Author Submission Guidelines

The Ugandan Journal of Management and Public Policy Studies (UJMPPS) is a multidisciplinary, open-access, peer-reviewed research journal published by the Uganda Management Institute (UMI). The journal publishes high-quality scholarly work in public administration, business, management, leadership, governance, and public policy as they apply to public institutions, business firms, private-sector organizations, civil society, and nonprofit organizations.UJMPPS publishes biannual issues in JUNE and DECEMBER and is available in both online and print formats under ISSN 2078-7049 (Print) and ISSN 2959-4316 (Online).
The journal does not charge Article Processing Charges (APCs). Authors are not required to pay any fees for submission, peer review, acceptance, or publication.

1. Scope of Submissions
UJMPPS welcomes original, scholarly manuscripts that advance knowledge, policy, and practice in management, public administration, governance, business, leadership, and public policy.
Authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts in areas including, but not limited to:

a) Public Administration and Governance
b) Public-Private Partnerships
c) Public Sector Innovation
d) Leadership and Organizational Development
e) Technology and Innovation Management
f) Comparative Public Administration
g) Social Entrepreneurship and Corporate Social Responsibility
h) Urban Planning and Sustainable Cities
i) Ethics and Accountability in Public Administration
j) Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy
k) Public Policy Analysis and Evaluation
l) Business Management and Strategy
m) Education Policy and Administration
n) Gender and Diversity in the Workplace
o) Public Financial Management
p) Human Resource Management
q) Monitoring and Evaluation
r) Procurement and Supply Chain Management
s) Institutional Development and Organizational Performance
t) Local Governance and Decentralization
u) Development Management
v) Risk Management and Organizational Resilience

Manuscripts should be relevant to scholars, policymakers, practitioners, managers, administrators, professionals, students, and development actors working across the public, private, civil society, and nonprofit sectors.

2. Types of Manuscripts Accepted
UJMPPS accepts the following categories of manuscripts:

1. Original Research Articles: Empirical studies based on quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, case study, survey, documentary, experimental, or evaluation research designs.
2. Theoretical and Conceptual Papers: Papers that develop, critique, apply, or extend theories, models, concepts, and frameworks relevant to management, public policy, governance, leadership, and administration.
3. Literature Review Articles: Systematic reviews, scoping reviews, integrative reviews, bibliometric reviews, narrative reviews, and meta-analyses.
4. Policy Analysis Papers: Papers that examine policy formulation, implementation, evaluation, governance reforms, institutional frameworks, and public sector performance.
5. Case Studies: Scholarly case-based analyses of institutions, programmes, reforms, projects, policies, leadership practices, or management innovations.
6. Book Reviews: Critical reviews of recently published books relevant to public administration, management, governance, leadership, development, and public policy.
7. Technical Notes and Analytical Papers: Short scholarly contributions presenting models, tools, frameworks, simulations, methodological insights, or practice-based lessons.

3. General Submission Requirements
Authors submitting manuscripts to UJMPPS must ensure that:
a) The manuscript is original and has not been previously published.
b) The manuscript is not under review by another journal or publisher.
c) All authors have approved the final version submitted.
d) All sources used are properly cited and referenced.
e) The manuscript is written in clear, scholarly English.
f) Ethical approval and informed consent have been obtained where applicable.
g) Conflicts of interest, funding sources, acknowledgments, and data availability are clearly disclosed.
h) The manuscript complies with UJMPPS formatting, referencing, and publication ethics requirements.
Submission of a manuscript implies that the authors agree to comply with the journal’s editorial, peer review, copyright, open access, and publication ethics policies.

4. Manuscript Length
Manuscripts should not exceed 4,500 - 7,000 words. The word count includes the main text but excludes references, tables, figures, and appendices. Longer manuscripts may be considered where justified by the nature of the study.

5. Manuscript Formatting
Manuscripts should be prepared as follows:
• File format: Microsoft Word document
• Font: Calibri
• Font size: 12 point
• Line spacing: 1.5
• Margins: 1 inch or 2.54 cm on all sides
• Page numbers: inserted on all pages
• Text alignment: justified
• Language: English
• Spelling: British English is preferred, but authors should be consistent throughout the manuscript
• Referencing style: APA 7th editionTables and figures should be numbered consecutively and placed near their first citation in the text. Each table or figure must have a clear title and, where applicable, a source.

6. Manuscript Structure
Original research articles should normally include the following sections:
a) Titleb) Abstract
c) Keywords
d) Introduction
e) Literature Review
f) Theoretical or Conceptual Framework, where applicable
g) Methodology
h) Results or Findings
i) Discussion
j) Conclusion
k) Recommendations or Policy Implications
l) Limitations and Areas for Further Research
m) Acknowledgements, where applicable
n) Funding Statement
o) Conflict of Interest Statement
p) Ethics Approval and Informed Consent Statement, where applicable
q) Data Availability Statement, where applicable
r) References
s) Appendices, where applicable

Review articles, conceptual papers, policy papers, case studies, technical notes, and book reviews may use appropriate headings based on the manuscript's nature, but they must maintain scholarly structure, coherence, originality, and analytical depth.

7. Title Page
The title page should include: 
•Full manuscript title
•Full name of each author
•Institutional affiliation of each author
•Department, faculty or school, institution, city, and country
•Email address of each author
•ORCID iD, where available
•Corresponding author’s name and email address
•Funding statement, where applicable
•Conflict of interest declaration
•Acknowledgments, where applicable

To support blind peer review, authors may be requested to submit a separate anonymized manuscript without author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, or any identifying information.

8. Title
The title should be concise, informative, and reflective of the content of the manuscript. It should normally not exceed 20 words. Authors should avoid vague titles, unnecessary abbreviations, and overly broad wording.

9. Abstract
All manuscripts, except book reviews and short technical notes, should include a 150–250-word abstract. The abstract should summarize the background, purpose, methodology, key findings, conclusion, and implications of the study.
The abstract should not contain citations, tables, figures, footnotes, or undefined abbreviations.

10. Keywords
Authors should provide 4–6 keywords that accurately reflect the manuscript's subject matter. Keywords should support discoverability and indexing.

11. Referencing Style
UJMPPS uses the APA 7th edition citation style. Authors must ensure that every in-text citation appears in the reference list and that every listed reference is cited in the manuscript. Authors are encouraged to use current, relevant, peer-reviewed, and authoritative sources. Excessive self-citation, citation manipulation, irrelevant citations, and failure to cite key literature are unacceptable practices.

12. Tables, Figures, and Illustrations
Tables and figures should be clear, editable, and professionally presented. Authors should avoid submitting tables and figures as low-resolution images unless absolutely necessary.
Each table should have a title above it.
Each figure should have a caption below it. Sources must be acknowledged when tables, figures, illustrations, photographs, or other materials are adapted or reproduced from another source.
Authors are responsible for securing permission to reproduce copyrighted material.

13. Research Ethics and Informed Consent
Manuscripts reporting research involving human participants, organizations, communities, public officials, employees, students, or other respondents must include an ethics statement.
The statement should indicate:
a) The name of the ethics committee, institutional review board, or approving authority, where applicable;
b) Approval or reference number, where applicable;
c) Confirmation that informed consent was obtained from participants;
d) Measures taken to protect privacy, confidentiality, dignity, and welfare of participants;
e) Whether participation was voluntary and whether participants had the right to withdraw.
Where ethical approval was not required, authors must provide a clear justification.
Example ethics statement:
“This study received ethical approval from [Name of Ethics Committee] (approval number [XXXX]). Informed consent was obtained from all participants before data collection. Participation was voluntary, and confidentiality and anonymity were maintained throughout the research process.”

14. Authorship and Contributor Responsibility
Authorship should be limited to individuals who made substantial scholarly contributions to the conception, design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, drafting, revision, or approval of the manuscript.
All listed authors must:
a) Approve the final version of the manuscript;
b) Agree to its submission to UJMPPS;
c) Take responsibility for their contribution;
d) Confirm that the manuscript is original and ethically prepared.
UJMPPS does not accept ghost, guest, gift, or honorary authorship, nor does it accept authorship for sale. Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged with their permission.
Any change in authorship after submission must be explained in writing and approved by all authors.

15. Plagiarism and Similarity Screening
UJMPPS accepts only original manuscripts. Plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplicate or redundant publication, text recycling without proper acknowledgment, unattributed paraphrasing, data fabrication, and citation manipulation are unacceptable.
All manuscripts may be screened with similarity-detection tools. Similarity reports are evaluated with editorial judgment, as not all similarity constitutes plagiarism. Manuscripts with unacceptable overlap, unattributed borrowing, copied text, manipulated citations, or duplicate publication may be rejected or subjected to further ethical review.

16. Conflict of Interest Declaration
Authors must disclose any financial, personal, institutional, academic, political, or professional relationships that could, or appear to, influence the research, analysis, interpretation, or publication of the manuscript.
When there is no conflict of interest, authors should include the following statement:
“The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.”

17. Funding Statement
Authors must disclose all sources of funding, grants, institutional support, sponsorship, or financial assistance for the research or publication.
Where no funding was received, authors should include the statement:
“This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.”

18. Data Availability Statement
Authors are encouraged to include a data availability statement, especially for empirical research. The statement should specify whether the data supporting the findings are available, restricted, confidential, or not publicly accessible.
Examples:
“The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.”Due to ethical and confidentiality restrictions, the data used in this study are not publicly available.
“This study used publicly available data, and the source has been cited in the manuscript.”

19. Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools
Authors may use artificial intelligence tools for grammar checking, language editing, formatting, coding assistance, translation support, or organizing literature. However, such tools must be used responsibly and transparently.
AI tools must not be listed as authors. Authors remain fully responsible for the manuscript's accuracy, originality, validity, citations, data, interpretation, and integrity.
Authors must disclose any significant use of generative AI tools in the manuscript. The disclosure should state the name of the tool used and the purpose for which it was used.

Example AI disclosure statement:
“The authors used [name of AI tool] for language editing and grammar improvement. The authors reviewed and verified all content and take full responsibility for the final manuscript.”AI tools must not be used to fabricate references, generate false data, manipulate results, or supplant scholarly judgment.

20. Submission Preparation Checklist
Before submitting a manuscript to UJMPPS, authors should ensure that:
a) The manuscript fits the aims and scope of the journal.
b) The manuscript is original and not under consideration elsewhere.
c) The title, abstract, and keywords are complete.
d) The manuscript follows APA 7th edition referencing style.
e) All tables and figures are numbered, titled, and cited in the text.
f) Ethical approval and informed consent statements are included where applicable.
g) Funding, conflict of interest, data availability, and AI-use statements are included.
h) All authors have approved the final version.
i) The anonymized manuscript does not reveal author identity, where blind review is required.
j) Permissions have been obtained for copyrighted material.
k) The manuscript has been carefully proofread.

21. Submission Process
Manuscripts should be submitted through the official UJMPPS submission system or the official editorial email address provided by the journal. Authors should submit:
i) A title page with author details;
ii) An anonymised manuscript, where required;
iii) Tables, figures, appendices, or supplementary files, where applicable;
iv) Ethical approval evidence, where requested;
v) Copyright permissions, where applicable.
The corresponding author will receive communication from the editorial office after submission.

22. Editorial Screening
All submissions undergo an initial editorial screening. At this stage, the editorial team assesses whether the manuscript:
a) Fits the journal’s aims and scope;
b) Meets basic formatting requirements;
c) Demonstrates scholarly quality;
d) Contains appropriate ethical declarations;
e) Shows originality and relevance;
f) Meets minimum language and presentation standards.
Manuscripts may be returned, declined, or rejected at this stage if they are outside the journal’s scope, poorly prepared, unethical, plagiarised, insufficiently original, or unsuitable for peer review.

23. Peer Review Process
Manuscripts that pass editorial screening are typically sent to qualified experts for peer review. Reviewers assess the manuscript’s originality, relevance, methodological quality, theoretical grounding, engagement with the literature, ethical compliance, clarity, and contribution to knowledge, policy, and practice.
Possible editorial decisions include:
a) Accept;
b) Accept with minor revisions;
c) Major revisions required;
d) Revise and resubmit;
e) Reject.
Authors receiving revision requests should submit a revised manuscript along with a response letter that shows how reviewer and editor comments have been addressed.

24. Revision of Manuscripts
Revised manuscripts should be submitted within the timeframe specified in the editorial decision letter. Authors should highlight or track major changes as requested and provide a point-by-point response to reviewer comments.
The revised manuscript may be returned to reviewers or evaluated by the editor, depending on the nature of the revisions.

25. Proofs and Publication
After acceptance, the manuscript will undergo copyediting, layout, and proof preparation. Authors may be asked to review proofs before publication. Proof corrections should be limited to typographical errors, formatting issues, and minor factual corrections. Substantial changes at the proof stage may require editorial approval.
Once published, articles become part of the scholarly record and may be changed only through formal correction, retraction, or update procedures.

26. Article Processing Charges
UJMPPS does not charge Article Processing Charges. Authors are not required to pay any fees for submission, editorial processing, peer review, acceptance, publication, or online access to published articles.Publication decisions are based solely on academic merit, originality, ethical compliance, methodological rigor, and relevance to the journal’s aims and scope.

27. Copyright and Licensing
Authors should ensure that their manuscript does not infringe copyright and that permission has been obtained for any third-party material.
The applicable copyright holder and license shall be clearly indicated on each published article in accordance with the journal’s copyright and open access policy.

28. Corrections and Retractions
Authors must promptly notify the journal if they discover a significant error in their submitted or published manuscript. UJMPPS may issue corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions where necessary to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.Retractions may be issued in cases involving unreliable findings, plagiarism, duplicate publication, unethical research, manipulated peer review, fabricated data, or serious errors.

29. Appeals and Complaints
Authors may appeal editorial decisions they believe were based on a procedural error, conflict of interest, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation of the manuscript. Appeals should be submitted in writing with clear justification and supporting evidence.
Complaints about editorial conduct, review quality, publication ethics, delays, or journal processes should be addressed to the editorial office. All complaints and appeals will be handled fairly, confidentially, and transparently.

30. Language and Copyediting
Authors are responsible for submitting manuscripts written in clear, scholarly, and grammatically correct English. Manuscripts with serious issues in language, clarity, structure, or readability may be returned to authors for revision before peer review or declined at the editorial screening stage.
After acceptance, UJMPPS may undertake minor copyediting to improve clarity, grammar, consistency, formatting, referencing style, and conformity with the journal’s house style. Such editorial changes shall not alter the author’s meaning, argument, data, interpretation, or scholarly contribution.
UJMPPS is not responsible for major rewriting, translation, substantive editing, or correction of poorly prepared manuscripts.

31. Contact
All correspondence regarding submissions, revisions, editorial decisions, proofs, complaints, appeals, or publication queries should be addressed to the official UJMPPS editorial contact listed by the journal. 

Submission Acknowledgment and Peer Review Timeline

Upon successful submission, the corresponding author will receive an acknowledgment of receipt from the UJMPPS editorial office within 48 hours. This acknowledgment confirms receipt of the manuscript and that it will undergo preliminary editorial screening for completeness, scope alignment, formatting, originality, and ethical compliance. Manuscripts that pass the initial editorial screening are typically sent for double-blind peer review. The peer review process usually takes 8 to 12 weeks, depending on the availability of suitable reviewers, the manuscript's complexity, and the time reviewers need to submit their reports. UJMPPS is committed to ensuring a fair, rigorous, timely, and constructive review process. However, review timelines may vary when additional reviewers are required, reviewer reports are delayed, or substantial ethical, methodological, or editorial issues require further assessment.