Author Guidelines

Author Guidelines

Journal of Excellence in Business Administration (JEBA)

The Journal of Excellence in Business Administration (JEBA) is a peer-reviewed, fully open-access scholarly journal that publishes research in business administration, management, economics, and related disciplines.

JEBA is committed to scholarly quality, research integrity, transparent editorial practices, ethical publishing, and open scholarly communication.

Authors are requested to carefully read and follow these guidelines before submitting their manuscripts.

1. Types of Manuscripts

JEBA considers the following types of manuscripts:

• Original Research Articles
• Review Articles
• Systematic Literature Reviews
• Conceptual and Theoretical Papers
• Short Communications / Policy Notes
• Book Reviews, where applicable or by invitation

All manuscripts must fall within the journal’s Aims and Scope.

2. Submission Policy

Manuscripts submitted to JEBA must be original, unpublished, and not simultaneously under consideration by another journal.

Submission of a manuscript confirms that:

• all listed authors have approved the manuscript and its submission;
• the manuscript represents original scholarly work;
• all relevant sources have been appropriately acknowledged;
• the manuscript has not been published previously, except where permitted under the journal’s preprint policy; and
• the authors agree to comply with JEBA’s editorial and publication policies.

All manuscripts should normally be submitted through the journal’s official online submission system.

Email submission is not the normal submission route. Authors experiencing genuine technical difficulties may contact the editorial office for assistance and, where appropriate, alternative submission arrangements.

JEBA follows a double-blind peer review process. Authors must ensure that the main manuscript file does not contain information that directly identifies the authors.

Plagiarism, duplicate submission, fabrication, falsification, inappropriate authorship, citation manipulation, or other forms of research misconduct may result in rejection or further editorial action in accordance with the journal’s policies.

3. Manuscript Preparation

3.1 Language

Manuscripts should be written in clear, concise, and academically appropriate English.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that the manuscript is sufficiently clear for editorial assessment and peer review.

3.2 File Format

Manuscripts may be submitted in:

• Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx)
• OpenDocument format
• RTF format, where necessary

3.3 General Formatting

Unless otherwise specified:

• Font: Times New Roman
• Font size: 12 point
• Line spacing: 1.0
• Margins: approximately 1 inch on all sides
• Pages should be numbered consecutively

JEBA does not impose a fixed page limit; however, manuscripts should be appropriately structured and proportionate to the type and scope of the study.

4. Structure of the Manuscript

4.1 Title Page

The title page should include:

• title of the manuscript;
• full name of each author;
• institutional affiliation of each author;
• corresponding author’s email address;
• ORCID iD, where available; and
• clear identification of the corresponding author.

Author names and institutional affiliations should be accurate and consistent with the information provided during submission.

Authors are encouraged to provide a CRediT Contributor Roles Taxonomy statement identifying individual author contributions.

More information is available at:

https://credit.niso.org/

4.2 Abstract

The abstract should normally not exceed 250 words.

For empirical research, it should briefly summarize:

• purpose or objective;
• methodology;
• principal findings; and
• implications or contribution.

The abstract should be self-contained and should not normally contain references, tables, figures, or undefined abbreviations.

4.3 Keywords

Authors should provide 4–7 keywords that accurately represent the subject matter of the manuscript.

4.4 Main Text

For empirical research, the manuscript should normally include:

• Introduction
• Literature Review / Theoretical Background
• Methodology
• Results / Analysis
• Discussion
• Implications
• Limitations and Future Research, where applicable
• Conclusion
• References

Alternative structures may be used where appropriate for review articles, conceptual papers, qualitative studies, short communications, policy notes, or other manuscript types.

5. References and Citation Style

JEBA follows the APA 7th edition citation and referencing style.

Authors should ensure that:

• all in-text citations correspond with entries in the reference list;
• all references listed are cited in the manuscript;
• bibliographic information is accurate and complete;
• DOI links are included where available;
• relevant, authoritative, and current scholarly literature is appropriately incorporated; and
• references are arranged alphabetically in accordance with APA 7th requirements.

Authors are advised to consult the official Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition.

Journal Article

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (2025). Title of the article. Journal Title, 10(2), 100–120. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Book

Author, A. A. (2024). Title of the book. Publisher.

Book Chapter

Author, A. A. (2024). Title of chapter. In B. B. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. 10–25). Publisher.

Report

Organization Name. (2025). Title of report. Publisher or Organization. URL

Online or Newspaper Article

Author, A. A. (2025, January 10). Title of article. Newspaper Name. URL

6. Tables and Figures

Tables and figures should:

• be numbered consecutively;
• be cited in the main text;
• be placed close to their first citation where possible;
• contain clear and informative titles or captions; and
• be suitable for publication.

Tables should normally be submitted as editable text rather than images.

The word Table should not be abbreviated.

The word Figure should not be abbreviated.

Table numbers and titles should appear above the table.

Figure numbers and captions should appear below the figure.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce third-party copyrighted material where required.

7. Ethical Standards

JEBA follows recognized principles of responsible research and publication ethics.

Authors must:

• conduct and report research honestly and transparently;
• disclose relevant conflicts of interest;
• acknowledge funding sources;
• obtain ethical approval where required;
• obtain informed consent where applicable;
• protect participant privacy and confidentiality; and
• avoid plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate publication, citation manipulation, and other forms of research misconduct.

For complete details, authors should consult the journal’s Publication Ethics and related editorial policies.

7.1 Data Availability and Reproducibility

All manuscripts must include a Data Availability Statement before the References explaining whether and how the data supporting the findings can be accessed.

Where ethically and legally permissible, authors are encouraged to deposit supporting datasets, analysis code and relevant research materials in an appropriate repository and provide a link or persistent identifier.

If data cannot be shared because of privacy, confidentiality, consent or legal restrictions, the statement must explain the reason. Where access is available upon reasonable request, authors must identify the contact person and access conditions. For studies that generate or analyse no new data, authors should state that data sharing is not applicable.

Authors must describe research methods and analytical procedures sufficiently to support evaluation and, where feasible, reproduction of the findings. Editors or reviewers may request supporting materials, subject to ethical and confidentiality safeguards.

7.2 Funding Disclosure

All manuscripts must include a Funding Statement before the References. Authors must identify the organizations that funded the research and provide grant numbers where applicable.

Authors must disclose the funder’s role, if any, in study design, data collection, analysis, manuscript preparation and the decision to submit for publication.

If no funding was received, authors may use:

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

7.3 Advertising and Editorial Independence

JEBA does not accept or display paid advertising on its journal website or within published articles. Manuscripts are assessed on scholarly merit, methodological quality, ethical compliance and relevance to the journal’s scope. Funding sources and commercial relationships do not influence editorial decisions.

Authors must disclose financial or commercial relationships that could constitute a conflict of interest.

Include the no-advertising statement only if it accurately reflects JEBA’s practice. Disclosure of the journal’s own operating funding belongs on the About page; the Funding Statement above concerns authors’ research funding.

8. Authorship and Contributions

All listed authors must have made a meaningful scholarly contribution to the work and must approve the final manuscript.

Authors are encouraged to provide a CRediT contribution statement describing individual author contributions.

Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission must be supported by appropriate justification and are subject to editorial approval.

Detailed authorship requirements are provided in the relevant journal policy.

9. Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Tools

JEBA requires transparent and responsible use of generative AI and other automated tools.

Authors should disclose the use of generative AI in preparing the manuscript where its use goes beyond straightforward language correction, editing, or formatting.

Automated tools:

• must not be credited as authors;
• must not be cited as scholarly sources;
• must not replace author responsibility for scholarly content, analysis, interpretation, citations, or conclusions; and
• must be used in a manner that preserves research integrity, confidentiality, and accuracy.

Authors remain fully responsible for checking the validity, accuracy, originality, and integrity of any output generated by automated tools.

Peer reviewers and editors must not use generative AI to generate peer-review or editorial assessments where this could compromise confidentiality, integrity, or the quality of scholarly evaluation.

For complete details, authors should consult the journal’s Publication Ethics Policy.

This wording follows current DOAJ guidance on AI and automated tools. DOAJ

10. Peer Review Process

JEBA follows a double-blind peer review process.

Following initial editorial screening, manuscripts considered suitable for external review are normally evaluated by at least two independent external reviewers with relevant subject expertise.

Manuscripts are assessed on:

• scholarly and methodological quality;
• technical accuracy;
• relevance and contribution;
• ethical integrity; and
• overall suitability for publication.

Based on reviewers’ reports and editorial assessment, manuscripts may be:

• accepted;
• returned for minor revision;
• returned for major revision; or
• rejected.

The final editorial decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief or an authorized handling editor in accordance with the journal’s editorial policies.

For complete details, authors should consult the journal’s Peer Review Policy.

DOAJ requires the peer-review process to be stated clearly and normally requires at least two independent reviewers for research articles. DOAJ

11. Article Processing Charges and Other Author Fees

The Journal of Excellence in Business Administration (JEBA) does not charge Article Processing Charges (APCs).

Authors are not required to pay:

• submission fees;
• peer-review fees;
• editorial processing fees;
• page charges;
• colour charges;
• publication fees; or
• other mandatory publication charges.

Editorial and publication decisions are made independently of financial considerations.

For complete details, authors should consult the journal’s Article Processing Charges Policy.

This explicit no-fee statement is important because DOAJ requires journals to disclose all possible author charges and to state clearly when no charges apply. DOAJ

12. Open Access Policy

JEBA is a fully open-access journal.

All scholarly articles are made immediately and freely available online without subscription charges, registration requirements, paywalls, or embargo periods.

Readers may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, link to, share, and reuse published content in accordance with the applicable open license.

All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

For complete details, authors should consult the journal’s Open Access Policy.

DOAJ defines open access as immediate free access combined with reuse rights under an open license, with no embargo or registration requirement for access. DOAJ

13. Copyright and Licensing

Authors publishing in JEBA retain copyright in their work.

Authors grant JEBA and its publisher a non-exclusive right of first publication and the non-exclusive rights necessary to publish, distribute, preserve, archive, index, and make the article publicly available as the official Version of Record.

All scholarly articles are published under the:

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)

The CC BY 4.0 license permits users to share and adapt the work for any purpose, including commercial use, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and source, a link to the license is provided, and any changes made are indicated.

JEBA does not impose additional restrictions that conflict with the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license.

Copyright terms for published scholarly articles are separate from any copyright applicable to the journal website, logo, design, or administrative content.

For complete details, authors should consult the journal’s Copyright & Licensing Policy.

This separation between article copyright, licensing, and website copyright is consistent with DOAJ transparency guidance. DOAJ

14. Digital Archiving and Preservation

JEBA is committed to the long-term preservation and continued accessibility of its published scholarly content.

Published articles and associated metadata are preserved through the journal’s established digital archiving and preservation arrangements.

The journal’s detailed Digital Archiving and Preservation Policy identifies the preservation systems and procedures used to support continued access to published content in the event of website failure, platform migration, or discontinuation of the journal or publisher.

For complete details, authors should consult the journal’s Digital Archiving and Preservation Policy.

DOAJ requires journals to clearly describe their plan for electronic backup and long-term preservation if the journal or publisher stops operating. DOAJ

15. Author Self-Archiving

Authors may archive and share their work in accordance with the journal’s copyright, licensing, and self-archiving policies.

JEBA permits authors to deposit:

• the submitted manuscript;
• the accepted manuscript; and
• the final published Version of Record,

in appropriate institutional, disciplinary, personal, or other lawful scholarly repositories.

There is no embargo period on the final published Version of Record.

For complete details, authors should consult the journal’s Copyright & Licensing and Digital Archiving / Self-Archiving Policies.

16. Submission Procedure

Authors should submit manuscripts through the official JEBA online submission system.

The submission process generally requires authors to:

1. register or log in to the submission system;
2. start a new submission;
3. complete all required submission metadata;
4. upload the anonymized manuscript;
5. upload supplementary files where applicable;
6. provide author information separately in the submission system; and
7. review and confirm the submission.

Authors experiencing genuine technical difficulties may contact the editorial office for assistance.

17. Policy Consistency

These Author Guidelines provide a concise overview of the principal requirements applicable to JEBA submissions.

Detailed requirements are available through the journal’s dedicated policy pages, including:

• Aims and Scope
• Publication Ethics
• Peer Review Policy
• Research Misconduct & Whistleblower Policy
• Plagiarism Policy
• Article Processing Charges Policy
• Open Access Policy
• Copyright & Licensing Policy
• Digital Archiving and Preservation Policy
• Post-Publication Correction and Retraction Policy

These Author Guidelines should be read together with the detailed policies published on the official JEBA website.

Where these guidelines summarize a detailed journal policy, the dedicated policy page provides the complete requirements and procedures.

18. Contact Information

For queries regarding manuscript submission or editorial policies, please contact:

Managing Editor
Journal of Excellence in Business Administration (JEBA)
Email: jeba@smarcons.com

Publisher: SMARCONS (Private) Limited
Plot # 201-B, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Housing Project,
Opp. Bahria Town, Canal Road, Lahore, Pakistan.