Original Research Articles

Original articles are on theoretical or methodological advances in research that integrate inquiry in various disciplines to improve understanding of environment, peace or sustainability and its application to specific environmental, peace and sustainability challenges. Original research articles should be between 4000 and 8000 words (excluding title, author names and affiliations, keywords, abbreviations, table/figure captions, acknowledgements and references).

 

Manuscript Elements

Title

The title should be concise and informative: Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible. The title should be a maximum of 90 characters, including
spaces. Abbreviations and punctuation should be avoided.

Author names and affiliations

Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled. Present the authors' affiliation (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a superscript number immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate affiliation.

Corresponding author

Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author.

Abstract

A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should not be more than 300 words and it should state briefly the purpose of the research, methods used, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, References should be avoided. Non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.

Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 5 keywords, and avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.

Introduction

State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results. The introduction briefly reviews the pertinent literature in order to identify the gap in knowledge that the study is intended to address and the limitations of previous studies in the area. Clearly describe the purpose of the study, the tested hypothesis, and its scope. Avoid extensive literature review or discussing the results of the study in this section.

Material and methods

Provide sufficient details to allow the work to be reproduced by an independent researcher. Methods that are already published should be summarized, and indicated by a reference. If quoting directly from a previously published method, cite the source. Any modifications to existing methods should also be described.  This section has 4 components: detailed description of the materials used and their components, experimental design, procedures employed, and statistical tests used to analyze the results. The statistical analysis section must describe which tests were used to analyze which dependent measures; P values must be specified. Additional details may include randomization scheme, stratification (if any), power analysis as a basis for sample size computation, dropouts from clinical trials, the effects of important confounding variables, and bivariate versus multivariate analysis.

a) Units

Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units (SI). If other units are mentioned, please give their equivalent in SI.

The proper use of lowercase and uppercase is required, e.g., kg (10³ g), MW (10⁶ Watt), k (rate constants) and K (equilibrium constants). The format should be in mg L^-1 s^-1 (not mg/L-s) with a space in between each individual unit. Always provide a blank space before the unit, e.g., 0.5 M NaCl solution, 20 g of wet sludge, etc. Use min for minutes, h for hours, d for days, yr for years.

b) Maths formulae

Please submit math equations as editable text and not as images. In principle, variables are to be presented in italics. Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp. Number consecutively all equations using Arabic numerals in round brackets. In the text, equations should be referred to as Eq. (1) or Eqs. (2) and (3), except when starting a sentence. Equations must be inserted using Microsoft word equation tools. Avoid using snipping tools to cut and insert equations.

Results

Results should be clear and concise. Only experimental results are appropriate in this section; do not include methods, discussion, or conclusions. Include only those data that are critical for the study, as defined by the aim(s). Do not include all available data without justification; any repetitive findings will be rejected from publication. All Figures, Charts, and Tables must be cited in the text in numerical order and include a brief description of the major findings.

a) Figures

Figures are generally of 2 types: Type 1 figures include photographs, radiographs, or micrographs. These include only essential figures and authors can use composite figures containing several panels of photographs, if possible. Each panel must be clearly identified with a letter (eg, A, B, C), and the parts must be defined in the figure legend. A figure that contains many panels counts as 1 figure. Type 2 includes graphs (i.e., line drawings including bar graphs) that plot a dependent variable (on the Y axis) as a function of an independent variable (usually plotted on the X axis). Use graphs when the overall trend of the results is more important than the exact numeric values of the results.

b) Tables

Tables are appropriate when it is critical to present exact numeric values; however, not all results need be placed in either a table or figure. If the results are not significant, then it is probably not necessary to include the results in either a table or as a figure. Please submit tables as editable text and not as images. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text and place any table notes below the table body. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in them do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. 

Discussion

This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.

Conclusions

The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.

Acknowledgements (optional)

Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article before the references and do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proofreading the article, etc.). You may also use this section to thank any funding bodies.

References

We strongly recommend the use of a reference manager software (eg., Zotero, Mendeley etc., )

The list of references should include only works that are cited in the text and that have been published or accepted for publication. Personal communications should be mentioned only in the text. If available, the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) can be added at the end of the reference in question. Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa) using APA style. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.

In the text, references should be cited by author and year (e.g., Ndono et al., 2019; Omari et al., 2019) and listed in alphabetical order in the reference list. If there is more than one work by the same author or team of authors in the same year, a, b, etc. should be added to the year both in the text and in the list of references.

*Journal papers: name(s) and initial(s) of all authors; year; full title; journal title; volume number; issue number; first and last page numbers. If available, the DOI of the cited literature should be added at the end of the reference in question.

Examples

Ndono, P., Muthama, N., & Muigua, K. (2019). Effectiveness of the Nyumba Kumi community policing initiative in Kenya. Journal of Sustainability, Environment and Peace, 1(2), 63-67.

Omari, J., Mworia, J., Gichuki, N., & Mligo, C. (2019). Woody species composition in upper Tana River floodplain of Kenya: Potential effects of change in flood regimes. Journal of Sustainability, Environment and Peace, 1(3), 91-97.

Web references

As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given.

General websites can be provided in a ‘further information’ box, but specific online articles should be cited
as a reference using the following format:
Author. Title of online article. Website name. http address (2015).

Appendices

If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc. Formulae and equations in appendices should be given separate numbering: Eq. (A.1), Eq. (A.2), etc.; in a subsequent appendix, Eq. (B.1) and so on. Similarly, for tables and figures: Table A.1; Fig. A.1, etc.

Formatting requirements

The text should be single-spaced and use Times New Roman, 12-point font size. All pages should be numbered at the bottom of each page.

Provide line numbers on the left margin of the page. Please restart the line numbering on each page. You may add line numbers in Microsoft Word by clicking on “Layout”, select “Line Numbers”, click on the “Restart Each Page” 

Main headings 

Main headings should be used to break up the text. They should be no longer than 38 characters, including spaces, and should avoid abbreviations. Each heading should appear on its own separate line. Headings should be numbered 1. (then 2., 3., ...).

Subheadings 

Subheadings should be used to subdivide main sections to help guide non-specialist readers. Up to two levels of subheadings are permitted, with a maximum of 39 and 80 characters, respectively, including spaces. Subheadings should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ...), 1.2, etc.. Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing. Any subsection may be given a brief heading.

 Abbreviations

Define abbreviations when they first appear, and there is no need to use abbreviations if they are no longer used in the manuscript. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.  

Submission
Articles should be submitted via our web-based manuscript tracking system. The article files should contain the article and any tables, figures or boxes in a single Microsoft Word document. When the files have been successfully uploaded and received by the handling editor, you will receive an e‑mail acknowledgement.

Please submit the text of your manuscript as a Microsoft Word file (.docx, .doc) and not as a PDF.