Establishment and Profile of the Journal of Business Research
The Journal of Business research (ISSN: 0855 – 806X) is an International journal published by the Institute of Professional Studies in collaboration with several professional institutions. Specialists and Experts in the fields of Business Management referee the Journal papers for publication.
Aim and Scope
The Journal, the mouth piece of the Institute seeks to promote and disseminate knowledge which addresses issues of Business in developing economies.
Submission of Papers
JBR welcomes papers form the general academia and professionals. The Journal will intermittently call for specific topics of interest. The Journal will also host international peer reviewed conferences to select best rated papers for publications and where necessary for awards.
Procedure for Submission
1. All submissions and correspondence should be sent to:
The Chief Editor: Goski Alabi
Journal of Business Research
IPS, Legon, Accra.
Tel: +233 21 500171 ext 128, Fax: +233 21 513539,-
email: ipsjournal@yahoo.com
JBR accepts electronic submissions. Mansucripts, drawings, photographs and CDs should be packed securely and mailed in a strong envelope to avoid damage. Electronic versions can be sent as documents attached to e-mails. The use of e-mails attachment is encouraged for a correspondence. Charts and figures should not be incorporated into the work but put in separate files. The author must indicate in the text where the items may be located.
The Editorial Board determines the format of presentation of all reviewed and accepted papers. The reviewed process will take eight (8) to twelve (12) weeks. It is required of the authors to secure the necessary copyright permissions as may be required. JBR requires authors to sign a copyright form entrusting copyright to the Journal
2. Manuscripts presenting original research work or nay other original contribution in the form of reviews, topical articles or short communication are welcome. Such a paper should not have been published previously and should not be under consideration for publication elsewhere at the time it is submitted to the JBR fro concerns of copy right. In addition, JBR may request for supporting evidence of original in the form of study tools or instruments or evidence of analysis if it so deems fit.
3. All submissions should be in English, typed in a nay time roman format single space, font size 12, with 1 inch margin on all four sides. Authors must keep their manuscripts as concise as possible and finished papers should average five thousand words in length, including illustrations and tables which should be kept to a minimum.
Guidelines for Publishing Articles in the JBR
Peer-reviewing is a common feature of academic and scholarly journalism. It is a quality control mechanism used by the Editorial Board to ensure high standards of publications.
In general, the paper is judged on the merit of originality, contribution to knowledge by breaking new grounds and introducing novel methodology or techniques. The paper must also link the past with the present to project futuristic trends while being consistent in arguments and presenting ideas logically. The appropriate analytical, statistical and computational tools, mathematical formulae, scientific units and concepts must be applied. Valid and strong conclusions based on actual findings should also be presented.
The responsibility of the Chief Editor in deciding what is publishable in the Journal will be acknowledged. The Chief Editor has the prerogative to publish a paper outright or submit for review by independent assessors. The editorial process is based on blind reviewing mechanism.
Assessment of Papers
Upon receipt of any manuscript the Chief Editor would make an initial compliance assessment in line with the editorial policy of the JBR. Non-conforming papers hall not be assigned a registration number and author(s) shall be notified immediately. Conforming papers shall be forwarded for a double blind preliminary review and comments communicated to authors (s). These shall be judged on a four point scale of very suitable, suitable but subject to corrections, and not suitable.
Papers judged as not suitable shall require a complete overhaul and resubmitted for consideration. Very suitable and suitable papers shall be forwarded for a double blind peer review. The reviewers’ comments will attest to many critical issues, such as originality of the research, scholarship, style and clarity of expression, scope and depth of analysis and methodology of research work. The comments will also cover presentation and formatting of tables, figures, charts and illustrations with clear labels, captions and reference citations with respect to the Journal format.
The reviewers should pass value judgment on the papers on a four point scale of outright acceptance, outright rejection, acceptance subject to minor corrections, and re-submission of revised manuscript for second review after major overhaul. Authors shall receive a notification of Chief Editor’s decision with the necessary comments from reviewers. Where an accepted manuscript requires modifications, authors shall re-submit modified papers within eight (8) to twelve (12) weeks. Only the Editorial Board determines whether to publish a paper or not. Where necessary, the Chief Editor in consultation with the Editorial Board shall determine whether to publish a paper outright without modifications as it stands. The final manuscript should be in MS Word.
Formatting and Presentation
Presentation
Presentation is very important and the paper must be well-organized and carefully written. The main thrust of the paper must constantly be reflected upon for systematic presentation of the findings. The methodologies, results and findings should be highlighted to demonstrate innovativeness. Observance of fundamental rules of grammar and style will make the paper more comprehensive and interesting to read.
Formatting
Headings: Bolded, Caps, one space from the text
First Sub-heading: Bolded, Title case, not spaced from the text
Second Sub-heading: Italics, title case not spaced from the text.
System of Units
In scientific, technical and engineering papers, data must be recorded and analysed, using the International System of Units (SI) to quantify physical variables. Obsolete and unconventional units must be avoided. The appropriate number of significant figures must be quoted to ensure accuracy and precision of the data.
Tables and Legends
MS-Word Table insertion format, which does not require drawing lines for columns and rows must be used. The column headings can be bolded or capitalized as distinct from the main body of data.
Figures and Captions
For routine publishing, graphs can be drawn by using Microsoft (MS) Excel and im-ported into text. Additionally, various modes of curve fitting and regressions can be made. However, line diagrams can be drawn by using the Text Art. For more elaborate illustrations, Corel Draw can be used while pictures can be scanned or loaded from digital cameras.
Mathematical Equations
Mathematical equations and functions can be prepared by MS Equation Editor or Math Lab. The significant equations should be numbered systematically and sequentially.
Referencing Style
The reference citation must strictly follow the Journal requirements or Instruction to authors based on the Harvard reference standards. See appendix C, Guide to Authors
Format of Technical Papers
For a technical paper, the typical and common format of presentation might be:
- Title of Paper – clear and concise, but reflecting fully the contents of the paper. Titles shall not exceed 120 characters including spaces.
- Author(s) name including affiliates and addresses, including e-mail;
- Abstract – Essential part of scholarly publication, giving summary of content, including objectives, scope, methodology, findings, and conclusions should not be more than 200 words but informative for abstracting or indexing
- Introduction – General overview or background information on the subject with references focused on the paper. While statements of the problem, objectives and hypotheses to be presented are highlighted, the write up should be concise and un-wieldy; and it should analyze and bring out the knowledge gap to be filled
- Literature review – Relevant studies and findings on the subject reviewed logically in chronological order (may be included in the Introduction);
- Theoretical Analyses – Formulation of models or governing equations to be used in simulations and calculating key parameters;
- Experimental and Field Work (including materials and methods) – Description of innovative techniques developed avoiding duplicating routine and commonly known methodologies;
- Results – Presentation of findings, including data in tabular forms, graphs and illustration with analyses and interpretations to showcase the major out-comes of the work done and relevance to the objectives;
- Discussion of results and findings in relation with other published works, emphasizing the significance and contribution to knowledge, practice and scholarship
- Conclusions – based on results achieved with strong points on the merit of the paper and presented to be retained and cited by readers;
- References – Listing of significant published works relevant to the topic as quoted in the paper;
- Acknowledgment – Expression of appreciation of contributions of other individuals and organizations in various forms which had made the publication possible can be done at the end of the paper after the references;
- Appendix – Related matters which support assertions made in the paper.
Editorial Board Journal of Business Research
May 2007 |
