Submissions

Author Guidelines

Publication Guidelines for Writers and Reviewers
Army Command and Staff College’s Official Publication 

GENERAL BACKGROUND
The Shivapuri Journal is Army Command and Staff College’s official annual publication. This journal publishes papers on issues and topics in various areas, including arts, sports, culture, archeology, history, politics, governance, psychology, strategic studies, military studies, national security, conflict and development, international relations and international law. It is a peer reviewed, open access, interdisciplinary journal and follows the general principles of publications in the humanities and social sciences. The Shivapuri Journal publishes research articles annually both in hard copies and online to encourage scholarship and knowledge production in humanities and social sciences. Moreover, articles submitted to the publishers are evaluated based on the publisher designated criteria and rubrics of evaluation. The Shivapuri Journal Editorial Board accepts original research articles, innovative papers, book reviews and book reports on topical issues and intellectual debates from prospective authors in diverse fields.

OBJECTIVES
Journals of any organization, including university and military institution should maintain standards in procedures and quality. They should follow the publication guidelines properly while respecting the author’s original ideas, constructive thoughts and diverse perspectives on ongoing knowledge and scholarship. Moreover, Army Command and Staff College’s journals meet standards set by concerned authorities in line with genuine research journals of international repute. Publication processes of these journals are officially managed by the Army Command and Staff College’s to meet criteria of journal publication at par with standards of peer review international journal. The following are the specific objectives of the guidelines:

• to offer researchers and scholars a forum to bring out their innovative ideas and thoughts on ongoing issues in national and global contexts
• to prompt journal publishers to index in the NepJOL, meeting the criteria set by AJOL and INASP for the quality of publishing practices in Army Command and Staff College
• to save resources, including time and money by publishing their journals electronically
• to comfort to Nepal’s University Grants Commission’s standards of peer reviewed journals published in Nepal
• to maintain uniformity in Army Command and Staff College’s journals 
• to assure quality of journal publications

These Journal Guidelines offer major procedures for the publication of The Shivapuri Journal. These Guidelines provide instructions for the preparation of articles, review of selected papers, editing of manuscripts and publication of the journal. The “Guidelines for The Shivapuri Journal Publishers and Editors” is based on the “Guidelines for the Minimum Standards and Classification of Peer-Reviewed Journals Published in Nepal, 2018” set by Nepal’s University Grants Commission (UGC) and “Journal Publishing Practices and Standards (JPPS) Framework” managed by the UK–based AJOL and INASP. The guidelines are prepared to maintain standards of academic writing and research design in the process of publication of Army Command and Staff College’s journals through different bodies, including Directorates, Divisions and Offices. These guidelines are used for academic publishing and are subject to a rigorous quality assurance process. With that purpose, these guidelines are directed to support authors, reviewers and editors to maintain standard quality while maintaining professional integrity and quality assurance.

GUIDELINES FOR PAPER WRITERS AND EDITORS
The Shivapuri Journal writers and editors follow designated instructions to publication of articles in its annual issue. Prospective authors are expected to follow these guidelines while submitting their articles for publication in Army Command and Staff College’s The Shivapuri Journal. In the meantime, editors abide by these regulations while selecting articles and editing the manuscripts.

1. Manuscripts written in English will be considered for further process of publication.
2. Manuscripts should be between 1500 and 2500 words, including figures, charts, pictures and appendix. A typical journal manuscript must include the following components:
   • Appendix
   • Questionnaire
   • Additional documents
• Title
  The title of the paper should be short and concise, accurate and focused on contents of manuscript [with length of not exceeding 15 words]. The title is considered the DNA of the paper.
• Affiliation
  The author/s’ affiliation should be clearly stated in the paper. It should include the authorial details: name/s, position/s, affiliating institution/s and address/es, and phone number/s and email account/s.
• Abstract
  Abstract of about 250 words should be a brief summary of the article, major argument/thesis statement/statement of the problem, research questions, objectives, methodology and method, findings and significance of the study.
• Keywords
  The author/s should include the terms that capture the central ideas of the paper. The author/s should choose between 5 to 9 words or phrases that prompt readers to electronically search the published article.
• The main text
  The main text of the article is comprised of an introductory section with the author’s research questions followed by major argument/position/thesis statement/statement of purpose in the first paragraph; objectives; methodology; data, interpretation, analysis and reflection; conclusion and recommendations for further research (if any). If any graphics, including illustration, image and table are included in the paper, it should reflect details of the visual text along source of the material in the caption inserted.
  NB: The main text of the paper should be in compliance with one of the journal article types below in Guideline 03.
• Acknowledgements [optional]
  If the manuscript is based on the funded research projects, the author/s should acknowledge the funding institution.
• Reference section
  References
  The author should be able to present a minimum of 10 entries from different sources, including journals, books, and reports in the reference section.
• Annex
• Basic technical instructions
  Font style: Times New Roman for English
  Font size: 12 for English
  Line spacing: single throughout the paper, between lines and paragraphs for English
3. Manuscript must fit into one of the following journal article types:
• Type 1: The original research article must have these major contents: introduction (incorporating major argument/thesis statement); review of literature; methodology (explicating theoretical perspective, conceptual frame, research design, tools and materials); results and discussions, and conclusion [recommendations are optional].
• Type 2: The theoretical article must have the following major contents: introduction, theory/approach [with a meaningful heading], critical discussion [with 1 to 3 meaningful headings for thematic or textual analysis] and conclusion.
• Type 3: The review article must have these major contents: introduction, critical discussion [with 1 to 3 meaningful headings for reviews] and conclusion.
4. Manuscripts should comply with the APA (American Psychological Association) style (latest version) of formatting and documentation style both in in–text citation and work cited list (reference).
5. The Shivapuri Journal adopts a blind submission policy. The author/s submitting their manuscripts must prepare two separate word files for submission:
• A cover page that includes the title of the article, the author/s’ name and affiliation, email [if multi-authored, give the corresponding author’s email] and phone number and write a brief biographical information [not exceeding 200 words]; and
• A manuscript with the title of the article, an abstract, keywords and the full text that should avoid any identification marker of the author/s.
• After the article is accepted, The Shivapuri Journal uses double blind peer review process during publication. Please ensure that the entire text of the manuscript except the title page is blinded and doesn't contain any information that identifies the author/s or their affiliated institutions.
6. The Shivapuri Journal Editorial Board conducts initial screening of manuscripts submitted for the publication. The Board can first ask the author to revise the paper if necessary. After the approval, all articles submitted for publication go through a double blind peer review process.
7. Major procedures after the submission of the article
   • Acceptance
   • Acceptance with minor revision
   • Acceptance with moderate revision
   • Acceptance with major revision
   • Rejection
• Step 1–Initial screening by the Editorial Board: after the initial screening, editors shall send the draft back to the author for corrections, minor or major, to meet the requirements of the journal in case the paper is acceptable.
• Step 2 –the author is expected to revise his or her article based on the feedback from the Editorial Board.
• Step 3 –the Editorial Board shall send the article to a couple of peer reviewers for further procedures. The reviewer makes the judgment based on Guidelines for Reviewers. Reviewers shall make these remarks on the paper:
• Step 4 –the Editorial Board decides the acceptance or rejection of the article based on the reviewers’ recommendation. It also rejects sensational, emotionally charged and ideologically motivated articles for individual security and institutional interests.
8. The Editorial Board has the full discretion to accept or reject the article on genuine grounds and as per recommendations made by the peer reviewers. The Board and Publisher also use their prerogatives to accept or reject the reviewed articles. Editors in consultation with the Publisher accept or reject those articles. In case of controversial issues in any section of the article can considerably be eliminated, modified, or updated in due respect to the Publishing Institution, Army Command and Staff College.
9. In any condition, the publisher and Editorial Board shall not be obliged to return the rejected manuscript/s to the author/s on any ground.
10. The Shivapuri Journal does not entertain plagiarized manuscripts. Manuscripts undergo processes of plagiarism of text electronically. If any manuscript is detected before publication, the Journal Editorial Board will reject the manuscript outright. If any instance of plagiarism discovered, the Board executes its formal stipulated actions.

The Editorial Board respects privacy and confidentiality of articles, authors and respondents while exercising prerogatives to decide on issues and contents in the paper.

Article submission email account:
Prospective authors can send e-copies of their manuscripts in Word files to theshivapuri@gmail.com

The Shivapuri Journal calls for abstracts and papers on its stipulated timelines. However, prospective authors can also submit their articles throughout the year which the publisher electronically collects for the publication in the forthcoming issue.

CRITERIA FOR JOURNAL STANDARDS: GUIDELINES FOR PUBLISHER

The Shivapuri Journal Publisher has specific guidelines to upgrade its regular publication.

1. Army Command and Staff College’s annual publication, The Shivapuri Journal is accessible both in physical form and electronic version. The journal uses the e-journal portal that is available in the Army Command and Staff College website.
2. The Shivapuri Journal Editorial Board calls for abstract on various thematic areas, following stipulated timelines. Once abstracts are accepted, the Board corresponds to the authors with feedback for revision and submission of their drafts if required.
   NB: Authors other than the currently in active service in the Army Command and Staff College can submit their abstracts for the publication of their articles in The Shivapuri Journal. However, the retired military personnel can submit their abstracts and papers to the publisher for publication.
3. The Editorial Board accepts manuscripts from individual authors or co–authors from different institutions, explicitly outside Army Command and Staff College. Nevertheless, the retired officers of Nepali can submit their abstracts and full –fledged articles for the publication in The Shivapuri Journal.
4. The Editorial Board asks the authors whose abstracts have been accepted for the submission of the full-fledged papers within stipulated timelines.
5.  Authors who are associated with the journal as editors and reviewers cannot submit their articles to the same publication body. However, such authors may revoke their association as editors and reviewers in the journal that they have submitted their articles for publication. In such cases, they should not be involved in the early screening, peer review and editorial review processes. They can reenter into the editorial and review board when they are not submitting their articles for publication in future editions.
6. The Shivapuri Journal includes all the details of publication on the title page next to the cover page. Similarly, it features all the information about the journal and the author/s on the first page of each article.
7. The articles submitted to the The Shivapuri Journal Board undergo a rigorous article selection process for the publication. All submitted manuscripts must go through THREE phases of the selection process:
• Early screening
• Double peer review
• Alternative review of the rejected paper in case one of the reviewers rejects; if still rejected, the article is rejected
• Rejection of the article in case the first two reviewers reject the article
• Final editorial decision.
  So the submitted articles can be rejected at any phase of the selection process.
8. The Shivapuri Journal does not include preface or foreword, statement of any kind, advertisement, or any other materials other than the articles on the related subjects and areas of study. However, the journal may use the editor's note (editorial), which is optional.
9. The Shivapuri Journal includes DOIs in the articles published in the journal.
10. The Shivapuri Journal listed in the e-journal portal of Army Command and Staff College has ISSN, DOIs (obtained from NepJOL) and the list of peer reviewers for an issue (the list can be adjusted to the end of the journal as a separate page).