Manuscript Requirements

Before submitting your manuscript to Sustainable Trends and Business Research (STBR), authors must carefully review and comply with the following requirements. Adherence to these guidelines facilitates efficient editorial handling and peer review.

Requirement Description
File format Manuscripts must be submitted in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx). PDF files may be uploaded in addition to the Word file for reference purposes, but Word format is mandatory. All files must be editable and free from track changes, comments, or hidden metadata.
Article length Original Research Articles should normally be between 5,000 and 8,000 words, including abstract, references, tables, figures, and appendices. Review and Conceptual Papers may extend upto 10,000 words where academically justified. Authors should allow approximately 250 words for each table or figure when calculating total length.
Article title A concise and academically precise title must be provided. The title should clearly reflect the study’s focus and contribution without unnecessary length or promotional language.
Author details Author names, affiliations, and email addresses must be entered in the online submission system (OJS) and must not appear in the anonymized manuscript file. Affiliations should reflect the institution where the research was conducted. All contributing authors must be listed in the order in which they should appear in publication.
Abstract A single-paragraph abstract of no more than 230 words is required. The abstract should clearly summarize the purpose of the study, research design or methodology, key findings, and principal contribution to the literature. Structured abstracts are not required.
Keywords Authors must provide five to eight concise and relevant keywords. Keywords should reflect the principal themes of the manuscript and use internationally recognized terminology to enhance indexing and discoverability.
Article classification During submission, authors must select the appropriate article type (e.g., Research Paper, Review Article, Conceptual Paper, Case Study). The classification must reflect the primary scholarly contribution of the manuscript.
Headings Headings must be concise and hierarchically structured. First-level headings should appear in bold. Second-level headings should appear in italics. Consistent formatting must be maintained throughout the manuscript.
Notes/endnotes Notes should be used only when absolutely necessary. Where included, they must be numbered consecutively and presented at the end of the manuscript.
Tables Tables must be submitted in editable format and not as embedded images. Tables should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals (Table 1, Table 2, etc.) and must include clear titles. Any explanatory notes should appear below the table. The position of each table should be clearly indicated within the manuscript.
Figures All figures must be submitted electronically in high-resolution format. Acceptable file types include .ai, .eps, .jpeg, .bmp, and .tif. Figures should be numbered consecutively (Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.) and include descriptive captions. If third-party material is used, written permission and appropriate attribution must be provided.
Supplementary materials Supplementary materials (e.g., extended appendices, datasets, additional tables) may be submitted as separate files where they support but are not essential to the main text. Supplementary files must be clearly labeled and referenced within the manuscript. Authors are responsible for ensuring that supplementary materials are publication-ready at the time of submission.
Referencing style All references must follow the Harvard referencing style (STBR adapted). In-text citations should appear as: (Adams, 2006); (Adams and Brown, 2006); (Adams et al., 2006). Page references should be formatted as p. 175 for a single page or pp. 175–179 for a range. Page numbers must be written in full (e.g., 175–179, not 175–9).
Reference list requirements A complete reference list must appear at the end of the manuscript in alphabetical order by author surname. All entries must be accurate and consistent. Where available, a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) must be included at the end of the reference.
Journal article format Author, A.A. and Author, B.B. (Year), “Title of article”, Journal Name, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 72–80. https://doi.org/xx.xxxx/xxxxx
Book format Author, A.A. (Year), Title of Book, Publisher, Place of publication.
Book chapter format Author, A.A. (Year), “Chapter title”, in Editor, B.B. (Ed.), Title of Book, Publisher, Place of publication, pp. 15–20.
Conference proceedings (published) Author, A.A. (Year), “Title of paper”, in Editor, B.B. (Ed.), Title of Proceedings, Publisher, Place of publication, pp. xx–xx.
Working paper format Author, A.A. (Year), “Title of paper”, Working Paper No. X, Institution, Place.
Electronic source format Author, A.A. (Year), “Title of electronic source”, available at: URL (accessed Day Month Year).
Dataset format Author, A.A. (Year), Title of dataset, Repository name, available at: DOI or URL (accessed Day Month Year).
Reference management software STBR prefers the use of EndNote reference management software to ensure consistency in citation formatting. Authors are responsible for verifying the accuracy and completeness of all references prior to submission.
Data availability statement Where applicable, manuscripts should include a brief statement indicating whether research data are publicly available, available upon reasonable request, or subject to ethical or legal restrictions.
ORCID Authors are strongly encouraged to provide an ORCID iD during submission to enhance researcher identification, transparency, and indexing visibility.