About the Journal

AKSU Annals of Sustainable Development (AASD) is the official scientific publication of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences in Akwa Ibom State University; and it is available in both printed and electronic formats. The journal is published biennial every year. AASD is a peer-reviewed, open access online international journal which publishes original research papers. The journal welcomes submission from multi-disciplinary scholars and practitioners across the globe for possible publication. The scope of the journal includes: Sciences, Engineering, Education, Arts and Humanities, Basic Medical Sciences, Clinical Sciences, Law, Agriculture, Environmental Studies, Pharmacy, Management Sciences and Social Sciences. AASD allows researchers to publish and share their thoughts, ideas and findings beyond physical boundaries. Theoretical and empirical research articles, reviews and case studies across disciplines are welcomed.
 
Editorial Policy
Our Editorial policy is subjected to protect and strengthen the journals’ integrity and quality aiming reader’s interest. AKSU Annals of Sustainable Development provides complete editorial freedom to the Editors-in-Chief with authority to determine journal’s content and does not interfere with any sort of evaluation process of manuscripts. All the articles are produced with respect to the scope of the journal based on relevancy, integrity, scientific strength, potential interest, completeness, clarity and ethics. Decisions on manuscripts are not affected by the author’s origin, nationality, ethnicity, race, religion or political beliefs. No government policies or agencies away from the journal will determine the decision. Decisions taken are strictly based on the articles validity and importance to the scientific readers.
All submitted manuscripts are subjected to initial appraisal by the Editor. If found suitable for further consideration and publication, are subject to peer review by independent, competent, experts and anonymous referees. Receipt of the manuscript will be acknowledged by email. Every effort will be made to complete the review process within shortest possible time. Papers should be submitted electronically by visiting the journal website.
 
Authors’ Guidelines
The title page should be concise and informative with the name(s) of the author(s); the affiliation(s) and address(es) of the author(s); the e-mail address and telephone of the corresponding author, followed by an abstract of not more than 150 words written in italics and should not contain any undefined abbreviations or unspecified references, clearly followed by a list of 4 to 6 keywords which can be used for indexing purposes. Manuscripts should be prepared using Microsoft Word strictly under the following guidelines: 
  • use normal and plain;
  • use numbered headings for dividing manuscript into sections and sub-sections;
  • use the table function, not spread sheets, to make tables;
  • use the equation editor or math-type for equations;
  • save your file in docx format (Word 2007 or higher);
  • all tables to be numbered using Arabic numerals;
  • tables should be cited in text in consecutive numerical order;
  • supply each table with caption (title) explaining the components of the table;
  • identify any previously published material by giving the original source in the form of reference at the end of the table caption;
  • footnotes to tables should be indicated by superscript lower-case letters (or asterisk for significance values and other statistical data) and included beneath the table body.
  • It is highly recommended that all of your photographs, figures and illustrations, etc, that you all submit as a part of your manuscript and all figures are to be numbered using Arabic numerals;
  • figures should always be cited in text in consecutive numerical order;
  • figure parts be noted by lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.);
  • each figure should have a concise caption describing accurately what the figure depicts, and these include the caption in the text file of the manuscript, not in the figure file;
  • identify previously published material by giving the original source in the form of a reference citation at the end of the figure caption.
Manuscript Length 
Each well research article should not exceed twenty (20) pages of A4 size paper format. However, authors should note that publication of lengthy papers, often significantly delayed, as lengthy paper acts as a disincentive to the reviewer to undertake the review process.
 
References
Each article must conform to American Psychological Association (APA) style of referencing, 7th Edition manual provision. Only authorities cited in the text of article should be listed in a correct alphabetical order in the section for references.
 
Copyright Policy
Copyright Policy ©2023 by AKSU Annals of Sustainable Development (AASD).  Manuscript content is licensed under Creative Commons Licenses. Authors wishing to include figures, tables, or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors. Submission of a manuscript implies that the work has not been published; that is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; publication has been approved by all co-authors, if any, as well as by the responsible authorities at the institute where the work has been carried out, that if and when the manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors agree to automatic transfer of the copyright to the Journal and that the manuscript will not be published elsewhere in any language without the consents of the copyright holders. While the advice in this journal is believed to be true and accurate at the date of its going to press, neither the authors, the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omission that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.
 
Peer Review Policy
AKSU Annals of Sustainable Development operates single blinded peer review system with rapid and thorough process through electronic submissions and communications. In this process, the author’s names and affiliations will be revealed to the reviewers, while authors are kept blinded from reviewer details. The benefit of single-blind peer review is that it is the traditional model of peer review that many reviewers are comfortable with, and it facilitates a dispassionate critique of a manuscript. Initial decisions are held by Editors-in-Chief and submitted manuscripts will undergo unbiased preliminary assessment for the suitability to the scope of the journals. As an extension to the process, the assessed manuscripts are forwarded to at-least two expert reviewers in the field. This is intended to advance the correctness, clarity, and wholeness of manuscripts and help editors to decide whether the manuscript has to be published or not. At the concerned editor’s discretion, manuscripts will be forwarded to additional reviewers and final decisions will be 
made in support with their implications.
 
Publication Ethics Policy
AASD is committed to maintaining high standards via a rigorous peer-review together with strict ethical policies. Any violations of professional ethical codes, such as plagiarism, fraudulent use of data, bogus claims of authorship, should be taken very seriously by the editors with zero tolerance.
 
Privacy Policy
The names and email addresses entered in the journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or any other party. Although, AASD is an open access publisher and provides platforms for open scientific exchange, we are committed to protecting the privacy of our members, customers, volunteers, and other contacts via the appropriate use of security technologies and physical safeguards.
 
Changes to the Privacy Policy
AKSUASD reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time by posting changes without prior notice.
 
Publication cost/Open Access Fees
Accepted articles will be published online for free open access for all to view. Open access publishing provides the maximum dissemination of the article to the largest audience. 
 
Publication Charges
All corresponding authors will be asked to pay their publication charges as open access fee (given below) per published article which allows indefinite free-to-view online publication. There are no charges for submitting a manuscript. Upon acceptance of a paper for publication, the authors will be required to pay publication charges of N50, 000.00 Naira (for Nigerian authors), USD$ 150 (for international authors) before the accepted paper is published. The mode of payment is available under the payment option menu. For further details, e-mail: editor.aksuasd@gmail.com.
 
Frequency of publication
Two issues a year, with rapid review and publication.
 
Abstracting/Indexing
Papers published are abstracted and indexed by scientific indexing services such as Google Scholar. More Indexing databases are loading. 
 
Submission Guidelines
As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
1. All submissions should be in English and in soft copies, which should be in Microsoft word, double-line spacing and 12-point character typeface and in Times New Romans.
2. Author names must be given in full, with surnames (family names) all in capitals. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names.
3. Indicate all affiliations with a lowercase superscript number immediately after the 
author's name and in front of the appropriate address.
4. Author addresses must be given in English in the following order: Department, Faculty, University, City, Country, with numbers in superscript after each author name to indicate his/her address. 
5. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name for each author.
 
Corresponding Author
You should designate one author to act as corresponding author. Note that this is the person who will receive correspondence from AASD editorial office and needs to be the person who will appear as corresponding author on the paper if accepted. The manuscript has to be submitted online by the person who is in charge of correspondence at all stages of the editorial process, production, and post-publication. Ensure that phone/fax numbers with country and area codes are provided, in addition to the e-mail address (preferably an institutional e-mail 
address) and the complete postal address. Contact details of the other authors must be kept up to date by the corresponding author.
Payments to AASD are due within 5-10 days of sending the invoice to the Customer. Invoices are sent by e-mail to the payment contact person provided by the Contributor soon after acceptance of an Article for publication.
 
For enquiries:
The Editor-in-Chief
AKSU Annals of Sustainable Development
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Faculty of Social Sciences, 
Akwa Ibom State University, 
Nigeria.
E-mail: editor.aksuasd@gmail.com.
Alternatively: umoumoh@aksu.edu.ng