Submissions

Author Guidelines

Before submitting your manuscript, please read the guidelines below:

Originality

You will be required to warrant that the manuscript is your original work; it is being submitted for first publication, it should not have been previously published in its current or similar form, and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere.

Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article is found to have plagiarised other work, or included third-part copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgment, or where the authorship of the article is contested, IJE editors reserve the right take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; alerting the author’s head of department or dean, his/her or employer or funding body, institution or the relevant academic bodies or societies;  reject any submitted manuscript.

Third Party Copyright Permissions

You should ensure that all the content used for the manuscript whether text, preliminaries, end sections, illustrations, tables, figures, photos, charts, maps, art works, sound recordings, films are not bounded by copyrights ownership of other parties and if there is such binding, permission or release letter must be obtained on delivery of the manuscript.

Conflicts of Interest

Declare any conflicts of interest relating to the manuscript, to guide the editor on how to evaluate the work.

MANUSCRIPT REQUIREMENTS

Manuscripts submitted should conform to the following guidelines:

Format

Article files should be submitted in Microsoft Word format. Single-space typed with one-inch margins on all sides in 11-font size – Times New Roman and of B5 (6.93″ × 9.84″) paper size.

Language

Contributions should be in English language.

Article Title

This should be concisely worded.

Article Length / Word Count

The main text should contain 5,000-7,000 words, including text in tables, figures, references and appendices. The total number of pages should not exceed 20. Please ensure that no author names appear in the manuscript.

Manuscript Components

Components should include: abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, findings, discussion, conclusion and evidence of contribution to knowledge, and references.

Author Details

Author details include names and addresses. Author names should be spelt in the exact way and listed in the order that they appear on the manuscript, the way that you would like them to be published.

Institutional email addresses are preferred; and the affiliation should be where the authors were based when the research for the paper was conducted. For a multi-authored article, ensure that all parties that have made a substantive contribution are listed as authors, and that the priority of ordering the names is based on the relative scientific or professional contributions. People who have not contributed to the paper, or who do not want to be associated with the research should not be included.

You are encouraged to include your ORCID identification and in case you do not have one, we recommend that you register for it. It takes a short time to do so, and is free.

Please note that the file with authors’ particulars, including acknowledgements should be submitted separately from that of main manuscript.

Acknowledgments

Authors should acknowledge all funding sources, both internal and external, describe the roles of the funders, and include any relevant grant numbers within the text of the manuscripts. They must list all relevant affiliations depending on where the research or scholarly work was approved, supported or conducted. Contributors to the process of research other than those in the authorship category should also be mentioned here.

Abstract

This should contain 150-250 words highlighting the purpose, methodology, findings and recommendations. A list of at least 3 keywords that describe principal elements of the paper should also be included. Please note that the editorial team may replace, add or remove some of the key words as deemed necessary.

Manuscript Classification

During submission, you will be required to select the type of paper from a dropdown list consisting of among others: Article, Research Instrument, Research results etc.  We advise that you select the ‘Article’ option, unless you have other file categories.

Style and Language

Please ensure that the concepts in the manuscript are clear, focused, readable, grammatically correct, well structured, logical, coherent, and well organised.

Headings

These must be concise and hierarchically written according to APA 7^th edition style.

Figures, Plates and Titles

All these should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals, and with clear captions.

References

All references must be written according to APA 7^th edition style. Please make sure that all citations are complete, accurate and consistent.

SUBMITTING YOUR MANUSCRIPT

Manuscripts should be submitted through the IJE online editorial system by the corresponding author. You can submit by clicking on 'Register' (if you have not registered, and complete the registration) and then on 'Login'. Alternatively, click on 'About', then 'Submissions' under which you can also register and login.

If the submission is successful, you will receive an automated email from the journal Editor-in-Chief confirming receipt.

EDITORIAL AND PEER REVIEW PROCESSES

Once received, a manuscript is first checked by the EiC who may choose decline it if the content does not fit IJE’s aims and scope, or if its quality in terms of language and style is wanting. This communication should take place within three weeks of submission.

A manuscript that is deemed suitable for publication will be sent to at least two expert reviewers. All papers submitted to IJE are double-blind peer-reviewed. Please not that IJE does not give options to authors to suggest or recommend reviewers for their work. Editors or board members are never involved in editorial decisions about their own work, and in such cases, manuscripts are referred to other editors.

Ideally, reviewers are expected to return their decisions to the EiC within for weeks. On reviewing, reviewers recommend actions to be taken including; accept the manuscript with no correction, with minor corrections or with major corrections. The other recommendation could be to decline the manuscript. Reviewers’ comments and recommendations are analyzed and compared before a final decision is made by the editorial board. The decisions are then communicated to the author via the journal’s automated emails. Authors should expect a decision normally within eight weeks of submission.