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Author Guidelines
✦ For Authors · AJRMG

Author Guidelines

How to prepare and submit a manuscript to AJRMG: format, structure, references, declarations and process.

Before you submit

  • ✓ Read the Aims and Scope and make sure your work fits the journal.
  • ✓ Submit only original work that no other journal has published or is considering. AJRMG welcomes manuscripts previously posted as preprints; tell us about the preprint in your cover letter.
  • ✓ Make sure every author has approved the submission and agrees to its content.
  • ✓ Check that you hold permission for any third-party material, such as figures, maps or long quotations.

Files to submit

  1. Title page (Word file), containing: the title; the names, affiliations, countries, email addresses and ORCID iDs of all authors; the corresponding author; acknowledgements; funding; and competing interests.
  2. Anonymised manuscript (Word file), containing the title, abstract, keywords, main text, references, tables and figure captions, with no information that identifies the authors.
  3. Figures as separate high-resolution files, (required at acceptance; optional at first submission).
  4. Cover letter, explaining the contribution and confirming originality.

How to anonymise your manuscript

  • Remove author names, affiliations and acknowledgements from the manuscript file.
  • Cite your own work in the third person, for example "Okafor (2023) argues", not "In our earlier work".
  • Remove names from the file properties (in Word: File, Info, Inspect Document).
  • Replace identifying details such as a named home institution or grant number with "[anonymised]".

Manuscript structure

Research articles normally follow this structure. Other article types may adapt it.

  • Title: concise and informative, no more than 20 words.
  • Abstract: 150 to 250 words, stating the purpose, approach, main findings and contribution. Do not cite references in the abstract.
  • Keywords: four to six, in alphabetical order.
  • Main text: Introduction; Literature or Theoretical Framework; Methods; Findings or Results; Discussion; Conclusion.
  • Declarations (see below).
  • References.
  • Appendices (if any).

Format and style

  • Microsoft Word (.docx), A4 page, 2.5 cm margins, 12 point font, 1.5 line spacing, page numbers.
  • British English spelling and consistent usage throughout.
  • Number headings up to three levels (1, 1.1, 1.1.1).
  • Spell out abbreviations at first use.
  • Write numbers one to nine in words and 10 and above in figures, except for units, percentages and statistics.
  • Write dates as 14 November 2026.
  • Use footnotes sparingly; do not use endnotes.
  • Write in a clear, direct style. We encourage the active voice.

Tables and figures

  • Number tables and figures consecutively and cite each one in the text.
  • Give every table and figure a short, descriptive title, and state the source below it.
  • Supply tables as editable Word tables, not as images.
  • Supply figures at a minimum of 300 dpi (600 dpi for line art) in TIFF, PNG, EPS or PDF format.
  • Make sure figures remain readable in greyscale and to readers with colour vision deficiency.

References

AJRMG follows the APA Publication Manual, 7th edition. List every in-text citation in the references, and every reference in the text. Arrange references alphabetically by the first author's surname. Give a DOI for every source that has one, written as a full link (https://doi.org/...).

In-text citations

  • One author: (Adebayo, 2024) or Adebayo (2024)
  • Two authors: (Mensah & Banda, 2022)
  • Three or more authors: (Okonkwo et al., 2021)
  • Direct quotation: (Mensah & Banda, 2022, p. 14)

Reference list formats

Source Format
Journal article Surname, A. A., & Surname, B. B. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Title, Volume(Issue), first page–last page. https://doi.org/xxxxx
Book Surname, A. A. (Year). Title of the book (Edition). Publisher. https://doi.org/xxxxx
Edited book Surname, A. A., & Surname, B. B. (Eds.). (Year). Title of the book. Publisher.
Book chapter Surname, A. A. (Year). Title of the chapter. In B. B. Surname (Ed.), Title of the book (pp. first–last). Publisher.
Report Organisation Name. (Year). Title of the report (Report No. if any). URL
Web page Surname, A. A. or Organisation. (Year, Day Month). Title of the page. Site Name. URL
Newspaper article Surname, A. A. (Year, Day Month). Title of the article. Newspaper Title. URL

Example: Holling, C. S. (1973). Resilience and stability of ecological systems. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 4, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.04.110173.000245

Declarations

Place the following statements at the end of the main text, under the heading "Declarations". In the anonymised manuscript, write "[removed for peer review]" where a statement would identify the authors.

  • Funding: name each funder and grant number, or state "The authors received no specific funding for this work."
  • Competing interests: declare any financial, professional or personal interest that could influence the work, or state "The authors declare no competing interests."
  • Ethics approval and consent: for research with human participants, name the approving ethics committee and reference number, and confirm informed consent. If approval was not required, explain why.
  • Data availability: state where readers can access the data, or explain why the data cannot be shared (for example, to protect participants).
  • Author contributions: describe each author's role using the CRediT taxonomy (for example, conceptualisation, methodology, analysis, writing).
  • Use of generative AI: state whether and how you used generative AI tools, and confirm that the authors checked and take full responsibility for the content.
  • Acknowledgements: on the title page only.

ORCID

The corresponding author must supply an ORCID iD, and we strongly encourage all co-authors to do so. Register free at https://orcid.org.

How to submit

Submit through the online system. Create an account, choose the article type and upload your files. You will receive an acknowledgement by email, and you can track the progress of your manuscript in your account. If you have difficulty with the system, write to submissions@ajrmg.org.

➤ Submit Manuscript Open Submission Checklist

After acceptance

  1. You sign a publishing agreement granting AJRMG a licence to publish under CC BY 4.0. You keep your copyright.
  2. Our copy editors prepare the manuscript, and you receive proofs. Please return corrections within five working days. At proof stage we accept only corrections of errors, not new content.
  3. We publish the article online in its final form ahead of the issue, with its own web page and, once available, a DOI.
  4. The article then appears in the next issue, with page numbers.