Manuscript Guideline

Format of the Manuscript and Instruction for Authors:

(2)       The Author(s) must declare that the manuscript has not been published previously and is not under consideration for publication for elsewhere. The author(s) needs to declare that the copyright of the article will belong to Bangladesh Open University and the article will be released under an open license. A cover letter should clearly identify the author (with designation, address, phone, fax, e‑mail address) responsible for correspondence.

(3)          Manuscript

The manuscript should include four major sections (in this order): Title Page, Abstract,

Main Body, and References.

Sections in a manuscript may include the following (in this order): I) Title page, II) Abstract, III) Keywords/Concepts, IV) Text including tables and figures, V) Notes, VI) References, and VII) Appendices.

(4)          FORMATTING A PAPER IN APA STYLE

• Use A4 size good quality white paper.
• Use 12-pt Times New Roman font.
• One and a half space lines throughout the paper. Single or one-and-a-half spacing can be done in tables or figures.
• Use a 1.5-inch margin on left side of each paper and use a 1-inch margin on the right, top and bottom sides of each page.
• All sided justified margins, meaning all the sides of margin will be equal.
• Starting with every paragraph in one tab. 5 inch from heading to starting of a paragraph and from paragraph to paragraph.
• Use 2 spaces after a sentence period in your essay and 1 space after commas, colons, and semicolons.
• Order of the paper (not all of these elements are a necessary part of every paper):

1.	Title page	4.	References
2.	Abstract	5.	Notes
3.	Text including tables and figures	6.	Appendix

(5)          PAGE NUMBERING:

• Page numbering is to be started from body of text and is placed at the bottom middle of each page.
• Graphs, tables and visuals should be clearly labeled as figures with a title that concisely describes its subject. In the text of your paper, refer to the visual by its label (e.g., Figure 1, etc.).
• Formatting titles or publications mentioned in the paper:
• ITALICIZE: titles of books, plays, pamphlets, newspapers, magazines, journals, films, compact discs, and paintings.
• PLACE QUOTATION MARKS AROUND: titles of articles, essays, short stories, poems, chapters of books, and songs.
• CAPITALIZE: All major words in the title.

1. I) Title Page
   Please include the following:

• Full article title
• Acknowledgments and credits
• Each author’s complete name and institutional affiliation(s)
• Grant numbers and/or funding information (if any)
• Corresponding author (name, address, phone, e-mail)

1. II) Abstract

A separate page headed by the full article title and the abstract (250 words) without the name of author(s).

III)        Keywords

A list of 3‑6 keywords is to be provided directly below the abstract. Keywords should speak to research questions, should reflect the independent, variables; treatments, dependent variables; parameters and subject/ respondents. Keywords should consist of words or phrases.

IV)Text including tables and figures (word count not exceeding 3000 words):

Text includes: Introduction/Background of the study, problem statement/ research objective/question, literature review, methodology, main findings including tables and figures, conclusion and recommendation. Begin article text on a new page headed with the full article title.

• Headings and subheadings. Subheadings should indicate the organization of the content of the manuscript. Generally, three heading levels are sufficient to organize text. Level 1 heading should be Centered, Boldface, Upper & Lowercase, Level 2 heading should be Flush Left, Boldface, Upper & Lowercase, Level 3 heading should be Indented, boldface, lowercase paragraph heading that ends with a period, Level 4 heading should be Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading that ends with a period, and Level 5 heading should be Indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading that ends with a period.
• Citations: American Psychological Association (APA) Reference System will be followed for each text citation there must be a corresponding citation in the reference list and for each reference list citation there must be a corresponding text citation. Each corresponding citation must have identical spelling and year. Each text citation must include at least two pieces of information, author(s) and year of publication. Following are some examples of text citations:
• Unknown Author: To cite works that do not have an author, cite the source by its title in the signal phrase or use the first word or two in the parentheses. Eg. The findings are based on the study was done of students learning to format research papers ("Using XXX," 2001).
• Authors with the Same Last Name: use first initials with the last names to prevent confusion. E.g,(L. Hughes, 2001; P. Hughes, 1998).
• Two or More Works by the Same Author in the Same Year: For two sources by the same author in the same year, use lower-case letters (a, b, c) with the year to order the entries in the reference list. The lower-case letters should follow the year in the in-text citation. Eg. Research by Freud (1981a) illustrated that[…]
• Personal Communication: For letters, e-mails, interviews, and other person-to person
  communication, the citation should include the communicator's name, the fact that it was personal communication, and the date of the communication. Do not include personal communication in the reference list. Eg. (E. Clark, personal communication, January 4, 2009).
• Unknown Author and Unknown Date: For citations with no author or date, use the title in the signal phrase or the first word or two of the title in the parentheses and use the abbreviation "n.d." (for "no date"). Eg. The study conducted by of students and research division discovered that students succeeded with tutoring ("Tutoring and APA," n.d.).

1. V) Notes:

          If explanatory notes are required for your manuscript, insert a number formatted in superscript following almost any punctuation mark. Footnote numbers should not follow dashes (—), and if they appear in a sentence in parentheses, the footnote number should be inserted within the parentheses. The Footnotes should be added at the bottom of the page or on a separate page after the references. The word “Footnotes” should be centered at the top of the page.

1. VI) References:

American Psychological Association (APA) Reference System

This instruction aims to provide as a reference guide for “Journal of Bangladesh Open University”. It gives an overview of Author-Date system for the purpose of academic and research application of Journal of Bangladesh Open University. This guide is based on the American Psychological Association’s (APA).

Style Guide, 7^th edition for citation and writing and acknowledges direct follow of the content of the reference hand out of William E. Laupus Health Sciences Library, East Carolina University. Greenville, North Carolina, United States. This reference guide will be updated in line with the updates of APA Style Guide and refers to the updates.

For additional information and examples, it refers to the seventh editions of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA Publication Manual) and APA Style Guide to Electronic References.

This guide intends to fulfill the need to unify academic citations and writing of BOU.

WHY CITE SOURCES?

When writing a paper, we often build upon the information and ideas of others. When information is borrowed from others, we must give them credit. Citing sources accomplishes the following:

• provides a way to give proper credit to the sources used in writing the paper
• enables the reader to find the information for themselves
• adds credibility and provides strength for your arguments

WHEN TO CITE SOURCES?

Credit must be given whenever:

• quoting from a source (copying from the source word for word)
• summarizing or rephrasing information from a source into one's own words

HOW TO CITE SOURCES?

APA style requires 2 elements:

1. IN-TEXT REFERENCES
   • located in the text of the paper
   • tells the reader what information was borrowed and where it came from
2. A LIST OF REFERENCES
   1. located at the end of the paper
   2. tells the reader what sources were used to write the paper and provides complete information about the sources

The in-text references and list of references work together to give complete credit to the sources that are used in writing the paper. The in-text reference in the paper should correspond with the beginning of the citation in the list of references.

Basic rules for the reference list:

• The reference list should be arranged in alphabetical order according to the authors ‘last names
• If there is more than one work by the same author, order them according to their
  publication date – oldest to newest (therefore a 2008 publication would appear
  before a 2009 publication)
• When listing multiple authors of a source use “&” instead of “and”
• Capitalize only the first word of the title and of the subtitle, if there are one, and any proper names – i.e. only those words that are normally capitalized
• Italicize the title of the book, the title of the journal/serial and the title of the web
  document
• Manuscripts submitted to XXX [journal acronym] should strictly follow the XXX manual (xth edition) [style manual title with ed]
• Every citation in text must have the detailed reference in the Reference section
• Every reference listed in the Reference section must be cited in text
• Do not use “et al.” in the Reference list at the end; names of all authors of a
  publication should be listed there

Here are a few examples of commonly found references. For more examples please check APA (7th Ed).

Books:

• Book with place of publication--Airey, D. (2010). Logo design love: A guide to
  creating iconic brand identities. Berkeley, CA: New Riders.
• Book with editors & edition-- Collins, C., & Jackson, S. (Eds.). (2007). Sport in
  Aotearoa/New Zealand society. South Melbourne, Australia: Thomson.
• Book with author & publisher are the same-- MidCentral District Health Board.
  (2008). District annual plan 2008/09. Palmerston North, New Zealand: Author.
• Chapter in an edited book--Dear, J., & Underwood, M. (2007). What is the role of exercise in the prevention of back pain? In D. MacAuley & T. Best (Eds.), Evidence based sports medicine (2nd ed., pp. 257-280). Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Periodicals:

• Journal article with more than one author (print)--Gabbett, T., Jenkins, D., &
  Abernethy, B. (2010). Physical collisions and injury during professional rugby league skills training. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 13(6), 578-583.
• Journal article – 8 or more authors-- Crooks, C., Ameratunga, R., Brewerton, M.,
  Torok, M., Buetow, S., Brothers, S., … Jorgensen, P. (2010). Adverse reactions to food in New Zealand children aged 0-5 years. New Zealand Medical Journal,
  123(1327). Retrieved from http://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/123-1327/4469/

Internet Sources:

• Internet – no author, no date--Pet therapy. (n.d.). Retrieved from
  htttp://holisticonline.com/stress/stress_pet-therapy.htm
• Internet – Organization / Corporate author-- SPCA New Zealand. (2011). Your dog may be dying from the heat [Press release]. Retrieved from
• http://www.rnzspca.org.nz/news/press-releases/360-your-dog-may-be-dying-...

Examples of various types of information sources:

• Act (statute / legislation)--Copyright Act 1994. (2011, October 7). Retrieved from http://www.legislation.govt.nz
• Blog post-- Liz and Ellory. (2011, January 19). The day of dread(s) [Web log post].Retrieved from http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/St-Kilda/...
• Brochure / pamphlet (no author)--Ageing well: How to be the best you can be
  [Brochure]. (2009). Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Health.
• Conference Paper--Williams, J., & Seary, K. (2010). Bridging the divide: Scaffolding the learning experiences of the mature age student. In J. Terrell (Ed.), Making the links: Learning, teaching and high quality student outcomes. Proceedings of the 9^th Conference of the New Zealand Association of Bridging Educators (pp. 104-116). Wellington, New Zealand.
• DVD / Video / Motion Picture (including Clickview & YouTube)--Gardiner, A., Curtis, C., & Michael, E. (Producers), &Waititi, T. (Director). (2010). Boy: Welcome to my interesting world [DVD]. New Zealand: Transmission.
• Magazine--Ng, A. (2011, October-December). Brush with history. Habitus, 13, 83-87.
• Newspaper article (no author)--Little blue penguins homeward bound. (2011,
  November 23). Manawatu Standard, p. 5
• Podcast (audio or video)--Rozaieski, B. (2011). Logan cabinet shoppe: Episode 37:Entertainment center molding [Video podcast]. Retrieved fromhttp://blip.tv/xxx
• Software (including apps--UBM Medica. (2010). iMIMS (Version1.2.0) [Mobile
  application software].Retrieved from http://itunes.apple.com
• Television programme--Flanagan, A., &Philipson, A. (Series producers & directors). (2011). 24 hours in A & E [Television series]. Belfast, Ireland: Channel 4.
• Thesis (print)--Smith, T. L. (2008). Change, choice and difference: The case of RN to BN degree programmes for registered nurses (Master’s thesis). Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
• Thesis (online)--Mann, D. L. (2010). Vision and expertise for interceptive actions in sport (Doctoral dissertation, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia). Retrieved from http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/44704
• Non-English reference book, title translated in English
• Real Academia Espanola. (2001). Diccionario de la lengua espanola [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (22nded.). Madrid, Spain: Author

VII) Appendices:

Appendices should be lettered to distinguish from numbered tables and figures include a descriptive title for each appendix (e.g., “Appendix A. Variable Names and Definitions”). Crosscheck text for accuracy against appendices.

Address for submission:

Three original copies along with soft copy of the manuscript should be sent to: Editor, “Journal of Business Studies, School of Business, Bangladesh Open University, Gazipur-1705.

Disclaimer:

No paper will be accepted for publication if it does not conform to the style specified for the journal.

Article Submission Procedures:

1. Sending to the Editors

After completion, the corresponding author will be requested to email the paper to the Chief Editor’s E-mail. It is recommended to send a PDF copy along with an editable file of the complete manuscript. All necessary correspondence regarding important notification or requirements and other issues will be via emails. When submitting the manuscript, the following must be included:

1. a) A separate Title page bearing the correct names, designations and affiliations of the authors.
2. b) Full postal addresses and email IDs of the authors.
3. c) A complete manuscript without authors` names or any sort of identifying indication for a double-blind peer-review.
4. d) Images cleared with copyright issues and to be separately with high resolutions. Figures facts or tables with captions and sources.
5. e) Notes, footnotes prepared properly following the expected guidelines.
6. f) The full paper has been thoroughly rechecked for spelling and grammatical error issues.
7. g) Referencing done perfectly as recommended (any kind of referencing following APA). Again, we staunchly prefer academic and scientific rigor.

 

2. Acceptance of the Paper

If the Editorial Board finds all the necessary criteria fulfilled well and there is nothing censurable, the acceptance of the paper will be confirmed officially through an e-mail. 

3. Proofing, Reediting, Communication and Notification

The corresponding author will be guided about the proofing techniques. So, it will be allowed to reedit the paper for a certain time. After peer-review, the author will be contacted with the experts` recommendation and other required imperatives will be gradually followed. Any step taken on/against the paper will surely be notified  through e-mails.

4. Citations, Notes and References

For in text citation and referencing of any sort i.e., book, journal article, chapter, online resources, audio/video contents, newspaper articles-the latest formulations of American Psychological Association (APA) are solely recommended to follow with accuracy and precision. The author is strongly encouraged to minutely go through APA’s official website at apastyle.org. Only necessary notes may be comprised; Notes should be numbered and presented together at the end of the piece. Page numbers should be included in the middle of every page. Finally, the list of References should be included at the end of the paper; it should be sorted out alphabetically first in descending order or A-Z style and then chronologically. Any article lacking the proper guidelines of referencing will be returned to the author(s) for correction.

5. Publishing the Paper

After receiving article, doing necessary corrections, rigorous peer-reviewing, and cross-checking various other issues, if editorial board finds it worth publishing, they will provide consent for publication. 

6. Author’s Copy

Ten copies of reprint will be supplied free of charge along with two copies of issues. The Author (s) must submit a declaration form and authorization in favor of the Editorial Advisor “Journal of Bangladesh Open University”,