Authors’ Guide

Somali Journal of Social Science

Introduction

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The major role of the journal is to ensure that various authors have their work published. They should however submit it following specific guidelines which have been shown in this framework.

Submission of articles or manuscripts

Researchers will submit articles after a call for papers which shall be announced on the journal web. Contributions that further the aims of the journal are welcome. Manuscripts should ideally be submitted by e-mail (in Word). A typed copy on single-sided A4 paper, double-spaced and with large margins all round, may be required. Please ensure that documents do not contain a computer virus. Large files should be zipped.

While sending information to Somali Journal of Social Science, you can send the correspondence via email to the chief editor. Authors should make every effort to remain in e-mail contact with the editor at all times and to give the editor alternative e-mail addresses upon request. At certain stages of the editorial process, authors and editor need to be in daily contact: This will be through email communication to correct errors or make necessary changes as the editor may want the article or manuscript to appear.

Structure of the article

The article to be submitted should have the following;

Cover Page

A cover page with the author’s name, affiliation and address (including e-mail address and fax number if any) is required. In case you’re two or more authors, the main author should be written first followed by co-authors with their contact addresses. These details should not appear on the manuscript. The cover page should show the title of the study clearly not exceeding 12 words.

Copyright affirmation/Declaration

The author(s) should state that the work has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere and will not be, unless it is formally withdrawn for consideration or rejected by the journal editor. Please note that, SJSS runs as an open access journal and thus the author will transfer all rights to the manuscript to the journal. This follows that, the journal will use a creative commons license agreement.

Copyright Notice;

@2018 Somali Institute of Development and Research Analysis.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission in writing of SJSS or SIDRA Institute.

License Statement

This journal is operated under the provisions of the Creative Commons License agreement.

Abstract

An abstract of not exceeding 300 words will be accepted. This should be prepared to help in abstract indexing services. The abstract should be stated in past tense. It should show the principle objectives and scope of the research, briefly describes the methods employed, summarizes the results and states the main conclusions and recommendations. The key words should be well stipulated. These should be between 5-10 key words that must fully represent the theme of the study.

Key issues to consider in your article

The following parts should appear in the article:

  • An introduction; material and methods used; results and a discussion and conclusion.
  • A brief literature survey and a theoretical discussion is useful for certain types of work. If used, these should be integrated into the work and argued for or against in the conclusion.
  • Authors are allowed to submit articles that are purely theoretical, or that have a strongly descriptive, empirical component, whether they follow the traditional format outlined above or not. Both theoretical and empirical studies will be accepted.
  • Articles are expected to be between 1500 and 5000 words long. Authors will be asked to shorten articles which are longer than this in case they are successful for publication.

Referencing

Authors are asked to follow the acceptable mode of referencing in this journal. The referencing style to be followed will be APA 6th edition.

  1. In-text referencing

    The author(s) should ensure that every reference cited in the text is shown in the reference list and the reverse is true. For references that may be found in the abstract, they must be written in full. In the text, you are free to mention unpublished results and personal communication but this should not appear in the reference list. If you would wish to include them in the reference list, they should follow the standard reference style of this journal and thus should include a substitution of the publication date with either ‘Unpublished results or research’ or ‘Personal Communication’.

    Examples of in-text referencing

    The rate of disease spread highly depends on how people to the disease in its early stages (Ahmed & Hamdan, 2009).

    OR

    Ahmed and Hamdan (2009) argue that the rate of disease spread highly depends on how people respond to the disease in its early stages.

    OR

    Disease spread depends on how people respond to the disease at its early stages just as Hamdan and Ahmed (2009) emphasize.

  2. Reference to a journal publication

    For journals, author, initial. date. title. journal name, (or collection or book in which this is a chapter), page numbers. More detailed examples can be sent on request. See one example below;

    Ahmed Jamac, M., Hamzah, C.I.M., &Guled, S.B (2012). The World of Land Economics. International Journal of Business and Management, 15 (4),11-28

  3. Referencing from books

    Follow this order. Surname, initial. date. title, place e.g a city, publisher.

    Cubayd, H.M (2016). The role of women in capital market growth. 2nd Edition, London, Everyone Publishers

  4. If it was retrieved from an internet link, show; Retrieved from ……

    for example: Cancer Research UK. Cancer statistics reports for the UK. (2003). http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/aboutcancer/statistics/cancerstatsreport/ Accessed 13 March 2003.

  5. Footnotes

    List any footnotes necessary consecutively at the end of the article. Arrange them based on the order of their usage in the article.

    In general, this journal will be based on APA 6th Edition format of referencing.

Tables and figures

Tables and figures will be placed at the top or bottom of the page closest to the relevant text. As graphic materials, especially figures, often have to be redrawn, the raw data in a spreadsheet or tables should be appropriately labelled and submitted separately. Other illustrations, e.g. maps, should be submitted electronically as .jpg files, or similar, at 360 dpi. and drawn to A5 or A6 size, as appropriate. The position of these graphic elements should be indicated by inserting a placeholder in the text, saying “Fig. 3 showing….”. Its source should also be indicated at the bottom of the figure. Authors are responsible for the factual accuracy of all such material and for the validity of all statistical inferences drawn from it.

Proof reading by the author

The article should be proof read by the author(s) before it is submitted. It has to be free from grammarly mistakes. All articles should be written in English. Avoid using strong vocabulary that is difficult to understand by the readers. Heavy and bombastic words make the language and article boring.

a) Qualities to be exhibited in the content

The reviewers and editor welcome articles that display the following characteristics:

  • The content is technically competent and professional in format;
  • It displays originality and is presented logically. It should be free from plagiarism.
  • Mathematical and statistical material, where used, is complete, well-organized and interpreted for the non-specialists. Even non-mathematicians should be able to understand statistical data presented.
  • The illustrative material is adequate and well explained.
  • The literature review is adequate and the bibliography reflects up-to-date research;
  • The theoretical underpinnings are up-to-date and are well integrated within the discussion and argument;
  • The methodological approach is appropriate and clear;
  • The article contributes significantly to current thinking or the development of the subject matter for which papers have been called for.

Note that, the editor is willing to work with authors to have articles published. It’s however not a guarantee that every article submitted will be published. Some articles may be archived and the authors are asked to keep in touch with the editor. At one time, they may be published after review by the editorial committee.

Submission Preparation Checklist

The following checklist is very important while you’re preparing to submit your article. In case an article does not adhere to or comply with these guidelines, it will be sent back to the author(s) for improvement;

  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  • The submission file is in Microsoft Word or rich text format but not PDF or any other format.
  • Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
  • The text is single-spaced; with a font size of 12, Times New Roman, employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the guidelines which have been given.
  • The name of the author and co-authors where they are, have been written on the article.

Sample articles

A template is available at the journal website to ease to the work of the authors.