Submissions

Author Guidelines

Before You Submit

AXIS Journal of Social Sciences (AJSS) publishes original research articles and review articles across the social sciences (see Focus and Scope on the About page). Manuscripts must be original, must not have been published previously, and must not be under consideration by another journal. Please read the Journal Policies before submitting.

Manuscript Length

Manuscripts should be 4,000–9,000 words, including references, tables and appendices. Longer manuscripts may be considered at the editor's discretion.

Manuscript Template and Structure

Authors should prepare their manuscript using the AJSS Manuscript Template (download .docx). Empirical papers should normally follow this structure: Title, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Literature Review, Theoretical Framework, Methodology, Results, Discussion, Limitations and Future Research, Conclusion, Declarations, References. Qualitative studies, conceptual papers and reviews may adapt this structure as appropriate to their design.

Formatting

• Microsoft Word (.docx) format; Times New Roman 12 pt; 1.5 line spacing.
• Manuscripts must be written in clear English (British or American spelling, used consistently).
• Abstract: 150–250 words, single paragraph, no citations.
• Keywords: 4–6, separated by semicolons.
• Tables and figures numbered consecutively and cited in the text.
• References: APA 7th edition, in Roman script (non-English sources should be transliterated with an English translation of the title in square brackets). Include DOIs wherever available.

Double-Blind Peer Review: Files to Upload

AJSS uses double-blind peer review. Authors must upload two separate files:

1. Title Page – title; all author names, affiliations, email addresses and ORCID iDs; the corresponding author; acknowledgements; funding information.
2. Anonymised Manuscript – with no author names, affiliations or acknowledgements. Self-citations should be written as “Author (Year)” in the text and reference list, and identifying information must be removed from the file properties.

Authorship and ORCID

All listed authors must meet the criteria for authorship (substantial contribution to the work, drafting or critically revising it, approval of the final version, and accountability for its content). Contributions should be described using the CRediT taxonomy. Changes to authorship after submission require written agreement from all authors and approval by the editor. ORCID iDs are strongly encouraged for all authors, especially the corresponding author.

Declarations

Every manuscript must end with a Declarations section stating:

• Funding (or “This research received no external funding”);
• Conflict of interest;
• Ethical approval (committee name and reference number) and informed consent, for research involving human participants;
• Data availability;
• Author contributions (CRediT);
• Use of AI tools (if any, see below).

Use of Artificial Intelligence

AI tools may be used only for language editing and proofreading, and such use must be disclosed in the Declarations. AI-generated text, analysis, data, images, references or findings are not acceptable. AI tools cannot be listed as authors. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality and integrity of all content. See the full AI policy in the Journal Policies.

Originality and Plagiarism

All submissions are screened with similarity-detection software. Similarity reports are assessed by the editors in context rather than on percentage alone. Plagiarism, duplicate or redundant publication, fabrication and falsification will lead to rejection and will be handled in line with COPE guidance.

Copyright and Licence

Articles are published open access under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0). Authors retain copyright. On acceptance, the corresponding author must submit the signed AJSS Author Agreement Form (download .docx) on behalf of all authors.

Article Processing Charges

There are no submission or peer-review fees. Articles published in the inaugural issues (2026) are free of charge. From 1 January 2027, an Article Processing Charge applies to accepted manuscripts only, based on the World Bank income group of the corresponding author's country of affiliation: USD 150 (high-income), USD 100 (upper-middle-income), USD 60 (lower-middle-income) and USD 30 (low-income, with a full waiver available on request). Authors without funding may request a partial or full waiver. See the Fees and Waiver Policy.

Withdrawal

Authors may withdraw a manuscript at any time before acceptance. Once accepted, a manuscript may be withdrawn only for a legitimate reason and with written approval from the Editorial Office.