Author Guidelines

Journal of Business Administration (JBA) — Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University

The Journal of Business Administration (JBA) is a bi-annual, peer-reviewed academic journal advancing scholarly research and professional practice in Management Sciences and related disciplines. JBA publishes high-quality empirical and theoretical studies across Business Administration, Entrepreneurship, Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Human Resource Management, Strategic Management, Operations and Supply Chain Management, Public Administration, International Business, Innovation and Technology Management, SMEs, and Sustainable Development and Corporate Governance. In line with international indexing standards, including the Scopus content policy, JBA maintains clear editorial, ethical and quality requirements. Please read these guidelines before submitting.

1. Scope and Article Types

JBA welcomes original, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary contributions of relevance to an international readership:

• Empirical research articles — original studies presenting new findings.
• Theoretical and conceptual papers — contributions that advance management theory.
• Review articles — authoritative syntheses of a topic.

2. Ethical and Publication Policy

JBA is committed to publication ethics and research integrity, following the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). By submitting, authors confirm that:

• The work is original and has not been submitted elsewhere for publication.
• All listed authors made substantial contributions and approved the final manuscript.
• All sources of data, ideas and text are properly cited, and the submission does not infringe any copyright.
• Conflicts of interest and sources of funding are disclosed.

Cases of plagiarism, data falsification, redundant publication or authorship disputes are handled in accordance with COPE guidance and may result in rejection or retraction.

3. Plagiarism Policy

All manuscripts are screened for similarity before review. The similarity index must not exceed 25%. Manuscripts above this threshold will be returned for revision or rejected, depending on severity. Authors are encouraged to check their manuscripts using recognised software (e.g. Turnitin or iThenticate) prior to submission.

4. Use of Generative AI

Where generative AI or AI-assisted tools are used in preparing a manuscript, authors must briefly disclose the tool and how it was used. AI tools cannot be listed as authors, and authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, integrity and originality of the work.

5. Peer Review

All submissions undergo a transparent peer-review process, assessed on originality, methodological soundness, relevance and scholarly contribution. When revising, authors should respond to reviewer comments point by point.

6. Document Formatting Guide

General layout

• File format: Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx).
• Language: English (British).
• Font and spacing: Times New Roman, 12 pt, 1.5 line spacing.
• Style: APA (7th edition), applied strictly throughout.
• Length: maximum of 15 pages, including appendix and references.

Manuscript structure

1. Cover page — informative title; name(s) of author(s); affiliation(s); and the address, email and phone number of the corresponding author.
2. Abstract — not more than 250 words, followed by keywords.
3. Introduction (background and objectives)
4. Literature Review
5. Methodology
6. Results and Discussion
7. Conclusion and Recommendations
8. References

Figures, tables and citations

• Number tables and figures consecutively in the order cited; do not duplicate data between text, tables and figures.
• Cite references in text by author and year, and list all references alphabetically following APA (7th edition). For example:

Bello, A. S., & Okonkwo, N. C. (2024). Entrepreneurial orientation and SME performance in Nigeria. Journal of Business Administration, 12(1), 20–38. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/jba.2024.1201

Ensure every in-text citation appears in the reference list and vice versa. Include a DOI where available.

7. Charges

Authors are required to pay the following charges:

• Processing Fee — NGN 10,000.00, payable on submission.
• Publication Fee — NGN 30,000.00, payable on acceptance.

All payments are made online through the journal’s secure payment gateway. The Processing Fee does not guarantee acceptance; the Publication Fee applies only to manuscripts accepted after peer review.

8. Submission

Manuscripts are submitted online through the journal’s portal at https://abujba.org.ng/. Accepted papers are published in the next available issue.

By submitting to JBA, authors agree to comply with the journal’s editorial, ethical and formatting requirements set out above.