Submissions

Author Guidelines

Ruang Berdampak: Jurnal Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat (R-BEDA) publishes original, evidence-based articles reporting community engagement and empowerment programs. Submissions must describe a clearly identified community need, meaningful participation by community partners, a systematic intervention, measurable outcomes or changes, and a realistic plan for sustainability or follow-up. Purely conceptual papers or research articles without a documented community engagement component are outside the journal's scope.

General requirements

• The manuscript must be original, must not have been published previously, and must not be under consideration by another journal.
• The manuscript may be written in English or Indonesian and must use clear, formal, and inclusive academic language.
• Submit an editable Microsoft Word file in DOC or DOCX format using the official R-BEDA article template.
• The main text from Introduction through Conclusion must contain 5,000–8,000 words. The abstract, keywords, acknowledgements, declarations, and references are excluded from this count.
• Follow the formatting provided in the official template. Unless a template element states otherwise, use A4 paper, 2.54 cm margins, Garamond 10 pt, single spacing, and justified paragraphs.
• Remove tracked changes, comments, highlighting, and draft instructions before submission.

Title and author information

• Write a concise and informative title of no more than 18 words in sentence case. Use Garamond 14 pt and bold type, as shown in the template.
• List every author's full name without academic titles and in the agreed authorship order.
• Provide each author's institutional affiliation, city, country, active email address, and ORCID iD when available.
• Identify one corresponding author and ensure that the author information in OJS exactly matches the manuscript.

Abstract and keywords

• Provide one abstract in English or Indonesian containing 180–250 words in a single paragraph.
• The abstract must briefly state the background or community problem, objective, method or intervention, principal results, and conclusion or impact.
• Do not include citations, tables, figures, uncommon abbreviations, or claims not supported by the manuscript.
• Provide 3–7 specific keywords, separated by semicolons, and avoid simply repeating words already used in the title.

Manuscript structure

Arrange the manuscript in the following order and use the headings provided in the official template:

• Introduction: Explain the partner or community context, priority problems supported by relevant evidence, previous or related efforts, the contribution of the program, and its objectives. As a guide, the Introduction should represent approximately 15–20% of the main text.
• Method: Describe the community setting and participants, partner involvement, intervention design and procedures, implementation period and location, materials or technology used, data collection, indicators of success, and evaluation methods in sufficient detail for the program to be understood or adapted.
• Results and Discussion: Present implementation activities, community participation, outputs, measurable outcomes and changes, and relevant evidence. Interpret the findings, compare them with relevant literature or comparable programs, discuss limitations, and explain impact, sustainability, and follow-up. As a guide, this section should represent approximately 45–60% of the main text.
• Conclusion: State the extent to which the objective was achieved, the principal impact on the community or partners, and the most important recommendation or follow-up action. Write the conclusion as a concise paragraph and do not merely repeat the Results and Discussion.
• Acknowledgement: Optional. Recognize partner institutions, community members, facilitators, or other non-author contributors without adding individuals who meet authorship criteria.
• Declarations: Provide separate statements for Funding, Conflict of Interest, and Ethical Statement. If no funding or conflict exists, state this explicitly. Report ethical approval, informed consent, institutional permission, or community authorization when applicable.
• References: Include only works cited in the manuscript and format every entry according to APA 7th edition.

Tables, figures, and supporting material

• Number tables and figures consecutively in the order they are mentioned in the text and refer to each one in the manuscript.
• Place a concise table title above the table and a concise figure caption below the figure. Explain abbreviations and sources in a note when needed.
• Create tables as editable text rather than images. Submit figures that remain legible at publication size and can be understood in grayscale where possible.
• Obtain written permission for copyrighted third-party material and appropriate consent for identifiable photographs or personal information.

References and citations

• Use APA 7th edition consistently for in-text citations and the reference list. Reference-management software such as Zotero, Mendeley, or EndNote is recommended.
• Include at least 15 references. At least 80% should be primary sources, especially peer-reviewed journal articles or other original scholarly works.
• Prioritize relevant sources published within the last ten years. Older seminal sources may be used when they are essential to the argument.
• Add a DOI as an active URL whenever one is available and verify that every in-text citation has a matching reference entry and vice versa.

Ethics and editorial assessment

• Protect the dignity, privacy, safety, and cultural values of community participants. Explain consent and ethical safeguards when the program involves identifiable persons, vulnerable groups, personal data, or potentially sensitive activities.
• All listed authors must approve the submitted version and be accountable for the integrity of the work. Disclose funding, institutional support, and any actual or potential conflict of interest.
• The editorial team may return or reject a submission before peer review if it is outside the journal's scope, does not follow the template, is incomplete, does not meet basic academic or ethical standards, or shows unacceptable similarity or duplicate publication.

Compliance with these guidelines does not guarantee acceptance. Manuscripts that pass the initial screening will proceed through the journal's peer-review and editorial decision process.