Author Guidelines

Instructions for Authors

1. Submission Policy

Papers submitted to Zanco Journal must contain original material or review articles. The submitted paper, including any translations, must have never been previously published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Violations of these guidelines will typically result in an immediate rejection of the submission without further review.

2. General Peer-Review Procedure 

All manuscripts submitted for publication in Zanco Journal undergo a strict and thorough peer-review process. The Editorial Office will organize the peer review and ensure that each manuscript receives at least two sets of reviewer comments. The Editorial Board issues a decision letter according to the comments of the reviewers, which is sent to the corresponding author. The peer-review process typically takes four weeks.

3. Authors' Rights

Zanco Journal is committed to protecting authors’ rights and ensuring that all legal and copyright regulations are upheld. Whether publishing with Zanco Journal or any other publisher, Zanco Journal adheres to the highest standards of ethics, responsibility, and legal obligations. 

4. Zanco Journal’s Ethics Statement

Zanco Journal is committed to enforcing a rigorous peer review process alongside ethical policies and standards for scholarly publication. Zanco Journal takes cases of plagiarism, data falsification and inappropriate authorship credit very seriously, and the editors maintain a zero-tolerance policy toward such misconduct.

Plagiarism must not exceed 20%, with no single source contributing more than 5%. The use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) is permitted but must be limited to 20%.

5. Points to be covered in the research paper:

• Title of the Paper
• Name/Names of the Researcher(s)
• Place of Work (Affiliation…, Department of…, College of…, University…, City…, Country…)
• Email Address
• Received and Accepted Dates (to be left blank)
• Abstract
• Keywords
• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Methodology
• Results
• Conclusion and Recommendations
• References and Bibliography

6. Style: (NOTE: Do Not Use the Chapter Format When Writing a Paper. Use a digital numbering system for organization.

6.1 Page setup:

• English: A4 size with margins set as follows: 2cm (Top), 2cm) Bottom) 3cm (Left), 2cm (Right).
• Kurdish and Arabic: A4 size with margins set as follows: 2cm (Top), 2cm (Bottom), 3cm) Right), 2cm (Left).
• Numbering the sections has to start from the introduction.
• Do not use the automatic numbering of the headings; manual numbering is recommended.
• The entire document must be submitted as a single file, not in separate parts.
• Line spacing of the paragraphs should be set to (Single).

6.2 Fonts:

• Abstract: Required in three languages (English, Kurdish, and Arabic) including Title, Name of Author(s), E-mail Address, and Keywords.
• English: (Times New Roman), size (10 Bold) for the heading, and the same text size (10) for the body.
• Kurdish: (Unikurd Jino), size (10) for the heading, and (Unikurd Xani) size (10) for the body.
• Arabic: (Times New Roman), size (10 Bold) for the heading, and (Times New Roman) size (10) for the body.
• Keywords: Must not exceed 5 words, and the same font size guidelines as above apply.
• English: (Times New Roman), size (12 Bold) for all headings and the same text size (12) for all the body.
• Kurdish (Unikurd Jino), size (12) for the headings and (Unikurd Xani) size (12) for the body.
• Arabic: (Times New Roman) size (12 Bold) for the heading, and (Times New Roman) size (12) for the body.
• All new paragraphs have to start with one tab. When writing in Arabic or Kurdish, paragraphs should not start with a letter (و).

6.3 Tables and Figures

• All the tables and figures must NOT exceed a width of (11cm).
• All tables and figures must be in (JPG) format, presented as a single image (not composed of multiple parts). Scanned parts must be clear and of high quality.
• All poems have to be written in a table, with each paragraph of a poem (Stanza) written in its own column.
• Avoid using Textbox or WordArt under any circumstances.

7. Citing Referencing

• Self-citation must not exceed %10.
• Citing and referencing should follow (Harvard Referencing System), and not be included as footnotes.
• References must adhere to the same font and size guidelines as the abstract.
• All the references should be listed in alphabetical order.
• A full guide on how to use the Harvard Referencing System can be obtained from the Zanco Journal office.

8. Submission of Work

• The number of sheets must not be more than 30.
• The following documents should be uploaded to the journal system , each as a separate word file:

1-The full paper of Zanco Journal template

2-Paper abstract in ( Kurdish, Arabic and English) without the naes and affiliation of the author(s).

3-A copy of the images, graphs and maps (if any) all in one file.

4-Full name of the author(s) , affiliation (university, college, department) in three languages in addition to emails and telephone numbers.

5-Graphic Abstract

6-Cover letter

• Papers that do not adhere to these guidelines will not be accepted by the Zanko Journal.