Author Instructions

Submission & Open Access Policies

• Open Access & Licensing: All accepted articles are published immediately Open Access under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Authors retain copyright and grant Neewaj a non-exclusive right to publish and distribute the work.
• Archiving & DOIs: Articles receive DOIs via Zenodo and are permanently archived on Internet Archive and SSRN.
• Article Processing Charges (APC) & Waivers: The APC is USD 200 per accepted article. There are no submission fees. Waivers (full or partial) are available for authors from low-income economies or those with demonstrated financial need; waiver decisions are handled administratively and do not influence editorial decisions.
• Preprints: Authors may post preprints (e.g., arXiv) prior to submission; this does not constitute prior publication.
• Originality: Simultaneous submissions to multiple journals are strictly prohibited. All manuscripts undergo similarity checks (e.g., iThenticate) at submission.

Manuscript Structure & Formatting

Submit your manuscript via the Manuscript Submission portal in Microsoft Word (.docx), written in English. Submissions should include:

• Title Page (Separate File): Must include a concise title, full author names, institutional affiliations, ORCID iDs, and contact details for the corresponding author.
• Abstract & Keywords: A structured abstract of 150–300 words and 3–6 keywords.
• Main Text: Organized into Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions. Use clear hierarchical headings, 12 pt font (Times New Roman or Arial), and double-spacing.
• References: Use the numeric Vancouver style (e.g., [1,3–5]).
• Figures & Tables: High-resolution figures (≥300 dpi) in PNG, JPEG formats. Tables should be numbered sequentially with descriptive captions.

Required Declarations

Your main manuscript file must include the following sections before the references:

• Author Contributions: A short statement detailing what each author contributed. All authors must meet standard authorship criteria.
• Conflicts of Interest: Disclose all competing interests or explicitly state "The authors declare no competing interests".
• Funding Statement: List all grant numbers and funders.
• Data Availability Statement: Explain where supporting data or code can be accessed, providing DOIs or repository links.
• Ethics Statement: For research involving humans or animals, include the ethics committee name, approval number, and a statement of informed consent. Clinical trials must include a registry name and number.