Author Guidelines
Your article should have:
1. An abstract of 200 words maximum or very close to 200 – no references and subheadings in abstract.
2. Introduction – one paragraph only, no references, the final sentence must inform the reader what the article contains or how it is structured
3. Key words – five to eight (5-8) key words. Arrange in alphabetical order, include the country of study and ensure that each key word appears in the abstract and the main article.
4. Four key points, each less than 20 words. Each point tells the reader what your article has contributed to knowledge. This includes contribution to methods, findings, conclusions and implications.
5. Author details – surname, first names, department, institution and email address.
6. Body of the manuscript or main text.
7. Conclusion – one paragraph, no references.
8. References list
9. Acknowledgements – if you used artificial intelligence (AI), acknowledge and show how it was used. See our AI policy here.
The journal uses the ASWDNet guide available at https://africasocialwork.net/aswnet-guide-to-writing-journals/. If you intend to use a different guide or stye, please inform the editor.
Important issues
1. Use majority African references/authors/sources in the background, literature review, methodology, discussion; implications for social work. Literature from the Global South should be prioritised where African literature is not available.
2. Prioritizing African philosophy, theories, models and frameworks, and where these are not available, we request you to propose your own to guide your research or create your own after your research. Philosophies, theories, models and frameworks from the Global South should be prioritised where African ones are not available.
3. If you have done a literature review (scoping or systematic), provide a list of your sources (eg databases, libraries etc) and list of authors with works used in the review. Prioritize African sources.
4. Length of manuscript must be 5000 words maximum.
5. Follow ASDWNet formatting guide for headings, subheadings, citing and references.
6. Ensure that you read your paper more carefully before submission to get rid of minor errors.
7. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy (read policy). AI must not be used to create content and replace the authors’ role of problem identification and solving, idea generation, creativity and critical thinking roles. AI can’t replace sources, and it can’t be referenced as a source. All submitted manuscripts must be cleaned of all AI content by the author, editors and reviewers will check for inappropriate AI content and manuscripts that are based on AI content will be rejected. Where used, AI must be acknowledged in writing.
