Guidelines for Authors
These Guidelines for Authors set out the standards and submission expectations for manuscripts submitted to THE INCUBATOR: Journal of Postgraduate Studies, Federal University of Lafia. They are grounded in the journal’s editorial policy document and are framed in line with recognised international publication standards reflected in the journal’s stated alignment with COPE, ICMJE, APA 7th edition, and standard submission-preparation practice.
1. Scope and suitability of submissions
THE INCUBATOR is a postgraduate-focused STEM and Humanities journal. The journal considers manuscripts that demonstrate scientific merit, originality and innovation, methodological rigour, relevance, clarity, and scholarly contribution. Authors should submit only work that clearly fits within the journal’s scope and contributes meaningfully to knowledge in the relevant field.
2. General conditions of submission
By submitting a manuscript, the author or authors confirm that the work is original, has not been submitted elsewhere, has been reviewed and approved by all listed authors, complies with applicable ethical standards, and has obtained any necessary ethical approvals where required. Every submission is subject to editorial screening and peer review, and the review process is intended not only to assess quality but also to safeguard research integrity.
3. Manuscript categories and length
Authors should ensure that the manuscript length is appropriate to the article type. The journal’s policy provides the following guide:
- Full-length research papers: 5,000–7,500 words, including tables, graphs, equations, and references.
- Review articles and book reviews: 3,000–5,000 words.
Each manuscript should include an abstract of 150–350 words and at least four keywords.
4. Language, presentation, and scholarly clarity
Manuscripts should be written in clear, formal, scholarly language appropriate to the discipline. Authors are responsible for ensuring that the submission is well organised, internally consistent, and carefully proofread before submission. Titles, abstracts, headings, tables, figures, and references should all be presented clearly and consistently so that editors, reviewers, and readers can assess the work efficiently. This expectation is consistent with the journal’s emphasis on clarity, transparency, and scholarly responsibility.
5. Authorship criteria
Authorship carries both credit and responsibility. Only individuals who have made meaningful intellectual contributions to the conception or design of the study, data collection, analysis, interpretation, drafting, or critical revision of the manuscript should be listed as authors. To qualify as an author, a contributor must have made a substantial intellectual contribution, participated in drafting or critical revision, approved the final version, and agreed to be accountable for the integrity of the work. These principles are consistent with the journal’s own policy and with the accountability-based authorship approach described by ICMJE.
The journal does not permit honorary, gift, or ghost authorship. Contributors who provided only technical help, funding support, or limited language assistance should be acknowledged appropriately but should not be listed as authors unless they meet the authorship threshold. All co-authors share collective responsibility for the published work.
6. Corresponding author responsibilities
The corresponding author plays the central coordinating role in the submission, review, and production process. The corresponding author must ensure that all listed authors meet the authorship criteria, confirm that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the manuscript, act as the primary contact with the Editorial Office, coordinate responses to reviewers and editors, ensure that revisions are accurately implemented, and carefully review and approve the final galley proof. Accurate contact information must be provided, and the corresponding author must remain responsive throughout the editorial process.
Where more than one corresponding author is designated, their roles should be made clear in the manuscript, although the journal may communicate primarily with one designated contact for efficiency. Failure to fulfil corresponding-author responsibilities may delay processing or publication.
7. Changes in authorship
Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission must be made formally by the corresponding author and supported by a written consent document endorsed by all authors. Such requests are reviewed carefully by the Editorial Office, and changes after acceptance are permitted only in exceptional circumstances.
8. Ethical standards and research integrity
THE INCUBATOR is founded on the principles of honesty, accountability, transparency, and scholarly responsibility. Authors must present their findings truthfully and accurately. Any form of misconduct, including fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, distortion of images or data, and the submission of fictitious, irrelevant, or non-verifiable references, is unacceptable. The journal states that its ethical framework is guided by recognised best practices, including the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, COPE, and, where applicable, ICMJE.
9. Conflict of interest and funding disclosure
All authors must disclose any financial, personal, professional, or institutional relationships that could influence, or appear to influence, the work. Examples include employment, consultancy, share ownership, grants, equipment support, patents, close relationships, institutional interests, or professional rivalries. Disclosure does not automatically invalidate a manuscript; rather, it enables transparent editorial assessment. All funding sources must be clearly acknowledged in the manuscript. Failure to disclose relevant competing interests may result in rejection, correction, or retraction.
10. Research involving sensitive, dual-use, or high-risk content
Where a manuscript contains material that could potentially be misused or could pose risks to public safety, health, security, or the environment, it may be subjected to heightened scrutiny. In such cases, the Editorial Board may request clarification, seek independent expert advice, require modifications, or decline publication if the risk outweighs the scholarly benefit. Authors should therefore identify and explain any potentially sensitive dimensions of their work at the point of submission.
11. Image integrity and presentation of visual data
Figures, photographs, micrographs, charts, and other visual materials must accurately reflect the original data. Limited technical adjustments such as brightness, contrast, or colour balance are permitted only when applied uniformly and when they do not alter the scientific meaning of the image. Authors must not obscure, enhance, remove, or introduce specific features in a misleading way. If concerns arise, the journal may request original, unprocessed files. Failure to provide authentic source data may result in rejection or retraction.
12. Data availability, materials, and reproducibility
The journal strongly supports open research practices, transparency, and reproducibility. Authors are expected, wherever reasonably possible, to make the data underlying their findings accessible. This may include submission of datasets as supplementary files, deposit of data in recognised public repositories, and inclusion of a clear Data Availability Statement in the manuscript. If data cannot be shared because of legal, ethical, privacy, or confidentiality restrictions, the reason for the restriction must be stated explicitly.
Authors should also provide sufficient methodological detail to allow the work to be understood and, where appropriate, replicated. Experimental procedures, materials, and protocols should be described clearly, and the sources of specialised materials or instruments should be identified.
13. Code availability and computational reproducibility
For studies involving software, algorithms, simulations, or computational models, authors must indicate how the code can be accessed, provide version details where applicable, and deposit custom code in reputable repositories where feasible. Where computational tools are central to the study, a Code Availability subsection should be included in the Methods section. This is consistent with the journal’s stated commitment to transparency and cumulative knowledge building.
14. Citation and reference requirements
Accurate citation is essential. Authors must ensure that every reference included in the manuscript is relevant, verifiable, and directly connected to the work presented. References should contain complete bibliographic information, including author name(s), year, title, journal or book title, volume and issue where applicable, page numbers, and DOI or stable URL where available. Authors are responsible for checking that web links function properly and that every cited source genuinely supports the statement for which it is cited. The journal treats fabricated, irrelevant, or non-verifiable references as serious misconduct.
The journal accepts APA 7th edition for submissions. APA’s reference guidance is built around clear source identification and standardised reference elements, which supports discoverability and citation accuracy.
15. Self-citation and use of unpublished sources
Self-citation is permitted only where it is clearly relevant to the current work. Excessive or strategic self-citation intended to inflate metrics is not acceptable. References to unpublished manuscripts, works under review, or personal communications should be avoided where possible. Where such references are necessary, they must be clearly identified, used sparingly, and, in the case of personal communications, used with appropriate permission. This is also consistent with broader international guidance that references should support the work directly and should not be used to advance self-interest.
16. Plagiarism, similarity screening, and AI-related screening
All submitted manuscripts are subject to similarity and AI checks using standard plagiarism-detection tools. In this journal, plagiarism includes copying without attribution, paraphrasing without acknowledgement, reuse of previously published work without citation, and self-plagiarism through undisclosed duplicate publication. Manuscripts with unacceptable similarity or evidence of plagiarism will be rejected. If serious problems are discovered after publication, the journal may issue a correction or retract the article depending on the severity of the case.
17. Peer review and editorial decision-making
Every manuscript undergoes editorial screening and peer review. Acceptance or rejection is determined exclusively through the peer-review and editorial process. Editorial decisions are made independently and are based solely on scientific merit, originality and innovation, methodological rigour, relevance to STEM and Humanities disciplines, clarity, and scholarly contribution. The College of Postgraduate Studies and the Federal University of Lafia support the journal institutionally but do not interfere with editorial decisions.
18. Corrections, errata, and retractions
Authors are expected to notify the Editorial Office promptly if they discover an error in a submitted or published manuscript. Minor errors that do not affect the conclusions may be corrected through an online update or formal correction notice. More substantial errors that affect interpretation may be addressed through a citable correction notice linked to the original article. A paper may be retracted where results are unreliable due to error or misconduct, where there is evidence of fabrication or falsification, where plagiarism is identified, or where ethical standards were seriously violated. Retraction notices remain permanently linked to the article to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.
19. Author name changes after publication
The journal recognises that authors may change their names for personal, cultural, legal, or professional reasons. Upon formal request and verification, the journal may update the online HTML and PDF versions of the article, revise relevant metadata, and notify indexing services where applicable. A formal correction notice will be issued only if specifically requested by the author.
20. Open access and article processing charges
All articles published in THE INCUBATOR are open access and are made available online upon publication. To support this publishing model and essential editorial services, the journal applies the following Article Processing Charges (APC):
- Nigerian authors: ₦45,000
- Foreign authors: $35
- Authors from Federal University of Lafia: ₦35,000
Authors should ensure that they understand the current APC policy before submission or at the latest before acceptance.
21. Licence to publish and compliance with journal policy
Submission of a manuscript constitutes agreement to grant the journal a Licence to Publish if the manuscript is accepted. Under that licence, the journal may publish, reproduce, distribute, archive, index, and disseminate the work. If a manuscript is rejected, the licence terminates automatically. Authors should also ensure that their submission complies with the journal’s current copyright and licence policy as displayed on the journal website at the time of submission.
22. Submission preparation checklist
Before completing submission, authors should ensure that the manuscript satisfies the journal’s submission conditions and checklist requirements. In the workflows, the submission-preparation checklist is a standard part of submission and is used to confirm that the manuscript meets journal requirements before it enters review. Authors should therefore complete all required declarations carefully and honestly.
23. Final responsibility of authors
Authors bear full responsibility for the originality, accuracy, integrity, citations, disclosures, and ethical compliance of the work they submit. Submission to THE INCUBATOR indicates acceptance of these Guidelines for Authors and of all related editorial and ethical policies of the journal. Where ethical violations or misconduct are confirmed, the journal may impose proportionate sanctions, including rejection, correction, retraction, temporary or permanent submission bans, and notification of affiliated institutions or funding bodies where necessary.
