Nepal Public Policy Review

Connecting research to public policy

Author Guidelines

Language

Manuscript for the NPPR can be prepared in English or Nepali language. However, the title page (Title, Author, Affiliation) and Abstract should be written in both English and Nepali. If the authors are unable to translate them on their own, the NPPR journal office will arrange a translation service.

Types of paper

Nepal Public Policy Review (NPPR) is a bilingual, multidisciplinary, and public policy-oriented journal that publishes high-quality articles with policy-applicable knowledge in them.

The journal publishes the following two types of articles:

  • Research articles - These are articles with significant primary data generated by authors.
  • Review articles - These are articles based entirely on the analysis of secondary data generated by others and compiled by the authors.

Both types of articles must connect knowledge to policy in their content to be acceptable for NPPR.

For more information about the types and the purpose of papers, read the Aims and Scope of the journal here. [https://nppr.org.np/index.php/journal/aims-and-scope]

The regular Research article builds on the in-depth investigation of specific social or governance problems that can be connected to certain public policies. A research article will have an introduction that clearly articulates the context, social problem, knowledge gaps, and policy gaps; objectives of the study; a section on research methodology for collecting data from all relevant sources; results and discussions; conclusions; and policy recommendations and suggested course of action for their implementation. The length of the article should not exceed 6000 words excluding references. In exceptional cases, the Journal office may consider an article exceeding 6000 words if the author sufficiently justifies the length.

The review article is similar to the Research article except that it does not have any original or primary data generated by the authors. A review article is built on secondary data already available from other sources. A review article should contain an introduction with the context, social problem, and policy gaps; objectives of the study; a section on research methodology for collecting and selecting relevant secondary data; results and discussions; conclusions; and policy recommendations and suggested course of action for their implementation. The length of the article should be similar to that specified for the research article.

Manuscript Structure

The structure of the manuscript for NPPR should be as follows. The Title page and Abstract are not numbered.

Title

It should be concise and give idea about the major finding.

Author list

Full names of all authors. Use number symbols to indicate affiliation of each author in case there are multiple authors.

Affiliation

Names and addresses of organizations each author is affiliated with.

Abstract

A brief introduction to the context, objective, and findings of the research. It should be between 200 to 250 words in length.

Note: The Title of the paper, Author list, Affiliation, and Abstract should be written in both English and Nepali.

Body of the paper

The main body of the paper should have the following numbered sections.

1. Introduction

    1.1. Subtitle
    1.2. Subtitle
          1.2.1 Third level subtitle
          1.2.2. Third level subtitle

(Numbering of the sections and subsections for all sections of the Body should follow the above format.)

2. Knowledge gaps and/or policy gaps

The knowledge gap refers to the research gap and lack of information relevant to the issue at hand. The policy gaps refer to bad policy or lack of appropriate policy and/or poor implementation of the existing policy.

Among the two types of articles accepted by NPPR, the Research article identifies knowledge gaps and generates originally new knowledge (primary data) to fill that gap, and then caters it to policy. Therefore, Research article should describe both knowledge gaps and policy gaps. In contrast, the Review article is based on already generated data (secondary data). Therefore, a Review article does not necessarily identify knowledge gaps. But it should identify policy gaps.

3. Research Methodology

Policy research is essentially a synthesis of data collected from various sources, particularly, the target population for the policy, experts, and various secondary sources. Therefore, methods and tools for the collection and analysis of the following types of data are expected to be described in this section.

  • [Primary data from population (where applicable)]
  • [Primary data from experts (where applicable)]
  • [International practices (where applicable)]
  • [Data from secondary sources (academic and/or grey literature*, where applicable)]
  • [Policy review (review of relevant policies)]
  • [Media review* (where applicable)]

* Caution: When using grey literature and doing media reviews, care should be taken to use reliable sources. Setting inclusion and exclusion criteria is desirable for selecting sources.

As the goal of the methodology is to increase the credibility of the research by making the research process transparent and reproducible, the description should be specific, precise, and in adequate detail.

4. Result and Discussion

This section presents the results and discussion presented together or separately. The Result part presents the findings derived from the analysis of the data collected. The results should be organized in appropriate subsections. Each subsection of the Result should conclude with the conclusion of the particular result presented. Then, the Discussion part generates more sense by interpreting the result in a broader context and providing the significance of the findings.

5. Conclusion

This section is an organized compilation of individual conclusions arrived at each result subsection in the previous section. Relevant knowledge gaps persisting after the completion of the research, if any, are also presented in this section. The conclusion section provides an evidence base for the Policy Recommendation.

6. Policy Recommendation

Here, you should make judicious policy recommendations based entirely on the conclusions from the previous section. You should also suggest policy options (alternative recommendations) if the conclusion demands or allows. However, this section should not include any recommendation which has not been discussed in previous sections.

7. Suggested Course of Action

The Suggested Course of Action is practical suggestions for the implementation of the recommendations. It should identify the action to be taken, the requirements, and the responsible authority, among others. The Suggested Course of Action is generated either through the collaborative deliberation of researcher and policy actors or through the validation of relevant experts and policy actors. The Suggested Course of Action could be flexible, but it must not contradict the Policy Recommendations.

Statements and References

(The following sections are not numbered)

Author contribution statement

State each author’s contribution. The statement should be honest and verifiable. See the NPPR policy on Authorship for more details.

Conflict of Interest Statement

Make a statement regarding the Conflict of Interest, present or otherwise. See the NPPR policy on the Conflict of Interest for more details.

Acknowledgment

This section is for acknowledging the funding and other major support received, and also the minor contributions made by somebody to the paper. Minor contributions to the paper should be acknowledged in this section. Please note that granting authorship based on minor contributions will be regarded as gift authorship - a violation of research ethics. See the NPPR policy on Authorship for more details.

Authors’ Biographies

[Author’s name]
He/She is currently working as a/the [position] at [organization]. He received his/her [degree] in [subject] in [year] from [university’s name]. He/she has [number] years of experience as [major positions] in the field of [name of fields].

References

Include the citations made in the text. Follow the APA 7th Edition or the Policy Research Institute Style Guide 2080 for referencing. Where available, URLs of the DOI or the document must be provided.

Appendix

Tables, lists, equations, and other information that are too large or too detailed are placed in the Appendix.

Supplementary Data

Data that are not essential in the text but are parts of the research can be organized as Supplementary Data and deposited on the website of the author’s affiliated institution for open access to all. Supplementary data deposited elsewhere in this way will not be peer-reviewed.

Format and style

Articles must be laid out as follows:

  • All manuscripts (first submission as well as submission of revisions) should be submitted through the specified email.
  • Manuscripts should be prepared on a platform compatible with a common word processing application. The first submission as well as revisions should be made in Word as well as PDF formats.
  • Images (graphs, drawings, and so on) and tables will be included in the manuscript with proper explanation and referenced in the main text. Any other relevant (supplementary) information may be put in the appendix(cies).
  • Image(s) used in the manuscript should be original and can be sent on a separate file with a clear caption below it/them. All charts must be in Microsoft Word Chart format (imported as a chart, not pasted as an image)
  • Tables too can be sent on a separate file with a caption above the table(s). All tables must be in Microsoft Word table format (not in image format)
  • Page margins of the manuscripts should be 1 inch on all sides.
  • Manuscripts should be written in Times New Roman with font size 11 and be double-spaced, with references and notes included.
  • Referencing should follow the APA Referencing style 7th edition for the papers written in English and the Policy Research Institute Style Guide 2081 for papers written in the Nepali language throughout the document. The author(s) can use referencing applications such as Mendeley, MS Word Reference Addon, EndNote, Zotero, or any other reference manager to manage citations and references easily for papers.
  • The author(s) must declare in the cover letter that the manuscript submitted for review is original and is not published or under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Special issues

Calls for papers for special issues will be made separately with specified deadlines. The papers for special issues will also undergo the same process of peer review as any other regular papers.

Submit your manuscript to:

Managing Editor
NPPR Secretariat
Nepal Public Policy Review
Email: nppr@pri.gov.np