General Considerations
- Title of the manuscript: 13 (Bold)
- All subtitles: 12 (Bold)
- Author’s names: 12 (bold)
- Affiliations: 11
- Abstract and keywords: 11
- Text: 12
- Titles of figures and tables: 10
- Words and numeric within the figures and tables: 8-10
- Footnotes: 9
Title page
- The title should be short (maximum of 15 words) and descriptive, indicating the research subject and main objectives of the work.
- The scientific name of an organism is not necessary to be included in the title if it has a common name. Also, abbreviations and chemical formulas are not recommended in the title.
- Name, affiliation, postal address, e-mail, and telephone number of the authors (corresponding author marked by an asterisk) should be included on the title page.
Abstract
- Abstract should be prepared in one paragraph not exceeding 350 words. It will include the main objectives, a brief description of the methods, results, and conclusions.
- No references are to be cited in the abstract.
Keywords
- A maximum of seven keywords, ordered alphabetically, come right after the abstract.
Introduction
- This section includes a brief description of the research subject and a literature review. It will end with a statement about the objective(s) of the research program.
Materials and Methods
- The materials and methods section should provide enough information about the location of the research work, materials and instruments, methods and types of experiments, and statistical methods.
- If a method is routine, no description is needed and its reference should only be cited. However, if the method is new or a modification of an older procedure, a detailed statement is required.
Results
- The results section explains the findings of the study using tables and figures.
- No materials and methods are allowed to be repeated in this section.
- There is no need to illustrate the data in the tables extensively and important features should only be indicated.
- Figures should not be the repetition of the information in the tables.
- Legends of figures and tables should be descriptive and complete.
Discussion
- The discussion section represents the interpretation of the results obtained in the study with special emphasis on the theoretical and practical implications of the findings.
- The results need to be discussed in light of the reports presented by other researchers.
- Discussion can be combined with the results section. In case of separation, the discussion should not be the repetition of the results.
Conclusion
- At the end of the discussion section, significant conclusions drawn from the results should be stated.
Acknowledgments
- A concise statement acknowledging the people or funding organizations can be included.
Conflict of interest
- The authors should declare any conflict of interest with any organization concerning the subject of the manuscript.
References [based on Council of Science Editors (CSE) name-year citation style]
Citation in the text
- To cite references in the text, the date of publication will be presented right after the surnames of the author(s) in parentheses at the end of the sentence.
Example: Rusts are the most important pathogens of the wheat crop (Knott 2012).
- If the author’s name is mentioned in the text, it should be followed by the year of publication in
parentheses.
Example: Barakat (2011) reported an increase in the peroxidase activity in wheat in salinity stress conditions.
- With two authors, include both last names separated by “and”, e.g., (Hallauer and Miranda 1980) or Hallauer and Miranda (1980).
- For more than two authors, the last name of the first author will be followed by “et al.”, e.g., (Comstock et al. 1952) or Comstock et al. (1952).
- References having the same author and year will be marked by a sequence of letters (i.e. 2009a, b, c …).
- Do not include personal communications in the reference list. Instead, cite them in the text as follows:
… (Last name and abbreviation of the first name, personal communication)
Citation in the list of references
- References will be presented in alphabetical order without consecutive numbering.
- No extra references are allowed if not included in the text.
- All authors within a reference are presented with the family name, followed by the abbreviated first name.
- The year comes after the last author’s name.
- Only the first letter in the title’s first word and any nouns are capitalized.
- Abbreviate the titles of journals with more than one word, followed by a dot, e.g., J Exp Bot. To find abbreviations, visit well-known abbreviation sites such as NLM Catalog: Journals referenced in the NCBI Databases.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals
- In the case of citing several references from an author, the references having one co-author will be sorted alphabetically, however, the references having more than one co-author will be sorted chronologically.
- If some references have similar authors, they will be sorted chronologically.
- If references have the same author and year they will be indicated by the letters a, b, c, …
- If references have the same first author and year with more than one coauthor they will be indicated by the letters a, b, c, …
- For more than 10 authors list the first 10 authors followed by “et al.”
- If there is no known author, use the organization name.
- Class notes should not be used as references.
Examples of literature citations in the list of references
Journal article
Chen YE, Mao JJ, Sun LQ, Huang B, Ding CB, Gu Y, Liao JQ, Hu C, Zhang ZW, Yuan S, et al. 2018. Exogenous melatonin enhances salt stress tolerance in maize seedlings by improving antioxidant and photosynthetic capacity. Physiol Plant. 164(3): 349-363.
Choat B, Gambetta GA, Shackel KA, Matthews MA. 2009. Vascular function in grape berries across development and its relevance to apparent hydraulic isolation. Plant Physiol. 151: 1677-1687.
Ellis RH, Pieta Filho C. 1992. Seed development and cereal seed longevity. Seed Sci Res. 3: 247-257.
Ellis RH, Roberts EH. 1981. The quantification of ageing and survival in orthodox seeds. Seed Sci Technol. 9: 373-409.
Komatsu S, Konishi H, Hashimoto M. 2007a.The proteomics of plant cell membrane. J Exp Bot. 58: 103-112.
Komatsu S, Yang G, Khan M, Onodera H, Toki S, Yamaguchi M. 2007b. Over-expression of calcium-dependent protein kinase 13 and calreticulin interacting protein 1 confers cold tolerance on rice plants. Mol Genet Genom. 277: 713-723.
Prasanna BM, Hoisington D. 2003. Molecular breeding for maize improvement. An overview. Indian J Biotechnol. 2: 85-98.
Remay A, Lalanne D, Thouroude T, Le Couviour F, Hibrand-Saint Oyant L, Foucher F. 2009. A survey of flowering genes reveals the role of gibberellins in floral control in rose. Theor Appl Genet. 119: 767-781.
Yordanova R, Popova L. 2007. Effects of exogenous treatment with salicylic acid on photosynthetic activity and antioxidant capacity of chilled wheat plants. Gen Appl Plant Physiol. 33: 155-170.
Books
Falconer DS, Mackay TFC. 1996. Introduction to quantitative genetics. Fourth edition. Essex, England: Pearson Education Ltd.
Sharp RE, Davies WJ. 1989. Regulation of growth and development of plants growing with a restricted supply of water. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Book chapters
Boyer CD, Hannah LC. 2001. Kernel mutants of corn. In: Hallauer AR (ed.). Specialty corns. Second edition. Boca Raton: CRC Press, LLC. pp. 479.
Roberts EH. 1986. Quantifying seed deterioration. In: McDonald MB, Nelson CJ (eds.). Physiology of seed deterioration. Madison: CSSA. pp. 101-123.
Varshney A, Mohapatra T, Sharma RP. 2003. Molecular mapping and marker-assisted selection of traits for crop improvement. In: Srivastava PS, Narula A, Srivastava S (eds.). Biotechnology and molecular markers. India: Amanya Publishers. pp. 289-330.
Proceedings of conferences, symposiums, etc.
Karaba A, Dixit S, Trijatmiko KR, Aharoni A, Nataraja KN, Updayakumar M, Pereira A. 2006. Improvement of water-use efficiency in crop plants. Proceedings of the 5th Plant Genomics European Meetings, October 11-14, Venice, Italy. p. 115.
Salamini F. 2003. Geography and genetics of wild cereal domestication in the Near East. In: Mare C, Faccioli, Stanca AM (eds.). From biodiversity to genomics: breeding strategies for small grain cereals in the third millennium. Proceedings of the EUCARPIA Cereal Section Meeting, 21-25 November 2002, Experimental Institute for Cereal Research, Section of Fiorenzuolaď Arda (PC), Salsomaggiore, Italy. pp. 3-6.
Web documents
Last name and abbreviated name of authors. Year of publication. Location of publication: Publisher name; [cited date]. Available from: URL
Required files to be uploaded: Five essential files must be submitted through the manuscript submission system: 1. The main file of the manuscript (without the names of the authors); the manuscript should be prepared based on the template. 2. Title page in the mentioned format, 3. Authorship form (must include the title of the article and the name and surname of all authors and be signed by all authors), 4. Conflicts of Interest form (must be signed by the Corresponding Author and uploaded with the article file), and 5. Cover letter.