Author Guidelines

JOURNAL OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

www.bhu.edu.et/jikds

Email: jikds.bhu@gmail.com

abibekelema@gmail.com, or aabinet.bekele@bhu.edu.et

JIKDS AUTHOR’S GUIDE FOR PUBLICATION

JIKDS is an open-access and double-blind journal that is published twice a year by Bule Hora University, Ethiopia. It is intended to be a platform for the exchange of information and research results that describe significant advances related to the nexus of indigenous knowledge and development studies. It is committed to publishing quality works and serving as a communication medium among professionals, researchers practitioners, and other interested scholars. It initiates researchers and publishers to focus on community-oriented an issue that contributes to link development and indigenous knowledge. Thus, for a successful publication process clearly and concisely, all authors must follow this author's guide to publish in the JIKDS.

2.1. Formats of the Manuscript

All authors who are interested to publish in the Journal of Indigenous Knowledge and Development Studies (JIKDS) should have to consider the following basic formats.

• Word Count: 6,000 to 8,000 words maximum, excluding references, i.e., the main text only.
• Paper Size: A4
• Text: Garamond
• Heading and Sub-headings: a) Level-One Heading: are centered with head-line style capitalization and boldface type; b) Level-Two Heading: are a flush left with head-line style capitalization and boldface type; and c) Level-Three Heading: are indented with sentence-style capitalization and boldface type.
• Font Size: 12
• Line Spacing: One and, a half spacing, not single or double (1.15) for all texts except figures and tables which needs to be a single space (1)
• Margin: Normal (Top/Bottom/Left/Right: 1)
• Alignment: Justified
• Page Numbering: The page number format for the manuscript is Roman Numbers (at the bottom page on the middle).
• Abbreviations and Symbols: Use only standard abbreviations; the use of nonstandard abbreviations can be confusing to readers. Avoid abbreviations in the title of the manuscript. The spelled-out abbreviation followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis should be used on the first mention unless the abbreviation is a standard unit of measurement.

2.2. Contents and Structure of the Manuscript

• Title: A title page should be included, as the title is the main advertisement for the manuscript, and it should be short and simple. The title page should provide the complete contact information of the corresponding author(s), their institutional affiliations, and addresses.
• Abstract: This is a typical single paragraph that describes the research in limited words. It should be considered as an independent document that does not rely upon any material in the body of the report and, similarly, the body of the report does not rely upon any material in the abstract. The abstract should summarize the problem or objective of the research, and its method, results, and conclusions. Thus, it should have to: a) accurate: ensure that the abstract correctly reflects the purpose and content of the manuscript; b) non-evaluative: report rather than evaluate; do not add to or comment on what is in the body of the manuscript; c) coherent and readable: write in clear and concise language. Use verbs rather than their noun equivalents and the active rather than the passive voice; and d) concise: be brief, and make each sentence maximally informative, especially the lead sentence. Use 3-6 words (keywords) in your abstract that you think your audience will use in their electronic searches. A glossary can be included on a separate page (if any) next to the abstract page.
• Introduction: Make the introduction brief by providing context and background. It should state the problem being investigated, its contextual background, and the reasons for conducting the research. The background of the study should have to deal with the rationale providing evidence and conditions of the existing situation to make the reader feel the urgency of the problem and the need to study it in order to solve it or contribute to its solution. Besides, the background section should have to demonstrate the broader-narrow perspective i.e. the historical, theoretical, conceptual, and contextual elements of the study systematically. State the questions you’re answering and explain any findings of others that you’re challenging or furthering. Briefly and logically lead the reader to your hypotheses, research questions, and experimental design or method. Besides, the introduction requires a short review of the literature pertaining to the research topic. The introduction is then best constructed as a descriptive funnel, starting with broad topics and slowly focusing on the work at hand.
• Materials and Methods: This section should be detailed enough that readers can replicate your research, and assess whether the methods justify the conclusions. Identify the research design and the materials you used, specifying their source. Each method should be described in a separate section and describe each key procedure and technique used in the study and keep their explanations brief and concise. Describe the data analysis methods that were utilized to analyze the results, most likely in the final section of the methods section.
• Results and Discussion: This section presents findings objectively, explaining them largely in text. It’s where you show how your results contribute to the body of scientific knowledge, so be clear and logical. Describe the meaning of your results, especially in the context of what was already known about the subject. Summarize the most important findings and identify the most interesting, significant, and remarkable findings that were presented in the results section, and contrast these findings in light of other studies reported in the literature.
• Conclusions: Summarize your overall work, first, by introducing the work and then briefly stating the major results. Then state the major points of the discussion and end with a statement of how your work contributes to the overall field of study.
• Acknowledgments: Provide a brief statement acknowledging the efforts of any participants or consultants who are not included as authors of the manuscript. Keep acknowledgments brief, naming those who helped with your research; contributors, or suppliers who provided free materials. Identify grants or other financial support (and the source, if appropriate) for your study; and acknowledge colleagues who assisted in conducting the study or critiquing the manuscript.
• References: All references that have been cited in the text should have to be included. The format of citations and references must be in accordance with the American Psychological Association (APA) style of referencing. Thus, authors should refer to and follow APA sixth version before submitting the manuscript. LINK will be included!
• Tables and Table Captions: Tables should generally be included in a separate section after the references section. The tables should be headed with a caption and title in bold followed by a sentence or two that describes the content and impact of the data included in the table. The table itself should be formatted so that the data is clearly presented and easily interpreted by the reviewer, however, the table is likely to be reformatted by the journal to conform to its standards. Make sure that each table is referred to in the manuscript text; this will most likely occur in the results section, but may also occur in the introduction, methods, or discussion sections.

Figures and Figure Captions: As with the tables, figures can also be placed in a separate section after the References section. Again, clarity is the key factor, especially with images and graphs. All images should be as large as possible and include accurate scale bars. The graphs should be large, with data points and axis labels in a large font. Legends can be included within the graph or in the caption. All figures need a caption and the caption should identify the figure in bold, state a brief title to the figure, and succinctly present the significant result or interpretation that may be made from the figure (this may be modified from the results or discussion section text).