Submissions

Author Guidelines

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

Length

All submitted manuscripts should be around 8,000 words in length for "full-length" research papers. "Review articles" may be shorter, at around 4,000 words long (for other article types, please see "Article Types"). The word count is for the full "Manuscript (with author names)" file and therefore includes all main elements (i.e., title, abstract, keywords, captions, reference list and illustrations) but excludes supplementary data/appendices. Papers of up to 10000 may be permissible with prior agreement from the managing editor, but we advise against this.

Essential title page information

• Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
• Author names and affiliations. Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled. You can add your name between parentheses in your own script behind the English transliteration. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.
• Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. This responsibility includes answering any future queries about Methodology and Materials. Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author.
• Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.
• Prepare this document as its own, one page Word/PDF file labelled "Title page (with author details)".

Abstract

A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should briefly state the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, citations should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s). Non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should also be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself. There is no strict word count for the abstract, yet ideally it should fall between 150–400 words. The abstract should be placed at the top of the "Manuscript (without author names)" file, after the manuscript title. 

Keywords

Provide between three to six keywords. Avoid general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes. The keywords should be placed immediately after the abstract, each beginning with a capital letter and separated by a semi-colon (;).

Main text: Structure

Guide structure
Full-length research papers should use the basic structure below as a guide:
1. Introduction
2. Literature Review/Research Context/Background
3. Methods
4. Results
5. Discussion
6. Conclusion

This should be followed by:
• Acknowledgements
• Funding statement
• Illustrations (optional)
• References

Appendices should be uploaded as a separate file marked as "Supplementary material" (see below).

If using numbered sections, the abstract, keywords and reference list should not be numbered.

Subdivision - numbered sections
• Long sections can be sub-divided
• Any subsection should be given a brief heading
• Each heading should appear on its own separate line with a line space above
• If using numbered headings, sub-sections should be numbered 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 etc.
• Further divisions if needed, to be 1.1.1, 1.1.2, etc. …)
• Use sub-headers for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to 'the text'

Main text: Content

Introduction. State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

Literature Review. Provide a review of current and past research on the topic. This section labelled "Literature Review", "Research Context" or similar should comprise a detailed and comprehensive explanation and evaluation of previous research into the topic. It should be included in addition to the introduction.

Material and methods. Provide sufficient details to allow the work to be reproduced by an independent researcher. Methods that are already published should be summarized and indicated by a reference. If quoting directly from a previously published method, use quotation marks and also cite the source. Any modifications to existing methods should also be described.

Theory/calculation. A Theory section should extend, not repeat, the background to the article already dealt with in the Introduction and lay the foundation for further work. In contrast, a Calculation section represents a practical development from a theoretical basis.

Results. Results should be clear and concise.

Discussion. This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.

Conclusions. The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.

Illustrations

The use of illustrations in the form of charts, photographs, drawings, maps, plans ("figures") and tables is encouraged, yet optional. Illustrations can be embedded into the main text or presented together at the end of the main text (after the Conclusion and before the References) with a section header "Illustrations".

General points
• Ensure that each illustration has a caption.
• Supply captions separately, not attached to/embedded within the figure or table
• A caption should contain the figure or table number and then provide brief title and a description of the illustration.
• Number figures and tables in separate running series from 1 onwards in order of their appearance in text.
• Refer to each figure and table individually in-text.
• All work not your own should also have a citation at the end of the caption, e.g:
Figure 1. Map of Kenya with the study area marked (amended from Smith 1998: fig. 1 p. 12).
This source should be included in the list of "References" at the end of the manuscript
• For figures: If you (or a co-author) are not the original creator of the artwork, you must get permission to use it from the copyright holder in advance of submission.

When your article is accepted for publication, you will be required to provide:
• A separate list of captions for all illustrations (figures and then tables)
• Each illustration as a separate file (using a logical naming convention for each file)

Preparation of figures
• Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used
• Size the illustrations close to the desired dimensions of the published version
• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork
• Embed the used fonts if the application provides that option
• Use the following fonts or similar in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times New Roman, Symbol
• Ensure that colour images are accessible to all, including those with impaired colour vision

Abbreviations

Abbreviations should be avoided in the title and abstract. Any abbreviations used should be defined at their first mention (in the Introduction or otherwise). Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.

Acknowledgements

Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article, after the Conclusion and before the references (and any illustrations). Do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proofreading the article, etc.). Be sure not to include any identifying information as this file should be anonymous.

Declaration of funding sources

The text should list funding sources immediately after the Acknowledgments section, in this standard way to facilitate compliance to funder's requirements:

Funding: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA [grant number zzzz]; and the United States Institutes of Peace [grant number aaaa].

Referencing Style

This journal uses the APA 7^th Edition style of referencing