GUIDE FOR AUTHORS

Asian Social Work Journal (ASWJ) (ISSN 0128-1577) is a double blind peer review open access journal published four time year. ASWJ carries original and full-length articles that reflect the latest research and developments in both theoretical and practical aspects of social work in various countries in Asian. The journal is published in online versions. The online versions are free access and download.    

Terms of submission

Submission of article is on the understanding that the article has not been previously published in any other form and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Except in the form of an abstract or as part of a publish lecture or academic thesis. Also, the article should not be currently under consideration by another journal published by Journal Issues or any other publisher.

Procedure for the submission of manuscripts

Manuscript should be submitted online via  ASWJ SUBMISSION PORTAL.  Upon receipt of manuscript submission, the Editor-in-chief sends an e-mail of confirmation to the corresponding author within 1-2 working days. In absence of a confirmation email, you are advice to contact the help Assistant via this email address: editor@msocialwork.com

Organization and style of manuscripts

The cover letter should include:

1. The name of author(s) including first name(s).
2. Name of the department(s), university/institution(s) in which the work was done including full contact address telephone/fax numbers of authors and that of the corresponding authors.
3. It should be in an e-mail message sent to the Editor-in-chief along with the article.
4. The authors may also suggest two or more reviewers for the manuscript review and evaluation
5. The author should take the undertaking that the manuscript has not been published elsewhere except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis. Also, in the case of more than one author, the corresponding author should do same.

Peer Review: All manuscripts are subject to double-blind system for peer-review; the reviewer(s) identities remain anonymous to authors. The paper will be peer-reviewed by three experts; one is an editorial board member and the other two are external reviewers. The review process may take 12 days. Decisions will be made as fast as possible, and reviewer(s) comments sent to the author immediately.

Types of Articles:

Asian Social Work Journal (ASWJ) welcomes the following types of manuscripts:

• Original Theoretical and Empirical Papers: Research-based articles dealing with subjects of social work theory and practice in Asian region. In particular, the journal seeks articles from all those concerned with social work issues of Asian. The priority is given to articles contributing to development of knowledge or to theoretical understanding of social work theory, methods, research, and practice in Asian. The text part of the manuscripts should be no longer than 12 double-spaced pages. The length of a full paper should be concise, required to describe and interpret the work clearly. Please include in the main paper a set of key words and an abstract followed by Introduction, Methodology, Results, Discussion, References, and (if any) Acknowledgments. All these not capital letters but must be bold.

• Brief Research Communications: Shorter articles on social work theory and social work practice development. The journal seeks brief notes on the development of innovative intervention method or indigenous social work in the Asian region. The journal welcomes manuscripts from social work educator and practitioners as well as researchers. The manuscripts should be no longer than 8 double-spaced pages (include references and abstract). The main sections need not conform to that of full-length papers. It should have a set of key words; an abstract- summarizing background of the work; research results and its implications.

• Research Proposal: Shorter articles regarding social work Master and PhD research Proposal. The journal seeks brief research proposal on the development of innovative research methodology in social work around the Asian region. The journal welcomes manuscripts from social work Master and PhD students. The manuscripts should be no longer than 6 double-spaced pages.    

• Review or mini-review: A review article typically presents a summary and critical evaluation of information that has already been published, and considers the progress of current research toward clarifying a stated problem or topic. Submissions of reviews and perspectives covering topics of current interest are welcome and should be authoritative. Reviews should be concise, not exceeding 7 printed pages.

Author(s) are advised to carefully consider the preparation of papers to ensure that they communicate efficiently. Papers are much more likely to be accepted, if they are carefully designed and laid out, containing fewer or no errors. Papers should be conventional to the approach and instructions. However, author(s) are advised not to do self-citation of previous study within their paper in order to uphold the credibility of their paper. Articles with self-citations may not stand the chance of being accepted except absolutely necessary.

Original Research Articles

All portions of the manuscript must be typed double-spaced and all pages numbered starting from the title page. The Title should be a brief phrase describing the contents of the paper. The Title Page should include the authors’ full names and affiliations, the name of the corresponding author along with phone, fax and E-mail information. An asterisk (*) must be placed after the corresponding authors name as superscript whose email id, fax, telephone number can be given at the bottom left corner of the title. Corresponding author has the responsibility to ensure that all co-authors are aware and approve the contents of the submitted manuscript.

An abstract of not more than 200 words should contain the objective, concise description of study design of plan, result and conclusion. Authors may list a maximum of ten keywords for subject classification.

Abbreviations are to be used sparingly and given at first mention of word. Each abbreviation should be spelled out and introduced in parentheses the first time it is used in the text.

The Introduction should provide a clear statement of the problem, the relevant literature on the subject, and the proposed approach or solution. It should be understandable to colleagues from a broad range of scientific disciplines.

Methodology This should be sufficiently detailed (with reference where possible) to permit other work to duplicate the study. Sources of materials used must be given and statistical method must be specified by reference unless nonstandard ones are used.

The Results must be clearly and concisely with the help of appropriate illustrative material tables and/or figures.

The Discussion should interpret the findings in view of the results obtained in this and in past studies on this topic. Unjustified speculation should be avoided.

Acknowledgments (if any) should be included at the very end of the paper before the references and may include supporting grants, presentations, and so forth.

References: List all sources in the reference list alphabetically by name. In text citations should follow the author-date method. This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, for example, (Jones, 1998), and a complete reference should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper. References are styled according to the sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. A sample of the most common entries in reference lists appears below. Please note that for journal articles, issue numbers are not included unless each issue in the volume begins with page one.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that the information in each reference is complete and accurate. ASWJ manuscript should follow the style of the American Psychological Association (6th edition). The APA website includes a range of resources for authors learning to write in APA style, including An overview of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th Edition; free tutorials on APA Style basics and an APA Style Blog.

Journal article:

Fahrudin, A. (2012). Psychosocial reaction and trauma after a natural disaster: the role of coping behavior. Asian Social Work and Policy Review, 6 (3), 192-202

Book edition:

Fahrudin, A. (2013). Social welfare and social work in Indonesia. In Furuto, S.B.C.L (Ed.), Social welfare in East Asia and the Pacific. New York: Columbia University Press.

References should refer only to material listed within the text.

Tables should be kept to a minimum and be designed to be as simple as possible. Tables are to be typed single-spaced throughout including headings. Each table should be on a separate page, numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals and supplied with a heading and a legend. Each table should include a title and be comprehensible without reference to the text. Tables adapted or reproduced verbatim from another source must acknowledge that source in footnote.

Figure legends should be typed in numerical order on a separate sheet. Graphics should be prepared using applications capable of generating high resolution GIF, TIFF, JPEG or PowerPoint before pasting in the Microsoft Word manuscript file. Tables should be prepared in Microsoft Word. Use Arabic numerals to designate figures and upper case letters for their parts (Figure 1). Begin each legend with a title and include sufficient description so that the figure is understandable without reading the text of the manuscript. Information given in legends should not be repeated in the text. Please present the Tables and Figures at the end of the paper.

Proofs and Reprints: Electronic Gallery proofs will be sent via (e-mail attachment) to the corresponding author as a PDF file.  Gallery proofs are considered to be the final version of the manuscript. With the exception of typographical or minor clerical errors, no changes will be made in the manuscript at the proof stage.  It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that the galley proofs are to be returned 7 days of receipt with correction if (any). The authors are responsible for the contents appeared in their published manuscripts.

Fees and Charges: Author(s) will be charged handling fees upon acceptance of paper for publication. The author’s ability to pay the charges is not certain that the paper will be accepted for publication. However, we routinely offer waiver for students and authors from low-income countries. Please contact the help Assistant via this email address: editor@msocialwork.com

Copyright: Submission of a manuscript implies: that the work described has not been published before (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, or thesis) that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that if and when the manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors agree to automatic transfer of the copyright to the publisher. Open Access authors retain the copyrights of their papers, and all open access articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited

Publication Ethics

ASIAN SOCIAL WORK JOURNAL Issues holds the ethics of publication as one of its core values and as such, adheres strictly to internationally accepted publication ethics. To ensure compliance, Journal Issues employs the double-blinded peer-review process for all articles she reviews. The rationale for double-blinded peer review process is to validate the integrity and novelty of the research work. Peer review process adopted by the journal acts as filter and increases the quality of research submitted for publication. This process also help the authors to remove any errors or gaps in manuscript mistakenly overlooked and assists in making the research more applicable in real time.

Journal Issues adopts the COPE guidelines on publication ethics.

Authors must confirm the following; that:

• Submitted manuscripts must be the original work of the author(s);
• Only unpublished manuscripts should be submitted;
• It is unethical to submit a manuscript to more than one journal concurrently;
• Any conflict of interest must be clearly stated;
• The sources of data used in the development of the manuscript is acknowledged;
• All errors discovered in the manuscript after submission must be swiftly communicated to the Editor.

Reviewers are expected to evaluate a manuscript for critical analysis, comparative analysis and most importantly for integrity and novelty of the research work.

Therefore, reviewers must confirm the following; that:

• All manuscripts are reviewed in fairness based on the intellectual content of the article regardless of   gender, race, ethnicity, religion, citizenry nor political values of author(s);
• Any observed conflict of interest during the review process must be communicated to the Editor;
• All information pertaining to the manuscript is kept confidential;
• Any information that may be the reason for the rejection of publication of a manuscript must be communicated to the Editor.

Editors must confirm the following; that:

• All manuscripts are evaluated in fairness based on the intellectual content of the paper regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, citizenry nor political values of authors;
• Information pertaining to manuscripts are kept confidential;
• Any observed conflict of interest pertaining to manuscripts must be disclosed;

Editorial Board takes responsibility for making publication decisions for submitted manuscripts based on the reviewer’s evaluation of the manuscript, policies of the journal editorial board and legal restrain acting against plagiarism, libel and copyright infringement.