Author Guidelines

PREPARING YOUR ARTICLE:
(word count for original and review articles should be between 3,500 and 9,000 words)

Title page
The title page should include the title of the article; list the full names, institutional addresses, and email addresses for all authors. The corresponding author should be indicated.

Abstract
The Abstract should not exceed 300 words. References should not be cited in the abstract and the use of abbreviations should be moderate. The abstract should capture the purpose of the study and relevant background, methods, the main results and the conclusion of the study.

Keywords
Three to ten keywords representing the main content of the article should be included in this section.

Introduction
The introduction section should explain the background to the study, its overarching aim(s), a summary of the existing literature, the significance of the study and its contribution to the field.

Methods
The methods section should include the study design; the characteristics of the study population or participants or description of materials and techniques; a clear description of all processes, interventions, and comparisons; and statistical analysis if applicable.

Results
The results section should include the findings of the study including, if appropriate, results of statistical analysis which can be presented either as text or in tables and figures.

Discussion
This section should discuss the implications of the findings in the context of existing literature and discuss any limitations of the study. (NB: the Results and Discussion sections may be combined if appropriate) 

Conclusions
This should state clearly the main conclusions and provide an explanation of the importance and significance of the study reported.

Acknowledgments (if applicable)
Anyone (individual or institution) who contributed towards the article but does not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged in this section.  Authors should obtain permission to acknowledge from all those mentioned in the Acknowledgements section.

References
The referencing style for SJLS is the Vancouver Style of referencing. References should be numbered in the main text inside square brackets [1] or as numbered superscripts, and all works cited should be listed in numbering order in the references or bibliography section. If available, referencing links and article DOIs should be provided. Alternatively, authors can use the APA referencing style. Please ensure consistency!

List of abbreviations
If abbreviations are used in the text they should be defined in the text at first use, and a list of abbreviations should be provided.

Ethics approval (If applicable)
Provide details of ethics clearance obtained if the study involving human participants or human tissues or animals. The name of the ethics committee and reference number (if available) should be included.

Competing interests
Declare any financial and non-financial competing interests under this section. (Indicate if there are no competing interests)

Funding (if applicable)
All sources of funding for the research reported should be declared. The role of the funding body in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript should be declared.

Authors' contributions
The individual contributions of authors to the manuscript should be provided in this section.