Author Guidelines

Mdooter Journal of Communication and Digital Technologies requires all prospective authors to adhere strictly to the following technical, stylistic, and structural specifications prior to submission. Manuscripts that deviate substantially from these guidelines will be returned without peer review.

1. General Formatting and Length Specifications

  • Manuscript Word Count: The total length of submitted manuscripts must be between 5,000 and 8,000 words. This word count encompasses the main text, structured abstract, tables, figures, footnotes, and bibliographic references.

  • Document Layout:

    • Prepared in Microsoft Word (.docx format).

    • Standard A4 page layout with uniform 2.54 cm (1 inch) margins on all sides.

    • Standard font: Times New Roman, 12-point size.

    • Line spacing: Double-spaced throughout the entire document (including abstract and references).

    • Continuous line numbering must be enabled in the manuscript body to facilitate precise reviewer critique.

  • Referencing Framework:

    • Strict adherence to the American Psychological Association (APA) 7th Edition citation style is mandatory for both in-text citations and the reference list.

    • To ensure rigorous scholarly engagement with global literature, authors should thoroughly ground their work in current literature, typically citing a minimum of 35 relevant, peer-reviewed sources.

    • Authors must prioritise reputable, high-impact international journals and recent scholarship (at least 60% of cited works published within the last five years).

    • Valid Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) formatted as active URLs (e.g., https://doi.org/...) must be provided for every reference where available.

2. Submission Files and Integrity Structure

To uphold the integrity of our double-blind peer review process, authors must submit two separate files via the Open Journal Systems (OJS) portal:

File 1: Title Page (Non-Anonymised)

This separate cover document must contain all administrative and authorial metadata:

  • Full Article Title: Clear, concise, and academically descriptive (maximum 20 words). Sentence-case capitalisation is preferred.

  • Author Details: Full legal name(s), highest academic degree, formal title, department, institutional affiliation, city, and country for each contributing author.

  • Corresponding Author: Designate a single author responsible for all editorial correspondence, providing their verified institutional email address and telephone number.

  • ORCID iD: Inclusion of a validated Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID iD) is compulsory for all authors.

  • Declarations: Formal statements declaring:

    • Funding information (granting agency and grant number, or a statement that no external funding was received).

    • Conflict of interest disclosure.

    • Data availability statement.

    • Authorship contribution statement adhering to CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy).

File 2: Main Manuscript (Strictly Anonymised)

The main manuscript file must contain the complete intellectual text but must be entirely stripped of any author names, institutional affiliations, self-identifying citations (e.g., replace in our previous 2024 study with in a previous study), or acknowledgements.

3. Structured Abstract and Keywords

The main document must commence directly with the article title followed immediately by a structured abstract.

  • Length: The abstract must range between 200 and 250 words (strictly not exceeding 250 words).

  • Format: The abstract must be structured into four distinct, explicitly labelled bold headings:

    • Background and Purpose: State the core research problem, theoretical context, and the precise objective or empirical gap addressed by the investigation.

    • Methodology: Describe the research design, operational setting, population, sample size and sampling technique, empirical instruments, and data analytical methods.

    • Results: State the primary empirical findings, including critical statistical outcomes or key qualitative themes, avoiding vague summaries.

    • Conclusion and Value: Summarise the principal conclusions, outlining their theoretical contribution, practical utility, or policy implications for the international scholarly community.

  • Keywords: Directly below the abstract, provide 4 to 6 specific keywords representing the core concepts, theories, and methodological approaches of the study. Keywords must be separated by semicolons and presented in lowercase (except proper nouns).

4. Main Body Heading Architecture

The narrative of the manuscript must follow the standard empirical IMRaD progression:

  1. Introduction: Problem articulation, contextual background, international relevance, and theoretical framework.

  2. Literature Review: Critical synthesis of foundational and current literature establishing the specific knowledge gap.

  3. Methodology: Explicit, replicable account of the empirical design, instrumentation, validation procedures, sample demographics, and analytical tools.

  4. Results: Systematic presentation of findings with numbered, self-explanatory tables and high-resolution figures.

  5. Discussion: Rigorous integration of findings with the guiding theory and contemporary global research.

  6. Conclusion and Recommendations: Theoretical synthesis, limitations of the study, and concrete directions for subsequent international scholarship.

  7. References: Complete APA 7th Edition reference list.

LAST UPDATED: 4 October 2026