Ethiopian Journal of Social Sciences and Language Studies (EJSSLS) welcomes the submission of your manuscript. The journal emphasizes the importance of following these instructions carefully. Failure to do so will reject or delay the processing of your manuscript.

A.    General Formatting Guidelines

Text.  The Editorial Office will only accept text files in RTF or MS Word format. The final character count must be clearly indicated on the title page of the manuscript. Manuscripts that do not comply with the formatting guidelines, or exceed the length restrictions, may be returned to the authors for amendment.
Please submit the full text (including figure legends, tables, and references) as a single MS Word or RTF file.

B.    Manuscript Elements

Submitted manuscripts might include the following main sections:

1.    Title page

The total length of the running head should not exceed 50 characters (including spaces). The title should be concise, short and informative. It should not exceed 100 characters (including spaces). Serial titles are not accepted. Up to six keywords, which may or may not appear in the title, should be given in alphabetical order, below the abstract, each separated by a slash (/). The major words should be capitalized, but not minor ones. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible. However, commonly used acronyms are acceptable.

Author names and affiliations: The full name of each author should be given. It is preferred to write an author's first name, middle initial(s), and last name to reduce the likelihood of mistaken identity. Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly. Omit initials and all titles (e.g., Dr., Professor) and degrees (e.g., PhD, PsyD, EdD). Otherwise refer them to the foot note using number (s) in superscript. Multiple first-authorships are acceptable and should be indicated. Numbers in superscript should be used to indicate the department, institution, email, city with postal code and country, for each author. Any changes of address may also be given in numbered footnotes. The journal will by default address all correspondence to the single author listed as Corresponding Author upon submission.

2.    Abstract

A concise and factual abstract is required. This should be a single paragraph standing alone in italic, and not exceeding 250 words. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, instruments used to collect data, methods of analysis, the principal results and major conclusions as well as recommendation/implication. References should be avoided as much as possible. Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.

3.    Introduction

It is important to state the objectives of the work, to provide an adequate background, and to avoid a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results. Citation of the primary literature is required where appropriate (see section on Citations). The introduction should also justify why the study is important and that the content is original. The summary of results should be dealt with in the abstract, not here.

4.    Literature review, Conceptual Framework, Hypotheses

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 especially recent 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.

5.    Materials and Methods

This section should contain sufficient detail so that all (experimental) procedures can be repeated by others, in conjunction with cited references. The reader needs to know that the empirical data and/or other material are relevant, reliable and able to support robust conclusions, and that the methodology is appropriate, systematic and rigorous.

Identify subsections. In APA Manual Six Edition the following sub sections are indicated, in this order: Research participants characteristics; Sample size, power, and precision; Measures and covariates (e.g., written questionnaires, interviews, observations) as well as methods used to enhance the quality of the measurements (e.g., the training and reliability of assessors or the use of multiple observations), and research design.

 In cases where detailed methods cannot be described within the length limits of the article, additional Materials and Methods can be included as Supplementary Information. This additional information should, however, not be of immediate importance for the understanding of the manuscript, and it is not permissible to move the entire “Materials and methods” section into the online supplement.

6.    Results/Analysis

Results should be clear and conscience. Since analysis of data (be it quantitative or qualitative) and the reporting of the results of those analyses are essential aspects of the conduct of research, the report of the analysis must be accurate, unbiased, complete, and insightful. The result section should stand alone (should not be mixed with discussion) so that the researcher’s finding can be seen clearly. The Results section, and associated figures, tables and supplementary information, must accurately describe the findings of the study. Figure order should follow the text. Detailed methodological descriptions should be restricted to the Materials and Methods section. ‘Data not shown’ is not permitted: significant data should be displayed in the main figures or supplementary information.

7.    Discussion

The discussion should explore the significance of the results of the work. It should accurately interpret the results, but not be repetitive with the results section. Authors are encouraged to discuss their work in the broader context. Related published data must be appropriately discussed and cited. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature. Speculation is allowed but should be clearly labeled as such. A separated Results and Discussion section is often appropriate.

8.    Conclusion

The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Recommendation section. This section should also may make clear what is the original contribution of the paper, discuss the policy or other implications of the findings, provide a critical assessment of the limitations of study, and outline possible fruitful lines for further research.

9.    Recommendation

This part also may be presented in Recommendation section that may stand alone or form a sub section of the Conclusion section. But EJSSLS prefers the former.

10.    Acknowledgements

These should be placed at the end of the text and not in footnotes. Personal acknowledgements should precede those of institutions or agencies. Grant numbers are permissible. Dedications are discouraged.

11.    Figure Legends

Figure legends should contain sufficient information to allow the reader to follow the data presented without referring back to the text, but should not be redundant with the Results section. Each figure must contain a heading, and each panel a subheading. All symbols and abbreviations used in the figure must be defined, unless they are common abbreviations or have already been defined in the text. Experimental details should, where possible, be given in the Materials and Methods section, and not repeated in the figure legends. Legends should be limited to 350 words in length.

12.    Tables

You should use only Arabic numerals in all tables. Always cite the tables in the text in consecutive numerical order. For each table, please supply a table caption (title) explaining the components of the table. If you use data from another published or unpublished source, obtain permission and acknowledge that source fully. Footnotes to tables should be indicated by superscript lower-case letters (or asterisks for significance values and other statistical data) and included beneath the table body.

13.    Appendices

If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as appendix A, Appendix B, etc., for example. Formulae and equations in appendices should be given separate numbering: Eq. (A.1), Eq. (A.2), etc.; in a subsequent appendix, Eq. (B.1) , Eq. (B.2) , Eq. (C.1), Eq. (C.2)and so on. Similarly for tables and figures: Table A.1, Table A.2; Fig. A.1, Fig. A.2 etc.

14.     Citation in Text,   References, and Footnotes

As a matter of policy, The Journal requires the citation of primary literature (over review articles) wherever appropriate. Authors are responsible for ensuring that the related literature is accurately and comprehensively discussed and cited. Review articles should only be cited for general background information, the proposal of certain concepts or similar purposes, whereas primary research articles should preferentially be referenced to introduce the question being addressed or to support the conclusions and interpretations of the results. Articles in press can be cited with the explicit permission corresponding author of the study; the journal name has to be included and, where available, the Digital Object Identifier. Citation style shall follow APA. 

EJSSLS follows the APA (author/date) referencing style (or a slight variation of it in which space lines are single, for example). In this author/date referencing style, the author should indicate a reference in the text by giving his or her last name followed by date of publication (in parentheses, include initials if the paper refers to work by two different authors with the same family name; for Ethiopians name use the author’s name and not his/her father’s name ). If the author cites two or more publications at the same time, s/he has to separate these with a semicolon and list them in the order of alphabet and year of publication, at ascending order.  For every in-text citation in the paper, there must be a corresponding entry in the reference list. Below are given examples of citations in text, references, and footnotes.

14.1     In Text Citation

1.    If the name of the author occurs in the text, put the year of publication in parentheses. 

      Example:     Tesfaye (2014) reported that... 
                    Fekede (2014) found that…

2.    If the name of the author is not in the text, insert last name, comma, and year in parenthesis. 

      Example: In a study of Ethnic Federalism in Ethiopia (Cohen, 1995)…  
 
3.    If author's name and the date of publication have been indicated in the text, they should not be repeated within parentheses. 

     Example: In 2014, Dejene investigated Riddles among the Walisoo Liiban Oromo... 

4.    If the same author has published more than one article in a given year you can cite as

      Lundval ( 1992a & 1992b) has suggested …

5.    When referring to material on a web page, whenever possible, give page numbers (preceded by p. or pp.) for books

      Examples: Hunt (1974, pp. 25-69) confirms the hypothesis...

When referring to material on a web page, whenever possible, give paragraph numbers (preceded by  or para).

E.g. (Myers, 2000  5) 
For websites with neither page numbers nor paragraph numbers, cite the heading and the number of the paragraph following it.

Example: (Conclusion section, para. 1)

6.     If a work has two authors, always cite both names every time the reference occurs in the text.   Connect both names by using the word "and." 

      Examples: Abrahams and Dundes (1972)...    Finberg and Skipp (1973, pp. 37-52) discuss... 

7.    If a work has two authors and they are not included in the text, insert within parentheses, the last names of the authors joined by an ampersand (&), and the year separated from the authors with comma
      E.g.  … (Piaget & Smith, 1973)
         … (Piaget & Smith, 1973, p. 410) 

8.    If a work has more than two authors (but fewer than six)
     Cite all authors the first time the reference occurs; include the last name followed by "et al."
     and the year in subsequent citations of the same reference. 
 
    Example: First occurrence:    Williams, French and Joseph (1962) found... 
    Subsequent citations:    Williams et al. (1962) recommended... 

9.    Quotations:

1.    Cite the source of direct quotations by enclosing it in parentheses, if it is less than forty words or four lines.  Include author, year, and page number. 

       Example: Fifty percent "of spontaneous speech is estimated to be non-speech"
              (Shaughnessy, 1977, p. 24). 

2.     If the quotation is longer than forty words, use indented block (single spaced), without quotation marks.  The source is cited in parentheses after the final period.

       Example: This is further explained by Záhořík (2014) following statements:
 
            Federal composition of the country in its current shape and ethnic identity being the number one principle of this version of federalism also generate or at least transform various local, regional or trans-border conflicts along identity lines.  The most significant examples is the Silte-Gurage identity dispute which resulted in recognition of Silte separate ethnic identity although they were traditionally considered part of the Gurage ethnic group.  (p. 99)

3.  If citing a work discussed in a secondary source, name the original work and give a citation for the secondary source.  The reference list should contain the secondary source, not the unread primary source. 
Example:   Janis’s study (as cited in Tesema, 2014)

14.2      The Reference List

When compiling a reference list, pay particular attention to the following:  1) Capitalization, 2) Italics, 3) Sequence and 4) Spacing.
 
 
1)    Capitalization:

•    For all sources other than periodicals (that is, newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals), capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle and proper nouns only. Do not capitalize the rest.
•    All first letters of major words in periodical titles should be capitalized (for example, Psychology Today, Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved.)

2)    Italics : Titles are italicized for the following items:

•    Books, E-Books, Periodicals, Web sites, Dissertations/theses, Reports/technical papers, Works of art
3)    Sequence

•    Arrange entries in alphabetical order by surname of the first author.
 
•    Single-author entries precede multiple-author entries beginning with the same surname:
      Kaufman, J. R. (1981). 
     Kaufman, J. R., & Cochran, D. C. (1978). 

•    References with the same first author and different second or third authors are arranged    alphabetically by the surname of the second author, and so on:
     Kaufman, J. R., Jones, K., & Cochran, D. F. (1982). 
     Kaufman, J. R., & Wong, D. F. (1978) .

•    References with the same authors in the same order are arranged by year of publication, the   earliest  first:
Kaufman, J. R., Jones, K. (1977).
      Kaufman, J. R., Jones, K. (1980). 

•    The order of several works by different authors with the same surname is arranged alphabetically by the first initial:  
      Eliot, A. L. (1983).  
      Eliot, G. E. (1980). 

4)    Spacing

Items in a reference list should be single-spaced.  Also, use hanging indents: entries should begin flush left with subsequent lines indented (see examples below). Besides, use double space after a period, and single after comma, semi-colon, and colon.

A.    Books:

a)    One author:

 Castle, E. B. (1970).  The teacher.  London: Oxford University Press.

b)    Two authors:

McCandless, B. R., & Evans, E. D. (1973).  Children and youth: Psychosocial development. Hinsdale, IL: Dryden Press.

c)    Three or more authors: (list each author)

 Smith, V., Barr, R., & Burke, D. (1976).  Alternatives in education: Freedom to choose. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa, Educational Foundation.  Society, association, or institution as author and publisher: American Psychiatric Association. (1980).

d)    Chapter, essay, or article by one author in a book or encyclopedia edited by another:

 Medley, D. M. (1983).  Teacher effectiveness. In H. E. Mitzel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of educational research.  New York: The Free Press. 

B.     Journal Articles:

a.    One author:

Herrington, A. J. (1985).  Classrooms as forums for reasoning and writing.  College Composition and Communication, New York: The Free Press. 36(4), 404-413.

Tesema Ta’a (2014).  Pan-Africanism: A historiographical analysis.  EJSSLS, 1 (1), 63-77.

b.    Two authors:
 
Horowitz, L. M., & Post, D. L. (1981).  The prototype as a construct in abnormal psychology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 90(6), 575-585.

c.    Society, association, or institution as author:

 Institute on Rehabilitation Issues. (1975). Critical issues in rehabilitating the severely handicapped. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 18 (4), 205-213.

14.3      Footnotes

Footnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article, using superscript Arabic numbers, for example when you refer to titles and affiliation of authors.  Besides, indicate the position of footnotes in the text and present the footnotes themselves separately at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list.

C.     Article Language, Length,  Structure
 
1.     Language
Manuscripts must be written in clear and concise English and be intelligible to a broad readership. EJSSLS will not edit submitted manuscripts for style or language; reviewers may advise rejection of a manuscript if it is compromised by grammatical errors and intelligibility. Authors are advised to write admissible and to be checked by co-authors (if any) or by a copyediting service before submission. Pay attention to your usage of voices and tenses. When your focus is on the actor, use active voice (the journal suggests active voice):
Preferred: The researcher conducted the survey in a controlled setting,
None preferred: The survey was conducted in a controlled setting,
When your focus is on the object or recipient of the action rather than on the actor, you may use passive voice: For example "The Prime minister was shot" emphasizes the importance of the person shot.

Use the past tense when you discuss another researcher’s work, report results, and express an action or a condition that occurred at a specific, definite time in the past,
Correct: Berhanu (2014) presented similar results.
Incorrect: Berhanu (2014) presents similar results.
 
Use the present perfect tense to describe an action that began in the past and continued to the present,
Correct: Since that time, several investigators have used this method.
Incorrect: Since that time, several investigators used this method.

2.     Article Length

Original research article. Manuscripts for primary research articles should not exceed 20 pages. This includes title page, abstract and figure legends, but excludes references, tables and supplementary material. Articles can include up to 9 figures. Should your manuscript exceed this length, some material can be moved into the Supplementary Information section. In exceptional circumstances, however, the editor-in-chief with consultancy with a reviewer handling the paper may be willing to agree some latitude here with the author. Authors are encouraged to be concise for the interest of readers. Book reviews should not exceed 2000 words.
Article Review. These can be longer comprehensive reviews or short perspective-type reviews generally not exceeding 8,000 words. The text of the review should be organized appropriately for the topic and include a short perspectives or future directions section at the end.
Book Review. It should not exceed 2000 words. The text of this review should be organized appropriately.
Editorial . These typically consist of no more than 1,000 to 1,500 words and usually do not have subheadings.

3.     Structure–– Format and Style

i.    Formatting Text

a)    Headings: Subdivision numbered sections
Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2 ...), 1.2 (then 1.2.1, 1.2.2, etc. (the abstract, acknowledgment, and references are not included in section numbering). Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to 'the text'. Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line. However, it is preferable not to use more than three levels of displayed headings, for an article. The following headings’ style have been taken from APA 6th Edition.
 
For level 3, 4, and 5 APA suggests to begin body text after the period. However, EJSSLS suggests any level of heading to appear on its own separate line.
b)    Abbreviations

Abbreviations, unless it is widely known, should be spelled out in the text for the first time and used consistently thereafter.
c)    Margins
For the sake of binding, indent 1.5 –inch margins at the left and 1-inch margins at the top, bottom, and left of every page.
d)    Alignment
Justify the right margin (make the right margin even); for text use flush left, and divide words at the end of a line (use hyphenation).
e)     Indentation
Indent five spaces for every first line of a paragraph. For reference section, also, use hanging indents: entries should begin flush left with subsequent lines indented.
f)    Typeface (Font)

The font should be Times New Roman, 12-point, single spaced on one side of an A4 type white paper.

g)    Space

Use double space after a period, and single after comma, semi colon,  colon, and between lines.

D.    Manuscript Submission Checklist

Please, in addition to the forgoing requirements, consult the following details before sending your manuscript for review:

•    One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details: E-mail address, full postal address, and phone numbers.

•    All necessary files have been uploaded, and contain: Keywords, all figure captions, all tables (including title, description, footnotes).

•    Manuscript has been 'spell-checked', 'grammar-checked', ‘tense-checked’, voice –checked.’

•    References are in the APA format for this journal.

•    Double space used after a period.

•    Subsections have been numbered.

•    All references mentioned in the Reference list are consistently cited in the text, and vice versa.

•    Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Web).

•    Color figures are clearly marked as being intended for color reproduction on the Web (free of charge) and in print, or to be reproduced in color on the Web (free of charge) and in black-and-white in print.

•    If only color on the Web is required, black-and-white versions of the figures are also supplied for printing purposes.

Acknowledgments:  I would like to thank Ato Birhanu Beyene (Jimma University, school of Law) and Dr. Berhanu Abera (Addis Ababa University, Managing Editor of EJE) who supplied me with the materials that are very helpful in preparing this guide.

Tesfaye Gebeyehu
Editor-in - Chief
The Ethiopian Journal of Social Sciences and Language Studies (EJSSLS)