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Authors submitting to the Journal of Policy and Development Studies should follow our submission guidelines, including proper formatting and ethical standards. Ensure your manuscript is original and correctly cites all sources. By submitting your work, you agree to our review and publication policies. All authorship must be accurately attributed, with all contributors given appropriate credit. We are here to support you through every stage of the publishing process.
Manuscript Criteria
Post-Acceptance:
Manuscript Format
All manuscripts shall follow a defined format. Manuscripts should be in Ms Word in either times new Roman or Ariel font styles (12pts). The manuscripts should be spaced at 1.5 apart from tables and figures, which should be set at 1pt font size.
Submissions should not exceed 20 pages including references. The authors should edit any manuscript to conform to these guidelines.
Title Page: title page should contain the title of the article, which should be precise and problematized. The title should be in title case.
Abstract: abstract should start with the statement of the problem for all journal articles. For example, “the purpose of this article is to…” and should end with the significance of the study and “Key Terms”. It should not exceed 250 words.
Introduction: this part should begin by the statement of the problem and explain the stated key terms, if not defined in the abstract. It should end with an overview expected matter of the paper.
Methodology/Methods: it should be a prose-form methodology of not more than 250 words, precise and comprehensive. Specifying the research design, all methods of data collection, sampling procedure, sample sizes and data analysis procedure.
Literature Related to the Objective (s) of the article: the content should be relevant to the purpose/objective of the study as stated in the abstract. In-text referencing should be in American Psychological Association (APA 7th edition).
Results/Findings of the Study: these should be summarised as possible to capture only relevant results/findings. Tables and Figures should follow APA formatting guidelines.
Discussion: The discussion should focus and blend literature review, theory and results.
Conclusion: conclusions clearly stated or enumerated drawing from the results. It should be a summary of not more than 250 words.
References/Bibliography: all reference used in the text should be included here, in APA referencing style 6th edition. Appendices: if any, should come after references and should be titled and labelled as so.
Referencing Journal Article
Grady, J. S., Her, M., Moreno, G., Perez, C., & Yelinek, J. (2019). Emotions in storybooks: A comparison of storybooks that represent ethnic and racial groups in the United States. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8(3), 207–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000185
Referencing Journal Article with an Article Number
Jerrentrup, A., Mueller, T., Glowalla, U., Herder, M., Henrichs, N., Neubauer, A., & Schaefer, J. R. (2018). Teaching medicine with the help of “Dr. House.” PLoS ONE, 13(3), Article e0193972. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193972
Referencing Magazine Article
Lyons, D. (2009, June 15). Don’t ‘iTune’ us: It’s geeks versus writers. Guess who’s winning. Newsweek, 153(24), 27.
Schaefer, N. K., & Shapiro, B. (2019, September 6). New middle chapter in the story of human evolution. Science, 365(6457), 981–982. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay3550
Schulman, M. (2019, September 9). Superfans: A love story. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/16/superfans-a-love-story
Referencing Newspaper Article
Carey, B. (2019, March 22). Can we get better at forgetting? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/health/memory-forgetting-psychology.html
Harlan, C. (2013, April 2). North Korea vows to restart shuttered nuclear reactor that can make bomb-grade plutonium. The Washington Post, A1, A4.
Referencing Blog Post
Ouellette, J. (2019, November 15). Physicists capture first footage of quantum knots unraveling in superfluid. Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/11/study-you-can-tie-a-quantum-knot-in-a-superfluid-but-it-will-soon-untie-itself/
Referencing Authored Book
Jackson, L. M. (2019). The psychology of prejudice: From attitudes to social action (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000168-000
Sapolsky, R. M. (2017). Behave: The biology of humans at our best and worst. Penguin Books.
Svendsen, S., & Løber, L. (2020). The big picture/Academic writing: The one-hour guide (3rd digital ed.). Hans Reitzel Forlag. https://thebigpicture-academicwriting.digi.hansreitzel.dk/
Referencing Whole Edited Book
Hygum, E., & Pedersen, P. M. (Eds.). (2010). Early childhood education: Values and practices in Denmark. Hans Reitzels Forlag. https://earlychildhoodeducation.digi.hansreitzel.dk/
Kesharwani, P. (Ed.). (2020). Nanotechnology based approaches for tuberculosis treatment. Academic Press.
Torino, G. C., Rivera, D. P., Capodilupo, C. M., Nadal, K. L., & Sue, D. W. (Eds.). (2019). Microaggression theory: Influence and implications. John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119466642
Referencing Republished Book, with Editor
Watson, J. B., & Rayner, R. (2013). Conditioned emotional reactions: The case of Little Albert (D. Webb, Ed.). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. http://a.co/06Se6Na (Original work published 1920)
Referencing Chapter in an Edited Book
Aron, L., Botella, M., & Lubart, T. (2019). Culinary arts: Talent and their development. In R. F. Subotnik, P. Olszewski-Kubilius, & F. C. Worrell (Eds.), The psychology of high performance: Developing human potential into domain-specific talent (pp. 345–359). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000120-016
Dillard, J. P. (2020). Currents in the study of persuasion. In M. B. Oliver, A. A. Raney, & J. Bryant (Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research (4th ed., pp. 115–129). Routledge.
Thestrup, K. (2010). To transform, to communicate, to play—The experimenting community in action. In E. Hygum & P. M. Pedersen (Eds.), Early childhood education: Values and practices in Denmark. Hans Reitzels Forlag. https://earlychildhoodeducation.digi.hansreitzel.dk/?id=192
Referencing Entry in an Online Dictionary
American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Just-world hypothesis. In APA dictionary of psychology. Retrieved January 18, 2020, from https://dictionary.apa.org/just-world-hypothesis
Referencing Entry in a Print Dictionary
Merriam-Webster. (2003). Litmus test. In Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary (11th ed., p. 727).
Referencing Report by a Government Agency
National Cancer Institute. (2019). Taking time: Support for people with cancer (NIH Publication No. 18-2059). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. https://www.cancer.gov/publications/patient-education/takingtime.pdf
ISO Standard References
International Organization for Standardization. (2018). Occupational health and safety management systems—Requirements with guidance for use (ISO Standard No. 45001:2018). https://www.iso.org/standard/63787.html
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (1970). Occupational safety and health standards: Occupational health and environmental control: Occupational noise exposure (OSHA Standard No. 1910.95). United States Department of Labor. https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.95
Published Dissertation or Thesis References
Kabir, J. M. (2016). Factors influencing customer satisfaction at a fast food hamburger chain: The relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty (Publication No. 10169573) [Doctoral dissertation, Wilmington University]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.
Miranda, C. (2019). Exploring the lived experiences of foster youth who obtained graduate level degrees: Self-efficacy, resilience, and the impact on identity development (Publication No. 27542827) [Doctoral dissertation, Pepperdine University]. PQDT Open. https://pqdtopen.proquest.com/doc/2309521814.html?FMT=AI
Zambrano-Vazquez, L. (2016). The interaction of state and trait worry on response monitoring in those with worry and obsessive-compulsive symptoms [Doctoral dissertation, University of Arizona]. UA Campus Repository. https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/620615
Unpublished Dissertation or Thesis References
Harris, L. (2014). Instructional leadership perceptions and practices of elementary school leaders [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Virginia.
Referencing Conference Presentation
Evans, A. C., Jr., Garbarino, J., Bocanegra, E., Kinscherff, R. T., & Márquez-Greene, N. (2019, August 8–11). Gun violence: An event on the power of community [Conference presentation]. APA 2019 Convention, Chicago, IL, United States. https://convention.apa.org/2019-video
