Guide for Authors

Please prepare your manuscript using this Template, including tables, using a word processing program and save it as a .pdf file. Submissions in pdf format will be returned to authors for resubmission.

Length of article

All articles submitted should be between 8500 and 11500 words in length and must be written using Times New Roman font style.

Title page

We advise that the title of the article be short, specific and informative. The first name, initial(s), and surname of each author should be followed by his or her department or institutional affiliation as well as his or her email. The email address of the corresponding author should also be provided. Any deletions or additions to the author list after acceptance of the paper must be submitted in writing, signed by all authors, to the editorial office.

Abstract

An abstract of not more than 150 words must be placed on next the page after the title page.

Key words and JEL classifications must be placed at the end of the abstract

Abbreviations

Non-standard abbreviations should be defined at the first occurrence and introduced only where multiple use is made. There should be no abbreviations in headings.

Figures and illustrations

For reproduction purposes, authors will be required after acceptance to supply high resolution .tif files (1200 d.p.i. for line drawings and 300 d.p.i. for colour and half-tone artwork) or high-quality printouts on glossy paper. We advise that you create your high-resolution images first as these can be easily converted into low-resolution images for online submission.

Figures will not be re-lettered or re-numbered by the publisher. APRWPS reserves the right to reduce the size of illustrative material as and when necessary. Any photomicrographs, electron micrographs or radiographs must be of high quality.

Wherever possible, photographs should fit within the print area or within a column width. Photomicrographs should provide details of staining technique and a scale bar.

When creating figures, please make sure any embedded text is large enough to read. Many figures contain miniscule characters such as numbers on a chart or graph. If these characters are not easily readable, they will most likely be illegible in the final version.

Colour figures

If there is a choice of colours on a schematic, please choose clearly distinct colours (e.g. not two shades of blue) and avoid black backgrounds if possible.

Any figures submitted to APRWPS in colour can be published in colour. Black and white figures will also be accepted, but figures that may be converted from colour to black and white should be well prepared with high contrast and must have a resolution of at least 300 dots per inch at their final size. Figure captions must be suitably worded to apply to the article.

Tables

All tables submitted must be in editable format (e.g. Word, Excel) as the typesetters are unable to typeset any tables in image format (e.g. pdf).

All tables should be on separate pages and accompanied by a title and footnotes where necessary. The tables should be numbered consecutively using roman numerals. Units in which results are expressed should be given in parentheses at the top of each column and not repeated in each line of the table. Authors are advised not to overcrowd the tables and limit the use of words. The format of tables should be in keeping with that normally used in international publications. Please note that it is the author’s responsibility to ensure that the data given in tables are correct.

References

Full references should be provided in accordance with the style of the Afreximbank Policy Research Working Paper Series. These should be listed in Alphabetical order. Journal titles and author initials should be properly abbreviated and punctuated. If an automatic referencing system has been used in the preparation of the paper, the references must not be left embedded in the final text file submitted. The citation of journals, books, multi-author books and articles published online should conform to the following examples:

Kanbur, R. (1993) ‘EC–African Relations: A Review Article of Enzo R. Grillis’s the European Community and Developing Countries’, Journal of African Economies, 2: 434–46

Smith, M. (1990) Simplified Stable Merging Tasks, vol. 3, 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 1–10.

Smith, M. (1990) ‘Merging tasks, simplified’ in M. E. Smith (ed.), Simplified Stable Merging Tasks. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 1–10.

McKay, A., C. Milner and O. Morrissey (2000) The Trade and Welfare Effects of a Regional Economic Partnership Agreement, CREDIT Research Paper 00/8. (Available at: www.nottingham.ac.uk/economics/credit/)

All authors should be listed for each reference in the reference list. Within text citations should be as follows:

Adebayo and Mensah (1994a,b); Adebayo and Mensah (1994). For three or more authors use: Adebayo et al. (1994a, b); (Mensah et al., 1994).

Personal communications (A. Acquah, personal communication) must be authorized in writing by those involved, and unpublished data should be cited in the text as (unpublished data).

References to manuscripts submitted, but not yet accepted, should be cited in the text as (A. Acquah and B. Mensah, manuscript in preparation) and should not be included in the list of references. Citations of submitted manuscripts should include all authors involved.

Authors are encouraged to cite web URLs in parentheses at the appropriate mention in the text.

Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. With the exception of fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, no part of this publications may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing from the copyright holder. Following receipt of accepted articles, authors impliedly grant APRWPS copyright license.

Language Editing

If English is not the first language of authors, it is recommended that manuscripts are properly edited for language before submissions. This is not a mandatory step but may help to ensure that the content of papers are fully understood by editors and reviewers. Language editing does not guarantee that a paper will be accepted for publication.

Submitting a Paper

All papers must be original and FULL DRAFTED PROSE. All papers for consideration must be submitted electronically filling the below form:

Please note that submitted manuscripts shall undergo a blind peer review process. Manuscripts will only be published after a successful review process. That is when the review accepts the manuscript for publication.  The publication of a paper in APRWPS does not preclude it from submission to a journal for consideration for publication. In fact, the APRWPS provides the path to expand academic research within the continent, and the Bank’s Journal of African Trade (JAT) could be the natural outlet for publishing and disseminating working papers that meet global standards of excellence in academic research.