For the sake of quality assurance and control of research papers that will be published in East African University Rwanda Scientific Journal (EAURSJ), all research papers will be required to meet the standards set by the Research Management Teams (Editorial Board, Scientific committee, Team of reviewers, Administrative and Management committee). Additionally, while writing the paper, the author will be required to adhere to the academic writing rules and the American Psychological Association (APA) rules from the title to the last citation, in-text citations or references. The guidelines set below will not only lead researchers in the writing process, but also the reviewers while evaluating the research paper for rejection, revision or acceptance as their conclusion on the submitted papers.
- Size and length of an article
The required size and length of paper to be accepted for publication in EAURSJ are tailored to the ISO 260 (A4) standards. The size of the length will range between 10 and 25 pages long or 3,000 to 10,000 words, and the page layout is A4 (210×297mm or 8.27×11.69 inches).
- Components of the research paper
The research paper will include: title page, abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, results or findings, discussion and reference. The paper will follow the international logic structure—introduction, methods, results, and discussion, commonly known as IMRAD.
- Title/cover page
The longer the title of the research work, the more likely it is to confuse the readers, and the shorter it is, the more likely it is accurate and clear. To adhere to the aforementioned qualities, the title of the research article should not exceed 15 words, and each word will start with a capital letter except articles—indefinite or definite articles. The cover page will contain the name of the journal title—East African University Rwanda Scientific journal (EAURSJ), the article title, the author’s name, volume, and issue number. The journal name will be centered at the very top of the cover page and accompanied by the volume, issue, and page numbers, publication date, and DOI. The journal article title will be positioned in the upper-middle of the page below the journal name, and typically between 2-2.5 inches from the very top of the page—after 3-4 double-spaced enters/blank lines from the 1-inch top margin.
- Abstract
An abstract is a concise summary of a research paper in which all key information of a research paper or a dissertation is captured to stimulate readers’ interest in reading the paper or not to read it. The length of the abstract will not exceed 300 words, and it will include five key essential components of the study, namely: background of the study, objectives and aims, methods and approach, key results and findings, conclusions and implications, and key words. All those components will not be explicitly mentioned in the abstract; they will be highlighted in a hidden manner. The background will include the topic definition—a brief and general introduction of the area of the study, problem statement—clarification of the research problem, controversy or the research gap that the study addresses, and rationale—explanatory statement of why the research is necessary and its importance to the field. Objectives or aims will include a research question or hypothesis—the researcher clearly states the main goal, objective or hypothesis that the researcher investigates, but also the scope—limitations of focus of the study. As for methods and approach, the research will briefly describe the research approach—quantitative, qualitative or mixed method and with the appropriate design for the chosen approach. He/she will also highlight data collection procedures—key tools used for data collection, data collection techniques, sampling techniques, population and sample size. Under the same component, the researcher will briefly describe the analysis—how the data were analyzed. With regards to key results of findings, the researcher will summarize the main outcomes and the most significant findings by focusing on data that directly addresses the research question or hypothesis tested. He/she will also present specific evidence, concrete data or numbers to avoid vague generalizations. As to conclusions and implications, the researcher will briefly come up with a conclusion; answer the research question based on the findings, briefly describe the significance; explain what the findings mean for the field, practice or policy, indicate limitations and formulate recommendations, highlight the potential difficulties experienced, and make suggestions for future researchers. With respect to keywords, the researcher will list 3 to 5 crucial terms that reflect the core topic for indexing and serve as search engine terms in the database.
- Introduction
In the introduction section, the researcher introduces the topic, provides background information, briefly discusses the research problem and gap, and presents the research question or thesis statement. This involves the use of a “Funnel approach “to guide readers from a general research area to your precise research questions. The researcher starts with the broader context, reviews the existing literature to show trends and gaps, and narrows down to the specific problem of his/her study’s objectives.
- Literature review
The researcher surveys the existing research to demonstrate understanding and shows how current study fits into the broad field. He/she explains what scholars already know about the topic and highlights key ideas, debates theories: theoretical framework, but suggests the conceptual framework showing how variables are interrelated as emerged from the literature. The literature is written in a form of discussion where statements contradict with the support and personal positions of the researchers who interfere in discussion of authors as a moderator or referee to mediate two or several contradicting and supporting authors.
- Methodology
In the methodology section, the researcher provides details on the research approach, designs, and participants: population size, sample size, and sampling techniques, materials, and procedures used to collect and analyze data.
- Results or findings
Depending on the nature of findings, the researcher decides how he/she presents the data collected in a logical manner by using either figures, statistics, tables, or graphs, etc.
- Discussion
The researcherinterprets the findings, discusses their significance, compares them with previous research, demonstrates his or her position, and notes limitations.
- Conclusion
This section contains the summary of the main findings, states the conclusions, and the researcher suggests recommendations for future work
- Reference
The reference list is arranged alphabetically by author’s last name, and each reference appears on a new line. The reference is double-spaced between each reference and within the reference. There is no specific font type and size; however, the researcher will use a consistent, accessible, and legible font throughout his article. The first citation is flush left, aligned with the left margin, and all subsequent lines are indented by 0.5 inches—1.27 cm.
General guidelines
The general guidelines here provide light on how several aspects of a research article is catered for to maintain quality standards, and all those guidelines abide by APA rules.
- Margin: The paper margin will be 1 inch (2.54 cm) on all sides
- Font: The recommended font size is 12-point Times New Roman
- Spacing: The space for the text will be double-space the entry paper, including references and block quotes
- Paragraphs: The first line of every paragraph will be indented at 0.5 inches
- Headings:
- Level 1: centered, bolded, title case
- Level 2: Left-aligned, bolded, Title case
- Level 3: left aligned, bolded, italicized, Title case
- In-text citations: Author and date (example: Smith, 2025).
- Reference page: Labelled “References” (centered, bold), alphabetical order, with hanging indent for each entry.
- Paragraph guidelines
- Structure: Each paragraph should focus on a single main idea, usually beginning with a topic sentence
- Length: While not strictly defined, aim for at least three to five sentences, avowing overly long, complex, or single-sentence paragraph.
- Sentence: There is no strict, numerical limit on the length of a sentence, however the recommended sentences should not exceed three lines and comply with the quality of a good sentence: clarity, conciseness, and readability.
- Linking words: To ensure the logic flow of ideas, sentences and paragraphs should be tied with connectors, i.e., proper linking words
- Reference age: while selecting the sources, the following criteria should be taken into consideration:
- Field Dependency: In rapidly advancing fields like artificial intelligence or epistemology, a paper from 2018 may be considered outdated. Conversely, in literature or historical research, a 50-year-old primary source is perfectly valid. In like manner, sources with academic and scientific authority have no age limit for use. Those are sources of our scholarly works of well-known authors who have discovered extraordinary things or developed theories.
- Purpose of citation: If citing a methodology, use the most current version. If citing the origin of a concept, we need to cite the original (often older) work.
- Systematic reviews: They typically do not have strict time limits, as they must capture all relevant literature, though they often focus on a specific justified timeframe.
- Reference format and in-text citation
- Journal article
In reference list, the reference will start with “ author’s last name followed with initials of the family name; year of publication, enclosed in parenthesis; article title, the first word capitalized and proper nouns, but not italicized; journal title or name, italicized and in capital case; but capitalized all major words; volume and issue; volume is italicized, and immediately followed by the issue number in parenthesis; page range; the full page range of the article; then DOI or URL; Included at the end as a hyperlink, and no period at the end.
- Book: hard or E-Book
Author (s) last name, followed by initials. List up to 20 authors, if 21 or more, the researcher will list the first 19, then an ellipsis, then the final author, next will follow date of publication enclosed in parentheses, followed by a period, title of book of italicized; only capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle and proper nouns, sentence case, then edition or volume, if applicable, placed in parentheses after the tile, and finally the publisher: name of the publishing company, followed by a period, the city of publication, but excluded if it is a soft electronic book, rather we use DOI instead of the city.
- Chapter
Chapter author surname, initial, year, chapter title, editor name, title of the book, publisher
Example
Bharadia, M. (2023). Endurance. In S. Neilson, S. Fraser & A. Dhara (Eds.), The COVID journals: Health-care workers write the pandemic (pp. 165-166). University of Alberta Press. Columbia College.
- Reports: Government reports, technical reports, white papers and fact sheets
Authors: government departments, organization, or specific authors listed, publisher. We omit it if the author and publisher are the same entity, title, italicized and only the first word, proper nouns, and the first word after a colon are capitalized, followed by the report number included in parentheses immediately after the title, with no period between them, but with URL for online reports, however we do not use “retrieved from, unless a retrieval date is required.
- Government report (The author is the publisher)
Example for in-text
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2023)
Example for reference list
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). Vaccination coverage among children (Report No. 12-34). https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/report.pdf
- Technical reports (Named author and different publisher)
Example for in-text
(Smith, 2024)
Example reference list
Smith, J. D.. (2024). Structural analysis of bridge supports (Technical Report No. 5). Department of Transportation
- White paper fact/sheets (Corporate author)
Example for in-text
(McKinsey & Company, 2022)
Example for reference list
McKinsey&Company. (2022). The future of AI in finance ( White paper). https://www.mckinsey.com/
- Newspaper and Magazine Articles
Authors family name, initials of the first name, (year, month and day). Title of article. Names of the newspaper.URL or p.xx.
Example (online)
Severson, K. & Martin, A. (2009, March 3) it’s organic, but does that mean it’s safer? The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com.
Example (print)
Wallace, K. (2007, December 4). Passport applicant finds massive privacy breach. The Globe and Mail, pp. A1, A8.
Note: If no authors are listed, start with the article title.
- Magazine article citation
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Name of Magazine, Volume (Issue), page range. URL
Example (Online)
Flora, C. (2017, September 5). The hardest word. Psychology Today, 50(5). https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201709/the-hardest-word?collection=1105674.
- Example (Print)
Edmonds, P. (2015, November). How to fix it. National Geographic, 228(5), 18-19.
In-text citation
Paraphrase: (Author, year) = (Wallace, 2007)
Direct quote: (Author, Year, p.#) =(Wallace, 2007, p. A8)
- Dictionary, Encyclopedia, or Reference Works
The reference will start with the author ( or organization), followed by the date, entry title, editor, reference work title, italicized, edition, publisher, and URL/DOI, and with (n.d) if no date is listed. In-text citations will use ( author, year) or ( “entry Title”, year).
Example (Online dictionary with no author)
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Civilization. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved March 4, 2026, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/civilization
In-text
(Merriam-Webster, n.d.)
Encyclopedia (With authors)
Güzeldere, G. (2005). Zombies. In L. Nadel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of cognitive science. Wiley.
In-text
(Güzeldere, 2005)
- Dissertations and Theses
- Published ( Database/online)
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of dissertation or thesis [Doctoral dissertation, University Name]. Database Name. URL
- Unpublished
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of dissertation or thesis [Unpublished doctoral dissertation/master’s thesis]. Name of Institution
- Conference sessions and proceedings
If the proceedings are published regularly, they should be treated as a journal article. If they are published as a volume (like a book), they should be treated as a book chapter.
- Blog posts and comments
The author’s name ( or username/screen name), specific publication date ( year, month day), title of the post in italics ( sentence case), the blog title, and the URL