Author Guidelines

Article Types and Word Limits

The Journal accepts the article types set out below. Word counts refer to the main text and exclude the title page, abstract, references, tables, figures, and supplementary material. Authors who have a compelling reason to exceed a limit should explain this in the cover letter and seek guidance from the editorial office before submitting.

Article type	Description	Main text	Abstract
Original research article	Full-length empirical study reporting original quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods research with novel findings.	5,000–8,000	Structured, 250 words
Systematic review or meta-analysis	Comprehensive, protocol-driven synthesis of existing evidence, including narrative reviews where appropriate.	6,000–10,000	Structured, 250 words
Methodological paper	Advances research methods, measurement instruments, analytical techniques, or approaches to studying social and behaviour change.	4,000–6,000	Unstructured, 200 words
Case study	In-depth, analytically rigorous examination of an intervention, programme, or context offering transferable lessons.	3,000–5,000	Unstructured, 200 words
Policy brief or practice note	Translates research findings into actionable, evidence-based recommendations for policymakers and practitioners.	2,000–3,000	Unstructured, 150 words
Commentary or perspective	Well-argued opinion, critical reflection, or forward-looking view on an emerging issue, debate, or trend.	1,500–2,500	Unstructured, 150 words

 

What Editors and Reviewers Look For

Every submission is assessed against the criteria below. Strong manuscripts do not need to satisfy all of them equally, but they should demonstrate clear merit across those most relevant to the work. Understanding these criteria before you write will help you present your contribution to best effect.

• Addresses a critical evidence gap. The work tackles under-researched questions, populations, or contexts, and articulates clearly what it adds to existing knowledge and to the Network’s research agenda.
• Methodological rigour. The design suits the research questions; data collection and analysis are sound, systematic, and described in enough detail for readers to judge validity and reliability. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed or multi-method approaches are equally welcome.
• Ethical standards. The research demonstrates ethical conduct, particularly with children and vulnerable groups, including informed consent and assent, safeguarding, confidentiality, and data protection, with approval from a recognized ethics committee.
• Scientific innovation. The work introduces novel methods, frameworks, or analytical approaches, or applies existing ones creatively to new contexts. Responsible, equity-advancing use of new technologies, including artificial intelligence, is welcomed.
• Policy and practice relevance. Wherever possible, findings carry clear implications for policy, programming, or implementation, expressed as concrete, actionable recommendations.
• Child rights and equity focus. The work explicitly advances understanding of children’s rights and applies an equity lens attentive to gender, disability, marginalization, poverty, geography, and other drivers of inequality.
• African context and relevance. The research is conducted in or for African contexts and shows sensitivity to the specific cultural, social, economic, and political settings in which it sits.
• Diversity and representation. The Journal actively seeks to represent diverse countries, regions, languages, and populations, and to amplify voices from areas historically underrepresented in academic publishing.
• Interdisciplinary thinking. Work that integrates perspectives across disciplines and sectors is valued for the fuller insight it brings to complex social and behavioural questions.
• Community engagement and ownership. Meaningful involvement of children, families, communities, or local stakeholders in design, implementation, or interpretation signals participatory, grounded research.

Authorship Guidelines

 

Who qualifies as an author

Authorship should be based on substantial intellectual contribution. The Journal follows widely recognized authorship criteria: an author is someone who has contributed substantially to the conception or design of the work, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; has drafted the manuscript or revised it critically for important intellectual content; has approved the final version to be published; and agrees to be accountable for the work. All four conditions should be met. Everyone who meets them should be listed, and everyone listed should meet them.

Each author should have participated sufficiently to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content. Acquisition of funding, general supervision of a research group, or general administrative support does not, on its own, justify authorship.

Contributor roles

To make individual contributions transparent, authors are encouraged to describe each person’s role using a recognized contributor taxonomy (for example CRediT), covering elements such as conceptualization, methodology, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, writing of the original draft, review and editing, and supervision. A brief contributions statement should be included on the title page.

Corresponding author

The corresponding author acts on behalf of all co-authors and is responsible for communication with the Journal before and after publication. This includes ensuring that everyone who qualifies is listed, that all authors have seen and approved the final manuscript and its submission, and that author details and order are correct. The corresponding author is also responsible for responding to queries after publication.

Changes to authorship

Any request to add, remove, or reorder authors must be made by the corresponding author before acceptance and must include written confirmation from all authors, existing and proposed, that they agree to the change. Changes after acceptance will be considered only in exceptional circumstances and with compelling justification.

Acknowledgements

Contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be named in the Acknowledgements, with their permission. This includes those who provided technical help, writing or language assistance, or general support. Any use of professional writing, editing, or translation services should be acknowledged here. Sources of funding, and the role of funders in the design, conduct, analysis, and reporting of the study, must also be disclosed.

The Journal is committed to the integrity of the scholarly record and follows the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Authors, reviewers, and editors are expected to uphold these standards throughout. The requirements below apply to all submissions; several must be documented in the manuscript itself.

Publication Ethics and Research Integrity

 

Ethical approval

All research involving human participants must have received approval from an appropriate institutional review board or ethics committee before data collection began. The manuscript must name the approving body and give the approval reference number or date. Research that did not require formal approval should say so and explain why, with reference to the applicable national or institutional guidance.

Informed consent, and research with children

Authors must confirm that informed consent was obtained from all participants or their legal guardians, and that assent was obtained from children where appropriate to their age and capacity. Any deviation from standard consent procedures must be explained and justified. Research involving children requires particular attention to consent and assent, safeguarding, confidentiality, and the best interests of the child.

Authors reporting research with children should consult UNICEF’s guidance on ethical research involving children and reflect its principles in their design and reporting: Ethical Research Involving Children (UNICEF Innocenti).

Consent to publish and identifiable data

Where a manuscript contains images, quotations, or other details through which an individual could be identified, written consent to publish must have been obtained from that person or their guardian. Participant quotations in qualitative research must be anonymized and presented with enough context to be meaningful without compromising confidentiality. Do not include identifying information in the manuscript or supplementary files unless it is essential and consent has been given.

Originality, prior publication, and preprints

Submissions must be original, not previously published, and not under consideration elsewhere. Related work by the authors that overlaps with the submission, including conference papers and prior reports, should be cited and explained in the cover letter. Posting a preprint to a recognized, non-commercial preprint server before or during submission is permitted and does not count as prior publication; authors should disclose the preprint and its DOI on submission and cite the published version once available.

Similarity checking and plagiarism

All submissions are screened with similarity-detection software. Plagiarism, including the reuse of an author’s own previously published text without attribution, may lead to rejection or, after publication, to correction or retraction. Present others’ work in your own words and cite it properly, and keep direct quotation to a minimum.

Conflicts of interest

All authors must disclose any financial or personal relationships that could be seen to influence the work. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, paid expert testimony, stock ownership, patents, and grants or other funding. Include a conflict-of-interest statement in the manuscript; if there are none, state that explicitly. Reviewers and editors are likewise required to declare and manage any conflicts.

Funding

Name all sources of funding for the research and state the role of each funder in the study’s design, conduct, analysis, interpretation, and reporting. If the research received no specific funding, say so.

Data availability

Every manuscript reporting original data must include a data availability statement describing whether the data underlying the findings are available, where they can be accessed, and any conditions or restrictions that apply. Where sharing is constrained by ethical or legal considerations, particularly with sensitive data concerning children, explain the restriction and describe how appropriately qualified researchers might seek access. Open deposit of de-identified data in a recognized repository is encouraged where it is safe and ethical to do so.

Registration of trials and study protocols

Clinical trials should be registered prospectively in a recognized public registry, with the registration name and number reported in the manuscript. Authors of systematic reviews are encouraged to register their protocol (for example in PROSPERO) and to cite the registration.

Use of artificial intelligence tools

The Journal recognizes that AI tools are increasingly used in research and writing, and asks authors to use them responsibly and transparently. Any substantial use of AI tools, including for data analysis, literature searching, or text generation, must be disclosed in the Methods or Acknowledgements, naming the tool and describing its purpose. AI tools cannot be listed as authors, because they cannot take responsibility for the work.

Authors remain fully accountable for everything in their manuscript. AI-generated content must be checked, verified, and edited by the authors, who are responsible for its accuracy, integrity, and originality, and for ensuring that its use does not compromise participant protections, data privacy, or proper attribution. Editors and reviewers may request further detail about AI use during review.

Misconduct, corrections, and retractions

Research and publication misconduct, including fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, inappropriate image manipulation, redundant publication, and authorship disputes, is treated seriously and investigated in line with COPE guidance. The Journal publishes corrections for significant errors and, in cases of serious error, ethical violation, or confirmed misconduct, may retract an article. Corrections and retractions are clearly labelled, dated, and linked to the original, which remains accessible with a prominent notice explaining the reason.

Preparing Your Manuscript

 

Language and style

Manuscripts may be written in English or French. Whichever language you use, aim for clear, direct, active prose that will be accessible to a multidisciplinary, pan-African readership. Define specialized terms on first use and avoid unnecessary jargon. Manuscripts in English should use a single consistent spelling convention throughout; the Journal’s house style is British spelling. Manuscripts should be carefully proofread before submission, as language that impedes understanding can be grounds for rejection. Translation into other Network languages is arranged after acceptance and is not required at submission.

File format and layout

Prepare the manuscript as an editable Word file (.docx). Use A4 pages with margins of at least 2.5 cm, a standard 12 point serif or sans-serif typeface, and 1.5 or double line spacing. Number all pages, and apply continuous line numbering to the main manuscript to help reviewers refer to specific passages. Use the automatic heading and table functions of your word processor rather than manual formatting. Do not embed tables or figures as screenshots (see Tables and Figures below).

Anonymization for double-blind review

Because review is double-blind, prepare two files. The main manuscript must be anonymized: remove author names, affiliations, and contact details, and remove acknowledgements, funding details, and any ethics-approval identifiers that would reveal the authors (these are restored after acceptance). Refer to your own prior work in the third person so that self-citation does not disclose your identity, and check that file properties and document metadata do not carry your name. Author-identifying information belongs only on the separate title page.

Title page (separate file)

Submit the title page as a separate, non-anonymized file containing the full title, which should be concise but informative; the full names, affiliations, and ORCID identifiers of all authors; the corresponding author’s email address and telephone number; a short running title; the word count of the main text; a brief contributions statement; and the funding, conflict-of-interest, ethical-approval, and data-availability statements. Keeping this information on a separate page allows the main manuscript to remain anonymous.

Abstract and keywords

Every article requires an abstract, within the length shown for its type in Section 2, that can be read and understood on its own, without reference to the main text and without citations or undefined abbreviations. For original research and systematic reviews, use a structured abstract with the headings Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. Other article types may use a single unstructured paragraph. Below the abstract, list four to six keywords that reflect the substance of the article and will aid discovery, favouring recognized terms over idiosyncratic phrases.

Structure of the main text

Original research articles should generally follow a conventional structure: an Introduction setting out the background, rationale, and objectives; a Methods section describing the design, setting, participants, data collection, and analysis in enough detail to allow appraisal and, in principle, replication; a Results section presenting the findings clearly and without interpretation; and a Discussion that interprets the findings, considers their implications for policy and practice, acknowledges limitations, and states conclusions that follow from the evidence. Reviews, methodological papers, case studies, policy briefs, and commentaries may adapt this structure to suit their content, while retaining a logical progression from purpose through evidence to conclusions. Use a clear hierarchy of no more than three levels of heading.

Tables and figures

Use tables and figures only for information that is clearer in that form than in prose, and make each one self-explanatory through a clear title and, where needed, a legend and defined abbreviations. Number tables and figures separately in the order they are first mentioned, and refer to each one in the text. Build tables with your word processor’s table function rather than as images, and supply figures as high-resolution files in a standard format suitable for both print and screen. Ensure that all data in tables and figures are consistent with the text, and that any material reproduced or adapted from another source is properly attributed and cleared for use, as described in Section 4. Do not present participant-identifying images without documented consent.

Abbreviations, units, and numbers

Define each abbreviation at first use in the abstract and again at first use in the main text, and use it consistently thereafter. Standard abbreviations and units of measurement may be used without definition. Keep abbreviations to a minimum, since a multidisciplinary readership may not share discipline-specific shorthand. Report quantities in SI units where applicable, and use a consistent format for numbers, dates, and statistics throughout.

Quotations

Use direct quotation sparingly, and only where the original wording carries particular weight. Incorporate short quotations of fewer than 40 words into the text within quotation marks; set longer quotations as an indented block of no more than about six lines. Reproduce all quotations accurately and cite them precisely. Quotations from research participants must be anonymized and given appropriate context, as set out in Section 6.3.

References and citations

Ensure that every in-text citation has a matching entry in the reference list and that every entry is cited in the text. Cite primarily peer-reviewed sources, drawing in grey literature, policy documents, and other materials where they are relevant and reliable. The Journal warmly encourages authors to engage with and cite African scholarship, and work published in languages other than their own, so that the reference list reflects the knowledge base the Journal seeks to build. Give a DOI for each source where one exists, and check every reference for accuracy before submitting.

The Journal’s citation style is APA (7th edition), an author-date style well suited to a multidisciplinary readership and widely supported by reference-management software. In the text, cite by author surname and year, for example (Mwansa, 2024) or Mwansa (2024). For works with three or more authors, name the first author followed by “et al.”, as in (Mwansa et al., 2024). List every cited work alphabetically by author surname in a reference list under the heading References, and give each DOI as a full link where one exists. Authors are encouraged to use reference-management software to apply the style consistently.

Common source types follow the patterns below, with italics as shown. For a source in French or another language, give the title in its original language, and you may add an English translation in square brackets immediately after it.

Journal article

Nkosi, T., & Abebe, M. (2024). Community dialogue and immunization uptake in rural Zambia. Journal of Applied Behavioural Science, 12(3), 210–228. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxx

Book

Diallo, A. (2023). Behaviour change in African health systems. Dakar University Press.

Chapter in an edited book

Okonkwo, C. (2022). Norms and adolescent health. In L. Banda & R. Sithole (Eds.), Adolescence in Southern Africa (pp. 88–104). Harare Academic Press.

Report or grey literature (organisation as author)

UNICEF. (2023). The state of the world’s children 2023. UNICEF. https://www.unicef.org/xxxx

Conference paper

Mwale, P. (2024, June). Advocacy skills for scaling SBC [Paper presentation]. International SBCC Summit, Panama City, Panama.

Online report or web page

World Health Organization. (2023, March 15). Immunization coverage [Fact sheet]. https://www.who.int/xxxx

Supplementary material

Material that supports but is not essential to the main text, such as interview guides, coding frameworks, additional tables, or reporting-guideline checklists, may be submitted as clearly labelled supplementary files. Cite each supplementary item in the main text, and remember that supplementary files are not copy-edited or typeset; ensure they are complete, correctly labelled, and free of participant-identifying information before submission.

Inclusive and Respectful Language

The Journal asks authors to write about people, communities, and places with accuracy and respect. Describe participants in terms they would recognize and accept, use people-first or identity-first language as appropriate to the community concerned, and avoid terms that stigmatize or that frame African contexts through deficit alone. Report gender, disability, ethnicity, and similar characteristics only where they are relevant to the research, and describe them precisely. Present communities as agents in their own development rather than as passive recipients, consistent with the Journal’s equity and child-rights commitments.

How to Submit

Manuscripts are submitted through the Journal’s online submission system, details of which are provided on the Journal website. The corresponding author submits on behalf of all co-authors and confirms that every author has approved the submission. Please assemble the following before you begin.

• Anonymized main manuscript (.docx): title, abstract, keywords, main text, references, and tables and figures with captions, containing no author-identifying information.
• Title page (separate file): full author details and the declarations listed in Section 7.4.
• Cover letter: a brief statement of the work’s importance and fit with the Journal, confirmation of originality and that the work is not under consideration elsewhere, disclosure of any related or preprinted work, and the article type and word count.
• Ethics documentation: the approval reference, and, if requested, evidence of approval and of consent procedures.
• Reporting-guideline checklist for the relevant study design, where applicable (Section 8).
• Supplementary files, clearly labelled, where relevant.

 

ORCID. The corresponding author is asked to provide an ORCID identifier, and all authors are encouraged to do so, to ensure they are correctly and permanently credited for their work.

Questions before submitting? Authors who are unsure whether their work fits the Journal’s scope, or who have questions about preparing a submission, are welcome to contact the editorial office. Pre-submission enquiries are encouraged, especially from authors publishing in the Journal for the first time.