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Structure and Presentation

Manuscripts should be submitted in Word file, use a normal, plain font (12-point Times New Roman), double spacing, margins 2.5 cm from all four sides, italics for emphasis, page numbers included at bottom, uniformly American English. Use the automatic page numbering function to number the pages for first submission to reviewer.

  • Title page: This section should start on a new page should provide: a concise and informative title of the article; list the full names; institutional addresses; email addresses for all authors and indicate the corresponding author and a running head of not more than 80 characters.
  • Abstract: This part of the manuscript should not exceed 300 words should state concisely the purpose and pertinent methods of the study, as well as the findings and specific conclusions (without title head, background, method or result)
  • Keywords: Author(s) must give about 5-8 key words as index terms representing the article content which can identify the most important subjects covered by the paper. They must be placed at the end of the abstract. Do not repeat words used in the title.
  • Body of Manuscript: should begin on a new page and not exceed 6000 words excluded the references and be arranged as follows:
    • Introduction: Include a summary of a search of the literature to indicate why this study was necessary and what it aimed to contribute to the field and relating the manuscript to similar previous research.
    • Materials and Methods: This section must contain specific details about the design of the study, materials involved, instruments used, specialized chemical source and the type of analysis used, including a power calculation if appropriate. For studies involving human participants a statement detailing ethical approval and consent should be included in the methods section.
    • Results: Should be clear and concise and included statistical analysis with short informative subsections.
    • Discussion: The interpreted results should be explained clearly and should relate them to the existing knowledge in the field as clearly as possible.
    • Competing interests: Authors are required to complete a declaration of competing interests. All competing interests that are declared will be listed at the end of published articles. Where an author gives no competing interests, the listing will read ‘The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests’.
    • List of abbreviations: For standard abbreviations, authors should follow the guidelines in the Council of Biology Editors Style Manual, 5th edition. All other abbreviations should be defined when first used and listed in a footnote; Abbreviations PDF.
    • Acknowledgements: List those individuals who provided help during the research and do not meet the criteria for authorship (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proof reading the article etc.).