1. The editors welcome original contributions. By submission of a manuscript, an author certifies that the work is original and is not being considered simultaneously by another publisher. In order to safeguard authors’ rights, the copyright of all material published is vested in the Zimbabwe Journal of Economics (ZJE). 
2. The ZJE is a peer-reviewed economics journal which publishes original research work on the economy of Zimbabwe, and its relation to Southern Africa and the world economy. The journal seeks to advance ZES’ vision of being “a centre of reference on economic thought on Zimbabwe.”
3. The ZJE seeks to publish high quality, analytical and evidence-based manuscripts from both early career and internationally recognised authors. The journal gives preference to papers that seek to advance knowledge on inclusive development.
4. The journal covers both microeconomics and macroeconomics, and all known branches of economics such: econometrics, economic history and development, monetary, international, industrial, behavioral, business, environmental, energy, public, labour, health, social, mathematical, and resource economics.

1. Submissions should be sent by e-mail attachment (ideally as a Word file) to zje.editor@gmail.com. All submissions will be acknowledged on receipt, and will be refereed if they fall within our remit. Only those receiving favourable recommendation will be accepted for publication. 
2. Please follow the stylistic guidelines below closely for your submission. Note in particular the referencing system we use. If in doubt, check articles in a recent issue of the journal for guidance. 

1. Title page: The title should be short, specific, and informative. The entire title should be in all capital letters. All the authors’ full names, affiliations and/or ORCID should be included.  For the corresponding author, an e-mail address should also be provided. Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any additions or deletions to the author list after acceptance of the manuscript must be submitted in writing, signed by all authors, to the editor at zje.editor@gmail.com.
2. Abstract: a short abstract of 150–300 words should precede the introduction. It should be clear and informative, giving an indication of the scope of the paper and its main arguments or finding and policy implications. Abstracts should not contain footnotes.
3. Keywords: Suggest 5-8 keywords that will help to make your paper more ‘discoverable’ by search engines and indexing software.
4. Acknowledgements: Acknowledgements, if any, should be included as a section at the end of the text.
5. Article length: manuscript should normally not exceed 10,000 words of text, including footnotes. We would not normally consider papers with fewer than 6,000 words of text. Also check technical guidelines below.
6. Tables: Tables can be included intext. However, please ensure that there is sufficient spacing between columns and rows and that the layout does not make the table look too messy or crowded. The table captions, heading or title should be clear and informative, and placed above the table. Numerical numbers and symbols such as % may be used in tables and figures to save space.
7. Figures: Figures should be prepared using appropriate computer software. They should be on a scale to permit reduction to half their original size. Care should be taken that lettering and symbols are correct. Corrections are expensive and the editors reserve the right to charge for new artwork/amendments to labels required as a result of an author’s mistake or last-minute corrections. Captions, headings or titles should be clear and informative, and placed above the figure.
8. Headings: The editors prefers one level of sub-headings in the manuscript. The headlining should be numbered (using Arabic numerals) formatted in bold and left-aligned. If a subsidiary level of sub-headings is required, this should be italicised and left-aligned. Headings should be numbered as follows: 1, 2, 3… while sub-headings should use the following number 1.1, 1.1.1, 2.1, 2.1.1, etc. 
9. General rules for writing: 

• use simple and declarative sentences, avoid long sentences, in which the meaning may be lost by complicated construction; 
• be concise, avoid idle words; 
• make your argumentation complete; use commonly understood terms; define all non-standard symbols and abbreviations  when you introduce them; 
• Be self-critical as you review your drafts. 

10. Structure of a paper: Research papers and review articles should follow a strict structure. Generally a standard scientific paper is divided into: 

• Introduction: present the subject of manuscript clearly, indicate the scope of the subject, present the goals of  the paper and finally the organization of the paper; 
• Main text: present all important elements of your scientific message. This can follow the following structure: literature review, methodology, and discussion of findings.
• Conclusions: summarize your paper, include policy implications and areas for further research. 

11. Econometric estimation or computational methods: in empirical papers, technical details such as the computational methods (econometric techniques), and models applied, or newly  developed models should be presented in an appropriately named section. Sufficient detail should be provided to enable readers to reproduce the calculations. 

12. Equations and formulas: Please use the built-in equation editor in newer versions of MS Word.

13. Technical guidelines:

• Font: Time New Roman
• Font size: 12 (without underlining) 
• Interlinear spacing: 1,5 
• Upper, lower, left and right margins: 2,5 
• Page length: maximum of 30 pages (including references and appendices)
• Please avoid any advanced text formatting – use standard settings. Do not use headings and footers. 

14. Abbreviations and acronyms: These should be used sparingly and should be explained at the first occurrence. Abbreviations, acronyms and other conventions (capitals, italics, symbols, units) should be used consistently throughout the paper, and typed without full points. Thus: GNP; Mr; Dr; per cent is preferred to %.

15. Measurement, numbers, dates: Metric units are preferred except where historical accuracy demands otherwise. Generally numbers up to ten should be expressed in words. Four-figure numbers should have a comma, thus 4,000. Decades should be written ‘the 1950s’. Dates in the text should be written out in full thus: 24 September 1998.

16. English language: ZJE is published only in English. Make sure that your manuscripts are clearly and grammatically  written. The journal provides limited language editing and proofreading services. Try to prepare your manuscript in an easily readable style; this will help avoid severe  misunderstandings which might lead to rejection of the paper.  

17. Use of British English or Anglo-English: ZJE prefers UK Engilish as a default language. For example, in all cases where s and z are alternatives, use ‘s’, as in ‘organisation’; use ‘colour’ instead of ‘color’; and ‘labour’ instead of ‘labor’.

18. Reference list/citations:  the ZJE prefers the use the Harvard Referencing Style for citations and references. The Harvard style follows the author-date system and includes two types of citations, namely the in-text citations and references. 

• All citations in the text should refer to:
  • Single author: the author’s name (without initials, unless there is ambiguity) and the year of publication;
  • Two authors: both authors’ names and the year of publication;
  • Three or more authors: first author’s name followed by “et al.” and the year of publication. 
• Reference list:
  • Authors should provide complete, correct and properly structured references, as instructed by the editors. 
  • If the article/book has DOI number, the author should include it in the references. DOIs are very easy to find. Most publishers,  if they have them, place them at the top of the article front page. Please keep in mind that the DOI number will automatically  make the active link! 
  • All data in the reference must be correct. Most common errors are incorrect abbreviations of journal titles or wrong navigation  data (like volume number or article pages) of the cited article. 
  • A complete reference should give the reader enough information to find the relevant article. Please pay particular attention to  spelling, capitalization and punctuation here. Completeness of references is the responsibility of the authors. 
  • Before submitting your article, please ensure you have checked your manuscript for any relevant references you may have missed. 
• Work/authors referred to in the text should be cited in full in the footnotes. The first letter of most words in titles of books, articles and chapters should be capitalised (except words like ‘a’ and ‘the’).
• For citations of interviews, please include statements about how these were conducted, what information was given to respondents and what transcripts of interviews are held by the authors for verification. For all citations of internet-based and social media sources, including discussion forums and websites, a description and assessment of their status and verifiability will also be required. This should be placed in an extended footnote at the appropriate place in the paper or in a methods section if more appropriate for the particular discipline.
• Quotations: of more than fifty words should be indented in the text and typed without quotation marks. Use single quotation marks in the text for shorter quotes, with punctuation outside the final quote mark. For quotations within quotations use double quotation marks.

19. Submission formats: Manuscripts for ZJE should be submitted in the latest version of MS Word  (doc or docx).

20. Copyright: To assure the integrity, dissemination, and protection against copyright infringement of published articles, you will be asked to assign to the Editorial Board of the Zimbabwe Journal of Economics (ZJE), via a Publishing Agreement, the copyright in your article. Your Article is defined as the final, definitive, and citable Version of Record, and includes: (a) the accepted manuscript in its final form, including the abstract, text, bibliography, and all accompanying tables, illustrations, data; and (b) any supplemental material hosted by ZJE or the Zimbabwe Economics Society (ZES). Our Publishing Agreement with you will constitute the entire agreement and the sole understanding between the Editorial Board of the ZJE and you; no amendment, addendum, or other communication will be taken into account when interpreting your and the Editorial Board of the ZJE’ rights and obligations under this Agreement.