The Training Journal

About Journal

NASC is pleased to introduce The Trainer Journal-A Journal of Capacity Development (hereafter referred to as The Trainer Journal). This peer-reviewed journal serves as a platform to share knowledge, experiences, and best practices in training and capacity development. The journal provides a platform for trainers, researchers, and practitioners to share insights, experiences, and best practices. It publishes high-quality articles, research papers, case studies, and reflective pieces that contribute to professional learning and capacity building in the public sector. The journal welcomes contributions that highlight practical solutions, innovative approaches, and lessons learned from real-world training programs across South Asia and around the globe. Its goal is to support the professional development of trainers worldwide and improve the quality of public service through the dissemination of knowledge and experience.

Aims and Scope

This journal aims to promote excellence in training and capacity development by providing a platform for trainers, educators, and practitioners to share knowledge, experiences, and innovative practices.

  • The journal covers a wide range of topics, including, but not limited to:
  • Training, education, learning and capacity development
  • Training materials, methods, techniques, and tools
  • Capacity building and skill development
  • Leadership and organizational development
  • Training needs assessment, learning design, curriculum development, and instructional strategies
  • Assessment, evaluation, and impact measurement of training programs
  • Case studies, lessons learned, and practical solutions from real-world training programs
  • Research and innovation in adult learning, professional development, and capacity development

The Trainer Journal welcomes high-quality, evidence-based articles that are practical and applicable to improving training practices. Its purpose is to support trainers, enhance the quality of learning, and foster continuous professional growth across South Asia and around the globe.

Peer Review Process

This Journal follows a rigorous peer review process to ensure the quality, accuracy, and relevance of all published articles. All submissions undergo careful evaluation by experts in the field of training and professional development.
1.    Initial Check
Every submitted manuscript is first checked by the journal editorial team for basic requirements, such as format, originality, clarity, and relevance to the journal’s focus. Manuscripts that do not meet these requirements may be returned to the author for revision.
2.    Double-Blind Review
This Journal uses a double-blind peer review process. This means that the reviewers do not know the identity of the author, and the author does not know the identity of the reviewers. This ensures an unbiased and fair evaluation. Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two independent experts in training, learning, and professional development. Reviewers assess the manuscript for originality, quality of research, clarity, relevance, and contribution to the field of training.
3.    Decision and Feedback
After review, the editorial team considers the reviewers’ comments and makes a decision:

  • Accept: The manuscript is ready for publication.
  • Minor or Major Revision: The author is asked to make changes and resubmit.
  • Reject: The manuscript is not suitable for publication.

4.    Final Approval
Once all revisions are satisfactorily completed, the manuscript receives final approval from the editorial board and is prepared for publication in the journal.

Plagiarism Policy

This Journal is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity. All submitted manuscripts must be original work and free from plagiarism.
1.    Originality Requirement
Authors must ensure that their manuscripts are their own work and do not copy text, ideas, or data from other sources without proper acknowledgment. Any content taken from published or unpublished work must be clearly cited and referenced.
2.    Plagiarism Detection
All submitted manuscripts are screened using plagiarism detection software. This helps to identify any instances of copied or uncredited content.
3.    Unacceptable Practices
The journal does not tolerate:

  • Copying text, figures, or tables from other works without citation
  • Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously
  • Presenting others’ ideas or data as one’s own

4.    Consequences of Plagiarism
If plagiarism is detected at any stage, the editorial team will take strict action, which may include:

  • Immediate rejection of the manuscript
  • Informing the author’s institution about misconduct
  • Banning the author from future submissions to the journal

5.    Author Responsibility
Authors are responsible for ensuring the originality of their work. They must provide proper citations and references for all sources used. Authors must confirm that their work is original and comply with the journal’s plagiarism policy.
The Journal upholds these standards to ensure trust, transparency, and high-quality scholarships in training and capacity development.

Artificial Intelligence Policy

This Journal recognizes the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in research, writing, and training. The journal supports responsible and transparent use of AI while maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity.
1.    Use of AI in Manuscripts
Authors may use AI tools to assist in tasks such as language editing, grammar checking, or summarizing information. However, AI tools cannot be used to generate original research, data analysis, or ideas without human oversight.
2.    Transparency and Disclosure
Any use of AI in preparing a manuscript must be clearly disclosed in the submission. Authors should specify how AI tools were used, for example, in editing language, formatting, or checking references, among others.
3.    Authorship Responsibility
Authors are fully responsible for the content of their manuscripts. The use of AI does not remove the author’s responsibility for accuracy, originality, or ethical compliance. All ideas, interpretations, and conclusions must be the work of the authors themselves.
4.    Plagiarism and Misuse
Using AI to copy content from other sources or to produce work without proper attribution is considered plagiarism and is strictly prohibited. Manuscripts will be checked for originality using plagiarism detection tools.
5.    Editorial Oversight
The editorial team may ask authors to clarify how AI tools were used. Manuscripts that misuse AI or fail to disclose its use may be rejected or removed from the publication process.

Declaration of Interest

Authors are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could influence the content of their manuscript. This ensures transparency and maintains the integrity of the journal.
1.    Financial Interests
Authors must declare any financial support, funding, or affiliations that could be seen as influencing the research, writing, or conclusions of the manuscript.
2.    Non-Financial Interests
Authors should also disclose any personal, professional, or other relationships that may affect the objectivity of their work.
3.    No Conflict Declaration
If there are no conflicts of interest, authors should clearly state this in the manuscript. For example: “The author(s) declare that they have no conflicts of interest.”
4.    Editorial Responsibility
The editorial team reviews all declarations and ensures transparency. Undisclosed conflicts discovered after publication may lead to corrections or retractions.

Funding Details

Authors are required to clearly state any financial support received for the research, writing, or publication of their manuscript. This ensures transparency and acknowledges the support received.
1.    Declaration of Funding
Authors should provide details of any grants, sponsorships, or institutional support that contributed to their work. This includes funding for research, training programs, travel, or publication costs.
2.    No Funding Statement
If the research or manuscript did not receive any financial support, authors should explicitly state this.
Sample Funding Statements:

  • “This research was supported by the Nepal Administrative Staff College under the Internal Faculty Research Grant 2025.”
  • “The authors declare that no funding was received for this study or the publication of this manuscript.”

Data Availability Statement

Authors are required to provide information on the availability of data that supports the findings of their manuscript. This ensures transparency, reproducibility, and trust in the research.
Purpose
The Data Availability Statement informs readers whether the data used in the study is accessible, and if so, how it can be obtained.
Types of Data Availability
Authors should clearly state if the data:

  • Are publicly available
  • Are available on request from the authors
  • Are subject to restrictions due to privacy, confidentiality, or legal reasons
  • Are not available

Sample Statements

  • “The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.”
  • “All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary files.”
  • “The data are publicly available at [insert repository name and link].”
  • “The data are not publicly available due to confidentiality agreements, but can be accessed under specific conditions from the corresponding author.”

Permission for Third-Party Material

Authors must ensure that all content used in their manuscript belongs to them or is used with proper permission. If your paper includes any material created by someone else, you must obtain written permission from the copyright holder before submission.
Third-party materials include:

  • Figures, photos, or illustrations
  • Tables or data taken from another publication
  • Long quotations
  • Training materials, charts, or diagrams created by others
  • Any content taken from books, articles, websites, or training manuals

Authors are responsible for making sure that permission is obtained and properly acknowledged in the manuscript. When permission is granted, please include a note near the figure, table, or text such as: “Reproduced with permission from…” or “Adapted with permission from…”
Authors must also send a copy of the permission letter or email with their submission.

Article Processing Fee

This Journal does not charge any article processing fees. Authors can submit their manuscripts, and if accepted after peer review, their articles will be published free of cost.

Information for Librarians

Librarians are encouraged to include this journal in their collections to help users access current knowledge, research, and practical insights related to training.

Access and Availability

The journal is available in both digital and print formats (if applicable).

Archiving

The journal supports the preservation of knowledge and encourages libraries to store and share issues for educational and research purposes.

Updates and Notifications

Librarians may contact NASC to receive updates about new issues, guidelines, and announcements.

Contact

For questions, subscriptions, or access information, librarians may contact the editorial office at NASC.

Copyright

All articles published in this journal are copyrighted by the NASC. Upon acceptance of the manuscript, authors agree to transfer the copyright of their article to NASC. This allows NASC to publish, distribute, archive, and reproduce the work in print and digital formats.

Author Rights

Although copyright is transferred to NASC, authors retain the following rights without needing additional permission:

  • To use their article for teaching, training, academic presentations, and non-commercial educational purposes.
  • To share the accepted manuscript (post-print) on their personal website or institutional repository, with proper citation of the published version.
  • To reuse parts of their own work (e.g., text, tables) in future publications, provided that the The Trainer Journal version is cited.

Journal Rights_NASC

NASC holds the exclusive rights to:

  • publish and distribute the article,
  • archive the article in institutional repositories and journal platforms, and
  • permit re-use or reproduction of the article by third parties.

Files to Include

When submitting your manuscript, please attach:

  • Title Page
    • Full title of the manuscript
    • Author names, affiliations, and email addresses
    • ORCID IDs (if available)
    • Corresponding author clearly identified
  • Main Manuscript File (Anonymous)
    • In Word format (.doc or .docx)
    • Without author names (for anonymous review)
  • Copyright Agreement Form
    • Signed by all authors
  • Supplementary Files (if any)
    • Such as survey tools, training materials, or additional data

Instructions for Authors

Thank you for choosing to submit your manuscript to the Trainer Journal, published by the NASC. These guidelines will help you prepare your paper so that it can move smoothly through review and publication. Please read them carefully and follow each point as closely as possible.
The journal welcomes practical studies, training experiences, case studies, innovations, review articles, and reflective papers related to training and capacity development.
The journal accepts manuscripts written in English only.

Article Types Accepted

Original Research Articles
A. Manuscripts should include the following sections:

  • Title page
  • Abstract
  • Keywords
  • Main text (Introduction, literature Review, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion and Implications)
  • Acknowledgments
  • Declaration of Interest
  • Funding Details
  • References
  • Appendices (if needed)
  • Tables
  • Figures

Length: Up to 8,000 words (including everything).
Abstract: Up to 150 words.
Keywords: 3–5 words.
B. Training Practice Papers
These papers describe practical training experiences, methods, lessons learned, and innovations.
Length: 3,000–5,000 words.
The structure is flexible but must be clear and easy to follow.
C. Case Studies
Case studies should explain real training challenges and solutions with clear evidence or narrative.
Length: 2,000–4,000 words.
D. Book Reviews
These should be reviewed books related to training, learning, or capacity development.
Length: 1,000–1,500 words.

Preparing Your Paper

A. Structure
Manuscripts should be arranged in the following order:

  1. Title page (full name, affiliation, email, orcid, identification of the corresponding author, acknowledgments, declaration of interest, funding details, data availability statement)
  2. Manuscript anonymous 
    1. Title 
    2. Abstract with keywords (5 maximum)
    3. Introduction
    4. Literature review
    5. Methods
    6. Results and Discussion
    7. Conclusion and implications 
    8. References

B. Style Guidelines

  • Use simple and clear English.
  • Keep spelling consistent (use British or American English consistently).
  • Write in short paragraphs.
  • Indent long quotations without quotation marks.

C. Formatting

  • Submit manuscripts in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx).
  • Do not submit PDFs.
  • Place all Tables and Figures at the end of the manuscript (editable, not images).
  • Use 12-point font, 1.5 line spacing, and 1 Normal margins (1 inch on all sides).

D. References

  • Use APA (7th edition) referencing style (https://apastyle.apa.org/).
  • All citations in the text must appear in the reference list, and all references must be cited in the text.

Manuscript Submission

All manuscripts for this journal must be submitted via email.

How to Submit

Please send the following files to our official journal email address: trainer@nasc.org.np
Submission Confirmation

  • Once your email is received, you will get an acknowledgment email from the journal within 5 working days.

Resubmission

  • If revisions are requested after peer review, please send the revised manuscript and a response-to-reviewers document to: trainer@nasc.org.np

Contact Information

For all questions related to manuscript submission, review process, publication, or journal policies, please contact the editorial team of The Trainer Journal.

Editorial Office

The Trainer 
Nepal Administrative Staff College
Jawalakhel, Lalitpur, Nepal
Email: trainer@nasc.org.np
Website: https://nasc.org.np/training-journal
Office Phone: 01-5423515