An electronic copy of the manuscript using Microsoft Word can be submitted via email to: jass@squ.edu.om
Publication Guidelines
- In the covering letter, authors must categorize their submission. The type of the manuscript submitted for publication should be mentioned clearly and authors must provide JASS with a statement that the manuscript has neither been previously published nor is being considered for publication elsewhere. JASS reviews submissions from September through May.
- Manuscripts are refereed by national and international scholars in the fields of specialization. The referees’ recommendations and the final opinion of the editorial board determine whether an article will be accepted or rejected. In either case, authors are notified of the outcome of the evaluation within approximately 6 months of the receipt of the submission.
- Manuscripts are expected to be written in scholarly English or Arabic. Lack of compliance with the publication guidelines may impede the publication of the submission.
- JASS takes issues of copyright infringement very seriously. The copyrights of all pictures, maps, tables, and other matter need to be owned by the researcher(s) or valid copyright permissions must be submitted. Maps of Oman need to receive official approval from Oman’s National Survey Authority. In order to protect the rights of authors and the reputation of the journal, contributors must confirm in writing that their submissions have not been previously published or are under consideration by other journals. This statement should appear in the covering letter.
- Submissions may be checked for originality with plagiarism detection software. If submitted articles are found to be published in any form without significant variation, or have plagiarized other works, or have included copyrighted material without proper permission or acknowledgement, JASS reserves to take action including, but not limited to: addressing the matter with the institution or affiliation of the author(s), retracting the article at any stage of the review and publication processes.
- Submissions should be typed double-spaced in its entirety, written in 12-point type Times New Roman, and with 2.5 cm margins all round. A full-length article should preferably be between 6000 and 8,000 words and should not exceed 40 pages, including the abstracts, tables, maps, appendices, works cited, etc. The length of a book review should be around 800-1200 words. Please include word counts at the end of the manuscript submissions.
- On a separate sheet, authors must supply the title of the research and an abstract in both Arabic and English of no more than 200 words. Up to five keywords should be listed at the end of each abstract. Keywords need to be included in the abstract and should not include words from the title. If more than one keyword or key phrase is used to describe the same thing, include both/all variants. Abstracts must include (if applicable) the scope, rationale, design/method and methodology, originality/significance, and findings.
- The manuscript should be accompanied with a covering letter which should contain the title of the paper written in title caps, the name(s) and affiliation(s) of the author(s), along with contact addresses, (the e-mail, fax, and telephone). All identifying information including author(s) name(s), acknowledgements, and affiliations should be removed from within the manuscript. Manuscripts must include abstract(s) and title and should be paginated.
- Researchers cannot withdraw their research papers once they have been sent for review.
- Figures, diagrams, maps, and charts should be included in the main text of the MS word document. Figures and other files created outside Word should be submitted separately. For fine art, a minimum resolution of 1200 dpi is preferred; for small format prints, text, documents, and technical graphics a minimum resolution of 600 dpi.
- The reference system is the American Psychological Association (APA) 6th edition. The reference section, listed in an alphabetical order, should only include all the works cited in the paper and no others.
- The editorial board reserves the right to make the final decision regarding the publication of the submissions. Manuscripts accepted for publication may undergo editorial modification.
- Revisions should be received within two weeks from the receipt of the editorial decision. If revisions should require more time, an extended deadline can be requested from the editor-in-chief.
- Upon publication, authors can freely download the published on-line PDF file from which they can print unlimited copies of their articles. Hard copies may be provided upon request.
The following are examples for the required documentation style:
In-text citations:
A work by one or two authors: name author(s) in the signal phrase or in parentheses when citing the work. The word "and" should be used between the authors' names within the text and the ampersand in the parentheses.
Example: Research by author and author (date) shows …
(author & author, date)
A work by three to five authors: list the names of all authors when citing the source for the first time. In subsequent citations, only the first author's last name is cited followed by "et al."
Example: (author, author, author, author, & author, date)
(author et al., date)
A work by six or more authors: Only the first author's name is mentioned followed by et al. in the signal phrase or in parentheses.
Example: Author et al. (date) claims …
(author et al., date)
A work by an unknown author: If the author is not known, the source is cited by its title in the signal phrase. When using parentheses, one or two keywords of the title are mentioned. Titles of books and reports are italicized; titles of articles, chapters, and web pages are placed within quotation marks.
Two or more works in the same parentheses: When two or more works are mentioned in parenthetical citations, they must be ordered alphabetically and separated by a semi-colon.
Example: (author, date; author, date)
Authors with the same surname: When authors have the same last name, their first initials are used with their surnames.
Example: (first initial. surname, date; first initial. surname, date)
More than one work by the same author published in the same year: in such a case, lower case letters should be used with the year to avoid confusion.
Example: A study by author (2017a) illustrates …
(author, 2018b)
Translated Works: when a paraphrase or quotation from a translated work is cited, the year of publication and the year the work was translated must appear in the citation.
Example: (author surname, publication year/year of translation, p. #)
Unknown date: if no date is given, the abbreviation n.d. should be used for “no date.”
Page numbers: when direct quotations are cited, page numbers are a requirement. If an idea is cited, page numbers are not necessary, but authors are encouraged to provide them. When page numbers are missing (as sometimes is the case in electronic documents), authors are encouraged to mention the section title, heading, or paragraph number to help readers find the information.
Example: (surname, date, p. number)
According to author (date), … (name of section, para. #)
Note: If the same source is cited two or more times consecutively, the in-text citation note should use “ibid.” If page numbers differ, then the new page numbers should appear after “ibid.” and a comma.
References:
Works cited must appear in alphabetical order with hanging indentations:
Entire book print version
Eriksen, J. (2008). The birds of Al Jabal Al Akhdar. Muscat, Oman: Sultan Qaboos
University.
Entire book electronic version
Smythe, K. (1983). Seashells of the Sultan Qaboos Nature Reserve at Qurm.
Retrieved from http://doc79.gangqinbooks.com/seashells-of-the-sultan-qaboos-nature-reserve-at-qurm-smythe-kathleen_P-1ess2.pdf.
Book with multiple authors
Porter, R., Christensen, S., & Schiermacker-Hansen, P. (2004). Field guide to the birds of the Middle East. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Edited book
Essa, M., Memon, M., & Akbar, M. (Eds.). (2015). Food and brain health. New York, NY: Nova Science Publishers.
Chapter/article from a book
Najmabadi, A. (1997). Crafting an educated housewife in Iran. In L. Abu-Lughod (Eds.), Remaking women: Feminism and modernity in the Middle East (pp. 91-125). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Journal
Salvatory, S. (2007). The Pre-historic graveyard of Ra's Al Hamra 5, Muscat,
Sultanate of Oman. The Journal of Oman Studies, 14(issue number if any), 1-353.
Unpublished work
Garcia Lazo, V. (2012). The visual as a thinking tool: Developing students’ critical thinking skills through images (Unpublished master’s thesis). The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Translated work
Márquez, G. G. (2006). One hundred years of solitude (G. Rabassa, Trans.). New York, NY: Harper Collins. (1967).
Internet sources
Name of Author. (Last update or copyright date; if not known, put n.d.). Title of document. Date of access, full URL address.
Example:
Ministry of Tourism. (2011). Sultanate of Oman: Special issue. Retrieved from http://www.omantourism.gov.om/wps/wcm/connect/a9b89d0048dd4e268443f6fde0ccbc90/FINAL+MAGAZINE.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CONVERT_TO=url&CACHEID=a9b89d0048dd4e268443f6fde0ccbc90.
