Authors' Guidelines

PREPARATION SECTION

Scope

Authors intending to submit a manuscript to iRAPA International Journal of Business Studies (IJBS) should check whether the manuscript is consistent with the journal’s editorial strategies and scope. Manuscripts submitted to IJBS are welcome in all areas of empirical research, case studies, discussions, and critical reviews on a wide range of areas and themes that come under the ambit of South Asian and Southeast Asian business and management. The focus of the journal is on the research rigor, modelling, data-driven innovations, interpretation of results, and how the results of the research may be translated into practice. IJBS also publishes a variety of other papers having subject areas available at About the Journal.

Language

Please write your manuscript in good English, preferably after getting it edited and proofread by a competent authority.

Submission and Correspondence ID           

Manuscripts should be electronically submitted via Make a Submission. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor’s decision and requests for revision, is sent by e-mail integrated with Journal Managing System (JMS). Note: using JMS integrated email, the correspondents are requested to check their Spam/Trash folders.  

File Type

The manuscript should be submitted as a single Microsoft Word file including all contents. The author owns full rights of the text (subject content) provided and the changes will not be made by the editors and publishers. In the case of the reprinting of previously published or copyright-protected material, the author is solely responsible for obtaining permission in this regard.

Article Length/Word limit

The length of an article, including the title, author information, abstract, text, tables, figures, notes, references, and appendices must be between 5000 and 7000 words.

Submission Checklist

Authors can use the following list to carry out a final check of submission before sending it to the journal for review. Ensure that the following items are present:

One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:

  • E-mail address
  • Full postal address of affiliated institute

*Authors’ name, affiliation and any identity should not be included in the main manuscript rather they must be included in the “Add Contributors” section.

Include the files listed below:

  • Abstract
  • Keywords
  • All figures (include relevant captions)
  • All tables (including titles, description, footnotes)
  • Ensure all figure and table citations in the text match the files provided
  • Supplementary files (where applicable)

Please ensure the figures and tables included in the single file are placed either next to the relevant text in the article or on separate pages(s) at the end (not a mixture of both).

Further considerations

  • The manuscript has been 'spell-checked' and 'grammar checked'
  • All references mentioned in the Reference List are cited in the text, and vice versa
  • Permission has been obtained for use of copyright material from other sources (including the Internet)
  • A competing interest statement is provided, even if the authors have no competing interest to declare
  • Full form of abbreviations for abstracting and abstracting purposes should be presented in the manuscript.
  • Review journal policies detailed in this guide

Submission Declaration

It is IJBS’s editorial policy to welcome submissions for consideration, which are original and not under consideration for any other publication at the same time. All authors should be aware of the importance of presenting content that is based on their own research and expressed in their own words. Plagiarism is unacceptable and unethical. As per COPE Plagiarism Policy, originality guidelines are designed to assist authors in understanding acceptable and unacceptable practice.

IJBS allows similarity less than 19% in overall manuscript. In addition, plagiarism from each source should be less than 5%. In case a paper is extracted from own previously conducted research work, please place the following statement in the author’s note:

“I hereby declare that the given paper is extracted from my MPhil/PhD thesis and/or is an extension of my previous research work.”

FORMATTING SECTION

General guidelines for preparing the manuscript for submission are summarized in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.; APA, 2010; pp. 228–231). Authors may also find the following documents helpful for preparing manuscripts for submission in the IJBS.

 APA Kit 

Title Page

The first page of the manuscript should contain the title of the paper, the name(s) of the author(s), and a footnote giving the current affiliation of the author(s) and any acknowledgements or author’s note.

Abstract, Keywords, and Classification Codes

All manuscripts must include an abstract containing a maximum of 250 words typed on a separate page followed by five keywords or brief phrases (APA). The abstract should explain the purpose of the research, the primary results, major conclusions, and any policy prescriptions. It should not exaggerate or contain material, not in the main text. The abstract should be followed by JEL classification and keywords. Please provide up to 6 standard JEL/AMS codes. The available codes may be accessed at JEL (https://www.aeaweb.org/jel/guide/jel.php) or AMS (https://mathscinet.ams.org/msc/msc2010.html)

Introduction

A strong introduction engages the reader in the problem and provides a context for the study in hand. In introducing the research concern, the author should provide a clear rationale regarding why the problem deserves new research, placing the study in the context of current knowledge, and prior theoretical and empirical work on the topic. The summary of results should have been dealt with in the abstract.

Literature Review

The author needs to extend the background to the article’s introduction and identify the most relevant previous literature on the topic for positioning the paper and demonstrating its significance. A separate section for setting out the theoretical or conceptual framework is recommended. In short, this section of the literature review should explain the motivation for the paper and the importance of this research to the contributions.

Methodology/ Analysis

The author is required to provide an elaborate description of the methods used as well as an explanation of the processes applied to gather and analyse the data and that the methodology is appropriate and systematic.

Results & Discussion

Results should be clear and concise. The significance of the results of the research work, with no repeatedly mentioning of results in the text is often appropriate.

Tables, Figures, Formulas and Equations

Tables should be numbered and headed with appropriate concise titles. The tables are preferred to be presented after the main body of the text and not inserted in the manuscript. Tables for the main text and each of its appendices should be numbered serially and separately. The title of each table, as well as the captions of its columns and rows, should be clearly expressive of the contents. The source of the tables should be given in a footnote immediately below the line at the bottom of the table, but unlike other footnotes, which must be numbered consecutively, it should not be numbered.

Mathematical formulae/ Equations: Please include mathematical equations and expressions as editable text and not as images. Write equations and formulas using the equation editor.

Figure captions: Ensure that each illustration has a caption. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations to a minimum, but explain all symbols and abbreviations used. The resolution of the image should be 300dpi.

Tables: Please submit tables as editable text and not as images. Tables can be placed either next to the relevant text in the article, or on separate page(s) at the end (not a mixture of both).

Conclusions

The original contribution of the manuscript and the discussion of implications of findings should be clearly mentioned in this section. Provide a critical assessment of the limitations of the study, and outline possible directions for future research.

References

End References: IJBS requires all references in APA 7th edition format. All references used in the text should be listed in the alphabetical order of the authors’ surnames at the end of the text. References should be complete and correct. List of references is presented at the end of the paper under the heading ‘References’. Use of DOI is highly encouraged.

In-text citation: Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Reference management software such as Mendeley, EndNote etc. are preferable for reference citation.

Revised Submissions

Make sure that first accepted all changes previously listed under 'track changes', and that all embedded comments or highlighted text have likewise been removed. To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the "spell-check" and "grammar-check" functions of your word-processor.

Copyright

The manuscripts submitted in the IJBS must be original and unpublished. They must not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. The authors are solely responsible to acquire the permission to reproduce the copyrighted material from other sources, if necessary.

ORCID ID

ORCID provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher. Through integration in key research workflow, such as manuscript and grant submission, it supports automated linkages between you and your professional activities ensuring that your work is recognized.

IJBS requires all contributing authors and co-authors to provide their ORCID IDs, as they are important for indexing and profiling. IDs also enhance your integral search visibility all over the internet. ORCID IDs are for a lifetime and can be obtained free of charge through a simple registration process at https://orcid.org/.