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Author Guidelines

Author Guidelines

Title                 : Approximately 20 words

Abstract         : 150-250 words

Keywords       : 3-5

Main                : 5000-8000 words (Include Bibliography)

Articles written in English/Arabic/Indonesian (English/Arabic preferred)

Articles are written in Cambria font in Office 2010 or later with font size 12. Single spacing. For Arabic writing using: Traditional Arabic, font 16. Transliteration guidelines (attached at template). This journal complies with the Turabian or Chicago Style and transliteration follows the Library of Congress.   Include a minimum of 20 references with 80% reference sources from journal articles for a maximum of 5 years back.

TITLE (No more than 20 words)

The Title Should Be Clear, Brief, and Informative

Author’s name and Affiliations
The full name of each author, the affiliation of each author at the time the research was completed and the address for each author including the full postal address, telephone, and email addresses. Where more than one author has contributed to the article, please provide detailed information for the corresponding author(s).

ABSTRACT

The abstract should stand alone, which means there are no citations in the abstract. The abstract should succinctly inform the reader of the manuscript's purpose, methods, findings, and value. The abstract should be relatively less technical, yet clear enough for the reader to understand the contribution of the manuscript. The title of the manuscript, but not the author's name or any other identifying designation, should appear on the abstract page. The abstract should consist of 100-250 words.

INTRODUCTION

What is the purpose of this research? Why did you conduct this research? The main body of an article should begin with an introduction section, which provides more details about the purpose, motivation, research methods, and findings. The introduction should be relatively less technical, yet clear enough for the reader to understand the contribution of the manuscript.

LITERATURE REVIEW

A literature review is the theoretical core of an article. In this section, we will discuss the purpose of a literature review. We will also discuss how to find the right literature to base a literature review on and how this information should be organized. Finally, we will answer four questions that novice researchers often face when compiling a literature review.

These questions are: what aspects should I include in a literature review; how do I synthesize information in a literature review; how do I structure a literature review; what writing style should I use when drafting a literature review?

The purpose of a literature review is to "re+view" what other researchers have done on a particular topic (Leedy & Ormrod 2005:70). The literature review is a means to an end, i.e. to provide background and serve as motivation for the objectives and hypotheses that guide your own research (Perry et al. 2003:660).

A good literature review does not simply summarize relevant previous research. In a literature review, researchers critically evaluate, reorganize and synthesize the work of others (Leedy & Ormrod, 2005:84). In a sense, compiling a literature review is like making a smoothie or fruit juice: The end product is a thick mixture that is completely different in appearance to the ingredients used as inputs. The key to a successful literature review lies in your ability to "digest" information from multiple sources, evaluate it critically, and convey your conclusions in a concise, logical, and reader-friendly manner.

Novice researchers often naively believe everything they read or are afraid to criticize the work of others. However, academic research is all about critical inquiry! Therefore, it is vital that you critically evaluate the material you read. Do you agree with the arguments and conclusions of other researchers? If you disagree, why? Can you identify any contradictory arguments or findings? How can you explain these contradictions? Do the findings from previous research apply across all contexts or are they specific? What are some criticisms of the conceptual model or measurement approach discussed in the literature? What limitations should be considered when interpreting the results of previous research?

You should carefully read the latest available literature to identify specific gaps, inconsistencies and/or controversies that could form the basis of your research. Always show that you have considered an issue from several points of view and that you are aware of the arguments for and against a particular point of view. Many researchers in service marketing, for example, use the SERVQUAL measurement scale without considering existing criticisms against it.

To compile a proper literature review, one has to overcome three specific challenges, viz: finding literature appropriate to a particular topic, managing the information, and presenting a logical, synthesized, and reader-friendly review of current knowledge pertaining to a particular topic. Consider the following search strategies: Blackwell Synergy; Proquest Data Base; EBSCOhost (Business Source Premier and Business Source Premier); Emerald; Taylor and Francis; Infotrac; Wiley Interscience; and other open access journals using Google Scholar. 

METHODS

The methods section describes the steps followed in conducting the research and also provides a brief justification for the research methods used (Perry et al., 2003:661). This section should contain enough detail to enable the reader to evaluate the appropriateness of the methods used as well as the reliability and validity of your findings. In addition, the information should enable experienced researchers to replicate your research (American Psychological Association, 2001:17).

The methodology section usually has the following sub-sections:

• Sampling (description of target population, research context, and unit of analysis; sampling; and respondent profile)
• Data collection
• Size (Alternative: Measurement)

RESULTS

The results section summarizes the data collected for the research in the form of descriptive statistics and also reports the results of relevant inferential statistical analyses (e.g., hypothesis tests) performed on the data. You need to report the results in sufficient detail so that the reader can see which statistical analysis was performed and why, and to justify your conclusions. Cite all relevant results, including results that contradict the stated hypothesis (American Psychology Association 2001: 20).

There is no standard recipe for presenting research findings. Therefore, we will first consider general guidelines and then turn our attention to options for reporting descriptive statistics and hypothesis test results.

Reporting of Research Results

You should present your findings as concisely as possible and still provide enough detail to justify your conclusions, as well as allow the reader to understand exactly what you did in terms of data analysis and reasoning.

You can assume that the reader has a basic knowledge of basic statistics (i.e., usually the content covered in a statistics course). Therefore, there is no need to discuss basic statistical procedures in detail. However, you may have to explain advanced multivariate statistical methods (e.g., repeated measures ANOVA, two- or one-way ANOVA, multiple regression analysis, and factor analysis) in technical terms. Figures and Tables (separate from the main body of the manuscript) often allow one to present findings in a clear and concise manner.

EXAMPLE:

Table 1

Figure 1

CONCLUSIONS

In this section, the author presents a brief conclusion of the research results with suggestions for further researchers or general readers. The conclusion can review the main points of the paper, do not replicate the abstract as a conclusion.

The author should not simply list the main shortcomings and limitations of the study, which may reduce the validity of the paper, thus raising questions from the reader (whether, or in what way), the limitations in his/her study may have influenced the results and conclusions. Limitations require critical assessment and interpretation of their impact. The author should provide an answer to the question: is this an issue of error, method, validity, and or otherwise?

Writing an academic article is a challenging yet highly satisfying endeavor. Hopefully, the guidelines presented here will allow you to write your first academic article with relative ease. However, students often underestimate the time it takes to produce the "perfect" first piece. You cannot write a proper research article within a week or even one week. Therefore, it is very important to give yourself enough time - at least three to four weeks - to work on successive drafts.

LIMITATIONS

It is certain that your research will have some limitations and that is normal. However, it is very important that you try to minimize the scope of the limitations during the research process.  In addition, you also need to acknowledge the limitations of your research in the conclusion chapter honestly.

It is always better to identify and acknowledge the shortcomings of your work, rather than letting them be pointed out by your dissertation assessor. When discussing the limitations of your research, don't just provide a list and description of the shortcomings of your work. It is also important that you explain how these limitations impacted on your research findings.

Your research may have some limitations, but you only need to discuss limitations that are directly related to your research problem. For example, if conducting a meta-analysis of secondary data has not been stated as your research objective, there is no need to mention it as a limitation of your research.

REFERENCES

Each manuscript must include a reference list containing only the quoted work and using the Mendeley, EndNote, or Zotero tool. Each entry should contain all the data needed for unambiguous identification. With the author-date system, use the following format recommended by Harvard-Anglia.

Example:

Perry, C., D. Carson, and A. Gilmore. 2003. Joining conversation: Writing for EJM's editors, reviewers and readers requires planning, care, and persistence. European Journal of Marketing 37 (5/6): 653-557.

Leedy, P. D., and J. E. Omron. 2005. Practical Research: Planning and Design (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Merril Prentice Hall.

Summers, J. O., 2001. Guidelines for conducting research and publishing in marketing: From conceptualization through the review process. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 29 (4): 405-415.

Feldman, D. C., 2004. The devil is in the details: Converting good research into publishable articles. Journal of Management 30 (1): 1-6.