Author Guidelines

Aims and Scope:

SLJM seeks high quality, original research manuscript submissions from international academics and researchers. The journal aims to publish papers that report research that address real-life industry and management challenges and contribute to developing real solutions.

SLJM accepts for publication Conceptual Papers, Empirical Papers, Case Studies and Systematic Literature Review papers.

SLJM, the triannual publication (April, August and December) of the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM), University of Sri Jayewardenepura accepts original research manuscripts as conceptual papers, case studies, empirical papers, and systematic literature review papers. The empirical papers should be of high research rigour, analysing primary data using sophisticated analytical techniques.

All manuscripts should be of high quality with global academic standards, ethical standards and language standards as PIM maintains quality and believes in continuous improvement. All articles should cover the purview of "Management" or the "Management Taxonomy".

Submit to the journal

Submissions to the Sri Lankan Journal of Management can be made using the online submission.
Registration and access are available at the SLJM website https://sljm.pim.sjp.ac.lk/submit.
Full information and guidance on submissions are available at https://sljm.pim.sjp.ac.lk/guidelines.php.

Registering at the SLJM website

All authors have to register on the SLJM website. The process for registration is given below:

• Visit the SLJM website https://sljm.pim.sjp.ac.lk
• Click on "Submissions".
• Click on "Create an account"
• Follow the on-screen instructions
• Your username will be your email address and input a password of at least 6 characters
• Click Finish and your account will be created and an automatic email will be sent to your address which contains your password for reference.

Submitting an Article in the SLJM website

• Visit the SLJM website https://sljm.pim.sjp.ac.lk
• Click on the "Submissions"
• Log on to the site using your email address and password
• Click on "Submit a new article"
• Complete all fields and browse to upload your article
• Click "Finish" and your article will be added to your submissions and an automatic email containing the article and other details will be sent to the Editor and the coordinator of the SLJM and also copied to your address.

The Review Process

Each paper is desk- reviewed by the editor and, if it is judged suitable for publication, it is then sent to at least two independent reviewers for the double-blind peer review process. Upon receipt of the article from the reviewers, if accepted with further improvements, it will be sent to the author/s for necessary action. Once the improvements are made, the author/s can upload the revised improved version of the article to the site under "Revisions". Based on their comments/recommendation after reviewing the revised versions submitted by authors, the Editor –in- Chief/Editor then decide on acceptance of the manuscript for publication.

Copyright

Whilst every effort is made by the publisher and the Editorial Board to ensure that no inaccurate or misleading data, opinions or statements appear in the journal, they wish to make it clear that the data and opinions appearing in the articles herein are the sole responsibility of the contributor. Accordingly, the publisher, the Editorial Board and the editor and their respective employees, officers and agents accept no responsibility whatsoever for the consequences of any such inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statements.

Permission

Prior to he submission of articles, the authors should obtain permission to use any content that has not been created by them. Failure to do so may lead to undue delays in publication or even rejection. The SLJM is unable to publish any article which is pending permission from other original authors or parties. The rights the SLJM require are:

1.     Non-exclusive rights to reproduce the material in the article or book chapter.

2.     Print and electronic rights.

3.     Worldwide English language rights.

4.   To use the material for the life of the work (i.e. there should be no time restrictions on the re-use of material e.g. a one-year license).

When reproducing tables, figures or excerpts (of more than 400 words) from another source, it is expected that:

1.   The authors obtain the necessary written permission in advance from any third-party owners of copyright for the use in print and electronic formats of any of their text, illustrations, graphics, or other material, in their manuscript.  Permission must also be obtained for any minor adaptations of any work not created by the authors.

2.     The author must inform the copyright holder of the original work, if the author adapts significant changes.

3.     The authors obtain any proof of consent statements

4.     The authors must always acknowledge the source in figure captions and refer to the source in the reference list.

5.    The authors should not assume that any content which is freely available on the web is free to use.  The authors should check the website for details of the copyright holder to seek permission for re-use.

Final submission

The Authors should note that proofs are not supplied prior to publication. The manuscript will be considered to be the definitive version of the article. The author must ensure that it is complete, grammatically, syntactically correct, and without spelling or typographical errors. Before submitting, the authors should check completeness of their submission, using the available Article Submission Checklist prior to submission.

Manuscript Submission Guidelines

Please prepare your manuscript before submission, using the following guidelines:

Format	All files should be submitted as a Word document
Article Length	6000-10000 words (including references and appendices).
	The word count includes all components such as the abstract, main text, footnotes, tables, and figures.
Line Spacing	The paper should be formatted with 1.5-line spacing.
Margins	One-inch margins.
Font	Times New Roman, 12-point
Page Type	A4 Paper
Typeset Text	Use standard capitalisation in the text and avoid using boldface for emphasis. Italics may be used where appropriate. Footnotes are allowed when necessary; however, endnotes are not permitted.
Referencing	APA 7th Edition
Language	All papers must be written in clear and proper scientific English, adhering to UK English conventions. Authors should get their manuscripts professionally edited to enhance language quality before submission.
Article Title	The title of the paper should be in Times New Roman, 14-point, bold font, using both uppercase and lowercase letters appropriately.
	Title should be concise, limited to 12-15 words
Authorship	All authors should be listed on the first page, immediately following the title. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all the authors have reviewed, approved, and are familiar with the contents of the paper. All authors share responsibility for the accuracy of the manuscript, including any statistical calculations
	Author name(s), affiliation(s), and email(s) should appear after the title as follows:
	First Author, Co-Author One, Co-Author Two (Times New Roman, 12-point). Full affiliation of the first author, including country (Italic, Times New Roman, 10-point, with upper and lowercase letters, centered), email address (Italic, Times New Roman, 10-point), ORCID(see below) Full affiliation of the first co-author, including country (Italic, Times New Roman, 10-point, with upper and lowercase letters, centered), email address (Italic, Times New Roman, 10-point), ORCID Full affiliation of the second co-author, including country (Italic, Times New Roman, 10-point, with upper and lowercase letters, centered), email address (Italic, Times New Roman, 10-point), ORCID
	The corresponding author should be marked with an asterisk (*). The institutional email addresses of the authors is preferred.
Article Title Page	An Article Title Page should be submitted alongside each individual article using the template provided. This should include: 1.Article Title 2.Authorship
	(Details should be supplied on the Article Title Page including: Full name of each author/ name with initials (as it should appear in the published article) Affiliation of each author, at the time research, was completed Where more than one author has contributed to the article, details of the corresponding author who should be contacted for correspondence: E-mail address of the corresponding author (email address pertaining to the institution of declared affiliation) E-mail addresses of the co-author/s if any (institutional email addressed preferred) 3.Acknowledgements (if any)
	Research Funding: The authors must declare all sources of external research funding in their article and a statement to this effect should appear in the Acknowledgements section. The authors should describe the role of the funder or financial sponsor in the entire research process, from study design to submission.
Article Classification:	Conceptual Paper/ Empirical Research Paper/ Case Study/ Systematic Literature Review
Structured Abstract	(200-250 words)
	The structured abstract should appear on the first page of the manuscript, formatted in 10-point, Times New Roman, italics, with 1.0 line spacing, and should be 200-250 words in length. It must highlight the key features of the manuscript. Avoid using abbreviations and jargon that may be unfamiliar to readers outside your discipline.
	The structured abstract must include the following sections. Purpose Design/ Methodology/ Approach Findings Originality / Value
Keywords	Include 5-6 keywords in Times New Roman, 10-point, bold font in the alphabetical order. Select them carefully, as they may be used by search engines to index and access your paper.
Article Classification	Categorize your paper on the Article Title Page, under one of these classifications: Research paper; empirical paper; quantitative or qualitative; Case study; Conceptual paper or an International / National business study; The structure for each of the above papers is given below
Headings and Sub-headings	Headings and subheadings should not be numbered. Level 1 heading will be centered, Title Case,Boldface, Times New Roman 14. This is the title of the manuscript. Second headings will be left aligned, in Title Case, Bold font, Times New Roman 12. Third level heading will be left aligned, in Title Case, Bold Font, Italicised. Restrict the subheadings to level 3.
Example:	First Level: Interactive Effects of Individual Needs Satisfaction and Self-recovery Strategies on Employee Well-being
	Second Level: Introduction
	Third Level: Employee Well-being

Figures
	Figures should be numbered consecutively throughout the paper, without referencing the section in which they appear. It is recommended to paste images in .gif or .jpg format. Ensure that all figures fit within the page margins and are properly referenced within the text. All figures must be centered on the page. Avoid using phrases like “in the above figure” or “the figure below,” or any other directional references.
	Figure captions must appear below the figures. The “Source” should be indicated immediately below the figure caption. Only the word ‘Source’ will be italicised with capital S; left aligned, Times New Roman 12, followed by colon (:).
Example:
Tables	Number each table consecutively throughout the paper. Create tables using the Table option in your word processing software; avoid using tabs or spaces for alignment. Ensure that all tables fit within the page margins and are properly referenced within the text. Avoid phrases like “in the above table” or “the table below” or any other directional references. Tables must be submitted in an editable format.
	Table title must appear above the table. The “Source” should be indicated immediately below the table. Only the word ‘Source’ will be italicised with capital S; left aligned, Times New Roman 12, followed by colon (:). See the example below.
Table 1	Methods of Promoting and Restricting Trade (Times New Roman, 12pt, bold font, left-aligned)
	Trade Promotion Trade Restrictions Export Financing Tariffs Foreign trade zones Quotas
Source	Author
Footnotes	Use footnotes, not endnotes, whenever necessary. Footnotes should correspond to a superscript number placed at the end of the sentence referencing the source. Number footnotes consecutively, starting with “1” and continuing numerically throughout the manuscript.

 

Hypotheses (If applicable)

State each hypothesis clearly and separately. Hypotheses should be indicated by using subscripts.

Assign	each a distinct label, such as "H1" or a combination label like "H1a" for sub-hypotheses. Examples are as follows.
	H1: There is a positive correlation between the availability of hours for work and the productivity of employees.
	H1a: Worker satisfaction increases worker productivity.
Statistical Significance	When reporting statistical significance, include the significance levels in separate footnotes stacked beneath the standard table footnotes.
Citations	Every work listed in the references must be cited in the text, and every in-text citation must have a corresponding reference. All citations and references must adhere to APA 7th edition guidelines. (American Psychological Association 7th edition – more information http://www.apastyle.org/).
References – Examples	Reference List In-text citation Book One author Chen, W. K. (1993). Linear Networks and Systems. Belmont. Parenthetical: (Chen, 1993) Narrative: Chen (1993) Two authors Smith, T., & Williams, B. M. (2020). The citation manual for students: A quick guide (2nd ed.). Wiley. Parenthetical: (Smith & Williams, 2020) Narrative: Smith and Williams (2020) Three authors Smith, T., Williams, B. M., & Streefkerk, R. (2020). The citation manual for students: A quick guide (2nd ed.). Wiley. Parenthetical: (Smith et al., 2020) Narrative: Smith et al. (2020) Journal Paper One author Andreff, W. (2000). The evolving European model of professional sports finance. Journal of Sports Economics, 1(3), 257–276. https://doi.org/10.1177/15270025000010030 Parenthetical: (Andreff, 2000) Narrative: Andreff (2000) Three authors Chen, S., Mulgrew, B., & Granta, P. M. (1993). A clustering technique for digital communications channel equalization using radial basis function networks. IEEE Trans. on Neural Networks, 4(1), 570-578. https://doi.org/10.1109/72.238312 Parenthetical: (Chen et al., 1993) Narrative: Chen et al. (1993) Online Sources Three authors Slat, B., Worp, C., & Holierhoek, L. (2019, April 10). Whales likely impacted by Great Pacific garbage patch. The Ocean Cleanup. https://www.theoceancleanup.com/updates/whales-likely-impacted-by-great-pacific-garbage-patch/ Parenthetical: (Slat et al., 2019) Narrative: Slat et al. (2019) Newspaper Article

 

Manuscript Structure: The structure recommended for each classified type of manuscript is summarised below

	Conceptual paper (6000-10,000 words, including references and appendices) Empirical Paper (6000-10000 words, including references and appendices) Systematic Literature Review (6000-10000 words, including references and appendices) Case Study (6000-10000 words, including references and appendices) Introduction Literature Review Theoretical Background / Conceptualisation Methodology (proposed) Implications (theoretical/ managerial/ social) Conclusion (including directions for future research) Introduction Literature Review Theoretical background/ Conceptualisation Methodology Findings Discussion Conclusion (include implications, limitations and directions for future research) Introduction Methodology Analysis Findings Discussion Direction for future research Introduction Literature Review Theoretical background/ Conceptualisation Methodology Findings Discussion Conclusion (including limitations and directions for future research)
Declaration of Generative AI in Scientific Writing	When authors use generative AI or AI-assisted technologies in the writing process, these tools should only be employed to improve the readability and language of the work. The use of such technologies must involve human oversight and control, with authors carefully reviewing and editing the output. Authors remain fully responsible and accountable for the content of their work. Authors must disclose any use of AI and AI-assisted technologies, and a corresponding statement will be included in the published work. Additionally, AI and AI-assisted technologies should not be credited as an author or co-author, nor cited as an author.
Conclusion	Professionally presenting your work is essential, and the above guidelines are intended to support you in achieving that standard. Adhering to these guidelines will not only enhance the quality and presentation of your paper but will also facilitate an efficient review and publication process. Please be advised that, upon submission of your final manuscript, the similarity index will be checked via Turnitin as part of the submission review process. We appreciate your cooperation and look forward to receiving your submission.