Instructions to Authors

All articles must be in accordance with the current language standards in English, Kiswahili, French or German, current ISO standards, and the law on copyrights and rights related to copyrights.

Submit your article through the online submission form— no account is required, and manuscripts must be Word documents (.doc or .docx) so that reviewers can mark them up. Submissions go to the chief editor, who releases them to the reviewer pool; they are published once approved, not on upload. You can also reach the editorial office at info@ijsdc.org or P.O. Box 3634-00100, Nairobi, Kenya.

Style sheet requirements

• Maximum length: 5,000 words
• Font type: Times New Roman
• Font size: 12
• Paragraph spacing: single spaced
• Writing style: APA seventh edition (except where otherwise advised)

All articles must include

• Title of the manuscript, the authors, and the corresponding author’s address
• Article abstract of 150 words in English, Kiswahili, French or German
• Brief professional CV of the author/s (100 words)
• Text of the manuscript consisting of at most 5,000 words, single spaced
• An abstract structured with Study background, Objective, Design, Study population and Methods

Structure of a full (empirical) article

1. Study background / introduction
2. Statement of the problem (concern)
3. Study objectives
4. Justification
5. Theoretical review / framework
6. Literature review
7. Methodology / materials
8. Data analysis and interpretation
9. Conclusion
10. Recommendation(s)
11. Acknowledgement(s) — if any
12. References

Download instructions (PDF)

The IJSDC is committed to real and immediate open access to academic work and published articles. All accepted articles in the online IJSDC are free to access immediately from the date of their publication on the portal. There is no charge to readers to download articles.

• Free access for all users worldwide
• Authors retain copyright to their work
• Increased visibility and readership
• Rapid publication
• No spatial constraints

The journal is published six times a year from July–August 2017 and only in the English language, as it is read in various countries. We prefer to use the term “social and development concerns” because problems which affect a considerable number of people in a community affect their functioning negatively and consequently affect development. This journal is multidisciplinary, for what affects development in our society is diverse.

• All the authors must contribute to the research. If there are authors who significantly contributed to the research and are not explicitly named, or if there are authors named who did not contribute to the research, it is considered a violation against publication ethics and practice.
• Authors must acknowledge the source of financial support of the research and their professional membership (workplace).
• Published articles must contain a list of quotations in accordance with the citation standards of the journal.
• All forms of plagiarism and publishing false information are unacceptable.
• It is forbidden to publish the results of the research in other journals.

• Authors are obliged to publish true and authentic information.
• Authors are expected to respect ethical approaches towards research subjects (this includes disposal of informed consent with taking part in the research and publishing personal data of research subjects).
• Authors should guarantee obtaining permission to use materials covered by copyright.
• Authors are required to participate, cooperate and follow timelines in the review process.
• All the authors must cooperate with additional uploads or article corrections.

• All the reviews must be objective.
• Personal criticism of the authors is unacceptable.
• Reviewing articles is confidential; naming of the reviewer in public is unacceptable.
• In the context of reviewing articles, reviewers should not have any conflict of interests.
• Reviewers should mention relevant published articles that have not been quoted.
• The publishing editors publishing in their own journals should not abuse their position (the process of assessment must be independent of the author).
• Reviewers should assess/evaluate the manuscript within the deadline (30 days).

I hereby declare and agree, on behalf of myself and my co-authors (if any), that the article submitted is an original work and has neither been published in any other peer-reviewed journal nor is under consideration for publication by any other journal. In addition, the article does not contravene any existing copyright or any other third-party rights.

This transfer of copyright gives the International Journal of Social and Development Concerns the right to develop, promote, distribute and archive a body of scientific works throughout the world, including the right to print, publish and create derivative works in all languages and media throughout the world.

The author(s) reserve the following rights:

• All proprietary rights other than copyrights, such as patent rights.
• The right to use all or part of this article, including tables and figures, in future works of their own, provided that proper acknowledgment is made to the publisher as copyright holder.
• The right to make copies of this article for his/her own use, but not for sale.

The corresponding author certifies that they have the consent of each author to transfer and assign any and all rights, title and interest, including copyright, of the article referred to above, and that the article has not been published elsewhere nor is under consideration by any other publisher. If any dispute arises, the final decision is taken by the IJSDC Editorial Board.

Download copyright form (PDF)