Instruction to Authors

  • Manuscripts submitted to VIPAS: Journal of Commerce and Management should not be submitted to any other journal simultaneously. We accept only unpublished manuscripts and encourage authors not to submit the manuscripts to other Journals when it is under review of VJCM.

  • VJCM is a double-blind review annual journal and submissions are accepted throughout the year. In order to give sufficient time to our peer reviewers, we would consider manuscripts submitted by (date to be fixed) for publications.

  • A declaration of authenticity should be submitted along with the manuscript. The author provides an undertaking regarding the originality of the research article, exclusive authorship and ethical compliance in research. In case of multiple authors, the author mentioned as the first author should submit this declaration on behalf of all the authors.

  • All manuscripts submitted to VJCM shall be subjected to plagiarism check. VJCM uses Turnitin software for the plagiarism check and the maximum limit of similarity allowed is 15%, for a manuscript to be considered for publication.

  • Once a manuscript is accepted for publication by VJCM, the copyright for the same will reside with the respective author of the manuscript. In case of multiple authors, the copyright will be with the first author, while the first publication right will be with VJCM. An author, who wishes to republish the same article, in any form, shall inform the executive editor of VJCM, through an email and should also acknowledge the article having been published with VJCM previously with complete and correct citation details.

  • The research that forms the core of the article should have been conducted following sound methodology and scientific rigor as well as the ethical demands of research with special care for fulfilling the specific research standards and ethical directives adopted by the respective professional social science research associations of the institution or country where the research was conducted. Such compliance must be so attested to, by means of the Declaration of Authenticity.

  • Research involving human beings and/or animals should have fulfilled the “Do No Harm” (DNH) principle. The same should be reported and acknowledged in the Declaration of Authenticity.

  • The authors must present the methodology in clear, unambiguous, and complete manner so that any other scholar interested in following the methodology to replicate the research should be able to do so understanding and following the methodology in toto.

  • Authors shall not engage in any fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation. No modification that may misrepresent data shall be done to images except for the sole purpose of providing adequate clarity. Authors must address and mention the limitations and delimitations of their study.

  • Authors shall take collective and total responsibility for their work and for the content of the article. They shall verify all tables, figures, data entries, and typescripts for ensuring accuracy. No article shall be submitted before completing a language-edit and style-edit by those having the expertise for the same.

  • Authors shall disclose sources of direct or indirect research funding, supply of equipment or materials used for research, any other form of significant support in terms of statistical assistance, writing assistance, linguistic assistance, survey of literature assistance, etc. The editorial decision made on the article, based on the peer review report, is final.

Manuscript Guidelines

ORIGINALITY
  • Paper submitted should be an original and unpublished work. Any paper submitted which is identical or substantially similar to research work already published or under review for another publication will not be considered for publication.

  • A covering letter clearly certifying that the manuscript is original and has neither been published anywhere nor is being considered for any other publication, should accompany the manuscript

MANUSCRIPT CLASSIFICATION

Categorize your paper on the Title Page, under one of these classifications:

  • Empirical Research Papers

  • Conceptual Papers

  • Case Study

  • Article or Book Reviews (We may have to reconsider this Book review as we had discussed in our last meeting)

STRUCTURE OF THE MANUSCRIPT
The manuscript should be accompanied by the following:

  • An abstract of 250 - 300 words with five key words and JEL classification.

  • The recommended length of the manuscript should be minimum 3500 words and maximum 9000 words including all tables, figures and references.

  • The manuscript should conform to the APA Publication Manual 7th Edition reporting standards except for the changes detailed here.

  • Use single quotes throughout. Spellings of words in quotations should not be changed.

  • Use ‘nineteenth century’ for ‘1980s’. Spell out numbers from one to nine, 10 and above to remain in figures. However, for exact measurements use only figures (3 km, 9 percent, not %).

  • All files should be submitted as Microsoft Word document.

MANUSCRIPT TITLE PAGE
Author Details
Details should be given on the Article Title Page including

  • Full name of each author.

  • Affiliation of each author, including current designation and affiliation, complete postal address, phone number, fax number (if any) and e-mail address.

  • Where more than one author has contributed to the paper, details of who should be contacted for correspondence.

  • E-mail address of the corresponding author.

  • Kindly do not mention the author(s) name, affiliation and any other information inside the manuscript. The affiliated institutions are to be listed directly below the names of the authors.

HEADINGS
The heading should follow the APA Manual for Publications 7th Edition. There are 5 heading levels in APA. Regardless of the number of levels, always use the headings in order, beginning with level 1. The example of the format of each level is as follows:

Level Format
1 Center, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Headings.
The paragraph begins below indented like a regular paragraph
2 Left-aligned, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading.
The paragraph begins below indented like a regular paragraph
3 Indented, boldface, lowercase heading with a period.
Begin body text after the period.
4 Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase heading with a period.
Begin body text after the period.
5 Indented, italicized, lowercase heading with a period.
Begin body text after the period.

● If the first word can stand alone, the second word should be capitalized. Here are some examples of headings: “A Comparison of UK and India’s Advertising Self-Regulation Systems”, “The Use and Non-use of e-Print Archives for the Dissemination of Scientific Information”, “A User-Friendly and Extendable Data Distribution System” and “Multi-ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis”.

FONT AND FORMAT
● All manuscripts should be submitted in Microsoft Word format, with 1.5 line spacing, 12-point font, font type Times New Roman and 1-inch margins on all sides.

TABLES
● NUMBERS
o All tables should be sequentially numbered in Arabic numerals.

o If the manuscript includes an appendix with tables, identify them with capital letters and Arabic numerals (e.g., Table A1, Table B2).

● TITLES
o The title of the table should be clear, concise and self-explanatory. For example, an appropriate title would be “Variables for Studying the Determinants of Employee Satisfaction” instead of “Variables of the Study”

o When appropriate, you may use the title to explain an abbreviation parenthetically. For e.g., Comparison of Median Income of Adopted Children (AC) v. Foster Children (FC)

o Place directly above the table itself and below the table number.

● HEADINGS
o Keep the headings clear and brief.
o Every column in the table should have a column heading.

● REPORTING DATA
o All values should be indicated in million or billion.
o Numerals should be expressed to a consistent number of decimal places.
o All the abbreviations and special symbols should be explained.
o If the table or its data are from another source, the source should be properly cited.

● FORMAT
o The entire table should be single spaced including title, headings and notes.
o The table should be referred to in the text. The text should explain what the reader should look for when using the table or figure.
o The tables can be either coloured or black and white.
o Abbreviations, terminology, probability level values must be consistent across tables and figures in the same article.
o Likewise, formats, titles and headings must be consistent. Do not repeat the same data in different tables.

● FIGURES AND GRAPHS
o Tables and graphs should be submitted in their original Word/Excel format. PowerPoint slides and screen grabs should be avoided where possible.
o Number all the figures consecutively with Arabic numerals.
o Mention all figures in the text.
o Avoid overuse of special effects like 3D effects, shading and layered text.
o One-column figures must be between 2 and 3.25 inches wide (5 to 8.45 cm).
o Two-column figures must be between 4.25 and 6.875 inches wide (10.6 to 17.5 cm).
o The height of figures should not exceed the top and bottom margins.
o The text in a figure should be in Times New Roman.
o The font size must be between eight and twelve points.
o Use circles and squares to distinguish curves on a line graph (with the same font size as the other labels).
o For figures, include the figure number and a title with a legend (if needed) and caption. These elements appear below the visual display. For the figure number, type Figure X. Then type the title of the figure in the sentence case. Place the legend, explaining the symbols in the figure, within the figure. A caption, explaining the figure, appears underneath the figure. For example, Figure 1. Corporate Social Responsibility Index. This figure illustrates the corporate social responsibility scores of IT firms in India.
o Captions serve as a brief but complete explanation and as a title. For example, “Figure 4. Population” is insufficient, whereas “Figure 4. Population of Tribal Races, Indian Subcontinent (1980)” is better.
o Graphs should always include a legend that explains the symbols, abbreviations and terminology used in the figure.
o These terms must be consistent with those used in the text and in other figures.
o The lettering in the legend should be of the same type and size as that used in the figure.

REFERENCE
All references should be mentioned clearly following the APA 7th edition referencing style.

SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPT
● Manuscripts should not have been published previously or be under review with another journal.
● The author(s) should submit a soft copy of the manuscript in MS Word to editor.vjcm@claretcollege.edu.in
● Paper submissions can be made at any time.
● Submission deadlines: • 10th March 2022

Peer Review Policy

VJCM adheres to an accelerated and rigorous double-blind review policy in which the identity of both the reviewer and author is concealed from each other. Each manuscript is reviewed by two referees. All manuscripts are reviewed as soon as possible and an editorial decision is generally reached within 4-6 weeks of submission.

Publication Charges

There is no submission and processing fee for VJCM. Each publishing author will be provided with a printed copy at no additional charge.