The author instructions cover how to prepare a manuscript for submission as well as details on the kinds of articles that are accepted for publication. Under the "about" section, you may find further pertinent information about the journal's rules and the reviewing procedure.
Original Research Article
An original article presents an overview of cutting-edge research in a particular topic that is within or relevant to the journal's emphasis and scope, in a format that is understandable and well-organized.
Word limit | 4000 words (excluding the abstract, tables, figures, graphs, and references) |
Author’s names and institutions | The author's names should be accompanied by the author's institutions, institutions address, and email addresses, without any academic titles and job title. |
Abstract | maximum: 300 words |
Main text | The structure of writing articles uses what is commonly called IMRAD which consists of introduction, method, results, and discussion (IMRAD) |
References | 60 or less, adhere to the APA style and use the reference manager application |
Tables, figures and graphs | 7 or less, adhere to the Illustrations requirements found in the AOSIS House style guide |
Formatting requirements | apply the guidelines located on Manuscript Template |
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Original Research Article full structure
Title: The title should be short, clear, and informative, but does not exceed 20 words. It has to be pinpoint with the issues discussed. The article title does not contain any uncommon abbreviations. The main ideas should be written first and followed by its explanations.
Abstract: The English-language abstract must be written in the past tense and should not exceed 250 words. The objectives, methods, findings, and importance of the subject should all be briefly described in the abstract. An original research article's unstructured abstract should be composed of six paragraphs without the labels Background, Aim, Setting, Methods, Results, Conclusion, and Contributions. The abstract's only marked heading is the latter.
- Background: Summarise the social value (importance, relevance) and scientific value (knowledge gap) that your study addresses (optional).
- Aim: State the overall aim of the study.
- Methods: Clearly express the basic design of the study, and name or briefly describe the methods used without going into excessive detail.
- Results: State the main findings.
- Conclusion: State your conclusion and any key implications or recommendations.
- Contribution: What key insights into the research results and its future function are revealed? How do these insights link to the focus and scope of the journal? It should be a concise statement of the primary contribution of the manuscript; and how it fits within the scope of the journal.
Do not cite references and do not use abbreviations excessively in the abstract.
Introduction: The introduction must contain your argument for the social and scientific value of the study, as well as the aim and objectives:
- Social value: The first part of the introduction should make a clear and logical argument for the importance or relevance of the study. Your argument should be supported by use of evidence from the literature.
- Scientific value: The second part of the introduction should make a clear and logical argument for the originality of the study. This should include a summary of what is already known about the research question or specific topic, and should clarify the knowledge gap that this study will address. Your argument should be supported by use of evidence from the literature.
- Conceptual framework: In some research articles it will also be important to describe the underlying theoretical basis for the research and how these theories are linked together in a conceptual framework. The theoretical evidence used to construct the conceptual framework should be referenced from the literature.
- Aim and objectives: The introduction should conclude with a clear summary of the aim and objectives of this study.
Research methods: This must address the following:
- Study design: An outline of the type of study design.
- Setting: A description of the setting for the study; for example, the type of community from which the participants came or the nature of the health system and services in which the study is conducted.
- Study population and sampling strategy: Describe the study population and any inclusion or exclusion criteria. Describe the intended sample size and your sample size calculation or justification. Describe the sampling strategy used. Describe in practical terms how this was implemented.
- Intervention (if appropriate): If there were intervention and comparison groups, describe the intervention in detail and what happened to the comparison groups.
- Data collection: Define the data collection tools that were used and their validity. Describe in practical terms how data were collected and any key issues involved, e.g. language barriers.
- Data analysis: Describe how data were captured, checked and cleaned. Describe the analysis process, for example, the statistical tests used orsteps followed in qualitative data analysis.
- Ethical considerations: Approval must have been obtained for all studies from the author's institution or other relevant ethics committee and the institution’s name and permit numbers should be stated here.
Results: The results obtained from the research have to be supported by sufficient data. The research results and the discovery must be the answers, or the research hypothesis stated previously in the introduction part.
Discussion: The discussion section should address the following four elements:
- Key findings: Summarise the key findings without reiterating details of the results.
- Discussion of key findings: Explain how the key findings relate to previous research or to existing knowledge, practice or policy.
- Strengths and limitations: Describe the strengths and limitations of your methods and what the reader should take into account when interpreting your results.
- Implications or recommendations: State the implications of your study or recommendations for future research (questions that remain unanswered), policy or practice. Make sure that the recommendations flow directly from your findings.
Conclusion: The conclusion should answer the objectives of the research and research discoveries. The concluding remark should not contain only the repetition of the results and discussions or abstract. You should also suggest future research and point out those that are underway.
Research Implication: In this section, you can provide an explanation related to the implications of the research in the scientific field theoretically and practically.
References: The literature listed in the References contains only the sources referenced or included in the article. We recommend preparing the references with a bibliography software package, such as Mendeley, EndNote, Reference Manager or Zotero to avoid typing mistakes and duplicated references. Referral sources should provide 80% of journal articles, proceedings, or research results from the last five years. Writing techniques bibliography, using the system cites APA (American Psychological Association) Style and the 6th edition.
