Author Tutorial
Reviewer Tutorial

Arab Universities Journal of Agricultural Sciences (Arab Univ J Agric Sci) is a double-blinded peer-reviewed open-access journal freely available online (https://ajs.journals.ekb.eg/). The journal receives high visibility; it is increasingly indexed in many databases including AGRIS, CABI, AGORA, ARDI, EBSCO Essentials and DOAJ among others. The journal is published by the accredited Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University and hosted by Egyptian-Knowledge-Bank (EKB). Submission and reviewing processes are performed completely through the online system. Publons (a subsidiary of Clarivate Analytics) tracks the journal reviews and record them in reviewers’ dashboards. You can track the status of your MS after submission. The journal website is also connected to Cross Mark that issues a Cross Ref DOI number for each article once published. We do everything possible to have your manuscript published in high quality as soon as possible. The journal publishes one volume with two issues annually after the end of Dec and Jun in addition to occasionally special issues.

Please read thoroughly this guide and follow carefully the instruction to avoid publication delay. All parts of manuscripts (MS), except the references, are subjected to plagiarism testing using iThenticate software. Submission to the journal implies that the MS is not currently submitted to another journal or previously published. In addition, authors pledge that all ethics policies found in the journal site or in this guide are followed, all raw data are available and there is no any kind of conflict of interest regarding the submitted work is present.

Make sure that the MS title, Abstract and keywords as well as authors’ names and affiliation entered on line during first submission matches exactly that in the MS. If any of them is altered as a result of the reviewing process, it should be changed in the system accordingly during uploading the revised MS.

Plagiarism exceeding 15% is not accepted; preliminary testing can be performed before submission using some free websites e.g. https://www.duplichecker.com/.

When reference managing programs e.g. Mendeley or End-Note is used, make sure to remove all links from MS before submission.

MS required revision must be returned within three weeks otherwise they can be regarded as withdrawn unless permission is requested.

Usually a MS comment file is attached that contains the editorial and/or reviewer comments; the file should be examined carefully and considered in the revised MS.

1- Types of papers

Various types of papers are accepted including:

• Full length paper: It should be original contains new information significant to the scientific community. Submitted pages should be more than 10 pages with maximum 45 references.
• Communication: It is an original short paper presenting important finding with condensed Materials and Methods, and Results and Discussion sections. Submitted pages should be 7-12 pages and references not more than 20. The advantage of the communication is that the published results and discussion can be extended and republished latter as full length paper; in addition, publication process can be handled faster.
• Reviews: It should be comprehensive covering important points of the subject and focus on recent 10 years. Submitted pages should be more than 15 pages and include > 70 references.
• Mini reviews: It should cover the main points of the subject in the recent 5 years. Submitted pages should not be more than 15 pages and references not more than 70.

2- Language and formatting

All MS should be written in "Microsoft word". Manuscripts are accepted in English language only (British or American but be consistent). MS requires language editing should consult English language expert or use some editing services e.g. Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB) that provides scientific editing service for English-language in partnership with specialized editors free of charge for Egyptian researchers by visiting the website https://www.ekb.eg/web/guest/details  

The submitted blind MS must have the following format and specifications:

• Font: Times New Roman size 16 for the MS title and 14 for the rest of the MS. MS title and sections (e.g. Abstract, Introduction) are bold in the line center with the first letter of each word is capital except for prepositions and small words (e.g. as, under or with).
• Sections are numbered e.g. “1 Introduction” and “4 Conclusion”. Abstract, Acknowledgment and References are not numbered.
• Line space: double space.
• Margins: top, bottom, right and left 2.54 cm
• Page numbering: Arabic numbers in the middle of page bottom.
• Line number: Continuous line numbering on the page left side.
• Automatic formatting: No any automatic formatting should be used.
• Side titles
  • Sections “2 Materials and Methods” and “3 Results and Discussion” only can be divided into side titles e.g. 2.1 Chemicals and plant materials, 2.2 Enzyme assays etc (bold and left justified).
  • Two levels only of subdivisions are allowed (e.g. 2.3.1).
• Abbreviations
  • Define abbreviations that are not standard or very common in the field directly after they were first mentioned even in the "Abstract".
  • Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.
  • If many abbreviations are used, they can be collected under "Abbreviations" section after "Conclusion" section 

3- Submitted files

3.1 Cover Letter

Cover letter should request considering the submitted MS for publication in Arab Universities Journal of Agricultural Sciences. Cover letter should also introduce the importance of the work to the journal field and highlights the significance and/or the applications of the obtained main finding.

3.2 Copyright transfer agreement & declaration form

Download the “Copyright transfer agreement & declaration form” and read it carefully. The form must be completed and signed by the corresponding author then uploaded again. 

3.3 Title page

Title page should contain the MS first page that includes:

1- The MS title

2- The authors' names in compliance with the below specifications

3- The authors' affiliations

4- The e.mail, mobile, ORCID (if available) and the Scopus ID (if available) of the corresponding author.

Author names, affiliations, and corresponding author :

• Please indicate clearly the author first name followed by middle initials then the last name of each author separated by comma and check that all names are accurately spelled. The corresponding author is indicated by an asterisk (*) while different affiliations is indicated by superscript Arabic numbers. (Shawky M Selim¹*, Eman EM Abdel-Hamid²).
• Provide the full address of each author, including the department/laboratory where he/she works, faculty/institute, university/center, postcode, city/country. No abbreviation should be used e.g. (¹ Agricultural Microbiology Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, 11241, Cairo, Egypt).
• If the current institute differs from the permanent one, one is written in the affiliation and the other as footnote.
• Author names and affiliations in the MS must match those entered in the system upon submission.

3.4 Main Manuscript (MS):

The manuscript (MS) must be submitted in a single file containing all tables and figures after the references not within the MS. The submitted MS must be blind i.e. starts with the Title and Abstract without any mention or indication for the authors' names or their affiliations. The main MS structure consists of:

3.4.1 Title:

• Should be concise and informative phrase. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems.
• Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
• If the article focuses on a specific living organism (e.g plant, animal, insect or microorganism) or a chemical compound (e.g. pesticide, hormone, auxin), its name should be included in the title.

3.4.2 Abstract:

• Abstract is only one paragraph with maximum of 200 words including spaces.
• A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should express the importance to the work and state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and the major conclusions.
• References should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s). Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if necessary, they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.

3.4.3 Keywords:

• Provide 3-6 keywords separated by a comma. Keywords should specify the MS not general terms (avoid for example, and, of, plant physiology) as keywords are used for indexing purposes.
• Each keyword should be 1-2 words or maximum, if necessary, 3 words. First letter only is capitalized e.g. Enzyme activity, Chemical degradation.
• Use abbreviations that are highly relevant to the search.

3.4.4 Introduction:

• Start numbering the sections starting from this section i.e. “1 Introduction” in bold and line center.
• Sufficient background should be provided, as well as recent, relevant, and potential references.
• Avoid elaborating the literature details or result summary.
• Rationalize the research's importance and define the objectives of the work.
• Only if necessary, when quoting directly from a previously published work, use quotation marks and cite the source.

3.4.5 Materials and Methods:

• Provide sufficient details to allow the work to be reproduced by independent researchers.
• Methods that are already published should be summarized and supported by a reference.
• Any modifications to existing methods should be described.
• The scientific name of any used living organism and IUPAC or Chemical Abstract name of uncommon chemical should be defined.
• The source of any organism or chemical should be specified.
• For research that does not include laboratory work, this section can be named “Research Design and Methods” as in Economic or Rural Area research. For theoretical research as in Chemical Modeling or Computational work, the section can be named “Computational Methods”. 

3.4.6 Results and Discussion

Results

• Results should be clear and concise. Present most data in tables and figures. Do not repeat the data in tables or figures in text. Perform statistical analysis where appropriate and show the results in the tables and figures.

Discussion

• This section should explore the significance of the results and rationalize them, not repeat the results again in the text.
• Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.
• A combined "Results and Discussion" section is often appropriate.

3.4.7 Conclusions

• The main conclusions and important findings of the study may be presented in a short.
• Do not repeat the same sentences in the "Abstract" or "Results and Discussion" sections.

3.4.8 Acknowledgment

• Don’t number the Acknowledgment section and following sections.
• Collate acknowledgments in a separate section at the end of the article before the references.
• List those organizations and/or individuals who provided funds, facilities or scientific assistance during the research.

3.4.9 References

References should be closely related to the work and include the main publications in the field; at least 80% of references should be within the recent decade. All references must be cited in the text and vice-versa.

Citation in the text

• Citation (author’s name and publication year) must in Bold.
• For single author: write the author's last name and the year of publication e.g. (Frenck 2020).
• For two authors: write both authors' last names separated by “and” followed by the year of publication (Al Aboody and Mickymaray 2020).
• For three or more authors: write first author's last name followed by 'et al' and the year of publication (Santos Jr et al 2021) without commas or period.
• If more than one reference is found for the same author (s) in the same year, the letters a, b, etc. are added after the year in the citation text and reference list.
• The citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication and the journal name should be mentioned in the reference list.
• If more than one reference are cited in the same place, arrange in ascending order chronologically (Panche et al 2016, Verma and Pratap 2010, Rice-Evans 2001, Allan 1996a).

Reference list:

• Any references cited in the abstract must also be given in full.
• Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but they may be mentioned only in the text.
• References must be arranged alphabetically, then chronologically in descending order.
• Consider the individual researcher first followed by the same researcher with another and then the same researcher with others regardless of the year.
• It is strongly recommended to write the DOI number when available.

References style

Reference to a journal article:

• Last name is followed by initials of first and middle names without period (.), comma (,) or space between initials. Author names are separated by comma then place the publication year in brackets. Journal name is in italic followed by the volume and pages separated by comma. No period is placed at the end of the reference.
• Reference with more than four authors, write in the reference list only the first three authors then et al.
• All article references should be hyperlinked with the DOI to their abstracts on their journal website or major databases e.g. 
  • Ali H,Ali IH (2018) Energetic and electronic computation of the two-hydrogen atom donation process in catecholic and non-catecholic anthocyanidins. Food Chemistry, 243, 145-150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.09.120
  • Weidema ME, van de Geer E, Koelsche C et al (2019) DNA Methylation Profiling Identifies Distinct Clusters in Angiosarcomas. Clinical Cancer Research 27, DOI 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-19-2180
• Journal name should not be abbreviated; full names can be obtained from Web of Science Journal Title Abbreviations (https://images.webofknowledge.com/images/help/WOS/A_abrvjt.html).

• In press implies that the MS has been accepted in the specified journal.

Reference to a book:

• Authors' names and publication year are written as indicated above followed by the title with first letter of each word is capital then the volume, edition, publisher, place of publication and pages (pp). 
• Thomas CG (2021) Research Methodology and Scientific Writing. 2^nd Ed, Springer Nature, Switzerland AG, pp 361-399

Reference to a chapter in an edited book:

• The reference is written in the following order: chapter authors' names, publication year, chapter title. In:, editors' names, (Eds), book title, publishers, place of publication and pages (pp).
• Cheng Q-Y, Yuan B-F (2022) Analysis of 5-Methylcytosine and 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine in Genomic DNA by Capillary Electrophoresis-Mass Spectrometry. In: Yuan B-F (Ed), DNA Modification Detection Methods,  Springer Nature, New York, USA, pp 23-30

Reference to conference article:

• Reference order: Author names (Year, Month Day–Day) Paper or Abstract title. Conference Name, City, State, Country. URL
• Ali HM (2016, Dec 5-6) The Origin of The Anthocyanidin High Antioxidant Activity. Food Safety, Quality & Policy Conference, Dubai, UAE. https://www.longdom.org/proceedings/the-origin-of-anthocyanidins-high-antioxidant-activity-35323.html

Hornung PS, Granza AG, Lazzarotto SRS, et al (2014, Nov 9-12) Thermal and Rheological behavior of native and modified starch Araucaria angustifolia (pinhão). IX Congresso Brasileiro de Análise Térmica e Calorimetria. Serra Negra, SP, Brasil. www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br_bitstream_doc_1000387_1_2014MarceloLCBATCThermalRheological

Reference to Thesis:

• All information should be included i.e. author’s name, year, thesis title, Ph.D. or M.Sc., specific field, institute.
• Example: Aboul Fotouh MM (2020) Effect of seed treatment with UV radiation and some compatible compounds on plant resistance to biotic stress. Ph.D. in Agricultural Biochemistry, Agricultural Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, pp 20-25

Reference to Technical Report:

• Technical reports are issued by specific organizations in various fields describes the results of their activity to inform or advice their community or worldwide. Examples of these organizations are: World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), American Society of Materials (ASTM), Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC), International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation in Egypt.   

Examples:

• AOAC (1990) Pigment in Flour Spectroscopic Method. 5^th ed, 950.34, Virginia, USA
• ASTM (1987)American Society of Materials. Standard Test Method for Water Vapor Transmission Rate (WVTR) of Plastic materials. D – 895, Penselvania, USA
• WHO (2020) COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update 10:00 am CET 27 December 2020, https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports

Reference to Website

• The page title and full URL should be given. The date of creating or revising the page, if known, should be written; otherwise, the date of last visit by authors must be written. If the page sponsor is known can also be included e.g.

Pubchem, National Library of Medicine, Accessed 4/5/2021 https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/240

• For citation use the page title or sponsor name and the year e.g. (Pubchem 2021)
• Web site should be for known scientific organizations.
• Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given.

3.4.10 Tables

• Number tables consecutively in bold Arabic numbers e.g. (1, 2, …) in accordance with their appearance in the text (e.g. Table 1.)
• Provide table title after the table number not in bold, left justified and without period (.) at the end.
• Number table footnotes consecutively in Arabic numbered (superscript) and place them below the table. Use asterisk (*) or small letters (a, b, ..) only for statistical analysis.
• Ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article.
• Tables should be editable "word" text not as images.
• Tables along with their titles should be located at the end of the main MS after references not within the text or in separate files.

3.4.11 Figures

• Provide a caption for each figure. Figure caption should comprise a brief title describing the illustration.
• Number the figures in Arabic numbers in bold (e.g. Fig 1.); put the caption in the line center with no period (.) at the end.
• Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations in the caption.
• All figures should be in high quality good resolution and close to the size expected in publication.
• Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF, JPEG, EPS or MS Office files) not in low pixel and color format (GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG).
• Figures along with their captions should be located at the end of the main MS after the tables not within the text or in separate files.

3.5 Supplementary materials

• Supplementary materials should be submitted in separate files not in the main MS file.
• Detailed results or experimental conditions, chromatograms, spectra or pictures can be submitted as supplementary materials (S1, S2, etc).
• Supplementary materials should be mentioned in MS text as in figures and tables. They are also numbered consecutively in Arabic numbers (S1., S2., etc).
• Please submit your material together with the article and supply a concise descriptive caption for each supplementary table or figure.
• If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, Power Point, Excel) then please supply as it is in the native document format; otherwise submit it in word file. If it is figure, apply the same rules of figures.
• If you need to make changes to the supplementary material during any stage of the process, please make sure to provide an updated file.

4- Suggested reviewers:

Three reviewers should be suggested by authors with MS submission; they must be closely related to the submitted work and not from the authors' institutions, while at least one of them is from different country. Those reviewers are only suggested; the editorial board retains the right to assign two or more reviewers to ensure high quality MS and assist authors to improve their MS.

5- Proofreading:

Proofreading will be sent to corresponding author after finishing the reviewing process to ensure the accuracy of the published article. Only typing or editing correction is allowed. Please make sure that names, affiliations, text, special characters, references, tables and figures are correct. Do not make any changes in contents; otherwise it would be reviewed again unless permission from the editor is given. Proofreading will be available for only one week; otherwise the MS will be send for online publication. No changes in the MS can be made after proofreading.

6- Ethical compliance:

Authors must comply with all ethics related to the work in their manuscript. Publication ethics and retraction sources are reported by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)

https://publicationethics.org/files/retraction%20guidelines.pdf

https://publicationethics.org/files/2008%20Code%20of%20Conduct.pdf

https://publicationethics.org/core-practices

If animals were involved in the experiments, the US National Research Council's "Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals" must be followed. https://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/guide-for-the-care-and-use-of-laboratory-animals.pdf

A statement that emphasizes following these instructions in animal treatments must be included in the Material and Methods section. Any MS does not comply with all the above-mentioned ethical regulations cannot be accepted. In addition, A “Copyright Agreement & Declaration Form” that defines the rights and responsibilities of authors, editors and publishers must be signed and submitted with the initial MS submission. More details about the required ethics is found on the journal home page online.

7- Data Availability:

All supporting or raw data related to the works in the MS must be freely available. Authors pledge to provide these data upon request by the editorial board, reviewers or journal readers after publication. Data can also be available either as a supplementary material file at initial MS submission or deposited in open data repositories (e.g. FAIRsharing.org, re3data.org, identifiers.org or figshare.com). If data is deposited in a data repositories, type of data and the link must be provided in a data availability statement.

8- Conflict of interest:

Author should declare that there is no any conflict of interest among themselves or with any other party related to the submitted work.

9- Copyright policy:

The authors have the scientific credit of the work and the right to share the article PDF file with others or place it in their personal websites but the journal holds the rights of any benefits related to publication and to republish the hole work or in part. The “Copyright Agreement & Declaration Form” should be downloaded and signed during MS submission.

10- Subscription: 

Annual Subscription (per volume) including postage	150 L.E in Egypt, 150 U.S $ out of Egypt.
Price per issue, including postage	80 L.E in Egypt, 80 U.S $ out of Egypt.

All subscriptions are entered on a calendar year basis running from January to December. 

11- Article Publishing Charges (APCs):

Our goal is to ensure articles are published as quickly as possible, subject to appropriate quality controls, and widely disseminated. The journal publishes open access, which typically involves the upfront payment of an article publishing charge (APC), we will also make the article immediately and freely available upon publication on the journal website. The publishing cost for all types of papers, except for short communication,  is 1200 LE (in Egypt) or 200 $ abroad for the first submitted 15 pages including tables, figures and supplementary materials plus 50 LE or 10 $ respectively for each additional submitted page. APC of short communication (≤ 12 pages) is 1000 LE or 170 $. Submitted MS must have the specifications listed in the "Language and formatting" section.

Some agencies that can fund open access expenses can be found in https://www.eurekaselect.com/author-compliance/author_compliance_view.php/CCB

Potential reviewers of the journal can be eligible for substantial discount or charge waiving.

If you have any questions or enquiry, do not hesitate to e-mail us. If the mail concerns already submitted MS, please indicate the MS title at the top of the mail. The official journal e-mail: AUJAS@agr.asu.edu.eg
The Guide for authors could be downloaded from this link.

Last update: Aug 10, 2022.