Guidelines for Authors

General Instructions for Authors

IUB Journal of Social Sciences publishes new and quality research in all disciplines of the social sciences. An article consisting of 4,000 to 6,000 words should strictly be submitted electronically according to the journal’s format. Authors should remember that they are writing for an international readership and should avoid spelling mistakes, incorrect format, jargon, complicated construction, and racist statements. The contents of the papers shall be the sole responsibility of the authors, especially in case of plagiarism found at any stage.

The first page of the manuscript should only contain the title of the paper and names of authors with their affiliations and e-mail addresses. The second page should include again title, abstract, and keywords. All research papers should possibly be arranged into sections on introduction, literature review (preferably the part of the Introduction), objectives, methodological issues, results, and discussions, and finally concluded with Roman numerals. Tables and figures should be given in accordance with the text. Pages, footnotes, tables, and figures should also be numbered consecutively and separately with Arabic numerals. Quotations should be indented an additional half-inch from the margin from both sides with 1-point small font size and in italic style. A manuscript should also be typed in double-spaced except for tables, figures, and references.

The Abstract should be informative and completely self-explanatory, briefly present the topic, state the scope of the study, indicate significant data, and point out major findings and conclusions. Following the abstract of 150-250 words, about 4 to 6 keywords that will provide indexing references should be listed. Acknowledgments, authors’ notes, and appendices should appear at the end of the article before the references.

The American Psychological Association (APA) style of references should strictly be followed. APA does not use footnotes or endnotes for citations. Every citation must appear in your reference list. A list of references should only contain those citations that are given in the text of the manuscript. All references should be given in alphabetical order of works cited in the research paper. The reference guidelines are consistent with advice given in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th Edition. The format of references is strictly followed APA.

Manuscript Preparation

Research manuscripts should comprise the following.

1. Front matter: Title, Author list, Affiliations, Abstract, Keywords

2. Research manuscript sections: Introduction, Materials, and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions

3. Back matter Supplementary Materials: Acknowledgments, Author Contributions, Conflicts of Interest, References.

1. Front Matter

These sections should appear in all manuscript types

A) Title

  • Should be concise, specific, and relevant.
  • It should identify if the study reports original data, or is a systematic review, meta-analysis, or replication study.
  • Avoid abbreviations.
  • The usual limit for titles is 10 to 12 words (not counting “and,” “of,” and similar conjunctions and prepositions).
  • Avoid Redundant Phrases if possible (e.g. Study of, A review of, A Survey of, etc)

B) Author List and Affiliations

  • The authors' full first and last names must be provided. The initials of any middle names can be added.
  • The format is used for affiliations: complete address information, including city, zip code, state/province, country, ORCID IDs, and all email addresses.
  • At least one author should be designated as the corresponding author, and his/her email address and other details should be included at the end of the affiliation section.

C) Abstract

  • The Abstract should be a total of about 250 words maximum.
  • The abstract should be a single paragraph and should follow the style of structured abstracts. The abstract should clearly depict the following from A to D:

i) Background & Objective

Place the question addressed in a broad context and highlight the purpose of the study

ii) Methods

Describe briefly the main methods or treatments applied. Also, discuss briefly what was actually done in the study.

iii) Results

Summarize the article's main findings.

iv) Conclusion

Indicate the main conclusions or interpretations. Do not cite figures, tables, websites, or references. Avoid equations. The conclusion must not contain results that are not presented and substantiated in the main text. Avoid exaggerating the main conclusions.

Keywords

  • Provide a maximum of 6 keywords
  • Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible.
  • Avoid general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, "and", and "of")

2. Research Manuscript Sections

A) Introduction: The introduction should briefly place the study in a broad context and highlight why it is important. It should define the purpose of the work and its significance, including specific hypotheses being tested. The current state of the research field should be reviewed carefully and key publications cited. Please highlight controversial and diverging hypotheses when necessary. Finally, briefly mention the main aim of the work and highlight the main conclusions. Keeps the introduction comprehensible to scientists working outside the topic of the paper.

B) Literature Review: Provide a body of existing relevant published literature with proper citations in APA style. 

C) Materials and Methods: In this section, the authors should clearly mention when and where the study was conducted. They should be described in sufficient detail to allow others to replicate and build on published results. New methods and protocols should be described in detail while well-established methods can be briefly described and appropriately cited. Give the name and version of any software used and make clear whether the computer code used is available. Include any pre-registration codes.

D) Results: Provide a concise and precise description of the results, their interpretation as well as the conclusions that can be drawn.

E) Discussion: Authors should discuss the results and how they can be interpreted from the perspective of previous studies and of the working hypotheses. The findings and their implications should be discussed in the broadest context possible and the limitations of the work highlighted. Future research directions may also be mentioned. This section may be combined with Results.

F) Conclusions: This section is not mandatory, but can be added to the manuscript if the discussion is unusually long or complex.

3. Back Matter

A) Patents: This section is not mandatory, but may be added if there are patents resulting from the work reported in this manuscript.

B) References: References must be APA style and have complete information along with proper working DOI numbers. 

C) Supplementary Materials: Described any supplementary material published online alongside the manuscript (figure, tables, video, spreadsheets, etc.). Please indicate the name and title of each element as follows Figure S1: title, Table S1: title, etc.

D) Acknowledgments: All sources of funding for the study should be disclosed. Clearly indicate grants that you have received in support of your research work and if you received funds to cover publication costs.

E) Author Contributions: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. Transparency about the contributions of authors is encouraged.