Author Guidelines

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

Journal of Agrobiotechnology and Journal of Agrobiotechnology Online (hereby referred to as this Journal) publish peer-reviewed original research papers and reviews on basic and applied research, and latest developments in agrobiotechnology and food sciences. It aims at advancing the progress of agricultural sciences, biotechnology and food sciences through the sharing of knowledge and information dissemination via publication worldwide. Articles covering reviews, research papers, short communications either in basic, applied research or the applications of agricultural science, biotechnology and food science are accepted.

The comprehensive scope of this Journal embodies (but is not restricted to) the following matrix:

1. Agricultural science Agronomy, soil science, plant physiology, plant protection, horticulture, genetics, plant breeding, botany, plant taxonomy and systematics, ethnobotany, pesticide science, environmental science, weed science, aquaculture, fisheries and marine science, equine science, animal and veterinary science, animal breeding, animal physiology, bio-resource engineering, agricultural engineering, precision agriculture, agriculture economics, agriculture extension, post-harvest technology, agroforestry, forestry, wood science, plant genetic resources, and herbal science.

2. Biotechnology Plant tissue culture and its applications: plant transformation, micropropagation, secondary metabolite production, embryo rescue, germplasm conservation; mutagenesis and somaclonal variations; natural product and pharmaceuticals screening, profiling, bioassays and bioassay kit development; microbial molecular biology; microbial biotechnology; microbial diversity; animal cell culture; cell biology; signal transduction; and industrial enzymes.

3. Food science - Food technology, food processing, food microbiology, food safety and quality, food laws and regulations, ingredients and ingredient functionality, functional food, nutraceuticals, product formulation, food chemistry and toxicology, food engineering, food storage and distribution, consumer acceptance of foodstuffs, physical properties of food, and agrochemical residues in food.

Contributors are kindly requested to submit their papers in the English Language as described in the following format, so as to facilitate reviews by the referees and to expedite processing. Please note that the submission of a manuscript is taken to imply that, if accepted for publication in this Journal, it will not be published in the same form elsewhere; and that the copyright of all papers is assigned to Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA).

Submissions

Authors are kindly requested to send their complete manuscript in a CD (with attached original photos, illustrations, tables or figures for editing purposes) together with three hardcopies (laser jet printed quality or equivalent) on A4-size paper with B5-size lay-out to any of the editorial board members. The following types of manuscript will be considered for publication by the editorial board:

a) Review/Standard articles (not more than 30 manuscript pages); invited reviews also will be published.

b) Short Communications (brief report of research updates containing at least 2 tables/figures, but not more than 10 manuscript pages);

c) Methodologies (short, current experimental protocols with detailed explanation, not more than 10 manuscript pages);

d) Letters to the Editor (in response to previous articles); and

e) Book Review (should be informative and focused on its contribution towards the advancement of agricultural science, biotechnology and food science).

Online Submission

Online submission is encouraged to the Journal of Agrobiotechnology Online, to ensure efficient and quicker processing. Accepted manuscript will be published after being galley proofed by the corresponding or main author, even before the Journal of Agrobiotechnology itself is printed. Please submit directly, if you wish that your manuscript is to be processed in this way (http://www.journal.unisza.edu.my/index.php/agrobiotechnology).

Manuscripts

Each article will be evaluated by the Chief Editor. After preliminary examination by the editorial board to establish that the manuscript is within the scope of this Journal, the manuscript will be reviewed for originality and significance by at least one independent referee, who then makes a recommendation as to its acceptability for publication. The Chief Editor reserves the right to make the final decision.

Typescript

Manuscripts should be typed in MSWord Program only, single-spacing throughout (including abstract and references) on one side of A4-size paper with wide margins (2 cm) and Garamond standardized font (size 11). Every page of the manuscript, including references, tables, etc., should be numbered consecutively on the lower right-hand corner. Words that should be italicized must be typed as such. Any other word should not be italicized.

It is recommended that all manuscripts be divided into several sections as follows: ABSTRACT, (ABSTRAK the Malay Language translation of the Abstract should be carried out by corresponding or main author, only in the case of foreign submissions will this translation be carried out by thisJournal), INTRODUCTION, MATERIALS and METHODS, RESULTS/and DISCUSSION, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (if any), and REFERENCES. All section headings should be capitalized and flushed to the left. Sub-headings should be typed in lower-case, also flushed to the left. The text should be typed two spaces below the section heading. Results should either be presented in table or figure form, but not in both forms unless required. Captions should be written above the table or below the figure.

The manuscript, in general, should be organized in the following order:

Title: Concise and descriptive, typed in uppercase and lowercase letters, bold, and centered.

Name(s) of author(s): Bold, typed in uppercase and lowercase letters, italicized and centered.

Present address(es): Typed in uppercase and lowercase letters, and centered. E-mail addresses are not recommended for authors, but required for corresponding author.

Abstract (Abstrak): The abstract, in 200 to 300 words, should be informative, concise and clear when read in isolation. The word ABSTRACT and ABSTRAK should be italicized and bold.

Keywords (Kata kunci): Five or six words should be selected as keywords to reflect the overall ideas of the paper. The word Keywords and Kata kunci should be bold. They should be typed below ABSTRACT and ABSTRAK, respectively, and flushed to the left.

Submitted short communications of research updates should not exceed 10 typed manuscript pages (including tables and figures). However, some exceptions will be accepted for preliminary works or as recommended by the referee and/or Chief Editor.

Title Page

A separate title page should include: (1) Title of paper; (2) Names and initials of authors; (3) Institutional affiliations of authors; (4) Name, email and postal address of corresponding author; (5) Keywords in alphabetical order (maximum of six, suitable for indexing). The corresponding author is requested to supply the full postal address, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail address and personal website (if available).

References Cited

The list of references should be alphabetically arranged in accordance with the surname of the first author. Publication(s) by the same author(s) in the same year should be listed as 2000a, 2000b etc. Journal titles should be cited in full, and italicized. Volume and issue numbers should be bold.

References cited in the text should be given in parentheses, e.g. (Mohammad, 1992: Musa and Hassan, 1993; Ho et al., 1994), except when the author is mentioned, e.g.: and the study of Ross and Ross (1990) and Salisbury et al. (1995).

A unique system must be followed for listing the references in the reference index for journal, book, book chapter, report, proceeding, thesis and dissertation, patent, standard and related documents from the internet; for example:

Journal citation: Ali, A. M., Hamid, M. & Yusoff, K. (1996). Production of monoclonal antibodies against Newcastle disease virus. Asia Pacific Journal of Molecular and Biotechnology 4: 236-242.

Book: Nashriyah binti Mat, Ho Nai-Kin, Ismail bin Sahid, Ahyaudin bin Ali & Lum Keng-Yeang. (1998). Rice Agroecosystem of the Muda Irrigation Scheme, Malaysia. MINT-MADA, Malaysia. ISBN 967-9970-04-3. 256 pp.

Book chapter: Burhanuddin Ahmad, Zaleha Hashim, Abdul Khalik Wood, Nashriyah binti Mat & M. Kamil Abdul Rashid. (2002). Speciations of organochlorine pesticides in sediment of coastal water of the Muda rice granary area. p. 141-52. In Sustainable Rice Production in Malaysia Beyond 2000. B. M. Nashriyah, N. K. Ho, B. S. Ismail, A. B. Ali, K. Y. Lum and M. B. Mansor (eds.). MINT-MADA, Malaysia. 286 pp.

Proceedings: Zakaria, M. B., Jais, M. J., Wan-Yaacob Ahmad, Mohd Rafidi Othman & Zainal Abidin Harahap. (2002). Penurunan kekeruhan EIMS oleh koagulan konvensional dan kitosan. In: Prosiding Seminar Kimia Bersama UKMITB. 16-17 July 2002, Melaka, Malaysia. p. 487-492.

Presentations: Mat B. Zakaria & Md. Pauzi Abdullah. (1996). Potential of chitosan in the food industries. Presented at First National Technology Connection Seminar. 14-15 November 1996, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 7 pp.

Report: Nashriyah binti Mat & Norimah binti Yusof. (2005). Analysis of Prawn Tissue Samples Derived from Mini Study on the Impact of Coal Dust to Prawn Fry. MINT/L/2005/38(S) (Research Project Agreement MINT-TNBJ: Code No: UPP/2005/(03)). Malaysian Nuclear Agency, Bangi, Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia. 108 pp.

Thesis and Dissertation: Halimah, M. (2007). The Environmental Fate of Fluroxypyr and Chlorpyrifos in Oil Palm Agroecosystem. PhD Thesis, University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Malaysia. 242 pp.

Patent: Andress, Jr. H. J. (1974). German Patent 2, 413, October.

Standard: Japanese Industrial Standard. (1975). Method of Ultrasonic Manual Testing and Classification of Test Results for Welds, JIS Z 3060.

Internet: JAIF, Inc. (2004). 6^th FNCA Coordinators Meeting in Japan, http://www.fnca.jp, retrieved 1^st June 2005.

All references cited in the text must be listed in the reference list. Likewise, all references listed in the reference list must be cited in the text. Editor reserves the right to delete the missing and incomplete references if deemed necessary, and the related text. Incomplete references include references without page numbers.

Personal communications and websites

References to personal communications should be kept to a very minimum and only be mentioned in the text in the following form: (Muhammad, pers. comm.). References to websites is allowed only with the approval of the Chief Editor.

Units, symbols and abbreviations

Authors should use only the SI system of units, for example; g (gram), ml (microlitre), kg (kilogram), cm (centimeter), ha (hectare), h (hour), min (minute), s (second), ^oC (Celsius) or K (Kelvin). Non-standard abbreviations should be employed only where multiple use is necessary, and should be defined on their first appearance in the text and also abstract. Isotopes should be indicated as: ¹⁴C, ³²P, ¹⁵N, or Carbon-14, Phosphorus-32, Nitrogen-15, not as C¹⁴ or P³² or N¹⁵.

Scientific name

The complete Latin name (Genus, species and authority) must be given in full for every organism when first mentioned in the text. Italicize the Latin names of genera and species in the text and abstract, in order to differentiate them from other words. Likewise, do not italicize the name of the authority.

Tables

Authors should observe the limitations as set by the Journal size and layout, and avoid large tables. Each table should be numbered consecutively (Table 1, Table 2, etc.), and typed double-spaced on a separate page. Each table should be provided with concise and self-explanatory title in lower case above the table, and must contain horizontal lines only (above and below column headings and at the end of the table). Avoid usage of abbreviations; necessary usage of abbreviations must be clearly explained in the text (including the ABSTRACT and ABSTRAK) when mentioned the first time. Large data sets should be presented in two or more tables for clarity.

Figures and photos

Figures and photographs are to be labeled as figures (Fig.). If necessary, figures should be drawn on a separate sheet of paper and each figure identified lightly in pencil on the reverse. Cut and paste figures should be totally avoided unless they are original, meaning that they can be easily edited by using Microsoft Word. Captions to all figures should be typed double-spaced in lower-case below the figure. Illustrations should be numbered, according to their sequence in the text. References should be made in the text to each illustration. No border (box) is allowed for figures.

Photographs (of high quality black and white, glossy print type with good contrast) should be submitted in duplicate, complete with magnification (if any). Colored slides will not be considered for printing unless as black and white, so reconsider submitting them. On rare occasion, request for color publication will be entertained subject to prior payment from author.The color figures can be published for the online version of JAB but the printed version will be in black and white only except when the author pays the required cost.

Illustrations

This Journal accepts only good contrast and original line drawings. Poor quality illustration will not be included nor returned. It must be labeled as figure (and should follow all explanations in the abovementioned Figures and photos), and in the body text it must be centered.

Acknowledgements

This should be included whenever it is deemed appropriate, as a separate section before the Reference index section.

Galley Proofs:

The author should correct Proofs when received, and return them to the Chief Editor within 3 working days. No changes other than editorial corrections and typo errors should be made, subject to two-way communication with the Chief Editor.

The Chief Editor reserves the right to reconsider the acceptance of the manuscript, if there is considerable delay in receiving the corrected manuscript from the author, subject to further communication. However, the manuscript that was ready for galleyproof is automatically considered as it belongs to this Journal (copyright UniSZA) and will be published, regardless of any miscommunication, if deemed necessary by the Chief Editor.

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

This is the statement of ethics for JAB published by Penerbit Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin Malaysia (UniSZA Press). This statement was adapted from the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and covers the code of ethics for Editor-in-Chief, editorial board members, reviewers and authors.

DUTIES OF AUTHORS

• Have the responsibility of ensuring only original work is submitted.
• Must not reproduce work that has been previously published in other journals.
• Must not submit any articles that are being reviewed or considered by the journal to other journals simultaneously.
• Are only allowed to publish their work elsewhere after receiving a formal rejection from the journal or if their request to withdraw their work is officially accepted by the journal.
• Must inform the Editor-in-Chief or the publisher of any inaccuracy of data in their published work so that correction or retraction of article can be done.
• Should make significant contributions and be held accountable for any shortcoming in their work. 

DUTIES OF REVIEWERS

• Must disclose any competing interest before agreeing to review a submission.
• Can refuse to review any submission due to a conflict of interest or inadequate knowledge.
• Review all submissions objectively, fairly and professionally. 
• Reveal any ethical misconduct encountered while reviewing to the Editor-in-Chief for further action.
• Should ensure the originality of a submission and be alert to any plagiarism and redundant publication.
• Must not discuss the content of the submission without permission.
• Adhere to the time allocated for the review process. Requests for extension to review the submission are at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief.

 DUTIES OF EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

• Actively contribute to the development and the greater good of the journal.
• Act as ambassadors for the journal.
• Continuously support and promote the journal.
• Review any work assigned to them.

 DUTIES OF EDITOR-in-CHIEF

• Evaluate manuscripts fairly and solely on their intellectual merit.
• Ensure confidentiality of manuscripts and not disclose any information regarding manuscripts to anyone other than the people involved in the publishing process.
• Has the responsibility to decide when and which articles are to be published.
• Actively seek the views of board members, reviewers and authors on how to improve/ increase the image and visibility of the journal.
• Give clear instructions to potential contributors on the submission process and what is expected of the authors.
• Ensure appropriate reviewers are selected/ identified for the reviewing process.

PLAGIARISM

Authors should submit only original work that is not plagiarized, and has not been published or being considered elsewhere.  Appropriate softwares may be used by the editorial office to check for similarities of submitted manuscripts with existing literature. Inclusion of fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements is unacceptable. Work and/or words from other publications must be appropriately cited or quoted.

REPORTING

Authors should state their results clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification or inappropriate data manipulation. The methods used in the work should be clearly and unambiguously described so that the findings can be repeated and confirmed by other researchers.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

A statement on conflict of interest must be included in the manuscript if authors receive any support that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed. 

AUTHORSHIP AND COLLABORATION

Name of authors listed in a paper should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the report. Only those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the work must be acknowledged or listed as contributors. It is the duty of the corresponding author to ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper.  All co-authors must approve the final version of the paper and agree to the version of the paper before submission.

MULTIPLE OR REDUNDANT

Authors should not publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research output in more than one journal or primary publication. A similar manuscript should not be submitted to more than one journal concurrently as this constitutes as unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.