Manuscript requirements
The Gufo accepts original research articles that make a clear academic contribution to the relevant field. Manuscripts must not have been published previously or be under consideration by another journal. The maximum length is 8,000 words, including references, tables, figures, and footnotes. Manuscripts must be written in English, including references, and submitted electronically through the designated submission system.
Submitting
Copy and paste each section of your article into the submission form. You may also attach Word or PDF copies as supporting files. The published article and its PDF are built from the sections you enter.
Manuscript structure
Research articles should generally include the following sections:
Title
The title should be concise, informative, and accurately reflect the content of the paper.
Author(s)
Provide each author's full name, institutional affiliation, city and country, ORCID iD, and email address.
Clearly identify the corresponding author.
Abstract
The abstract should not exceed 250 words and should briefly present the research objective, methodology, main findings, and conclusions. Do not include references, citations, tables, figures, or unexplained abbreviations.
Keywords
Provide 3 to 5 keywords, listed alphabetically and separated by commas. Use specific terms relevant to the manuscript and avoid unnecessary abbreviations.
Main text
Research articles should generally follow this structure:
- Introduction
- Literature Review
- Methodology
- Results
- Discussion
- Conclusions
The Introduction should establish the research problem, rationale, objectives, research gap, and contribution.
The Literature Review should critically engage with relevant and recent academic literature and identify the research gap.
The Methodology should clearly describe the research design, data sources, sample, methods, and relevant ethical considerations.
Results should present the principal findings clearly, while the Discussion should interpret them in relation to previous research and their theoretical and practical implications.
Conclusions should summarise the main findings and may include recommendations and directions for future research.
Where applicable, manuscripts should also include Acknowledgements, Funding, Conflict of Interest, and Data Availability Statements.
Formatting
You do not need to format your manuscript. The Gufo’s template applies the journal’s typography, numbering and layout when the article is published. Headings use a scientific numbering system; no more than two levels of subsections should normally be used; footnotes are numbered consecutively.
Tables and figures
Tables, graphs, charts, and figures should be numbered consecutively, have clear titles or captions, and be referred to in the text.
All tables and figures must be in English and should include the source where applicable. They should present meaningful information and should not unnecessarily duplicate the text.
Tables and graphics may be submitted within the manuscript or separately in appropriate formats such as XLS/XLSX, PDF, EPS, TIF, or JPG.
References
The Gufo uses APA 7th edition for in-text citations and reference lists.
Authors should:
- cite only relevant and significant academic sources;
- use recent and peer-reviewed literature where appropriate;
- verify references against the original publication;
- ensure that every in-text citation appears in the reference list and vice versa; and
- provide DOI information where available.
The reference list should be arranged alphabetically by the surname of the first author.
Include all sources cited in your manuscript using a consistent reference style. Ensure references are complete and accurate, including author names, publication year, title, journal name (if applicable), volume number and page numbers.
Sources in other languages. All manuscripts, including the reference list, must be in English. When citing a source published in another language, give the reference in its original form (transliterated into the Latin alphabet if the original script is not Latin), followed by an English translation of the title in square brackets.
Example: Barabashev, A. G. (2006). Reformirovanie gosudarstvennoi sluzhby [Reforming the civil service]. HSE Publishing.
Research integrity and AI use
Authors are responsible for the originality, accuracy, and integrity of their manuscripts. Plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabrication, and falsification of data are not acceptable. The Gufo may use similarity-detection tools as part of the editorial process.
AI tools may be used for language improvement, grammar correction, or editorial assistance. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy and originality of the manuscript. AI tools cannot be listed as authors. Substantial use of AI in manuscript preparation should be disclosed where applicable.
Payment
The publication fee is paid at submission through Stripe. Your publication fee is refunded in full if your submission is declined during our initial screening, or if you withdraw it before an editor has been assigned. Once an editor has been assigned, editorial work has begun and the fee is no longer refundable, regardless of the final decision. If we have not assigned an editor within 30 days of payment, we refund the fee automatically. Fees charged in error, duplicated payments, and confirmed fraudulent charges are refunded in full when reported within 48 hours. Refunds are issued to the original payment method.
Publishing
Once the peer-review process is completed and the article complies with The Gufo’s terms and conditions, it is published on our platform and promoted through our channels. All articles are published in a continuous-publication format: an article becomes available as soon as it is approved and published, within the current annual volume, and receives an article ID and a DOI.
Sharing an existing article
Share an article you have already published under a Creative Commons licence, free of charge. Submit the published article as a PDF, exactly as the publisher issued it, with the journal name, ISSN, DOI and licence visible in the file. The article is shown unchanged and keeps its original DOI and licence.
