Author Guidelines

A) Preparation of the Manuscript
i. Title Page
ii. Abstract, Keywords, and Classification Codes
iii. Introduction
iv. Literature Review
v. Methodology/ Analysis
vi. Results and Discussion
vii. Tables, Figures, Formulas, and Equations
viii. Mathematical Formulae/ Equations
ix. Figure Captions
x. Tables
xi. Conclusions
xii. References
End References
In-text Citations
xiii. Revised Submission
xiv. Copyright
xv. Further Considerations
xvi. Declaration
B). Submission Preparation Checklist
C). Formatting Guidelines
D). Guidelines for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
E). Ethical Guidelines
i. Originality and Plagiarism
ii.Authorship and Contributions
iii. Disclosure of Conflict of Interest
iv. Ethical Treatment of Human and Animal Subjects
v. Data Integrity and Reproducibility
vi. Multiple Submissions and Concurrent Publication

A) Preparation of the Manuscript

General guidelines for preparing the manuscript for submission are summarized in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.; APA). Authors may also find the documents helpful for preparing manuscripts for submission in the AAR, on our official website

i. Title Page

The first page of the manuscript should contain the title of the paper, the name(s) of the author(s), and a footnote giving the current affiliation of the author(s) and any acknowledgments or author’s note.

ORCID provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between you and your professional activities ensuring that your work is recognized.

AAR requires all the contributing authors and co-authors to provide their ORCID iDs, as they are important for indexing and profiling, but also for enhancing their integral search visibility all over the internet. ORCID iDs are for a lifetime and can be obtained free of charge through a simple registration process at https://orcid.org/.

ii. Abstract, Keywords, and Classification Codes

All manuscripts must include an abstract containing a maximum of 250 words typed on a separate page. After the abstract, please supply up to five keywords or brief phrases (APA). The abstract should explain the purpose of the research, the primary results, major conclusions, and any policy prescriptions. It should not exaggerate or contain material, not in the main text. The abstract should be followed by JEL classification and keywords.

iii. Introduction

A strong introduction engages the reader in the problem of interest and provides a context for the study at hand. In introducing the research concern, the author should provide a clear rationale for why the problem deserves new research, placing the study in the context of current knowledge and prior theoretical and empirical work on the topic. The summary of results should have been dealt with in the abstract.

iv. Literature Review

The author needs to extend the background to the article’s introduction and identify the most relevant previous literature (60% of the total references from the last five years) on the topic for positioning the paper and demonstrating its significance. A separate section for setting out the theoretical or conceptual framework is recommended. In short, this section of the literature review should explain the motivation for the paper and the importance of this research relevant to the contributions.

v. Methodoogy/Analysis

The author is required to provide the relevant and reliable supporting empirical or other material to the conclusion and that the methodology is appropriate and systematic.

vi. Results and Discussion

Results should be clear and concise. The significance of the results of the research work, with no, repeatedly mentioning of results in the text is often appropriate.

vii. Tables, Figures, Formulas, and Equations

Tables should be numbered and headed with appropriate concise titles. The tables are preferred to be presented after the main body of the text and not inserted in the manuscript. Tables for the main text and each of its appendices should be numbered serially and separately. The title of each table as well as the captions of its columns and rows should be clearly expressive of the contents. The source of the tables should be given in a footnote immediately below the line at the bottom of the table; but, unlike other footnotes, which must be numbered consecutively, it should not be numbered.

viii. Mathematical Formulae/ Equations

Please include mathematical equations and expressions as editable text and not as images. Write equations and formulas using the equation editor.

ix. Figure Captions

Ensure that each illustration has a caption. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used. The resolution of the image should be 300dpi.

x. Tables

Please submit tables as editable text and not as images. Tables can be placed either next to the relevant text in the article, or on separate page(s) at the end (not a mixture of both).

xi. Conclusions

The original contribution of the manuscript and the discussion of implications of findings should be clearly mentioned in this section. Provide a critical assessment of the limitations of the study, and outline possible directions for future research.

xii. References

End References

AAR requires all references in APA format. All references used in the text should be listed in the alphabetical order of the authors’ surnames at the end of the text. References should be complete and correct. References in the text should include the name(s) of the author(s) with the year of publication in parentheses. A list of all these references needs to present at the very end of the paper under the heading of “References”. Use of DOI is highly encouraged. Write DOI of all the references, if available.

In-Text Citations

Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Reference management software such as Mendeley, EndNote etc. is preferable for reference citation.

xiii. Revised Submission

Make sure that you have first 'accepted' all changes previously listed in earlier versions under 'track changes, and that all embedded comments or highlighting of the text have likewise been removed. To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the "spell-check" and "grammar-check" functions of your word processor.

xiv. Copyright

The manuscripts submitted in the AAR must be original and unpublished. They must not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. The authors are solely responsible to acquire permission to reproduce the copyrighted material from other sources, if necessary.

xv. Further Considerations

  • The manuscript has been 'spell checked' and 'grammar checked'
  • All references mentioned in the Reference List are cited in the text, and vice versa
  • Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Internet)
  • A competing interests statement is provided, even if the authors have no competing interests to declare
  • The full form of abbreviations for abstracting and abstracting purposes should be presented in the article.
  • Please read the Policies and Guidelines and follow APA 7th Template before submitting your article.

xvi. Declaration

It is AAR's editorial policy to welcome submissions for consideration that are original and not under consideration for any other publication at the same time. All authors should be aware of the importance of presenting content that is based on their own research and expressed in their own words. Plagiarism is considered to be bad practice and unethical. As per the part of the HEC Plagiarism Policy, originality guidelines are designed to assist authors in understanding acceptable and unacceptable practices.

AAR follows an HEC anti-plagiarism policy that allows similarity of less than 18%. And text similarity from each source should be less than 3%. In case your paper is extracted from your own previously done research work, then also place the following statement in the author’s note:

“I hereby declare that the given paper is extracted from my MPhil/Ph.D. thesis and/or is an extension of my previous research work.“

B). Submission Preparation Checklist

As a part of the submission process, authors are required to ensure their submission's compliance with all of the following items, however, the submission can be returned to authors in case of non-compliance. The authors are required to submit the submission checklist and author consent form in this regard.

  • Authors Consent Form (See Template)
  • Formatted Manuscript (See Template)
  • Conflict of Interest Statement (See Template)
  • Data Availability Statement (See Template)
  • Submission Checklist (see Template)
  • Acknowledgement (if necessary)

C). Formatting Guidelines

  • Submit your manuscript in Word format.
  • Use font style Times New Roman, font size 12, and single spacing throughout the manuscript.
  • Manuscript must include the following sections: Abstract, Keywords, Highlights, Introduction (literature review can be a separate section or a part of the introduction), Method, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Limitations, Implications, and References.
  • Title of the article should be bold and title case (initial capital letter for proper nouns).
  • An abstract should explain the main points of your paper. The authors are requested to write an unstructured abstract of around 200-250 words.
  • Write down 3-5 keywords (particularly related to your research) to improve the discoverability of your research.
  • Add 3-4 highlights in bullet points that best indicate your research work.
  • Word limit of a typical article (including tables, figures, and references) should be 2500-8000 words (except for the review articles only).
  • Reference list of a typical article should be 15-50 (70 for the review article).
  • Spell out abbreviations when you incorporate them for the first time, except for the cases where the abbreviations are well- known, such as, CIA.
  • Follow the APA 7 format. Avoid using unnecessary headings.
  • Provide a brief description of the Table/Figure before explaining the content in the Table/Figure and also refer to them in the text for clarity. For example (see Table 1).
  • Add the conflict of interest statement and data availability statement at the end of the manuscript (above references).

General formatting rules are provided here. For more details, you can see the template of the journal.

D) Guidelines for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Readers of AAR usually access articles from Google Scholar, research gate, and other search engines. Authors can play a crucial role to enhance the visibility and citations of their research by following the given tips.

  • Title of a research article should include 1 or 2 keywords and a phrase of the title must be placed at the very start of the abstract (first or second sentence) as the first two sentences normally display in search engines.
  • As the abstract aims to present the key points of your research, authors are requested to repeat the keywords (3-6 times) in the abstract.
  • Use keywords or keyword phrases throughout the article, including title, abstract, headings, and paragraphs, however, avoid unnecessary repetitions (use 5-6 times in the content of the article)
  • For SEO, keywords can be found using tools, such as, Google Trends and Google Adwords
  • Use field-specific keywords by consulting major papers in the field.
  • Share your paper on different social media networking sites, institutional sites, and colleagues for optimization/visibility.

E) Ethical Guidelines

i. Originality and Plagiarism

  • Authors must ensure that their submitted articles are original and have not been previously published elsewhere.
  • Plagiarism, including the use of AI tools and the use of others' work without appropriate citation and/or permission, where necessary, is strictly prohibited.
  • AAR employ plagiarism detection software to screen submissions for potential plagiarism detection.
  • All the submitted documents pass through similarity-checking tools, such as Turnitin, iThenticate, and others.

ii. Authorship and Contributions

  • All individuals who have made substantial contributions to the research and preparation of the article should be listed as authors.
  • The order of authorship should be determined based on their significant contributions. (For details see Author(s) Contributions/Credits)
  • It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to its submission.

iii. Disclosure of Conflict of Interest

  • Authors must disclose any financial, personal, or professional conflict of interest, which could potentially influence the research, analyses, or findings.
  • If no conflict of interest exist, authors are required to explicitly state it in the submission. (For details see Conflict of Interest Policy)

iv. Ethical Treatment of Human and Animal Subjects

  • Research involving human or animal subjects should have appropriate ethical approvals and informed consent from participants or their legal guardians.
  • Authors would provide details about the ethical considerations and approvals in their submissions (See Research Ethics Guidelines).

v. Data Integrity and Reproducibility

  • Authors would ensure the integrity and accuracy of their data and provide a sufficient information to enable the reproducibility of the research (For details see Data Availability policy).

vi. Multiple Submissions and Concurrent Publication

  • UMT journals explicitly state that simultaneous submission of the same manuscript to multiple journals is not acceptable even if the manuscript is under review process and status is unknown. The manuscript can be submitted to a journal only if the final decision of rejection has been communicated to the author.
  • AAR Authors are required to disclose the status (if any part of the submitted work has been previously published) or is under consideration elsewhere.