Author Guidelines
Style and Format
Contributors should consider the following requirements to prepare their manuscripts for
submission to the AJEBR.
Title page of the manuscript
The following should appear on the title page:
a) The full title of the manuscript
The title should be short, not more than 15 words, attractive and straightforward
directed at the general reader. Contributors are encouraged to avoid lengthy names and
complicated ideas from their titles. Abbreviations and symbols should not be used - in
a title.
b) The name (s), full address, and institutional affiliation of the authors (s)
The author (s) of a manuscript should give his/her/their full name (s). To give due
acknowledgment to all authors contributing to the work, those who have contributed to
the research should be listed as co-authors. Upon submission of the manuscript, the
corresponding author attests to the fact that those named as co-authors have agreed to
its submission for publication and accepts the responsibility for having properly
included all (and only) co-authors. If there is a difference in the level of contribution of
the co-authors, the corresponding author should provide a statement specifying the
contribution of each co-author. Besides, the corresponding author signs a copyright
license on behalf of all co-authors.
c) The title page should also include the academic and/or other professional affiliations
and the complete mailing address of the author(s). Affiliations should be indicated at
the bottom of the title page with an asterisk if it is a single author and by numerical
superscripts against each name if more than one author.
Abstract
The abstract should summarize the content of the paper. It should provide a clear and precise
description of what the study is about including the problem, objective, method, major findings,
conclusion, and recommendations. Do not make references nor display equations and
abbreviations in the abstract. The abstract should not exceed 250 words including key words.
It should be italicized, written in single line space, with ten font size.
Keywords
The keywords should be placed under the abstract. About 3 to 6 keywords or phrases related
to the study can be stated in alphabetical order, separated by a comma.
Introduction
The introduction section should explain the nature of the problem, previous related works on
the topic, and the purpose and contribution/s of the paper. Hence, this introduction section may
also contain theoretical and empirical evidence in to put the major problem or topic of the study
into context, show existing knowledge gaps in the area, derive objectives, and emphasize major
contributions of the study.
Material and methods
Description of the Study Area and Population
It is optional based on the nature and type of the study. Hence, it is not mandatory for all
contributions (in some disciplines such as anthropology, authors may use the last one or two
paragraphs of the introduction section under the description of the study area, population, and
even duration of their study). This section under the description of the study area may contain
a brief explanation about the location of the study area, physical setting, climate, population,
social, economic, and cultural aspects of the study area. Map of the study area can also be
included; if the author believes it is important.
Methods
The research methods used for the study should be stated in this section. This section includes
research design, sampling techniques, tools for data collection, methods of data collection, and
methods of data analysis.
Conceptual Framework
It is optional based on the nature of the study. It is not mandatory for all papers. Conceptual
framework can be depicted in the form of figures (e.g. flow charts, diagrams etc.), in the form
of written statements or both. The conceptual framework should be a brief description of the
study that depicts major variables and their relationship as a reflection of the analyses within
in the context of the study.
Results and Discussion
This section includes the results or findings of the study supported by discussion. It contains
data presentation, data interpretation and/or discussion substantiating the result of the study
with other relevant literature, theory, and empirical evidence. Authors may use narrations,
descriptions, tables, graphs, charts, statistical models, formulas, etc., to write this section
depending on the type of data and research approach employed in their study. In this section,
authors are expected to show their unique and/or new contributionsto knowledge by comparing
their findings with existing literature.
Conclusion and Recommendations
This section includes the conclusion and recommendations. The conclusion statement should
include major conclusive ideas of the paper. However, do not replicate the abstract within the
conclusion section. The conclusion may magnify major findings of the study and its implication
as well as the importance of the work for practical application of knowledge and extension of
ideas. Recommendations (though not always mandatory for all disciplines) of the study should
be stated following the conclusion with brief statements. The recommendation may deal on
suggestions of remedial options for intervention by concerned bodies to manage investigated
issues within the study.
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments appear in a separate paragraph after conclusion section, but before the
references, and should be as brief as possible. All sources of funding should also be declared
for articles published from funded projects.
References and Citation of Notes
This section deals with in-text citation and referencing techniques that should be applied under
social science, business, and economics research.
In-text Citation
Social Sciences, business, and economics dominantly follow the American Psychological
Association (APA) style of referencing. Ensure that every reference cited in the text is also
present on the reference list (and vice versa). Personal communications are not recommended
on the reference list but maybe mentioned in the text and indicated in footnotes. Citation of a
reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication. Direct quotations
should be as short as possible and should be reproduced exactly in all details (spelling,
punctuation and paragraphing) as the original. Short quotations (four or less than four lines)
should run in to the text and enclosed in quotation marks. Similarly, long quotations (five or
more than five lines) should be set off from the text in a separate paragraph indented (five
spaces from the left) and single-spaced between lines. Quotation- marks are omitted.
References should be cited in the text as follows:
§ Use et al. when citing a work by more than three authors.
Example: The nexus between environment and development, as Rony et al. (2016) states
that...
§ The letters a, b, c, and so on should be used to distinguish citations of different works by the
same author/s in the same year.
Example: FAO (2010b) recommends that...
§ Only the first name of Ethiopian authors should be cited in the text.
Example: Demel Teketay should be cited as (Demel, 2016)
§ Essential notes should be indicated by consecutive superscript numbers in the text and in
the footnotes.
§ Authors of all references cited in the text and other supporting materials should be listed
alphabetically in a section entitled References.
§ Ethiopian names should be written in full in the References, and the order should be: first
(given) name followed by third name.
§ Honorific titles such as Prof., Dr., W/ro, W/rt, Ato, Mr. Mrs. Commander, etc. should be
avoided in citation and references.
Reference Style
A reference list must be included using the following information as a guide. Only cited text
references are included. All references must be arranged in alphabetical order.
The references should be arranged alphabetically by the author’s last name (for all authors
except Ethiopian authors) then chronologically per author. Publications by the same author in
the same year should be listed by year followed by the letters a. b. c. etc. (e.g. 2002a. 2002b,
2002c.). Some examples of referencing for different published and unpublished sources are
illustrated below:
Journal Article References
Author (s), year of publication (in parenthesis), title of the article (sentence case), full name of
Journal (in italic), volume, issue number (in parenthesis), and page numbers in full separated
from volume number with a colon. Where page numbers are not known, articles should be cited
by DOI (Digital Object Identifier).
Examples:
• Gemedo Dalle., Brigitte, L., and Isselstein, J. (2005). Plant Biodiversity and Ethnobotany
of Borana Pastoralists in Southern Oromia, Ethiopia. Economic Botany, 59(1): 43-65
• Tamire Geda and Mengistu Seyoum. (2013). Zooplankton community grazing rates in a
small crater Lake: Lake Kuriftu, Ethiopia. SINET: Ethiopian Journal of Science 36(1): 1-
18.
Book(s) References
Author (s), year of publication (in parenthesis), the title of the book (bold font), publisher, and
place of publication (city/town)
Examples:
• Perrott, E. (1982). Effective Teaching: A Practical Guide to Improve your Teaching.
Longman Inc: New York.
• Nair, P. K. R. (1993). An Introduction to Agroforestry. Kluwer Academic Publishers:
London.
Proceedings References
Author(s), year of publication (in parenthesis), title of the publication in italics, name of the
proceedings (bold font), pages, place (city/town, country)
Examples:
• Sebsebe Demisse and Edwards, S. (2006). The Diversity of Vegetation Types,
Agricultural Systems and Their Crops in Ethiopia. Proceedings of the Workshop on
Facilitating the Implementation and Adoption of Intergrated Pest Management
(IPM) in Ethiopia, pp 92-107, Melkassa Agricultural Research Center, Melkassa,
Ethiopia
• Eshetu Derso, Teame Geberzgi and Girma Adugna (2000). Significance of minor
diseases of Coffee arabica in Ethiopia. In: Proceedings of the Workshop on Control
of Coffee Berry Disease (CBD) in Ethiopia, pp. 35-46, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Thesis References
Author(s), year of publication (in parenthesis), title of the thesis, type (M.A., MSc. MPhil or
PhD), University, Country
Example:
• Mwavu, E. N. (2007). Human Impact, Plant Communities, Diversity and Regeneration
in Budongo Forest Reserve, North-western Uganda. University of the Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg.
Web References
The full URL and the date the reference was last accessed should be provided. Any further
information, if known (e.g., DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.),
should also be given.
Example:
Toni, R.L. and Culvert, L.L. (2003). Safer Hospital Stay and Reducing Hospital-Born
Infections. Health Scout News. http://www.healthscout.com, (accessed January 9, 2010).
Other Important Rules
Length of an Article
Manuscript should not exceed 8,000 words, including references and the abstract. The abstract
should be provided in a separate page.
Use the following formats for manuscript submission.
Heading
The headings and sub-headings starting with "1. Introduction", appears in upper and lower
case letters and should be set in bold and aligned flush left. All headings from the Introduction
to Acknowledgements are numbered sequentially using 1, 2, 3, etc. Subheadings are numbered
1.1, 1.2, etc. If a subsection must be further divided, the numbers 1.1.1, 1.1.2, etc. will be used.
The font size for the heading is 11 points bold face and subsections with 10 points and not
bold. Do not underline any of the headers, or add dashes, colons, etc.
Indentations and equations
The first paragraph under each heading or subheading should be flush left, and subsequent
paragraphs should have a five-space indentation. A colon is inserted before an equation is
presented, but there is no punctuation following the equation. All equations are numbered and
referred to in the text solely by a number enclosed in a round bracket (i.e., (3) reads as "equation
3"). Ensure that any miscellaneous numbering system you use in your paper cannot be confused
with a reference [4] or an equation (3) designation.
Tables and figures
To ensure a high-quality product, diagrams and lettering must be either computer-drafted or
drawn using India ink.
1. Tables
§ Tables and graphs should be of reproducible quality. They should include only comprehensive captions and not duplicate material presented in the text. Moreover, they should be given short titles, and properly labeled, and carefully drawn. All sources should be placed under the table. Furthermore, each table must
have a caption at the top and fully showing the content with the table numbered in Arabic numbers (i.e., Table 1, Table 2, etc.).
§ Table captions appear centered above the table in upper and lower case letters. When referring to a table in the text, no abbreviation is used, and "Table" is
capitalized.
2. Figures
§ Figures should contain numerals as captions at the bottom of or below the figure. Figure numerals and colon should be in bold, and the caption in the normal case. Each figure must be fully cited if taken from another source, and referred to in the body of the article. Colored figures shall be used only if it is very important.
§ Figure captions appear below the figure, are flush left, and are in lower case letters. When referring to a figure in the body of the text, the abbreviation "Fig." is used. Figures should be numbered in the order they appear in the text.
Transliteration:
Transliteration of Specific Languages
For languages using the Ethiopic (fidäl) script, please follow the system employed by
Encyclopaedia Aethiopica.
