About the Journal

About the journal
The Geographical Journal of Nepal is an annual publication of the Central Department of Geography (CDG), Tribhuvan University (TU), Nepal. It is the TWO STAR journal rated by AJOL/INASP Journal Publishing Practices and Standards (https://www.nepjol.info/  index.php/index). The CDG, located in the University Campus, Kirtipur is one of the leading Departments of Tribhuvan University established in 1959.
The Geographical Journal of Nepal is designed to stimulate scholars by providing them a platform for contributing in the field of geography. It welcomes articles, research papers, and book reviews with focus on themes of geographical significance. The paper should be well researched and documented, and clearly described methodology, results based on sound statistics, anecdotes, facts, examples, evidence, reason, scientific procedures and well-founded arguments; be embedded in the relevant national or international debate; refer to the most recent academic literature on the issues discussed; be presented in a clearly structured and comprehensible manner within the given format.
The history of The Geographical Journal of Nepal dates back to 1978 when the first volume was published with six papers and Mr. Chandra Bahadur Shrestha, Dr. Mangal Siddhi Manandhar and Dr. Bal Kumar K.C. were the executive editors. The same editors continued for volume 2 in 1979 and volume 3-4 in 1980-81. Volume 5 of the journal came into existence only in 1996 with seven papers and Dr. Mangal Siddhi Manandhar as the chief editor together with Dr. Chandra Bahadur Shrestha, Dr. Soorya Lal Amatya, Dr. Nanda Gopal Ranjitkar and Dr. Bhim Prasad Subedi as the editors. However, it took a long time for volume 6 of the journal that came in 2008 with Dr. Bhim P. Subedi as the chief editor and Dr. Pushkar K. Pradhan, Dr. Padma C. Poudel, Dr. Narendra R. Khanal, Dr. Hriday L. Koirala and Mr. Prem S. Chapagain as the members of the editorial board. The consecutive volumes 7 and 8-9 were published in 2009 and 2010-2011 with Dr. Pushkar K. Pradhan as the chief editor together with Dr. Narendra R. Khanal and Dr. Hriday L. Koirala as editors. The volume 10 was delayed published in March 2017 with Dr. Narendra R. Khanal as the chief editor together with Dr. Pushkar K. Pradhan, Dr. Bhim P. Subedi, Dr. Hriday L. Koirala and Dr. Pashupati Nepal as editors. The same team including Dr. Umesh K. Mandal published volume 11 in 2018. Volume 12 was published in 2019 with Dr. Hriday L. Koirala as the chief editor together with Dr. Pashupati Nepal, Dr. Umesh K. Mandal and Dr. Shobha Shrestha as editors.
From volume 13 in 2020 onwards, The Geographical Journal of Nepal has been privileged to honour Dr. Narendra R. Khanal from Nepal, Dr. Abani K. Bhagabati from India and Dr. Donghong Xiong from P. R. China as the editors together with Dr. Pashupati Nepal, and Dr. Shobha Shrestha as editors as well as Dr. Hriday L. Koirala as the chief editor. Volume 14 was published in 2021 with Dr. Hriday L. Koirala as the chief editor together with Dr. Narendra R. Khanal, Dr. Abani K. Bhagabati, Dr. Donghong Xiong, Dr. Prem S. Chapagain and Shobha Shrestha as editors. With the same sprit volume 15 was published in 2022 with Dr. Narendra R. Khanal, Dr. Abani K. Bhagabati,
Dr. Donghong Xiong, Dr. Dhyanendra B. Rai and Ms. Shova Shrestha as editorial board members led by Dr. Hriday L. Koirala as the chief editor. Volume 16 was published in 2023 with Dr. Umesh K. Mandal as the chief editor together with Dr. Narendra R. Khanal, Dr. Narendra K. Rana, Dr. Donghong Xiong, Dr. Dhyanendra B. Rai and Shobha Shrestha as editors. Volume 17 was published in 2024 with Dr. Umesh K. Mandal as the chief editor together with Dr. Narendra R. Khanal, Dr. Narendra K. Rana, Dr. Donghong Xiong and Dr. Dhyanendra Bahadur Rai as editors. Similarly volume 18 was published in 2025 with Dr. Umesh K. Mandal as the chief editor together with Dr. Narendra R. Khanal, Dr. Narendra K. Rana, Dr. Donghong Xiong and Dr. Dhyanendra Bahadur Rai as editors.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS
Authors are expected to submit original papers in clear and concise English. Papers should be written in the third person and impersonal style. Maximum length of the paper should not exceed 30,000 characters including spaces (excluding the References). Abstracts should not exceed 300 words (one paragraph only) together with 4 to 6 Keywords. All measurements should be in metric units (SI units), or state metric equivalents. Words in other than English language should be in italics. Citation in the text and list of reference should be in American Psychological Association (APA) style and guidelines for preparing articles. Entries of the references should be in alphabetical and chronological order of authors (DOI preferred). The manuscript must be in 12 point font in Times New Roman, with margins of at least 1 inch and with an initial capital letter for any proper noun.
All authors should appear with their full names, affiliations and email addresses. One author should be identified as the corresponding author. The manuscript should contain introduction to conclusion and list of references. Equations, figures and tables must be referred to in the text. Footnotes and endnotes are not entertained. The figures are published in gray scale and make sure the lines and shades used in the figure are distinctly visible. The number of figures and tables must not exceed 7.
All contributors must assume full responsibility for the contents and opinions expressed in their papers. Before submission of a manuscript, the corresponding author must ensure that all co-authors have seen the version of the paper that will be submitted. Plagiarism will not be tolerated.
Review processes
The Geographical Journal of Nepal is a double blind peer-reviewed journal. The review criteria for the acceptance of the article are whether the paper is a unique/important and useful contribution to the relevant national/international debate; effectively communicating ideas and concepts; the content is technically correct with the general statement adequately referred to and cited; conclusions derived are to be based on the results and discussion in the paper.
All the submitted manuscripts are screened by the editorial board first and are then sent to two independent experts in the concerned field of specialization for review. A standard guideline for review criteria will be circulated to the reviewers with three options for decision:
i) accepted unconditionally, ii) accepted after revisions, and iii) rejected. Those manuscripts which are marked as accepted after revisions are sent again to the corresponding authors for improvement and addressing the comments and suggestions given by the peer reviewers. The editorial board will check the revised version of the manuscript and may ask the author to make necessary modifications. The manuscripts which fulfill the processes and found OK are accepted for publication. The manuscripts rejected by any one reviewer will be rejected by the editorial board for publication and the authors will be informed. The articles submitted, if not published will not be returned to the authors.

GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING RESEARCH ARTICLES
(I) Title page
Title of the article should be specified, brief, and intelligent and telling. The maximum length should be 120 characters. Do not include the authority for taxonomic names in the title. The first letter of the each lexical word and proper noun in the title should be capitalized. All other letters are lower case.
(II) Abstract
Body of the manuscript should be preceded by an abstract with the maximum length of 250-300 words for a full-length article. It should be clear, concise, and complete in its own limits providing a brief summary of the research including the objective, methods, results and major findings and conclusions. Literature citations should not be included in the abstract.
Four to six keywords should be provided at the bottom of the abstract. The format should be like this: destination, strategy, journal, progressive
(III) Main text
Main text should be organized under the following headings:
Introduction should describe background/context, issues to be addressed, significance of the paper beginning with a paragraph of explanation that describes the problem under investigation with existing knowledge and gap, the main research questions, objectives, delimitation of the study be clearly stated.
Methods section should provide sufficient information on research design-qualitative/quantitative/mixed and descriptive/explorative/experimental, population and sampling, methods of data collection and analysis, reliability and validity, ethical consideration. Therefore, a clear description of technical procedures should include study area primary texts (and time), unit, plots/transects, experimental design, model, algorithm, simulation with treatments, replications and methods of randomization followed by the parameters for data analysis. The methods should be written in the past tense.
Results generally should be stated concisely and clearly in descriptive, tabular, and graphical forms with interpretation. This section should address descriptive, inferential results and textual summaries based on the objectives set systematically.

Discussions primarily aim is to interpret and connect to research questions and existing literature. Discussion should provide a) interpretation of the results without recapitulating them, b) comparison of the results with previous literature and research findings-confirm and contrast, c) impacts/implications of the results on the existing knowledge of the subject-theory, practices and policy, and d) suggestion for further lines of research. Results should be discussed with at least a couple of previously published research and recent peer review journal articles. This is the section which shows critical thinking capability of the author.
Conclusions should clearly point out the main findings and suggesting for the further lines of research, which must be justified by the analysis of the data. It should include key findings, answers of research questions raised, theoretical/practical contributions, recommendations and suggestions for further research in Preconceived ideas and new data should be avoided in this section.
(IV) Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements should be short and specific providing information about various supports like; funding institutions, supervision, field assistance etc. received for the research.
(V) References
Reference should be cited in the text by the name/s of the author/s and year of publication in chronological order aiming to give credit to original writers and enabling verification of sources. All works cited should be arranged in alphabetical order of the author’s sur names and listed at the end of the paper. Examples of listing different references such as reports, journal articles, book chapters, books/proceedings, and theses/dissertations are given below. It is suggested that references with doi should be more than 50% in any case. In addition, at least 25% references are taken from recently published (in last 2 years) Journals. DOI or URL source address should be added in the references if it is available and accessed date should be mentioned in case of website/URL citation.
(VI) Appendices (if needed)
Appendices aim to provide additional material that supports the paper including tools, raw data, calculation, ethical approval and each appendix should be clearly labeled like Appendix A and so on. Appendix can be added if needed (within the page limit).
(VII) Plagiarism and Ethical Conduct
Plagiarism and Ethical Conduct ensure originality and academic integrity of the work. The maximum limit of plagiarism or similarity index is 10 percent excluding abstract, references and quotations.
Examples of References Citation:
1. Journal articles
Mandal, U. K., Khanal, N.R., Nepal, P., & Kumari, K. (2023). Agroecological principles and its gaps in adaption in terai farming system, NepaL. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, XLVIII-1/W2-2023,1445–1451, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLVIII-1-W2-2023-1445-2023.
Poos, M.S., Walker, S. C. & Jackson, D. A. (2009). Functional diversity indices can be driven by methodological choices and species richness. Ecology 90:341-347.
2. Published report
Parajuli, T. R., Koirala, B. N., Baidya, P. C., Maharjan, R. K., Rai, P. & Mandal, U. K. (2008). Advancing policy options for higher education: Improving transition and access to higher education in Nepal; A Study Report, University Grants Commission (UGC) collaboration with UNESCO Nepal, Bhaktapur, Kathmandu, p69.
3. Unpublished report
Mandal, U. K. (2012). Baseline survey study of RAIDP road sub-project. A report submitted to Rural Access Improvement & Decentralization Project (RAIDP),Department of Local Infrastructure and Decentralization Project (DoLIDAR), Jwalakhel, Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu.
4. Conference paper
Mandal, U. K. (2015). Modeling of soil organic matter content from World-View-2Sensor in Nayavelhani VDC of Nawalparisi District, Nepal In: Karki, K. B., Tripathi, P. B., Manadhar, R. M., Adhikari, B. H. & Vist, S. P. (eds) Proceedings of the second national soil fertility research workshop, Khumaltar, Soil Science Division, NARI, NARC, Kathmandu, Nepal, pp. 403-311.
5. Book chapter
Mandal, U. K. (2017). Geo-information-based soil erosion modeling for sustainable agriculture development in Khadokhola Watershed, Nepal. In: Li, Aninong, Deng, Wei and Zhao, Wei (eds.) Land cover change and its eco-environmental response in Nepal. Springer Geography, Springer Nature Singapore Pvt Ltd., pp223-241.
6. Book/proceedings
Khatiwada, R. P., & Mandal, U. K. (2016). An introduction to spatial and survey technology. KEC Publication and Distribution Putali Sadak, Kathmandu, Nepal, p222.
Richard, W., Basnet C. K., Sah J. P., and Raut, Y. (2000). Grassland ecology and management in protected areas of Nepal. Volume III. Kathmandu: ICIMOD, p154.
7. Book by corporate author
National Planning Commission (1992). The eighth plan. National Planning Commission Kathmandu, Nepal, p222.
8. Article in a newspaper
Sinha, S. (2013, June 8). Redefining women’s work. The Kathmandu Post, p4.
9. Published thesis and dissertation
Subedi, P. K. (2006). Fertility behavior among duras: multidisciplinary approaches. PhD Dissertation. UK: University of Exeter, Exeter.
10. Unpublished thesis and dissertation
Mandal, U. K. (2006). Characterization of agro-ecological zoning using RS and GIS technology for sustainable agricultural development planning (Unpublished M.Tech Thesis), Faculty of Engineering, Andhara University, Vishakhapatnam, India.
Mandal, U. K. (2018). Agroecology and its utilization in Khadokhola watershed, Saptari district, Nepal (Unpublished PhD dissertation), Central Department of Geography, Faculty of Humanities and Social Science, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur. Kathmandu, Nepal.
11. Film
Guggenheim, D. (Director), & Bender, L. (Producer) (2006). An inconvenient truth (DVD). United States: Paramount Home Entertainment.
12. Website
Mandal, U. K. (2014). Geo-information based spatio-temporal modeling of urban land use and land cover change in Butwal Municipality, Nepal.Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XL-8, 809–815. https://www.int- arch-photogramm-remote-sens-spatial-inf- sci.net/XL-8/809/2014/. Accessed: 15.02.2015.
13. Television program
Pratt, C. (2014, Executive producer). (2008, October 5). Face the nation (Television broadcast). Washington, DC: CBS News.
(VIII) Order details
Cover page- The cover page must contain with information about the title of the paper, author/s full name and address. All authors should appear with their full names, qualification and designation, affiliations, mobile numbers and e-mail addresses. One author should be identified as the corresponding author. Any information about the author should not be mentioned other than cover page.
Spaces, margins, fonts and length- Manuscripts should be in Times new Roman 12 pt characters typed double-spaced with 1.5 cm margins in all sides of the A paper. The length of the manuscripts should not exceed 10 pages including figures and tables (3000-4000 words). Technical terms, mathematical symbols, abbreviation and acronyms used should be defined where they first appear in the text, equations, figures, and tables. Scientific names of all taxa should be in full with authority.
Citation in the text- citations in the text should be arranged chronologically with comma our anything else between the author/s and the year of publications but different citations are separated by comma (see this example - Richard et al.2000, Pokharel 2005, 2009). If there are up to six authors, list all of them and the year of publication. In case of more than six authors and add et al. before the year of publication.
Illustrations and figures- Illustrations and figures should be within the text at appropriate places rather than separate. Photographs and drawing (in dark ink) should be large enough for clear reproduction. Drawings should be in dark ink. Figure captions should appear above the figures. Proper citation should be given in the images and figures if it is taken from other sources.
Tables- tables with caption on the top should appear within the text with numbered consecutively rather than separate page. All table columns should have an explanation of each table and its contents must appear in the text. International Metric System should be used throughout the paper.
Equation- should be written using equation tool of doc or docx. The symbols and meaning of the terms should be explained in the text. Equation should be leveled properly as per section/subsections.
Italics- italicize scientific names and the symbols, names of journal and books
Footnotes- Footnotes to text should be avoided.
Ethical review - The authors should check the plagiarism for prepared articles before they submit the articles to Central Department of Geography (CDG), Kirtipur. For the Plagiarism check, authors should use TURNITIN software for the similarity index.