Submissions

Author Guidelines

GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS

Format of manuscript

Manuscripts should be prepared in English and authors are encouraged to maintain consistence in the English chosen. Use Times New roman font Size 12, with 1.5 line spacing and 2.5 cm margins allround, this includes all tables, graphs, and figures using  Microsoft Word. Number every page of the manuscript consecutively.

Outline for manuscripts

• Title page
• Abstract
• Introduction
•  Literature review(where necessary)
• Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgements (where necessary)
• References                                                                     

Narrative for manuscripts

 Title page

The title must be bold, black, 16 point Times New Roman font, maximum of 16 words,              single spaced, and centred on the top line(s) of the title page only. List all authors with their organizational affiliations through a superscript on the title page immediately following the title and put an asterisk for corresponding author and provide the email.

Abstract

All manuscripts must include a maximum 200 word abstract on the title page immediately following the author(s)' names. The first sentence of the abstract should indicate the objectives of the study. Subsequent sentences should indicate the location of the study, methods, and summarize major findings. The last sentence should articulate the major conclusion(s). Add up to 6 keywords one line below the abstract.

 Introduction

The Introduction should provide a clear description of the problem and review of the literature: Cite a variety of relevant studies that relate to the need for the current study and its significance. References should be as current as possible, unless a hallmark study is included. Compare findings of previous studies, clearly indicating all sources of concepts and data. The use of quotation marks should be limited to direct quotes from sources. The introduction should end with a clear statement of the purpose, hypothesis and/or research objectives.

 Literature review(where necessary)

This section should extend (but not repeat) the background to the article already dealt with in the Introduction and lay the foundation for the work being reported. It should identify the most relevant previous literature on the topic (but not in excessive detail) in order to position the paper and demonstrate how it will make a significant contribution. It (or a separate section) should set out (and justify) the theoretical or conceptual framework adopted in the paper. It may identify a number of hypotheses to be tested or research questions to be explored. In short, this section (or sections) should explain what the motivation for the paper is and why its contribution is original and significant.

 Methods

Materials and Methods should be complete enough to allow experiments to be reproduced.   However, only truly novel procedures should be described in detail; earlier published   procedures should be cited, and significant changes of published procedures should be mentioned briefly. Subheadings should be used. Methods in general use need not be described in detail.Specify the measurements and statistical tests used as well as related levels of significance.

Results

Results should be presented with simplicity, clarity and precision. The results should be  written in the past tense when describing findings in the authors' experiments. Summarize all relevant data and study findings. Do not repeat in the text the data reported in tables and figures verbatim, but do refer to the data and emphasize important findings.

Discussion

 The Discussion should evaluate and interpret the findings. Compare them with those of           other related studies.

Conclusion

Should be drawn from the findings of the research. This section should also make clear            what is the original contribution of the paper, discuss the policy or management implications of the findings, provide a critical assessment of the limitations of study, and  outline possible further research.

Acknowledgements (where necessary)

This section must identify the source(s) of funding for the research. It should acknowledge any research assistants or others who provided help during the research (e.g., carrying out the literature review; producing, computerizing and analysing the data; or providing language help, writing assistance or proof-reading the article, etc.) but who are not included among the authors. It should state where and when any earlier versions of the paper were presented (e.g. at a seminar or conference). Lastly, it should acknowledge the help of all    individuals who have made a significant contribution to improving the paper (e.g., by  offering comments or suggestions).

References

Harvard Referencing System is preferred for citations and references. Regardless of the  formatting style used, a bibliography/reference list is required at the end of the manuscript.         Do not mix formatting styles in the text. Reference: The references should be brought at the end of the manuscript, and should be in an alphabetic order. The reference list should  be cited in accordance with the following example.

Copyright:

Authors retain copyright of their work. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere.

Manuscript Submission

Upon submission, manuscriptswill be submitted to a plagiarism detection website to verifyauthenticity. All manuscripts will be reviewed using a 'double-blind' process in which reviewers are not informed who are the authors of the paper, as well as the authors not knowing who are the reviewers.

The manuscript file should be Microsoft Word file format. The manuscript should be arranged in the following sequence: Title-page, Abstract, Text, Acknowledgement(s), References, Legend to Figure(s), Table(s), Figure(s). Manuscript, after it has been  thoroughly checked by the corresponding author for conformity with the instructions as  detailed above, should be submitted as email attachment to the Editor-in-Chiefat both e-mails: asbs@cut.ac.zw, asbsjournal@gmail.com; chiefeditorasbs@cut.ac.zw. The author(s) should maintain consistency in the English chosen. The covering letter should certify that the manuscript has not been submitted elsewhere, has been seen by all co-authors, and should have the corresponding author’s functional email and telephone number. Covering letter should also contain emails of all authors. A manuscript tracking number will be assigned to each manuscript and the authors shall quote this number in all subsequent correspondence. The manuscripts will be handled by Associate Editors with expertise, as far as possible, in the area of the manuscript.