Information for Authors

Last Updated: 7 October 2026

These guidelines provide authors with the essential requirements for preparing, formatting, and submitting manuscripts to the journal.

Authors are advised to read these instructions carefully before submission to ensure that their manuscript complies with the journal’s academic, ethical, and formatting standards.

Journal Identification and Publisher Information

These guidelines apply to all journals published by CELNET — Centre for Learning, Networking and Education Technology. Each journal's full title, ISSN numbers, Editor-in-Chief, editorial board, publication frequency, scope, and contact details are listed on that journal's own page.

All journals in this portfolio are published online. Each journal operates double-blind peer review. Every published article is assigned a Crossref DOI, and ORCID iDs are captured for all authors at the time of submission.

Types of Articles Accepted

The journal considers the following categories of manuscripts:

Original Research Articles

Full-length articles presenting original experimental, analytical, computational, theoretical, or application-based research.

Review Articles

Critical and comprehensive reviews of existing literature that identify research developments, limitations, gaps, and future directions.

Short Communications

Concise reports of significant, preliminary, novel, or time-sensitive research findings.

Case Studies/Application Studies

Detailed studies demonstrating the implementation, evaluation, performance, or practical application of a technology, system, method, framework, or solution.

Methodological or Technical Articles

Articles describing new methods, algorithms, models, tools, frameworks, software approaches, experimental techniques, or improvements to existing methods.

Perspectives and Editorials

Scholarly viewpoints, expert commentary, or discussion of emerging developments and important issues within the journal’s subject areas.

Data Articles

Articles describing significant datasets, their collection, structure, validation, availability, and potential research applications.

Hypothesis or Conceptual Articles

Articles presenting well-supported theoretical concepts, scientific hypotheses, models, or frameworks that can guide future investigation.

Manuscript Submission Requirements

Manuscripts should be submitted in Microsoft Word (.docx) format. All submissions must be made through the journal’s online submission and peer-review system; manuscripts sent by e-mail will not be processed.

Files Required for Double-Blind Peer Review

Because the journal operates double-blind peer review, authors must upload the following as separate files:

Title page (not sent to reviewers): title, all author names, affiliations, ORCID iDs, corresponding-author details, author contributions, funding, competing interests, ethics statements, and acknowledgments.
Anonymised manuscript: all author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, funding details and self-identifying statements removed; self-citations written in the third person; document metadata (author property) cleared.
Cover letter: brief statement of the contribution, confirmation that the work is not under consideration elsewhere, and disclosure of any related or preprint versions.
Figures, tables and supplementary files as separate files where required by the submission system.

Language

Manuscripts must be written in clear and grammatically correct English. The title, abstract, keywords, author names, affiliations and reference list must be provided in English; references in other languages must be transliterated into Roman script with an English translation of the title in square brackets.

Authors may use either British or American English, but the selected style must be used consistently throughout the manuscript.

General Formatting

Authors should follow the formatting requirements below:

Use a clear, readable font such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri.
Recommended body-text size: 12 pt.
Use double-line spacing throughout the manuscript.
Maintain approximately 1-inch (2.54 cm) margins on all sides.
Number all pages consecutively.
Include line numbers where possible to facilitate peer review.
Use footnotes only when necessary and keep them brief.
Define abbreviations when they first appear.
Use abbreviations consistently throughout the manuscript.
Avoid unnecessary jargon and overly complex language.
Ensure that symbols, variables, units, equations, and terminology are used consistently.

Heading Style

Use a clear hierarchical structure:

Level 1: Bold, all caps
Level 2: Bold, Title Case
Level 3: Bold, Title Case, Italic
Level 4: Italic, Title Case

Manuscript Structure

A research manuscript should normally contain the following sections.

Title

The title should:

Accurately describe the main subject of the manuscript.
Be concise and informative.
Reflect the central research problem, method, application, or finding.
Avoid unnecessary abbreviations.
Avoid excessive technical jargon.
Avoid unnecessary punctuation or overly broad wording.

Titles should generally remain concise rather than approaching the maximum permitted length.

Author Information

Provide the following information for every author:

Full name
Department
Institution or organization
City
State/region, where applicable
Country
ORCID iD (mandatory for the corresponding author; strongly recommended for all co-authors)
Affiliation given in full, in English, as it existed when the research was carried out (department, institution, city, country); a current address may be added as a footnote

Clearly identify the Corresponding Author using an asterisk (*) or another appropriate marker.

The Corresponding Author should provide:

Email address
Complete postal/institutional address
Telephone number (optional; not published)

All author information should be accurate and current at the time of submission.

Author Contributions

Authors should clearly describe their individual contributions to the research.

Authorship is based on the ICMJE criteria: (1) substantial contribution to conception/design or data acquisition/analysis/interpretation; (2) drafting or critically revising the work; (3) approval of the final version; and (4) agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work. Individuals who meet all four criteria must be listed as authors; those who do not should be acknowledged.

Contributions must be described using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) and will be published with the article.

Contributions may include:

Conceptualization
Methodology
Software
Investigation
Data curation
Formal analysis
Validation
Visualization
Resources
Supervision
Project administration
Funding acquisition
Writing – original draft
Writing – review and editing

Only individuals who have made substantial scholarly contributions should be listed as authors.

Requests to add, remove or re-order authors after submission must be sent to the editorial office with a written explanation and signed agreement from all authors, including any author being removed. Changes after acceptance are permitted only in exceptional circumstances.

Artificial-intelligence tools (e.g., large language models) cannot be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for the work.

Abstract

The abstract should normally be approximately 200–250 words and provide a concise overview of the study. The abstract must be written in English and must not contain citations or undefined abbreviations.

Where appropriate, it should summarize:

Background or context
Research objective/problem
Methodology
Major results
Principal conclusions
Significance or implications

The abstract should be understandable without referring to the main manuscript.

Avoid unnecessary citations, abbreviations, equations, or detailed technical descriptions in the abstract.

Keywords

Provide approximately 5–8 relevant keywords following the abstract.

Keywords should:

Represent the major concepts addressed in the manuscript.
Support indexing and discoverability.
Avoid simply repeating every word used in the article title.
Use commonly recognized terminology within the research field.

Introduction

The Introduction should:

Present the background and context of the research.
Explain the problem being addressed.
Summarize relevant existing research.
Identify the research gap.
State the objectives, research questions, or hypotheses.
Explain the significance and contribution of the study.

Avoid providing an unnecessarily long literature review in the Introduction.

Materials and Methods / Methodology

The methodology should provide sufficient information to allow readers to understand and, where appropriate, reproduce the work.

Describe, as applicable:

Research design
Dataset or data sources
Experimental setup
Hardware and software environment
Algorithms
Models
Frameworks
Tools
Instruments
System architecture
Data collection procedures
Sampling methods
Evaluation criteria
Validation procedures
Statistical or computational analysis
Software packages and versions

Established methods should be appropriately referenced.

New or significantly modified methods should be explained in sufficient detail.

Reporting Guidelines

Authors should follow the reporting guideline relevant to their study design (EQUATOR Network): CONSORT for randomised trials, PRISMA for systematic reviews, STROBE for observational studies, STARD for diagnostic accuracy, CARE for case reports, ARRIVE for animal research, COREQ/SRQR for qualitative research, TRIPOD for prediction models, and SAGER for sex and gender reporting. The completed checklist should be uploaded as a supplementary file.

Results

Ethics Approval, Consent and Registration

Research involving human participants, human data or human tissue must have been approved by an appropriately constituted ethics committee/institutional review board and conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The name of the committee, the approval number and the date must be stated in the Methods. Where approval was not required, the reason and the exempting body must be stated.

Informed consent (or assent, with parental/guardian consent for minors) must be obtained and documented. Separate written consent for publication is required for any identifiable image, video or personal detail.

Clinical trials must be prospectively registered in a WHO ICTRP primary registry or ClinicalTrials.gov and the registration number must appear at the end of the abstract.

Research involving animals must comply with the ARRIVE guidelines and with institutional and national animal-welfare legislation; the approving committee and approval number must be stated.

Studies involving indigenous peoples, vulnerable groups, personal data, biosecurity-sensitive material or dual-use research must describe the additional safeguards applied.

Present results clearly and logically.

Authors should:

Present the principal findings first.
Use tables, graphs, figures, or other visualizations where they improve understanding.
Avoid repeating exactly the same information in the text, tables, and figures.
Report relevant quantitative measurements and evaluation metrics.
Clearly distinguish experimental findings from interpretation.

Supplementary technical information may be supplied separately where appropriate.

Discussion

The Discussion should interpret the results rather than simply repeat them.

Where appropriate, discuss:

Major findings
Relationship to the study objectives
Comparison with previous research
Technical or practical significance
Strengths of the proposed approach
Limitations
Unexpected findings
Generalizability
Implications for future research or applications
Potential improvements and further development

Claims should remain proportionate to the evidence presented.

Conclusion

The Conclusion should:

Summarize the principal findings.
Explain the main contribution of the study.
State the significance of the results.
Avoid introducing substantial new information.
Identify future work where relevant.

Acknowledgments

Authors may acknowledge individuals, institutions, laboratories, organizations, or other contributors who assisted with the research but do not qualify for authorship.

Funding support should preferably be disclosed separately in the Funding Statement.

Statistical and Quantitative Reporting

Where statistical analysis is used, authors should clearly describe:

Statistical tests performed
Statistical software used
Software version, where relevant
Sample size
Confidence intervals
Effect sizes, where applicable
Measures of uncertainty
Significance levels
Assumptions underlying statistical tests

Exact p-values should be reported wherever appropriate rather than only stating that results are below a significance threshold.

Statistical terminology, abbreviations, and symbols should be clearly defined.

Authors should avoid overstating statistical significance or drawing conclusions not supported by the analysis.

Figures, Graphs, Illustrations, and Images

Figures should add meaningful information to the manuscript.

Each figure should:

Be clearly numbered.
Be cited in the manuscript in numerical order.
Include an informative caption.
Be clear and legible at publication size.
Use readable labels and lettering.
Use consistent fonts, symbols, units, and terminology.
Present data accurately without misleading visual manipulation.

Images should be of sufficient quality and resolution for publication.

Minimum resolution: 300 dpi for photographs/halftones, 600 dpi for line art and combination figures, at final published size; acceptable formats: TIFF, EPS, PDF, PNG or high-quality JPEG.
Image integrity: no specific feature within an image may be enhanced, obscured, moved, removed or introduced. Adjustments of brightness, contrast or colour balance are acceptable only if applied to the whole image and disclosed. Original unprocessed images may be requested.
Generative-AI tools must not be used to create or alter scientific images, figures or artwork unless this is part of the research design and is fully disclosed.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission for any copyrighted figures, images, diagrams, or other visual material reproduced from another source.

Tables

Tables should:

Be numbered consecutively.
Be referred to in numerical order in the text.
Include a clear and concise title.
Use understandable column headings.
Include units of measurement where applicable.
Avoid unnecessary duplication of information contained in figures or the main text.

Explanatory notes and abbreviations may be provided below the table where necessary.

Graphical or Striking Image

Where requested by the journal, authors may submit a high-quality graphical or striking image representing the central concept or major finding of the article.

The image should:

Be directly relevant to the research.
Clearly represent an important aspect of the study.
Be visually understandable.
Have adequate resolution and quality.
Comply with copyright and ethical requirements.
Avoid misleading modifications or unsupported claims.

References and Citations

The journal uses the Vancouver referencing style. Reference lists must be in Roman script, and a DOI must be given for every reference that has one, in the form https://doi.org/xx.xxxx/xxxxx.

In-text Citation

References should be numbered consecutively according to their first appearance in the manuscript and cited using square brackets.

Example:

[1]

References should appear in the reference list in the same numerical order.

Journal Article

Author(s). Title of article. Journal Name. Year;Volume(Issue):Page range.

Example:Gupta Y, Ramesh A. Advances in deep learning. J Artif Intell Res Adv. 2024;15(2):89–99.

Book

Author(s). Book Title. Edition, if applicable. Place of Publication: Publisher; Year.

Conference Paper

Author(s). Title of paper. In: Editor(s). Title of Proceedings; Date; Place. Publisher; Year. p. page range. DOI

Dataset / Software

Creator(s). Title of dataset or software [dataset/software]. Version. Repository; Year. DOI or persistent URL.

Web Resource

Author/Organisation. Title [Internet]. Place: Publisher; Year [cited YYYY Mon DD]. Available from: URL

Reference Accuracy

Authors are responsible for ensuring that:

Every in-text citation appears in the reference list.
Every reference-list entry is cited in the manuscript.
Author names, article titles, publication details, DOI information, and URLs are accurate.
References are drawn from relevant and credible sources.
Retractions or unreliable literature are not cited without appropriate justification.
Self-citation and citation of this journal are limited to what is scientifically necessary; editors and reviewers will not ask for citations that are not relevant to the manuscript.

Data Availability and Reproducibility

Authors should provide a Data Availability Statement describing how the data supporting the study can be accessed.

Depending on the circumstances, statements may indicate that:

Data are openly available in a recognized repository.
Data are available from the Corresponding Author upon reasonable request.
Data cannot be made publicly available because of legal, ethical, confidentiality, security, commercial, or privacy restrictions.
No new datasets were generated or analyzed.

Where possible, authors are encouraged to make relevant:

Datasets
Source code
Algorithms
Scripts
Models
Experimental configurations
Supplementary materials

available to support transparency and reproducibility.

Datasets used in the study should be appropriately cited.

Data and code should be deposited in a recognised, FAIR-compliant repository that issues a persistent identifier (e.g., Zenodo, Figshare, Dryad, OSF, GitHub archived via Zenodo, or a discipline-specific repository) and cited in the reference list.

Research and Publication Ethics

The journal expects authors to follow recognized standards of research and publication ethics.

Authors must ensure that:

The manuscript represents original work.
Results have not been fabricated, falsified, or intentionally manipulated.
Sources have been appropriately acknowledged and cited.
Authorship accurately reflects substantial contributions.
All authors have approved the submitted version.
Relevant permissions have been obtained.
Conflicts of interest have been disclosed.
Duplicate or redundant publication is avoided.
Copyrighted material is used only with appropriate authorization.
Research data are reported honestly and accurately.
Ethics approval, consent and registration requirements (see above) have been met and are stated in the manuscript.
The journal is a member of / follows the COPE Core Practices and applies COPE flowcharts when investigating concerns.

The journal may take appropriate corrective action where serious ethical concerns are identified.

Plagiarism and Originality

Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies

Authors must disclose the use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools (e.g., large language models, chatbots, image generators) in the preparation of the manuscript. The disclosure, placed in a dedicated statement before the references, should name the tool and version and describe how it was used.

AI tools may be used to improve readability and language, but not to generate or interpret scientific content, conclusions or images. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality and integrity of all content, including checking for fabricated references or false statements produced by AI tools.

AI tools cannot be credited as authors. Basic spelling, grammar and reference-management software need not be disclosed.

All submitted manuscripts may be screened for plagiarism, text duplication, and other forms of inappropriate content reuse. Screening is carried out with iThenticate/Crossref Similarity Check (or an equivalent tool) at submission and again before acceptance; similarity reports are assessed by the editor in accordance with the Plagiarism Policy and are never used as an automatic threshold.

Authors should:

Submit original work.
Properly quote and cite material taken from other sources.
Appropriately cite their own previously published work.
Avoid excessive reuse of previously published text.
Avoid duplicate publication or simultaneous submission of substantially identical work to multiple journals.

Discovery of plagiarism or serious publication misconduct may result in rejection, withdrawal, correction, or retraction, depending on the stage of publication.

Use of Previously Published Material

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted:

Figures
Tables
Photographs
Illustrations
Diagrams
Extensive text extracts
Other third-party content

The original source must be appropriately acknowledged.

Funding Statement

Authors should disclose all financial support received for the research.

The Funding Statement should identify:

Funding organization
Grant or project number, where applicable
Role of the funder, where relevant

If no external funding was received, authors may state:

“The authors received no specific funding for this work.”

Conflict of Interest / Competing Interests

All authors must disclose relationships or circumstances that could potentially influence the research or its interpretation.

These may include:

Financial interests
Research grants
Consultancy
Employment
Advisory positions
Equity ownership
Intellectual property
Professional relationships
Relevant personal relationships

Where no competing interests exist, authors may state:

“The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this manuscript.”

Copyright and Licensing

Authors must comply with the journal’s applicable copyright and licensing requirements.

Any copyright agreement, publication licence, or open-access agreement required by the journal should be completed at the appropriate stage of publication.

Authors should review the journal’s current copyright, licensing, and open-access policy before completing publication formalities.

Unless stated otherwise on the journal website, authors retain copyright and grant the journal a licence to publish; articles are published under a Creative Commons licence (the specific licence, e.g., CC BY 4.0, is stated on each article and in the article metadata). Readers may share and reuse the article under the terms of that licence. Authors may deposit the accepted manuscript or the published version in institutional or subject repositories without embargo.

Preprints

The journals in this portfolio permit submission of manuscripts that have been previously posted on a recognised preprint server (e.g., arXiv, bioRxiv, SSRN, ResearchSquare, Zenodo, or an equivalent platform). Posting a preprint does not affect the editorial evaluation of the manuscript.

Authors must disclose the preprint at the time of submission, providing the platform name, preprint title, DOI or permanent link, and the version or posting date. After publication, authors are encouraged to update the preprint record with the journal DOI of the final published article.

Article Processing Charges and Waivers

The journals in this portfolio charge an article processing charge (APC) of USD 800 per article, payable after acceptance only. No fee is required at submission. Waivers and discounts are available for corresponding authors from low-income and middle-income countries; details are published on each journal's website.

Payment of, or exemption from, the APC has no influence on editorial decisions.

Authors should disclose manuscripts closely related to the submitted work, including:

Companion papers
Related manuscripts under consideration elsewhere
Previous versions of the work
Preprints
Articles arising from the same dataset or research project

Copies of closely related manuscripts may be requested by the editorial office to assess overlap and originality.

Pre-Submission Checklist

Peer-Review Process

All research manuscripts undergo initial editorial screening followed by double-blind review by at least two independent external reviewers. Editorials, book reviews and similar non-research items are reviewed editorially and are labelled accordingly. Reviewer recommendations are advisory; the handling editor makes the decision and the Editor-in-Chief is accountable for it. Typical timelines: initial screening within 10 working days; first decision within 8–10 weeks; authors are informed of unavoidable delays.

Corrections, Retractions and Appeals

Errors that do not invalidate the findings are corrected by a linked corrigendum or erratum. Articles found to be unreliable, redundant or unethical are retracted in accordance with COPE Retraction Guidelines; the retracted article remains online with a clear retraction watermark and notice. Authors may appeal an editorial decision or lodge a complaint as described in the Editorial Policy; appeals must set out specific grounds and evidence.

Digital Archiving and Persistent Access

Published content is assigned a Crossref DOI, deposited with a long-term digital-preservation service (e.g., Portico, CLOCKSS or the PKP Preservation Network) and remains permanently accessible. Metadata for each article (including publication dates received/revised/accepted/published, ORCID iDs, funding and licence) is deposited with Crossref.

Before submission, authors should verify the following:

Journal Suitability

The manuscript fits the journal’s Focus and Scope.
The selected article type is appropriate.

Manuscript

Title accurately represents the study.
Author names and affiliations are correct.
Corresponding Author information is complete.
Abstract is clear and concise.
Keywords are relevant.
Manuscript follows the required structure.
Language has been carefully checked.

Research Content

Research objectives are clearly stated.
Methodology is sufficiently described.
Results are accurately presented.
Discussion is supported by the results.
Limitations are acknowledged where appropriate.
Conclusions are supported by the evidence.

Figures and Tables

Figures and tables are numbered correctly.
Every figure and table is cited in the text.
Captions and titles are complete.
Image quality is suitable for publication.

References

Citations and references follow Vancouver style.
Citation numbering is correct.
Reference information is complete and accurate.
DOI details are provided where available.

Ethics and Declarations

Authorship has been confirmed.
Author contributions are provided.
Funding has been disclosed.
Competing interests have been declared.
Data Availability Statement is included.
Necessary permissions have been obtained.
The manuscript has been checked for originality.
ORCID iDs supplied for all authors (mandatory for corresponding author).
Ethics approval number, consent statement and trial/study registration number included where applicable.
Relevant reporting-guideline checklist uploaded.
Use of generative AI disclosed (or confirmed as not used).
Anonymised manuscript and separate title page prepared for double-blind review.

Contact the Journal

For questions relating to manuscript preparation or submission, authors may contact the journal at:

Email: info@mbajournals.in

Phone: (+91) 0120-4781-200

Editorial office: CELNET, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

Authors may also submit queries through the journal’s designated Query Portal.

Last updated 15 October 2026.