Author Guidelines
On behalf of the Editorial Board, the Chief Editor invites submission of papers for publication in the Journal of Policy and Leadership. The JPL is a multidisciplinary journal owned and published by the School of Public Administration and Management at Mzumbe University. The Journal accepts original and research manuscripts for publication. Academicians, consultants, practitioners, professionals, and other stakeholders who wish to publish with JPL are welcome to submit manuscripts.
Aims and Scope
The JPL brings together a collection of concise articles that draw on African contexts to advance the science of leadership, policy, and public management. Published papers simulate a great integration of leadership, public policy and administration research and propose constructive alternatives to future research agendas to guide leaders and policy management.
Guidelines for Authors
The Centre for Policy and Leadership of the Department of Public Service- Human Resources Management (PS-HRM) at the Mzumbe University in Tanzania publishes the Journal of Policy and Leadership (JPL) bi-annually. It is a double-anonymised peer- reviewed journal. It aims to disseminate new knowledge among academics, professionals, and researchers. It comprises high-quality research papers in public policy, governance, management, and related multidisciplinary studies.
Copyright
Articles submitted to the Journal should not have been published before or be in the process of under review in another journal. The copyright of articles, review articles and book reviews published in JPL is reserved for JPL. However, authors can obtain permission, in advance, from the Editor-in-chief to reprint/ reproduce the whole or a part of the paper published in JPL. Please note: Once the JPL processes and accepts a manuscript for publication within the advertised time framework, it does not accept withdrawal of the manuscript for publication somewhere else.
Reviewing Process
The Editor-in-Chief will examine all submitted manuscripts according to the criteria of the JPL before sending them to the reviewers. The manuscripts of acceptable quality will be submitted to at least two peer reviewers. Based on the recommendations of the specialised reviewers in the field of the submitted manuscript, the JPL Editorial Board will decide whether to accept it as it is, accept it after corrections, or outright reject it for publication. The JPL Chief Editor will inform the authors of the verdict.
Submission
A softcopy of the manuscript (MS Word) should be emailed to jpl@mzumbe.ac.tz while providing the information on:
1. Title of the article/review paper/book review (not more than 15 words)
2. Brief biographical note of each author's full name, affiliations, address for correspondence, telephone and fax numbers, email addresses, and acknowledgement (if any) in a separate paper. For multiple authors, one author should indicate the corresponding author.
3. Plagiarism report. JPL has zero tolerance for any plagiarised work. NOTE: JPL accepts only similarities of common concepts/terminologies.
4. Submission time limit: On rolling basis or continuous article publication (CAP)
Language
The acceptable language is British English. Authors are required to ensure the accuracy of language.
The structure of the manuscript is as follows:
i. The first page should show the study's title, the author's name/s with affiliations, and contact details (telephone numbers and email addresses).
ii. The abstract should be limited to 250 words, and the keywords
iii. Literature Review (allowed including subheadings)
iv. Methodology and Materials
v. Presentation of findings and Discussion (Authors can merge separate findings and discussions)
vi. Conclusion and Recommendations, Limitations of the study and areas for further studies
vii. References (please follow the link for the references list in the research paper: https://libguides.murdoch.edu.au/APA/all).
viii. These general criteria can vary with the nature of the article (article, review paper, book review).
Title page: The title page should contain the article's title, the names of all authors, and their institutional affiliations. The name of the corresponding author should be marked by (*), and his/her full postal address with city, zip code, country, telephone number, fax number, and email address should be mentioned.
Abstract: The abstract should be concise, 250 words or less, describing an issue under investigation (background), the purpose, methods, key results, and the derived conclusion of the study.
Keywords: 3 to 5 keywords should characterize the scope and central aspects of the study.
Introduction: This section should contain all essential background information. The authors should indicate a specific research problem and the aim of the study. Unnecessary and undue explanations make the introduction cumbersome.
Methodology: The explanation of the experimental methods and tools should be concise and enough for replication by other investigators. Procedures that have been published previously should be described differently. Sources and grades of chemicals and materials and the maker of equipment used during the investigation should be indicated. Methods of statistical analysis should be clearly described. Tables and figures should be cited in the methodology and findings and placed in proper locations.
Results and Discussions: It should contain the scientific interpretation of findings and justifications of investigation. It should also include the conclusion(s) drawn from the results and its contribution to society. (NOTE: Authors can separately present Results and Discussions)
Limitation of the study and areas for further studies. The explanation of some methodological, theoretical, scope and concept issues with the implication of the findings and proposed areas for further studies.
Acknowledgement: All persons/organizations that have made substantial contributions but are not eligible as authors should be included in the acknowledgement.
References: References should follow the APA style. (For more details, follow the link https://libguides.murdoch.edu.au/APA/all).
Formatting guidelines
i. File type: MS Word ii. Page size: Letter iii. Title - Font 16, Bold, Times New Roman (each main word of the heading should begin with a capital letter) iv. Author/s names - Font 12, Bold, Times
New Roman (without title like Dr., Prof., etc.).
v. Name of the Institute affiliation with University, City, Country, Email ID - Font 12, Italic. Times New Roman, spacing 1.0 vi. Headings - Font 14. Bold. Times New Roman (should be on the left-hand side of the page, and each main word of the heading should begin with a capital letter)
vii. Sub Heading - Font 12, bold, Times New Roman (should be on the left-hand side of the page, and each main word of the heading should begin with a capital letter)
viii. Style of the manuscripts (except mentioned separately) - Font 12, Times New Roman,
ix. Line and paragraph spacing - 1.5. Enter one gap before the next heading started
x. The table - format auto-fit to the window (Cell Align- Top left)
xi. Table No: - Times New Roman, Font 12, Italic, Left Align (above the diagram)
xii. Figure No: - Times New Roman, Font 12, Italic, and Left Align (above the diagram)
xiii. The paragraph should be justified
xiv. All margins should be normal (1", Left, Right, Top and Bottom) xv. The full manuscript should be a maximum of 6,000 and 10,0000 words.
xvi. Each page of the manuscript should be consecutively numbered (Page Number -Centre, Bottom)
