Instructions for Authors

Instructions for Authors

American Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities

There is no submission fee.

Manuscript Submission

Manuscripts must be written in clear, concise, and grammatically correct English. Authors are responsible for ensuring that the manuscript is carefully prepared, properly formatted, and suitable for scholarly publication before submission.

All submissions must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration by another journal at the time of submission.

Manuscript Preparation Guidelines

Title Page

The first page of the manuscript must include the full title of the paper, full names of all authors, institutional affiliations, full addresses, and details of the corresponding author. The second page must contain an abstract of 250 words or less.

Abstract

The abstract should clearly present the main objective, methodology, key findings, and conclusion of the study. It should provide readers with a clear understanding of the contribution and significance of the research. The abstract should normally be between 150 and 250 words.

Highlights of the Paper

After the abstract, authors should include a section titled Highlights of the Paper. This section should contain 3 to 5 bullet points summarizing the main contributions, novelty, and findings of the research.

  • Each highlight should be concise and informative.
  • Each point should normally be one sentence.
  • Highlights should emphasize the originality and importance of the study.

Abbreviations

Any word or phrase to be abbreviated must be written in full at first mention, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. The abbreviation may then be used throughout the manuscript.

Illustrations and Figures

All illustrations, figures, charts, diagrams, and images should be numbered sequentially and inserted in the main body of the manuscript near the relevant text. Each figure must include a clear caption.

Tables and Supplementary Material

Tables should be used only where necessary and should present data clearly and concisely. Tables must be numbered sequentially and provided with short, descriptive titles. Tables should be inserted in the main manuscript text close to where they are first cited.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements should appear at the end of the manuscript before the references. Authors may acknowledge individuals, institutions, or organizations that contributed to the research but do not meet the criteria for authorship.

Funding Statement

If the research received financial support, authors must include a funding statement identifying the funding agency, grant number, and role of the funder. If no funding was received, authors should state: This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

For research involving human participants, authors must include an Institutional Review Board or ethics approval statement. The statement should include the name of the approving institution, approval number, and approval date where applicable.

Appendix

Appendices should be placed at the end of the manuscript after the references. Appendices may include supplementary tables, questionnaires, instruments, additional explanations, or supporting information relevant to the research.

Footnotes

Footnotes should be numbered consecutively in the text and should be used only when necessary. Authors are advised to avoid excessive use of footnotes.

Reference Style

The journal uses the APA style of referencing. Authors must ensure that all sources cited in the text appear in the reference list and that all references listed at the end of the manuscript are cited in the text.

References should be arranged alphabetically by the surname of the first author. The reference list should include complete bibliographic information, including author names, year of publication, article or book title, journal title or publisher name, volume, issue, page range, and DOI or URL where available.

Authors should use recent, reliable, and relevant sources. Where possible, journal references should include DOI links. Online sources should include the direct URL and retrieval date only when the content is likely to change over time.

In-text Citation Format

  • One author: (Anderson, 2020)
  • Two authors: (Rahman & Williams, 2021)
  • Three or more authors: (Chen et al., 2022)
  • Multiple sources in one citation: (Ahmed, 2019; Brown, 2020; Silva, 2023)
  • Same author, same year: (Miller, 2021a; Miller, 2021b)
  • Narrative citation: According to Johnson (2022), social policy reform requires...

General Reference Guidelines

  • Use hanging indentation in the final manuscript reference list.
  • List references alphabetically by the first author’s surname.
  • Use sentence case for article titles, book titles, and chapter titles.
  • Use title case and italics for journal titles.
  • Include DOI links in URL format where available.
  • Do not include personal communications in the reference list; cite them only in the text.

APA Reference Examples

Journal Article

Anderson, P. L., & Carter, M. R. (2020). Community participation and social development in urban societies. International Journal of Social Research, 12(3), 145–160. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/ijsr.2020.145

Journal Article with Three or More Authors

Chen, L., Silva, R. M., Ahmed, N., & Peterson, J. K. (2022). Educational inequality and digital access in developing regions. Journal of Education and Society, 18(1), 22–39. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/jes.2022.022

Advance Online Publication

Roberts, H. J., & Malik, S. A. (2023). Governance reforms and public trust in modern institutions. Public Policy Review. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/ppr.2023.017

Book

Taylor, G. M. (2019). Foundations of social science research. Horizon Academic Press.

Edited Book

Nelson, R. P., & Adams, K. L. (Eds.). (2021). Contemporary perspectives in humanities and culture. Global Scholars Press.

Chapter in an Edited Book

Hassan, F. A. (2020). Cultural identity and social transformation in postcolonial societies. In M. J. Cooper & A. L. Evans (Eds.), Interdisciplinary studies in culture and society (pp. 75–94). Academic World Publishing.

Newspaper Article

Bennett, L. (2022, May 18). Universities expand access to digital learning resources. The Global Education Times. https://www.example.com/digital-learning

Web Page

International Social Policy Forum. (2024). Social inclusion and sustainable development goals. https://www.example.com/social-inclusion

Web Page with No Date

Global Humanities Network. (n.d.). Research resources for humanities scholars. Retrieved January 15, 2024, from https://www.example.com/humanities-resources

Research Report

Centre for Development Studies. (2021). Urban poverty, employment, and social mobility: Annual research report. Centre for Development Studies.

Government Report

Ministry of Education. (2020). National education reform strategy 2020–2030. Government Printing Office.

Thesis or Dissertation

Walker, S. T. (2021). Social media communication and political participation among university students [Doctoral dissertation, Western Metropolitan University]. University Research Repository.

Conference Paper

Iqbal, M. R., & Fernandez, A. P. (2022, September 14–16). Migration, identity, and social integration in multicultural societies. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities (pp. 101–114). Social Research Association.

Conference Presentation

Morris, D. A. (2023, March 20–22). Digital archives and the future of humanities research [Conference presentation]. Annual Conference on Humanities and Information Studies, Singapore.

Dataset

Social Research Institute. (2022). Survey data on youth employment and education access [Data set]. Open Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/data.2022.08

Personal Communication

Personal communications, including interviews, letters, emails, and private discussions, should not be included in the reference list. They should be cited only in the text.

Example: (R. Ahmed, personal communication, February 10, 2023)

Final Manuscript Checklist

  • The manuscript is written in good English.
  • The title page contains complete author and affiliation details.
  • The abstract is between 150 and 250 words.
  • Highlights of the paper are included after the abstract.
  • Figures and tables are numbered and inserted in the manuscript text.
  • Acknowledgements, funding statement, and ethics statement are included where applicable.
  • References follow APA style and are listed alphabetically.
  • DOIs are included for references where available.
  • Appendices are placed at the end of the manuscript.

Submission Note

Authors are encouraged to carefully review these instructions before submitting their manuscripts to ensure a smooth editorial and peer-review process.