Instructions to Authors

Instructions to Authors

Publication Ethics

The journal considers all manuscripts on the strict condition that they have been submitted only to this journal and that they have not been published already. They must not be under consideration for publication or in press elsewhere.

It is recommended that an English check of the manuscript by a competent English Grammarian be completed before submission. Only manuscripts that are written in clear and concise English language will be accepted for review. British spellings and standard scientific units should be used.

Pre-submission enquiries

If you wish to make a pre-submission enquiry about the suitability of your manuscript, please send your message by email to the editors who will respond to your enquiry as soon as possible.

Submission process

Manuscripts must be submitted by one of the authors of the manuscript, and should not be submitted by anyone on their behalf. The submitting author takes responsibility for the article during submission and peer review process. Submission of a manuscript implies that the authors have obtained the necessary authority for publication. For the submission of your manuscript, please go through the online submission link or mail to [email protected]

Correspondence and notifications regarding manuscripts will be made through e-mail. All reviewers� comments and author revisions are handled electronically. Final acceptance of a manuscript is contingent upon compliance with IJBST requirements. Manuscripts other than Special Invited Papers are generally published in the order of receipt of the final, accepted version or of the corrected proof.

Publication Fee

Prospective Authors are required to pay a total sum of N30,000 for manuscript processing and publication. Payment shall be in the following order; The processing fee of N5,000 shall be paid immediately after submission while the publication fee of N25,000 is paid after the manuscript has been accepted for publication.

Types of manuscript accepted

The journal considers four types of manuscripts for publication:

Research Articles: Most of the publications will be of this sort. These will present results of original research.

Research Notes: Papers containing new facts and important data derived from incomplete or partial studies may be suitable as a Note. In general, a Note should not exceed 4 printed pages.

Editorials: Editorials are usually written upon invitation from the editorial board. These may regard a specific research article in the same issue or a subject of particular importance.

Reviews Article: Review articles are also written upon request from the editorial board.

Manuscript preparation

Language and Style: All manuscripts should be written in good English (British English style).

Cover Letter: A cover letter must accompany the submission. Author(s) are required to provide names and contact information (mailing address, phone and fax numbers, and e-mail address) of at least three experts in the field as potential reviewers for the manuscript.

Manuscript should be written in Times New Roman with font 12 and submitted as a Microsoft Word file (version 2003 or later). The text should be double spaced and the lines and pages should be numbered. Manuscripts should consist of a Title page and these sections: Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, Acknowledgements, References, Figures and Tables.

Title: The title, name(s) of the author(s) and affiliations and mailing address, an asterisk (*) should be added to the right of the corresponding author’s name. When there are two or more authors and they belong to more than one affiliation, his or her affiliation should be indicated by superscripts 1, 2, 3 … placed after each author’s name and before each affiliation.

Abstract: The abstract should contain a maximum of 250 words. It should present a brief background, and convey the conceptual advance and significance of the work. It should be presented without sub-headings and no reference should be cited in this section.

Key words: List up to five key words including the species, variables tested and the major response criteria. Which clearly identify the paper’s subject and purpose. The first letter of each key word is lowercase (unless a proper noun). Key words are separated by commas and presented in alphabetical order.

Introduction: Introduction should establish the context of the research/study being conducted by summarizing the background information about the topic, the purpose of the study in the form of the hypothesis, question or research problem, current state of what is known, the rationale for the study, and the specific objective(s). The introduction should be very brief devoid of subheadings.

Materials and Methods: It should be complete enough to allow experiments to be reproduced. All the procedures should be described in detail, previously published procedures should be cited, and important modifications of published procedures should be mentioned briefly. Capitalize trade names and include the manufacturer's name and address. Subheadings should be used.

Results: Results and their significance should be presented clearly and concisely, preferably in the form of graphs and tables which should be self-explanatory.

Discussion: It should contain a critical review of the results in the light of relevant literature.

Conclusion: The conclusion should be the brief and reflect the highlight of the study.

Nomenclature: The nomenclature used for chemical compounds shall be in accordance with the nomenclature rules.

Appendixes: To provide readers with numerical examples or give extensive detail of analytical procedures, an appendix or appendices can be included.

Acknowledgments: Acknowledgments of people, grants, funds etc. should be placed in a separate section before the reference list. The names of funding organizations should be written in full.

Figures, Tables and Charts / Diagrams: Each figure and table should be presented on a separate file. They should be in bold e.g. Figure 1, Table 1, but text of legends should not be in bold. Each part of figures with multiple parts, should be submitted separately and appropriately labeled (e.g. Figure 1A, Figure 1B). Tables should be sent as WORD files, not as pictures. They should be editable. Figures should be sent as .jpeg files with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi. For printing purposes, all RGB colors need to be converted to CMYK. Send Table and Figure files at approximately the size they are to be printed. Standard sizes for academic journals are 75 mm (single column) or 160 mm (double column). Line weights in Figures and Tables should be between 0.5 and 1 pt. Units of measurement should be metric and abbreviated. For examples: mg, g, μl, l, h, min and sec. There should be a space between numerals and units: 10 mg not 10mg. Temperature and percentage should be given, respectively as 20°C and 50%, without spaces between numeral and symbol.

References

Citation in text

Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication. Anonymous references are not accepted.

Reference links

Increased discoverability of research and high quality peer review are ensured by online links to the sources cited. In order to allow us to create links to abstracting and indexing services, such as Scopus, Cross Ref and Pub Med, please ensure that data provided in the references are correct. Please note that incorrect surnames, journal/book titles, publication year and pagination may prevent link creation. When typing references, please be careful to prevent errors. Use of the DOI is encouraged.

Web references

As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.

References in a special issue

Please ensure that the words 'this issue' are added to any references in the list (and any citations in the text) to other articles in the same Special Issue.

Reference style

Text: All citations in the text should refer to:

a.       Single author: the authors name (without initials, unless there is ambiguity) and the year of     publication

b.      Two authors: both authors’ names and the year of publication

c.       Three or more authors: first authors name followed by et al. and the year of publication. Citations may be made directly (or parenthetically). Groups of references should be listed first alphabetically, then chronologically.

Examples: ….they can accumulate significantly in tissues via the food chain and pose a severe threat to ecosystems and human health (Ikpesu, 2013a, 2013b, 2014; Ikpesu and Ariyo, 2013b). Blaustein et al. (2003) have recently shown....

List: References should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must be identified by the letters a, b, c, etc., placed after the year of publication.

Examples:

Reference to a journal publication:

Ikpesu, T., Tongo, I.and Ariyo, A. (2014). Restorative Prospective of Powdered Seeds Extract of Garcinia kola in Chrysichthys furcatus induced with glyphosate formulation: Chinese Journal of Biology 6:1-8.

Reference to a Proceeding:

Relyea, R. A. and Mills, N. (2001). Predator-induced stress makes the pesticide carbaryl more deadly to gray tree frog tadpoles (Hyla versicolor). Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 98:2491–2496

Reference to a book:

Taylor, D.J., Green, N. P. and Stout, G. W. (1997). Biological Science. 3rd ed. London: Cambridge University Press.

Reference to a chapter in an edited book:

Graham, B. C., Adams, B. K. (2015). How to prepare a biological slide. Introductory Practical Biology for Schools and Colleges: E-Publishing Inc.; 2002. p. 235.

Conflict of interest

All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work.

Copyright

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement’. Acceptance of the agreement will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this agreement.

Handling charges

Author(s) are charged an initial handling fee of #3000 for Nigeria author and $10 for foreign author for each submitted article. Manuscript is given attention after the payment, which should accompany the submitted article.

Proofs and Reprints

Electronics proofs will be sent (e-mail attachment) to the corresponding author as a PDF file. Page proofs are considered to be the final version of the manuscript. With the exception of typographical or minor clerical errors, no changes will be made in the manuscript at the proof stage. Authors can freely download the PDF file from which they can print unlimited copies of their article. Before the accepted paper is published we will intimate the corresponding author the publication charge which is very nominal fees in the acceptance letter.

Proofs

Prior to publication, a proof is sent to the corresponding author. Authors are advised to read the proof carefully and correct minor typographical or grammatical errors. Authors should promptly return proofs to the editorial office.

Publication Notification

After the article is made available on the journal’s website, a publication notice is sent to the corresponding author with links to the issue and article.