The journal presents original research in the fields of Business and Management, Education, Social Sciences, Health Sciences, Information and Communication Technology, Engineering, Environment and Agriculture. The Journal also presents issues surrounding integration of Computing, Technology and Management in a multi-disciplinary context. Therefore, it will be of interest to a wide readership cutting across academicians, researchers, policy makers, environmentalists, managers, planners, industrialists, government and NGOs globally, across a range of disciplines.

Publication Classification Details

1. MISSION

To promote a culture of writing and intellectual vibrancy within the University by publishing high-quality papers written by University staff and/or postgraduate students

2. AIMS AND SCOPE

Ndejje University Journal aims at strengthening evidence-based research and innovation, support and inform technology and management policy and practice, as well as improve learning in and across trans-disciplinary organizations and academic institutions. Thus, NDUJ will create synergies among research, policy and practice.

3. OBJECTIVES

Ndejje University Journal will:

• Stimulate research to build the evidence-base and the collective knowledge around technology.

A scholarly Journal dedicated to technology could validate the importance of rigorous scientific research in the field and elevate the technology community’s standards for, and expectations of, how research and scholarship is conducted. This will contribute to the further professionalization of technology.

4.2     Stimulate research to build the evidence-base and the collective knowledge around management.

A scholarly Journal dedicated to technology could validate the importance of rigorous scientific research in the field and elevate the technology community’s standards for, and expectations of, how research and scholarship is conducted. This will contribute to the further professionalization of technology.

4.3     Promote technology and management trans-disciplinary research in organizations, policy and academic institutions.

NDUJ will encourage strategies to investigate technological applications in addressing management and development challenges with an impact on better service delivery

NDUJ will provide a much-needed space within academic literature for practitioners, policy-makers and academics to share technology and management related research findings and engage in dialogue with each other. The Journal will form a platform to foster increased linkages between diverse actors in various fields.

• Re-define research gaps and key themes and trends in technology and management as a way to inform policy, practice and future research.

NDUJ will keep the stakeholders up-to-date on current developments and research:

• Help identify new trends in technology and management that they would need to address in their work;
• Encourage stakeholders to document their work and share with the technology and management communities;
• Encourage stakeholders to design and implement evidence-informed programs and policies.

• Publish interdisciplinary and original work of the highest quality from across the globe in the broad areas of Computing, Technology and Management
• Disseminate real world problem analyses within developing countries that hinder sustainable development and solutions to them that can bring about poverty reduction and sustainable development.
• Provide a forum for exploring contemporary issues in computing, technology and management by academics, policy-makers, governments, researchers and industrialists.

4. JOURNAL PROMOTION

The Journal is promoted widely to the broad technological and management community and beyond, using various channels to carry out electronic, printed and in-person promotion at conferences, trainings and other events. Promotions include:

• Public lecture presentations of selected articles;
• Internet-based free publications
• Banners and brochures at NDUJ and other public spaces.
• Advertising in websites
• In NDUJ newsletters to raise awareness
• NDUJ conferences and workshops
• Determine and send out thematic topics to potential authors
• Start a Blog or Wiki about trends in technology and management
• Invite for publications through emails

6.0       Editorial Board

At least 6 publishing assistants will be available to support each faculty.

7.0 THE POLICIES OF NDEJJE UNIVERSITY JOURNAL

Policies address problems that editors need to resolve and provide a clear explanation of how the journal operates.

7.1 Editor-in-Chief

The Editor-in-Chief in consultation with the Editorial Board may decide to broaden/ condense the Journal focus and can select specific topics related to technology and management as the focus of special editions. Final language describing the Journal’s focus and mission will be developed by the Editor and will incorporate the advice of the Editorial Board.

On a similar note, the editor in chief in consultation with the board will determine Editions & Contents of the Journal and whether publication will be online and at what interval. 

7.2       The quality of Ndejje University Journal

The quality is assessed following criteria for the quality of publishing practices of online journals. The assigned Journal Publishing Practices and Standards (JPPS) levels serve a dual purpose. For readers, they provide assurance that the journals meet an internationally recognized set of criteria at a particular level. For journal editors, the detailed feedback from the JPPS assessment helps them identify ways to improve their publishing practices and standards with a view to achieving a higher level at the next assessment.

7.3       The article judgement criteria

The article judgement and review criteria follows the Journal Publishing Practices and Standards (JPPS), which was announced by African Journals Online and INASP in 2017.

7.4       Journal Access:

Ndejje University Journal is primarily delivered online. The aim is to provide increased visibility, accessibility and quality of peer-reviewed articles so that the research outputs that are produced can easily be found, shared and used more effectively.

NDUJ may eventually make the Journal available in hard copy, funding permitting. While full funding is not yet available, NDUJ may consider printing and distributing a 2-page summary of the articles featured in the edition, similar to the current cost-saving practice for some open-access Journals and publications.

Log-in is required to access full articles. The aim is to allow NDUJ to develop a database of subscribers.

Cost

The cost of the journal shall be decided on by the advisory board and reviewed annually. For now, the journal is free of charge.

Otherwise, NDUJ aims at providing open access to all of its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Such access is associated with increased readership and increased citation of an author’s work.

7.5       Staffing

The Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board, and the work they will do to establish the Journal and to secure quality articles from top-notch researchers will impact how the Journal is viewed and perceived in the field.

• Editor-in-Chief: will decide whether a submitted manuscript will be published in the Journal, keeping in mind recommendations from the peer reviewers.
• The Secretary will ensure the smooth process of running the Journal—from putting out the call for articles through to the release of each edition.
• Editorial Board: The Editorial Board includes established researchers and members from technology and management fraternity who Ph.D. in technology or management or related discipline.
• Editorial Assistant: Will support the smooth process and coordination of calls for submissions, submissions, communications with peer reviewers, communications with authors and production (graphic design, printing etc.). Responsibilities include crosschecking facts, spelling, and grammar, references, writing style, design pages and photos, and checking citations.
• Guest Editors: occasionally, the Editor-in-Chief may invite Guest Editors from other established Journals to facilitate the call for proposals and selection of articles on particular thematic issues.
• Term of office: The term of office of editors will be determined on need.
• Appointing new officials: Officials in academia are often scarce. So, NDUJ will attempt to keep its officials. Vacant will always be field with competent persons with requisite skills and experience.
• Appointing reviewers: Reviewers are appointed based on expertise and experience in the fields related to NDUJ coverage from a pool of reviewers database that is periodically updated.

7.6       Production stages

The articles will be sent for copyediting, and then typesetting. Publication of NDUJ is continuous. A minimum of 5 articles gets published in an issue. However, articles are added as they become ready up to about 10 articles. Then collection starts for the next issue

7.7     Management of submissions

The systems for managing submission

• Article processing

7.7.2  Peer Review Process:

All articles are peer-reviewed through a double blind and transparent process. A well-recognized software system facilitates the double-blind peer review process. The peer review process is facilitated by the Editor-in-Chief with an administrative and coordination support from NDUJ. The Research Manuscripts (Section 1) are judged on the criteria determined by the editor in chief.

7.7.3    Procedures – what will happen to the paper after submission (See Figure 1)

These steps to be followed by the journal after the author submits the paper:

1. a) Editorial Review

There shall be an editorial review done judiciously to determine whether the paper submitted meets minimum standards. In cased the paper is suitable it may be sent to reviewers for further scrutiny.

In case the Editor makes a desk top rejection, the paper will be sent back without comments. However, while working with sub editors in an editorial board comment can be given even with a rejection. Reasons must be given for the rejection

For instance, due to a large number of papers submitted, insufficient originality, inadequate methodology, and weak results and discussions, general quality.

1. Preliminary checking: In this stage, the paper is judged based on the following criteria: research topic suitability, content quality, paper layout, author details and similarity percentage. The manuscript editor assigns any of the following status to research paper:

Success – Forwarded to journal editor

Resubmit – Resubmit email sent to author

Reject – Rejection email sent to author

2. Editorial decision: In this stage, the journal editor sends the research paper to a reviewer. The journal editor assigns any of the following status to research paper:

Accept – Acceptance email with publication details sent to author

Modify – Modification email sent to author

Reject – Rejection email sent to author

In certain situation research paper directly reviewed by editors without sending to reviewer. This is also adopted if reviewer doesn’t send review report within time period. In case of editorial review name of the reviewer is not mentioned in published paper.

1. b) Peer Review

There shall be a peer review done to determine whether the paper submitted is of quality desirable for publication. In cased the paper is suitable it may be sent back to the editor who will then communicate the position to the Authors later it will be sent to the publication for further scrutiny.

The case where comments must be made reviewer must pronounce himself whether it is minor or major reviews to be done. Clearly pointing out the observations that will help the author to make improvements. Reasons for rejection must come out clearly.

Articles undergoing either a or b or both and succeeding may now be deemed suitable for publication online

3. Article publication: After author completes the corrections, the paper is scheduled for publication in current issue or next issue of journal. Finally, the paper is published online on publication date and email is sent to corresponding author with link to download paper and author certificates.

Figure 1: Process of article review

8.0 Managing appeals

NDUJ may ask you to revise your article in the light of the referees’ comments. Additional referees may be invited to review the article together with the handling editor although the final decision is the responsibility of the editor-in-chief.

Authors who have genuine cause to believe that the wrong decision has been reached in not accepting their paper for publication have the right to appeal to the editorial board. Such appeals will be considered on procedural and/ or scientific grounds.

• Author policy

8.1.1“Contributorship-policy”: Authorship credits should only be attributed to someone who has contributed scientifically. Everyone who has contributed substantially to the scientific effort should be listed as an author.

• “Guarantor ship-policy”: One of the authors should be identified as the person who takes the responsibility to co-ordinate all contacts between the editor of the journal and the authors.

8.2       Author guide

8.2.1    Aims and scope of the journal

• Clear description of what the journal aims to publish, and for what audience
•  

8.2.2    Types of articles accepted

Original research, reviews, letters to the editor, and monographs about topical                   technological and management issues.

8.2.3    Length of articles – 7,000- 8,000 words

8.2.4    How to submit articles ndu-journal@ndejjeuniversity.ac.ug

sub-themes

Business and Management, Education, Social Sciences, Health Sciences, Information and Communication Technology, Engineering, Environment and Agriculture

8.2.5    These steps to be followed by authors during paper submission.

1. Before submission: Please ensure you have read author guidelines and journal’s policy for publication. The research paper should adhere to publication guidelines and standard paper layout.
2. During submission: The corresponding author submits research paper on behalf of co-authors and handles all correspondence. The research paper should be submitted online in website for review and publication.

• After submission: After successful submission confirmation message is displayed with article id and email is sent to corresponding author. Please use the article id for any future communication with us.

8.2.6  Structure of articles

The type of article’ or your manuscripts in our journal can vary in a wide range of issues to include

We consider following types of articles:

1. Original Research Article
2. Short Research Article
3. Short Communication
4. Review Article
5. Mini-review Article
6. Systematic Review Article: (Mainly for bio-medical journals)
7. Policy Article
8. Commentary / Opinion Article
9. Data Note
10. Study Protocol and Pre-protocols: (Mainly for bio-medical journals)
11. Method Article
12. Data Article (Mainly for bio-medical journals):
13. Case Report / Case Study (Mainly for bio-medical journals)
14. Clinical Practice Article (Mainly for bio-medical journals)
15. Grey Literature
16. Abstracts of scientific meetings
17. Letter to the Editor
18. Scholarly Book Review
19. Technical Note

1. Title
2. Authors

• Affiliation

1. Corresponding author
2. Key words (Not more than 8)
3. Abstract (Not more than 200 words)

• Structure of article
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Literature review
• Methodology
• Findings and Discussion
• Conclusion and Recommendation
• Acknowledgements/conflict of interest
• Appendices
• References / further reading

8.2.7    Style of referencing – American Psychological Association (APA) 7^th Edition

8.2.8    Measurements (units) – metric

8.2.9    Format – MS Word only

8.2.10  Artwork Formats – JPG

8.2.11  Page Layout: A4 size with margins: top and bottom -2 cm, left -2.5 cm, right -1.5 cm.

8.2.12  Headsets, font sizes and Type style:

• Title of article: Times New Romans– font size12 pt, bold, capital;
• Captions for figures and titles for tables: Times New Romans – font size 12 pt;
• Line spacing – 1.0.

8.2.13  Typographic matching and style:

• Title of the article is aligned in the middle.
• Surname and initials of authors, below – place of work / study (in italics
• Then annotation and keywords
• Tables should be numbered and titled below, performed in Excel or Word without formulas – using Equation Editor in MS Excel.
• Figures should be numbered and titled below. Figures made in Word, should be grouped in a single graphic object.
• All illustrations should be submitted in black and white or in gradations of gray color.
• Paragraphs – space after – 12 points

8.3       Paper template

Article Title

The title should not exceed 18 words

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Author details:

1. Name, designation, organization, address, email, contact no
2. Name, designation, organization, address, email, contact no
3. Name, designation, organization, address, email, contact no
4. Name, designation, organization, address, email, contact no

Abstract

The abstract should clearly state the following: background/rationale; problem/issues examined (including research questions); details of method(s) used (including sample and sampling technique); results/findings; conclusion; and implication(s)/relevance of the study.

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Keywords

At most, five key words should be included

1. Introduction

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

——————————————————————————————————————————————————-

2. Research Objective/ Problem Statement

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

3. Literature Review

et al. can be used in in-text citations but not in end references. In end references, the names of all authors must be stated.

In in-text citations, et al. must not be used at the first mention of a work. The surnames of all authors and year of publication must be stated in the first instance of a citation.

Manuscripts must be rich in references and literature citations. Except in rare circumstances, references and literature citations should not be above 10 years.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

4. Findings

Tables and figures should be alluded to in the text while allusions to ‘notes’ should be indicated in superscript in the text. Notes should be presented as endnotes (i.e., at the end of the article, just before the References).

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

5. Data Analysis (Only if data is available)

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

6. Conclusion

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

7. References

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

8. Tables and Figures

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8.4       Ethical considerations

• Ethical commitments of the Editorial Board of the Journal
• Editorial Board is responsible for everything published in the Journal. All manuscripts submitted for publication are carefully selected and reviewed. Board reserves the right to reject an article or return it for revision. The author, in turn, is obliged to rewrite the article according to the comments of reviewers and Board.
• Board without prejudice considers all manuscripts offered for publication, judging each appropriately in spite of race, religion, nationality affiliation and as well as the status or workplace of the author(s).
• Board makes fair and impartial decisions, independent of commercial or other interests and ensures a fair review process;
• Board may reject a manuscript without review if it considers that the article does not fail to the Journals’ specialization.
• Board states that falsification, plagiarism and self-plagiarism, submitting the articles of the same content in more than one Journal, multi-copying of similar information in different articles, false attribution of authorship and deception of the public regarding toward the real contribution of the author(s) to publication should be excluded.
• Board has a right to remove even already published article in case of finding out the violation of someone’s rights or accepted norms of scientific ethics. Board informs the author about the fact of removing the article, who provided the article and the organization where the work was performed.
• Board members should not give any information about the content of the manuscript under consideration to other persons, except persons who are involved into the professional review of this manuscript. After a positive decision, the article is published in the Journal and is posted to the corresponding electronic resources.
• It is acceptable to spread any articles from the Journal publication or extracts from them over the Internet, in such case the source reference is required. Publication and/or distribution of materials of the Journal to third parties or organizations in print and electronic media are prohibited.
• According to the international legislation in the Part of authors rights compliance about electronic informational resources, information from website of the Journal cannot be reproduced in whole or in part in any form (electronic or printed) without the prior written consent of the author(s) and Council of the Journal. When using the published materials in the context of other documents source reference is necessary.
• Board members, author(s) and reviewers should inform about their interests that would affect to their objectivity while editing and reviewing manuscripts of the articles (in case of conflict of interest). These may be financial, personal, political, religious and intellectual interests.
• Ethical commitments of author(s):
• Author(s) of article manuscript is personally responsible for the content of article and for the fact of their publication. The main responsibility of the author(s) is to provide an accurate report of the research, as well as an objective discussion of its significance.
• The research result conducted by the author(s) and submitted for publication in Journal should be outlined in accordance with the current legislation and ethical standards.
• Author(s) should present research results clearly and unambiguously, so that its findings can be confirmed by other scientists, without forgery of obtained data or manipulation of them.
• Author(s) should cite those publications that have an influential impact on the essence of the reported work, and as well as those that may guide the reader quickly to the earlier works that are important for understanding of this research. Citation of articles which are not directly related to considered report should be minimized with the exception of reviews. It is essential the proper reference to the sources of fundamentally important materials that are used in the manuscript.
• Author(s) must follow the requirements of Council to articles. It is not acceptable to represent plagiarism as original work and submission of previously published article for publication. In the cases of plagiarism detection, the responsibility is carried to the author(s) of submitted materials.
• An experimental or theoretical study may sometimes serve as a basis for criticism of the work of another researcher. In appropriate cases published articles may contain such criticism. However, in any case personal criticism cannot be considered appropriate.
• The co-authors of the article should be those persons who have made significant scientific contribution to the reported article and who share the responsibility for the obtained results. Other contributions should be indicated in a footnote or an «Acknowledgments» section. The author who submits a manuscript for publication corresponds for that to the list of co-authors should be included all those and only those persons who correspond to the criteria of authorship. In the article written by several authors, that of the author who gives contact information, documents to the Council and correspondences with Council, assumes responsibility for other authors’ agreement for its publication in the Journal.
• The authors should inform the Board about any potential conflict of interest, such as consulting or financial interests that might be affected by publication of the results contained in the authors’ manuscript. Author should guarantee the absence of contractual relationship or ownership considerations that could influence on publication of information.
• Granting license: Author provides journal a non-exclusive license of paper to publish in open access mode.
• Manuscript originality: The manuscript is original creation of authors and not published anywhere earlier.
• First submission: The research paper is not under consideration for review or publication in any other journal.
• Lawful content: The research paper is free from any unlawful and libelous material that could cause harm to any individual or society.
• Academic integrity: Author ensures integrity of manuscript and follows ethical principles of scientific publishing.
• Co-author confirmation: Author ensures confirmation from co-authors before mentioning their name in research paper and all authors have approved final manuscript.
• Plagiarism free: Author ensures all references are properly cited and credit given to the original authors.
• Information authenticity: Author ensures scientific knowledge, historical data, figures and all other statements conform to true facts.
• Author contribution: Author ensures all co-authors participated in a substantive way in research work and are prepared to take public responsibility for the work.
• Free distribution: Author permits adaptation, preparation of derivative works, oral presentation or distribution, and commercial application of their published paper.

8.4.3    Ethical commitments of a reviewer:

• All members of the Board are reviewers.
• Reviewer should deal with a manuscript as with the confidential document, represented by the author(s) for publication in the Journal.
• Reviewer should not use or disclose unpublished information, arguments or interpretations contained in the submitted manuscript, except if it is no consent of the author(s). However, if this information indicates that some of the reviewer’s personal researches may be ineffectual, the termination of such study by the reviewer does not contradict ethical standards.
• Reviewer must objectively evaluate the quality of the manuscript, his experimental and theoretical sections, interpretation and presentation, and also consider whether the work meets high scientific and literary standards. The reviewer must respect the intellectual independence of the author(s).
• Reviewer should explain adequately and argue his judgments so that members of Council and author(s) could understand the basis of his comments. Any statement that the review, conclusion or argument had been previously published should be accompanied with relevant references.
• Reviewer should mark any cases of incomplete citation by the author(s) of other scientists’ articles that have direct relevant to the reviewed article. Reviewer should pay attention of the Board members to essential similarity between submitted manuscript and any of published articles or any manuscript submitted to another Journal at the same time.
• Reviewer should not evaluate a manuscript if he has personal or professional connections with the author(s) and if such relationship may influence to the unbiased judgment about the manuscript.
• If the Board has no agreement of opinion of submitted article publication, it reserves the right to appoint an independent reviewer.
• Reviewer should submit a report in time.

8.4.4    Journal ethics

• Making publishing decisions impartially, based on the soundness of the research and the value of the manuscript
• Not accepting bribes to publish an author’s work
• Avoiding conflicts of interest – for example not publishing only the work of friends or colleagues
• Avoiding bias – ensuring that decisions are made without bias such as to the location or the gender or race of the author
• Ensuring good practice in the processing of manuscripts – not behaving unfairly to authors (e.g. delaying decisions unnecessarily)
• Ensuring that international standards of behaviour are complied with – for example regarding respecting the privacy of authors’ submissions prior to publication
• Be willing to revise decisions, issue erratum, etc., when a publication has been shown to be incorrect.

8.5 Policy on plagiarism

The plagiarism policy ensures authors give due credit to other authors while referencing and it protects academic integrity of research community.

• All submitted papers are checked with plagiarism detection software to verify originality and find similarity percentage. The papers failing to satisfy criteria are sent back to author for modification.
• Technical complexities are involved in plagiarism detection by any software. In some cases, even if plagiarism isn’t detected in initial stage it may be found in later stage of research publication.
• If plagiarism is detected in paper just before publication, the author will be given a chance to resubmit paper after necessary modification as suggested by editor. However, if the editor decides plagiarism is major issue in paper, it will not be considered further for publication.
• If plagiarism is suspected/detected in paper after publication, the paper will be removed from website till verification is over. In case few paragraphs are plagiarized the author will be given a chance to modify published paper and final paper will be restored in website after editor’s approval.

However, if the editor decides plagiarism is major issue in published paper and seriously violates copyright of others then paper will remain removed from publication and author will be notified. It will be mentioned in website about removal from publication as well as indexing services will be notified about removal.

• Authors republishing their earlier published work (self-plagiarism) will also be dealt in same procedure as mentioned above.

8.6       Academic misconduct

Academic misconduct in research publication means fabrication, falsification, plagiarism or other practices that deviates from commonly accepted practices within the scientific community for publication of academic research. The followings cases are few example of academic misconduct.

1. Redundant or duplicate publication
2. Multiple submission

• Image manipulation

1. Data fabrication
2. Misrepresentation of personal details
3. Plagiarism

• Failure to abide by journal’s policy
• Submitting unethical or erroneous research paper

In case academic misconduct is found in the research paper before publication, the author will be given a chance to make necessary correction as suggested by editor. However, if the editor decides it as a serious matter, then the paper will not be considered further for publication.

In case academic misconduct is reported after publication of research paper it will be removed from publication and also mentioned in website about the removal of paper from publication.

8.7     Dealing with conflicts of interest

A conflict of interest can occur when the author has a financial, commercial, legal, or professional relationship with organizations, or with the staff of the journal, that could influence the decision to publish a paper. Full disclosure is required when the author submits a paper to NDUJ. On the other hand, the editors have a responsibility to evaluate the integrity, history, practices and reputation of the authors who submit manuscripts.

8.8     Advertising in the journal

An interest in increasing advertising revenue can conflict with interests in journalistic independence and truthfulness. Therefore, there will be no adverts in NDUJ.

8.9     Copyright policy

8.9.1       Previous publication

The author has to affirm that the submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration. 

8.9.2  3rd party copyright

It is the responsibility of author to secure all necessary copyright permissions for the use of 3rd-party materials in their manuscript. 

8.9.3  Authors retain copyright

The author will retain copyright of the article and will grant the journal right of first publication. This statement is signed by the author in NDUJ’s submission process

9.0     Journal funding

NDUJ is not funded and is fully supported by NDUJ. This makes it able to publish articles independent of any organization.

9.1       Distribution mode

NDUJ is an online journal.

9.2       Archiving

This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the jrnal for purposes of preservation and restoration.

9.3       Technical Support

Technical support for NDUJ is provided by:

Email: ndu-journal@ndejjeuniversity.ac.ug