publisher.
In-text citation: (Organization, year) – first and subsequent citations.
Narrative: The Organization (year) reported that…

Reference format – Chapter Author, A. A., & Chapter Author, B. B. (Year). Title of chapter. In A. A. Editor & B. B. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. xx–xx). Location: Publisher.

Chapter title – The chapter title is in sentence case and is not italicized.

Book title – The book title should be italicized and written in sentence case.

Page range – The page range of the chapter should be included in parentheses after the book title.

Edition and volume – Include the edition and volume information, if applicable, after the book title.

In-text citation – (Author Surname et al., year)

• Order: Alphabetical by first author’s last name. If the same author, order chronologically (oldest first).
• Hanging indent: 0.5 inches (1.27 cm) for each reference after the first line.
• Italics: Journal title and volume number are italicized. The issue number is in parentheses and is not italicized.
• Capitalization in article title: Capitalize only the first word of the title, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns.
• DOI format: https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx – active hyperlink, blue and underlined (recommended for online).
• For multiple authors: List all authors. Do not use “et al.” in the reference list.
• More than one publication in the same year by the same author: Add lowercase letters after the year, viz., 2019a, 2019b. Order alphabetically by title.
• Article in a language other than English: Provide the original title, then the English translation in square brackets. The journal title should not be translated.

*Word count excludes abstract, references, tables, and figures.