Manuscripts should generally be arranged in the following order: title page, abstract, keywords, introduction/problem statement, materials and methods (or Methodology or Procedure), results, discussion (or results and discussions), conclusion (or conclusion and recommendations) acknowledgments, and references.

Manuscripts may be submitted via the online system of JPLM or emailed directly to the editor at editor@sddubidsjplm.com. Manuscripts must be typeset in MS Word format, double-spaced (double spacing applies to text only and NOT to tables, figures, and figure legends references/bibliographies).

All pages must be numbered with Arabic numerals from 1 to the last page. By submitting your manuscript to JPLM, it implies that the author(s) have principally agreed to transfer copyright of the article solely to the Editor to prepare it and to submit the same to the publisher to facilitate the widest possible dissemination.

Journal of Planning and Land Management is an open-access journal and solely financed through processing fees received from authors. Open access journals enable access to research publications for people who cannot afford to pay for journal subscriptions, databases and other sources of scholarly content. Local contributors would pay a processing fee of Ghc 200 upon submission of their manuscripts while International contributors would pay US$ 100.

When a manuscript is accepted for publication, authors would be required to pay Ghc 200 while international authors would pay US$ 100. However, accepting to pay processing fees is not a guarantee that the article will be published. Publication fees are accepted only after a manuscript has been reviewed and accepted for publication.

To complete the payment process, please submit your payment receipts through the following link: https://forms.gle/4KF7zEionhVcZbsu5. Once we receive your receipts, we will promptly issue a payment confirmation for your records.

Please note that these Fees may be revised as and when the need arises. Thank you.

The first page shall include the title, name(s) of authors, their institutional affiliations and addresses, city and country. The title of the article is typed in bold Title Case using font size 14 Times New Roman; do not use abbreviations. The title must be short as possible preferably within one hundred characters (including spaces).

Authors should be identified with surnames first followed by the abbreviation of their other names in font size 12 Times New Roman. Addresses (including emails and phone numbers) should be listed under the names of authors or identified using superscripts. The first author will be assumed to be the contact person unless otherwise stated.

The abstract heading should be typed in font size 12 Times New Roman in bold title case. The text of the abstract should be typed in font size 12 Times New Roman and in italics. The abstract must be informative with respect to main objective, research design, key findings, and conclusion. An abstract should not exceed 250 words.

The heading should be 12 points Times New Roman bold in Title case. Authors are to provide a maximum of six keywords (separated by comma). The keywords must follow directly below the abstract.

The heading should be typed in font size 12 Times New Roman in bold title case. The content of the introduction must also be double spaced with font size 12 Times New Roman. The introduction should follow the keywords. The introduction must not be more than two pages but must clearly capture the main research problem and aim of the study.

More importantly, the main contribution of the study to knowledge should be succinctly stated. Research Questions may also be raised at this point, together with the outline of the paper.

The heading should be typed in font size 12 Times New Roman in bold title case. The content of the introduction must also be double spaced with font size 12 Times New Roman. The introduction should follow the keywords. The introduction must not be more than two pages but must clearly capture the main research problem and aim of the study.

More importantly, the main contribution of the study to knowledge should be succinctly stated. Research Questions may also be raised at this point, together with the outline of the paper.

The heading should be typed with font size12 Times New Roman and in bold UPPERCASE. It is expected that this section will capture all the issues relating to the methods and materials adopted for the study.

Particularly, issues of sources of data, sampling methods, sample size, tools/techniques of data collection, and methods/tools of data analysis should be put in this section.

Results should be presented in tables and/or figures whenever possible but should be clearly explained in the text taking care to avoid unnecessary repetition of tabular data. Information presented in tables should not be repeated in figures or vice versa.

The discussion should interpret observations – i.e. explain the causes of events and trace trends – and not simply state the obvious. The discussion should include references to earlier or contemporary literature relevant to the topic studied and highlighting fundamentally findings that support the literature or are in divergence.

It is expected that each study at this point will adequately engage relevant contemporary literature to properly posit the study within emerging knowledge gaps. This way, a reviewer can decide on the merits of the manuscript and recommend it for its publication or otherwise.

All tables must be numbered according to their sequence in the text and should also be referred to in the text before they are placed. The tables should be inserted at the exact positions where they belong in the body of the paper. All tables must have short but self- explanatory titles. Table numbers and titles should be placed at the top left alignment of the tables.

Avoid using, for example, the table below or table above or table on page 2. Positions of tables may change frequently as the text is formatted for publication. Refer to tables in the text by their appropriate numbering. E.g. Table 1 and Table 5.

Figures should be inserted at the exact positions where they belong in the body of the paper and should also be referred to in the text before they are placed. They should be clearly captioned and numbered in the sequence below each figure. Figures may not be used to duplicate data already presented in tables or text or vice versa.

In the context of this journal, photographs and illustrations other than tables are considered as figures and should be referred to as such. Figures should be numbered from 1 and continued serially to 2, 3, etc. and should be aligned at the left bottom of the appropriate figure.

Footnotes should be used sparingly and only if absolutely required, otherwise, the information should be embodied in the text of the paper. Footnotes to tables should be superscript numbers (1) while superscript letters (a) should be reserved for statistical analysis; asterisks (*) are reserved for probability values.

Footnotes to the title page (including title, authors, addresses, etc) are numbered sequentially from the beginning. Endnotes are not be used in manuscripts meant for the JPLM.

References to literature in the body of the manuscript are cited by author(s), followed by year. Authors are cited by their surnames only, e.g., Azupogo(2017) or (Azupogo, 2016) depending on sentence structure.

Azupogo(2016) stated that the impact of hazards could be mitigated through structural and non-structural methods. 
Mitigation could be structural or non-structural (Azupogo, 2016).
However in case of a direct quote, the page number is added to the above style; e.g. Azupogo 
(2016, 25) or (Azupogo, 2016:25).

Distinguish between different papers by the same author(s) in the same year by postscript letters – e.g. Azupogo, 2016a, 2016b, and 2016c. In the body of the paper, where a paper has more than two authors, give only the name of the first author followed by et al. (e.g. Azupogo et al., 2016) or Azupogo et al. (2016).

Unpublished papers must also be listed in the References section, while personal communications must be referred to only in the text (U.W. Azupogo, personal communication).

All literature mentioned in the text should be listed in alphabetical and chronological (if same authors have more than one paper cited) order at the end of the paper under references. The year of publication (in brackets) must follow the names of authors who should be listed surname first followed by initials.

For journals, use the full name of the journal. The name of the journal, volume and pages should be typed in italics. Follow the title with the volume number in Arabic numerals and the first and last pages of the article. For example: 
Azindow, W. V., Azupogo, M. and Korbieh, A. A. (2015). “Urban sprawl and unplanned transport terminal development”. International Social Science Journal 8 (15): 25–36.

For books, the full citation should also include the title, edition number (if more than one), name of publishers, and city of publication: 
Azupogo, K. B. (1969). A historical geography of Ghana. Cambridge university press. London.

Where the book is edited, a reference to part of it must be given the normal literature citation but the title of the article is followed by the word In: and then the name of editor, book title, publishers, city of publication Richardson, H. W. (1993), Efficiency and welfare in LDC mega-cities. In: Kasarda, J.D. and Parnell, A. M. (Editors).Third World cities: problems, policies, and prospects. Sage Publications, California.

For references to conference and seminar papers, the citation should include the title of the paper, the theme of the conference/seminar, editors, place where it was held and date (days and month, e.g., 19 – 21 June).

Latin Words and Phrases:
Latin words used to identify biological structures or entities must be italicised; similarly 
phrases like et al., in situ, in vivo, versus, per se. On the other hand, commonly used abbreviations such as etc., viz. and e.g. do not require italicisation.

Numerals are not to be used to start sentences. Where it is completely necessary, such numerals should are preferred in words. Again, words should be used for all numbers less than 10 and numerals for those from 10. In the situation where a sequence of numbers is given with some less and others more than 10 (e.g. 150, 90, 45, 17, 9, 3), the use of numerals for all is advised. If a number is followed immediately by a unit of measurement, use the numeral, e.g., 2g; 3cm, 5km, 1acre.

The use of the metric system (SI) of measure is preferable for all authors. However, where it is necessary to use other forms of measurement, an appropriate conversion of same should be provided in the paper.

The Journal editor is to indicate the appropriateness of every submitted manuscript and provide preliminary review of every paper. All manuscripts that pass preliminary desktop review are subject to review by at least two anonymous referees knowledgeable in the author’s field of study and who have themselves published on the subject matter or on similar issues. These reviewers ensure the accuracy, contemporary and relevance of papers and their comments aid the Editor-in-Chief in deciding on the acceptability or otherwise of submitted manuscripts.

Based on their comments, authors may be required to make major or minor modifications to their papers before final acceptance. Based on the reviewers’ comments, the paper may be rejected until it is proper restructured and resubmitted for consideration. The Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board make the final decision on any paper, irrespective of comments of reviewers. Papers that are already reviewed and accepted with the JPLM are not to be withdrawn unilaterally and submitted to another journal without an appropriate written permission from the Editor-in-Chief.

Galley proofs of all accepted manuscripts are sent to the corresponding author to check for typographical errors and answer queries raised by the Editor-in-Chief. Extensive alterations to the galley proof beyond those demanded by the Editor-in-Chief may require further review and will attract a surcharge in some cases. Queries may be raised in respect of error in referencing, citations, grammar, and spelling among others.

Author(s) whose manuscripts are accepted for publication will receive a pdf version of their published paper via email. Hard copies of the journal will be sent to authors only upon receipt of the payment of the appropriate subscription fees. They will also be allowed to access other manuscripts published together with the author(s) manuscripts.

The Editorial Board of the JPLM assumes no responsibility for statements made or opinions expressed by authors who should ensure that all submitted manuscripts have resulted from their own original work. The Board will, however, ensure that all unethical practices are appropriately addressed.

Research papers submitted for publication should be between 4,000 and 8,000 words, including tables and figures. Book, Policy or Article reviews submitted for publication should be between 3,000 and 7,000 words. All articles should remain within these limits to be accepted for publication. Where justifiable, articles not longer 12,000 words will be considered.

Authors MUST follow ethical means of undertaking the research, acquiring the data, and presenting information especially, on personal issue and people’s pictures. In such cases, Authors must state categorically how they have followed ethically accepted means of reporting the information. Manuscripts with plagiarized portions would be rejected out rightly.