• ● Perspective: Scholarly reviews and discussions of primary research that advocate speculative hypotheses or discuss work from limited groups. Perspectives are forward-looking and may be opinionated but must remain balanced to stimulate discussion and new approaches.
• ● Review: Provide critical accounts and comprehensive surveys of topics of major current interest within the scope of the Proceedings.
• ● Research: Present new scientific results within the scope of the Proceedings that have not been published previously and are not being considered for publication elsewhere.

Although the Proceedings endorse format-free submission, manuscripts should include the following elements:

• ● Title Page: A concise and informative title; the name(s) of the author(s); the affiliation(s) of the author(s) (i.e., institution, department, city, state, country); clear indication and contact information of the corresponding author (i.e., an active e-mail address and/or ORCID iD).
• ● Abstract: An abstract of 200-250 words without any undefined abbreviations or unspecified references. The abstract may be structured or unstructured depending on the nature of the manuscript.
• ● Main Manuscript: Up to 8,000 words (including tables and figures). Use the decimal system of headings with no more than three levels.
• ● Declarations: All manuscripts must contain the following sections under the heading of ‘Declarations’:
  • ○ Funding: Information on whether and by whom the research was supported.
  • ○ Conflicts of interest: Include appropriate disclosures.
  • ○ Data availability: Statements regarding data transparency.

• ● Tables: Tables should be placed within the text and numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals (e.g., Table 1, Table 2). All tables must be cited in the text in the order they appear (e.g., “As shown in Table 1...”). Each table should have a clear and concise caption, and any footnotes should be indicated by superscript lowercase letters beneath the table body.
• ● Figures: Figures should be provided as separate files (in formats such as EPS, TIFF, or MS Office files) but must be embedded within the manuscript text in the order they are cited (e.g., “See Figure 1 for details”). Figures should also be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals, with descriptive captions included in the manuscript file.
• ● File Format: Save your file in .docx or .doc format for submission.
• ● Abbreviations: Abbreviations should be defined at first mention and used consistently throughout the manuscript.
• ● Footnotes: Footnotes may be used for additional information but should not consist solely of reference citations and should not include figures or tables.
• ● Acknowledgments: Acknowledge people, grants, or funds in a separate section on the title page. The names of funding organizations should be written in full.

All citations and references must follow APA 7th edition style. Authors should provide in-text citations using the author-date format and include a complete reference list at the end of the manuscript. Ensure that every in-text citation is linked to a corresponding reference, and all references are listed in alphabetical order by the surname of the first author.

• ● DOIs must be provided for all references where available. If a DOI is not provided, the reference may not be accepted, as this will prevent proper linking of citations.
• ● Citations from SCI-indexed research papers or books with Google Scholar citable formats are preferred.
• ● In-text citation examples:
  • ○ Single author: (Smith, 2020)
  • ○ Two authors: (Smith & Jones, 2021)
  • ○ Three or more authors: (Smith et al., 2022)
  • ○ Direct quotation: (Smith, 2020, p. 15)

Reference examples:

• ● Journal article:
  Smith, J. A., & Jones, M. (2020). Research on climate change. Journal of Environmental Studies, 45(3), 123-145. https://doi.org/10.1234/jes.2020.5678
• ● Book:
  Brown, L. M. (2019). The impact of urban design on society. Green City Press.
• ● Website:
  American Psychological Association. (2020). APA style.

The IGEE Proceedings is committed to maintaining the highest level of integrity in the content it publishes. All authors must adhere to the Proceedings’ code of ethics when submitting their manuscript.

Conflict of Interest Policy

The corresponding author must report all conflicts of interest to the editor at the time of submission. This includes but is not limited to:

• ● Financial support from pharmaceutical companies, corporations, or organizations.
• ● Connections to political pressure groups or scholarly associations that might influence the research.
• ● Consultancy fees, stock ownership, or other financial interests that may compromise the integrity of the research.
• ● Paid testimony or other roles that could lead to potential biases.

Conflicts of interest arise when authors or their affiliated institutions receive financial or other forms of support from external organizations that could influence the results or interpretation of the research.

The following additional guidelines apply:

• 1. Related persons (minors under 19 or extended family members) must be clearly identified if they are co-authors. These individuals must have substantially contributed to the research and writing of the manuscript. A Pre-disclosure form should be submitted with the manuscript to notify the editor that a related person has contributed.
• 2. Research misconduct by a related person who has benefited from their association with the research (e.g., school applications, grants) will be reported to relevant institutions if proven.
• 3. Disclosure of all support: Authors must disclose any employment, advisory roles, stockholding, lecture fees, sponsor roles, access to materials, or corporate sponsorship of the research. This includes reporting equipment support or any other non-monetary forms of support. The role of the sponsor must be disclosed, especially if they participated in the research process.
• 4. Authors should not sign agreements with sponsors that would allow the sponsor to interfere with the author's rights or intellectual property related to the manuscript.
• 5. At least one of the authors must have full, independent access to all research materials and data to ensure transparency.
• 6. Authors are required to provide detailed information on grants received for the research, following the guidelines for manuscript preparation.

In cases where any of the above conflicts of interest arise, authors must submit a Conflict of Interest Form signed by all co-authors.

The IGEE Proceedings has a zero-tolerance policy toward research and publication misconduct. Authors, reviewers, and editors are required to adhere to the highest standards of publication ethics, as outlined by the COPE guidelines and ICMJE recommendations.

• ● Plagiarism and Duplicate Submission: Plagiarism, whether in the form of direct copying, paraphrasing without attribution, or submission of work under false authorship, is strictly prohibited. Manuscripts submitted to the IGEE Proceedings must not be under consideration elsewhere, and authors must certify that their work is original and unpublished.
  Duplicate submission refers to the practice of submitting the same work to more than one journal simultaneously. If a manuscript has been published previously, authors must notify the editors and provide a clear rationale if submitting a revised or extended version of previous work. Failure to disclose this will be considered unethical.
• ● Fabrication and Falsification: Any form of data manipulation, including fabrication of data, falsification of results, or selective reporting to distort findings, is considered severe misconduct. Authors found guilty of data manipulation will face immediate rejection, and cases of misconduct will be reported to their affiliated institution(s).
• ● Authorship Misconduct: Authors must ensure that all individuals listed as co-authors meet the criteria for authorship (significant contributions to the research design, data collection, analysis, or manuscript drafting). Ghost authorship (where a significant contributor is omitted) and guest authorship (where an individual is listed as an author without meaningful contribution) are unethical practices and are grounds for manuscript rejection.
• ● Misconduct by Reviewers: Reviewers who plagiarize or inappropriately use submitted material will be removed from the review board and reported to their institution. Reviewers must treat all manuscripts confidentially and declare any conflicts of interest that might affect their judgment.

Submissions must be original work and not previously published or under consideration elsewhere. Manuscripts that are found to overlap with previously published work will be rejected, in accordance with the ICMJE Recommendations.

Authors must ensure that all contributions are appropriately cited, including any previously published material that appears in the manuscript. Any concerns regarding potential overlap with other work should be disclosed in a cover letter.

Authorship is based on substantial contributions to the conception, design, data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of the study. All authors must approve the final manuscript and agree to be accountable for the accuracy and integrity of the work. Any changes in authorship after submission must be approved by all authors in writing.

• ● Corresponding Author Responsibilities: The corresponding author takes full responsibility for communication with the journal and ensures that all administrative requirements are met.
• ● Contributors: Individuals who contribute substantially but do not meet all criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments.

No publication fees are required. The Institute for Global Empowerment and Engagement covers all article-processing charges, making the IGEE Proceedings open-access. Authors do not need to pay for their article to be made freely available online.

The editorial office follows COPE’s guidelines when handling complaints and appeals. Authors who wish to appeal a decision or file a complaint regarding the peer review process should contact the editorial office.

All manuscripts undergo a double-blind peer review process. Submissions are first reviewed by the editorial office for compliance with submission guidelines and ethical standards. Manuscripts that meet these requirements are then sent to external reviewers for evaluation.

• ● Peer Review Process: Manuscripts will be reviewed by at least two external reviewers. A decision will be made within 6-12 weeks after submission. If revisions are requested, authors must respond within two months, and failure to do so may result in withdrawal from consideration.

Once a manuscript is accepted, authors will be asked to submit the final version of the manuscript, ensuring that all references, tables, and figures are correctly numbered and cited in order. Authors will receive page proofs for review and must respond to the editorial office within 48 hours to confirm or correct any errors.

The IGEE Proceedings will publish errata or corrigenda in the case of significant errors that affect the interpretation of the manuscript. These corrections will be published in a subsequent issue of the journal.

Copies of written informed consent and institutional review board (IRB) approval for clinical research should be kept. If necessary, the editor or reviewers may request copies of these documents to resolve questions about IRB approval and study conduct. In addition, for studies conducted with human subjects, the method by which informed consent was obtained from the participants (i.e., verbal or written) also needs to be stated in the Methods section.

• Ex 1) This study complies with the Declaration of Helsinki and was performed according to ethics committee approval.
• Ex 2) This study had institutional review board approval, and the need to obtain informed patient consent was waived.
• Ex 3) This study had institutional review board approval, and all patients provided written informed consent.
• Ex 4) Written informed consent was obtained from all patients, and the study protocol was approved by the institutional committee on human research, ensuring that it conformed to the ethical guidelines of the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki.
• Ex 5) This study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki, and all patients provided written informed consent prior to enrollment.
• Ex 6) Ethics approval and informed consent were obtained.
• Ex 7) All animals were treated in accordance with the Guidelines for The Care and Use of Laboratory Animals as adopted by the OOO University. This study was approved by the institutional animal care and use committee of OOO.