Submissions

Submission Preparation Checklist

• The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
• The submission does not include verbatim copying or near-verbatim copying of another author's paper (plagiarism) nor the verbatim copying or near-verbatim reuse of significant portions of one’s own research without citing the original source (self-plagiarism). The IJBS adheres to a strict code of conduct and ethical practice.
• If AI writing tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Quillbot) have been used by the author(s), they have only been used for improving language choices, grammar, or for editing. They have not been used to produce any of the ideas or content in the manuscript.
• Authors should be able to submit, upon request, a statement from their university's research ethics committee or
  institutional review board indicating approval of the research. If the study was not submitted to a
  research ethics committee or institutional review board, authors may need to provide
  documentation to prove that not seeking review for the study was in accordance with the policy of
  their institution. A statement regarding the ethical approval status of the research must be included in the acknowledgements section of the paper.
• If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.
• If submitting a manuscript based on research conducted for a dissertation (whether Ph.d. or Masters) please consult the section of this document Converting one's dissertation into a journal article
• The submission file is in Microsoft Word, RTF, or WordPerfect document file format. Do not submit a PDF.
• The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal (immediately above)
• The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
• Manuscripts should not include an excessive number of references: a maximum of 40 for original articles of 15 or more pages.
• When available, the URLs or DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) are to be provided for all references. The URLs and DOIs should be ready to click (e.g., http://pkp.sfu.ca). Use the CrossRef Guest Query page to locate DOIs.
• Manuscripts that do not adhere to these guidelines will be returned to the author or will not be evaluated for consideration. In cases of suspected plagiarism or publication fraud the IJBS will respond by following the appropriate COPE (1999) guideline.
• Submissions should only use AI writing tools for language-level errors. Submissions written substantially by AI writing tools are not accepted.