Preparing Your Manuscript

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal

Preparing Your Manuscript

Structure, formatting, abstract, keywords, headings, references and figures for manuscripts submitted to ASSRJ.

Before you start

Confirm that your manuscript fits the Aims & Scope; is original and not published or under consideration elsewhere; has the approval of all authors; and includes the declarations described in Ethics and Disclosures. Prepare your manuscript using the ASSRJ template and the required citation style.

Templates & downloads

Prepare your manuscript using the Scholar Publishing template, and use the EndNote output style for the numbered reference format:

File format

Submit the editable manuscript as a Microsoft Word file (.docx). The submission system also accepts OpenOffice and RTF files. Keep the layout simple and single-column; most formatting is replaced during typesetting. Use the spell-check and grammar-check tools before submitting.

Manuscript structure

▸Title page (see below)
▸Abstract and keywords
▸Main text
▸Declarations — Funding; Conflicts of Interest; Data Availability; Author Contributions (CRediT); Ethics & Consent; Use of Generative AI
▸References
▸Tables and figures with captions
▸Supplementary files (if any)

Title page

▸A concise, informative title (avoid abbreviations).
▸The full name of each author.
▸Each author’s affiliation and country.
▸Each author’s ORCID iD (register free at orcid.org).
▸The corresponding author’s email address.

Abstract and keywords

▸An abstract of 150–250 words summarising the purpose, approach, main findings and contribution, with no undefined abbreviations and no citations.
▸4–6 keywords for indexing, separated by commas.

Main text

Use a clear structure appropriate to your method. For empirical research articles we recommend: Introduction (context, problem, research questions, contribution); Literature Review / Theoretical Background; Methodology (design, data and analysis in enough detail to allow assessment and, where relevant, replication); Results / Findings; Discussion (interpretation, implications, limitations); and Conclusion (including future directions). Qualitative, conceptual and mixed-methods papers may adapt this structure.

Use numbered headings (1, 1.1, 1.1.1) to a maximum of three levels. Use a standard, readable font and consistent spacing throughout, as per the template.

Required statements

Place these after the main text and before the references, stating “None” or “Not applicable” where relevant — but do not omit any:

▸Funding — all sources, with grant numbers.
▸Conflicts of Interest — financial or non-financial interests that could be perceived to influence the work.
▸Data Availability — whether and how supporting data can be accessed.
▸Author Contributions — using CRediT.
▸Ethics & Consent — ethics approval and informed consent.
▸Use of Generative AI — disclosure of any AI assistance.
▸Acknowledgements — non-author contributions (optional).

Author biographies

Up to 100 words per author, optional.

References & citation style

Option A — Numbered style (matches the current ASSRJ EndNote style)

▸Cite references in the text by number in square brackets, in order of appearance: “this was contradicted later [5]”, “widely studied [1–3, 7]”.
▸Number entries in the reference list consecutively in the order cited.

Option B — APA 7th edition (author–date)

▸One author: (Becker, 2021) or “Becker (2021) argued…”.
▸Two authors: (Becker & Seligman, 2020). Three or more: (Becker et al., 2019).
▸Direct quotation: include the page, e.g. (Becker, 2021, p. 47).
▸Arrange the reference list alphabetically by first author’s surname.

Reference-list rules (both styles)

▸List only works cited in the text that are published or accepted for publication.
▸Include a DOI (as a full https://doi.org/ link) for every source that has one.
▸Cite personal communications and unpublished data in the text only; do not list them.
▸Do not use footnotes or endnotes as a substitute for references.

Figures, tables & supplementary files

Tables

▸Create tables with your word processor’s table function — do not paste them as images or embedded spreadsheets.
▸Number tables consecutively with Arabic numerals and cite each in order in the text.
▸Give every table a short descriptive caption; indicate footnotes with superscript lower-case letters.

Figures and artwork

▸Number figures consecutively and cite each in order.
▸Supply figures at a resolution suitable for publication (≥300 dpi).
▸Provide a concise caption; label figure parts with lower-case letters (a, b, c).
▸Use colour-blind-friendly palettes and ensure legibility in greyscale where colour is not essential.

Equations

Prepare equations with the word processor’s equation editor or MathType.

Supplementary and data files

You may submit supplementary files (for example questionnaires, interview schedules, coding frames, additional tables, datasets). Cite each in the text. Where the files are research data, follow the Data Sharing & Research Transparency guidance in Ethics and Disclosures.

Permissions

For any table, figure or extended quotation reproduced from another source, obtain written permission from the copyright holder and cite the source in the caption. Permission documentation must reach the editorial office before final acceptance.