Author Instructions-Guidelines

Instructions and Guidelines for Authors

  • The author(s) shall carefully read the author guidelines and ensure that all requirements and conditions of the IDEA-PG journals are fulfilled before submitting the manuscript.
  • The corresponding author shall submit the manuscript to the editorial team through the online system of the IDEA-PG journals in Microsoft Word format.
  • Before submitting the manuscript, the corresponding author must register and log in to the user account on the IDEA-PG journals website portal (online system).
  • An author can publish a maximum of one manuscript per issue, either as the principal author or a co-author.
  • A member of the editorial team, including editors, editorial board members, and editorial advisors of an IDEA-PG journal, is not eligible to submit a manuscript for publication as a principal or co-author in the same journal.
  • The corresponding author shall ensure that the manuscript is free of plagiarism, that the overall similarity is not more than 10% (if any), that the similarity from a single source is not more than 4%, and that proper citations are provided in the manuscript with the source(s) where required.
  • According to HEC-Pakistan's policy, the Editor may allow a similarity of up to 19% in exceptional cases.
  • The author(s) shall ensure that any data or ideas taken from other sources are cited correctly and in accordance with international standards of academic publishing, as well as the format, style, and requirements of the IDEA-PG journals.
  • The author(s) must adhere to and ensure compliance with international standards of research ethics throughout the manuscript's design, conduct, writing, revisions, and publication. 
  • The author(s) must insert their ORCID iD at the submission stage within the relevant section of their user account in the IDEA-PG journals.
  • The author(s) must allow their ORCID IDs to be embedded in the article metadata in the online system of the IDEA-PG journals.
  • The corresponding author shall provide complete affiliation details for the author(s) at the manuscript submission stage, including all affiliations if the author(s) have affiliations with more than one institution.
  • Both the official and personal Email IDs of the corresponding author and the ORCID IDs of all authors will be included in and printed on the online and print versions of the published manuscript.
  • The minimum word limit for a quantitative study manuscript is 4000-6000 words, including the list of references.
  • The length of a manuscript for a qualitative and mixed-methods study should be 5,000-8,000 words, including the list of references.
  • The authors shall ensure that the manuscript is edited by an English language expert, preferably a native speaker, before submission to the IDEA-PG journals.
  • The style of referencing and citations must follow APA guidelines (latest edition).
  • An in-text citation style shall be used for citing references, accompanied by a complete list of references at the end of the manuscript.
  • The author(s) shall ensure that the manuscript includes the latest citations and that globally reputed authors have been cited, particularly writers or researchers from the country or countries about which the manuscript is written.
  • The IDEA-PG journals editorial team reserves the right to edit, modify, or make additions or deletions to the manuscript. The editorial team may request the corresponding author to do so at any stage if necessary.
  • The text of the draft manuscript should be single-spaced, using 12-point font, and italics should be used rather than underlining (except for URLs).
  • All illustrations, figures, and tables shall be placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end of the manuscript.
  • The author(s) shall ensure that the manuscript is not already submitted and is under review for publication elsewhere.
  • The IDEA-PG journals will not accept manuscripts that have already been submitted elsewhere and are under review for publication.
  • The corresponding author shall ensure that there is no conflict of interest among or between the principal author and the co-authors.
  • Once a manuscript has been forwarded to the peer-review stage, the author(s) cannot withdraw it, except in cases of genuine reasons that the corresponding author must justify.
  • Manuscripts considered for peer review in the IDEA-PG journals must not be submitted or published elsewhere unless rejected.
  • A manuscript considered for editorial review and/or peer review does not imply acceptance or approval for publication in the IDEA-PG journals.
  • An acceptance letter for the manuscript may be issued after peer review only if the editorial committee recommends the revised manuscript for publication in the IDEA-PG journals.
  • The manuscript, having undergone editorial review (desk review), peer review, acceptance by the editorial committee, and approval by the Editor, is published by the IDEA-PG journals.
  • The dates of submission, revision, re-revision(s), acceptance, and publication shall be indicated on the published version of the manuscript.
  • The author(s) must allow the IDEA-PG journals the non-exclusive right to circulate the manuscript and all other derivative works, such as translations.
  • The author(s) shall provide a signed agreement form, undertaking that all the requirements of the IDEA-PG journals are fulfilled before and during the manuscript submission.

 

[Last updated: 21-Mar-2025]