PREFACE
The Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology (JAST) of the Islamic Republic of Iran welcomes articles in different areas of agriculture and natural resources from all over the world. Contributions must be original and must not have been submitted for publication elsewhere. The manuscript should be submitted to JAST through the Submit Paper system. Make sure that your manuscript be not more than 20 pages of A4 size, one column , double spaced lines (font12), roughly equal to 4500-5000 words. These 20 pages should also cover the graphs and tables presented. Before submission, please also make sure that there is no conflict between the authors regarding the submitted manuscript.
Manuscripts submitted to JAST are critically reviewed before they are published. The purpose of the review is to assure readers that the papers have been found acceptable by competent and independent professionals. The process often results in desirable changes to the manuscripts.
MANUSCRIPT OUTLINE
For non-English speaking authors it is highly recommended to put their manuscripts for English language editing before submission. Manuscripts with no enough English standard will be rejected before scientific evaluation.
Manuscripts prepared for JAST should be arranged in the following order:
1. Title and name(s) of author(s).
2. Author and paper documentation at bottom of the same page.
3. Abstract.
4. Keywords.
5. Introduction. To includes a literature review.
6. Materials and methods/methodology.
7. Results. This section is sometimes combined with the discussion.
8. Discussion. Sometimes a conclusion section is included in the paper, which may be combined with the discussion section.
9. Acknowledgement.
10. References.
TITLE AND NAME(S) OF AUTHOR(S)
The title should represent the article's content and facilitate retrieval in indices developed by secondary literature services. A good title (i) briefly identifies the subject, (ii) indicates the purpose of the study, and (iii) gives important and high-impact words early. A person usually decides to read an article based on its title. Besides being descriptive, titles should be short. It is recommended that titles not exceed 12 words, except in unusual circumstances. A title containing fewer than five words probably should be expanded.
The meaning and order of words in a title are also important. Do not start the title with low-impact words such as " effect of " or " influence of " . Instead, concentrate on the subject and findings of the research. The title must be useful in itself as a label. The terms in the title should be limited to those words that give significant information about the article's content.
Many readers peruse the titles in a table of contents to decide whether or not to turn to a given abstract. The title must interest these readers. Highly specific, narrow titles with words understandable only to specialists will be passed over. Furthermore, literature searchers will ignore titles that are incomprehensible to all but a few individuals.
Titles should never contain abbreviations, chemical formulas, or proprietary names; and authors should avoid using unusual or outdated terminology.
For economy of space, common names of chemical and crops should be used in titles. If a crop or microorganism has no common name, then the scientific name (genus and species) is used.
A running title of 50 character and /or spaces should be provided.
Author and paper documentation are shown as footnote on the first page. This footnote lists author(s) and complete address (es). It is necessary for the corresponding author to provide institutional affiliation and e-mail address. Professional titles are not listed. Other information, such as grant funding, may be included before the date of receiving the manuscript in this paragraph or in the acknowledgement at the end of the paper. If there is only one author or if all authors have the same address, the name(s) is (are) not repeated in the author and paper documentation.
We accept one corresponding author only, the same person who submitted the manuscript. This may be changed based on his/her decision upon receiving a formal letter by JAST office, during the time before the issuance of acceptance. No detailed comments (for example contribution percentage of the authors) will be added when publishing the article.
ABSTRACT
A person reading the abstract should be able to tell quickly the value of the report and whether to read it further. In many cases, more people will read the abstract than will read the entire report. Thus, the abstract has the dual function of supplying information to those who will read the entire report and to those who will not read the entire paper.
The abstract should be a suitable literary adjunct to the printed paper. It should be written after the paper is completed and should be consistent with statements in the paper. To some extent, the abstract will repeat wording in the paper, but because it is sometimes read immediately before the introduction or other main sections, it should not be a tedious recapitulation.
On the other hand, the abstract must be completely self-explanatory and intelligible in itself. It should include the following:
1. Reason for doing work, including rationale or justification for the research.
2. Objectives and topics covered.
3. Brief description of methods used. If the paper deals mainly with methods, give the basic principles, range and degree of accuracy for new methods.
4. Results.
5. Conclusions.
The abstract also should call attention to new items, observations and numerical data. Abstract should be informative. Expressions such as " is discussed " and " is described " should rarely be included. Specific rather than general statements must be used, especially in the methods and results sections of the abstract. For example, do not write " two rates of P " but write " rates of 40 and 80 kg of P ha-1 " .
The abstract should not exceed 250 words for full-length papers and 100 words for notes, and is not divided into paragraphs. It should not inclue bibliographic, figure, or table references. Equations, formulas, obscure abbreviations and acronyms are also inappropriate. The scientific names of plants, insects, etc., full chemical names and identification of soil, if the soil type is a factor in interpreting the results, must be included in the abstract when the common names are first mentioned.
Authors are encouraged to prepare a Farsi translation of abstract which will appear at the top of the article. However, for non-Iranian authors, the translation will be done by the editorial board of JAST.
KEYWORDS
A list of three to five keywords from the manuscript must be supplied. Keywords should include the topic investigated and special techniques used. Keywords should be informative without reference to the main text.
INTRODUCTION
The article should begin by clearly identifying its subject. The author should state the hypothesis or definition of the problem the research was designed to solve. A reader is given orientation to the research being reported by brief reference to previous concepts and research. References to literature should be limited to information that is essential to the reader's orientation. Most readers do not need long literature reviews, especially of old references, if newer ones are available, or to be convinced of the importance of the research. The purpose of the introduction is to supply sufficient background information to allow the reader to understand and evaluate the results of the present study without needing to refer to previous publications on the topic.
Introductions should be short and include:
1. A brief statement of the problem that justifies the work, or the hypothesis on which it is based.
2. The findings of others that will be challenged or developed.
3. An explanation of the general approaches and objectives. This part may indicate the means by which the question was examined, especially if the methods are new.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
JAST will publish manuscripts which are based on experimental and survey data and theoretical analyses, provided that acceptable results are obtained. The purpose of this section is to give sufficient procedural details so that a competent scientist can repeat the experiments.
For materials, the authors should supply the appropriate technical specifications and quantities and source of method of preparation. If a commercially available product is used, the name and address of its manufacturer should be given parenthetically after it is first mentioned. If necessary, the pertinent chemical and physical properties of the reagents should be listed. Chemical rather than trade names are preferred. Any plants, animals, other organisms and soils not mentioned in the abstract should be identified accurately by genus, species, cultivar, soil classification and special characteristics.
Methods should be cited by a reference(s) if possible. If the techniques used are widely familiar, write only their names. If a method is modified, an outline of the modification should be given unless the modification is trivial. Give details of unusual experimental designs or statistical methods. Field works in agronomy and plant breeding should be based on, at least, two years data. This section may be arranged chronologically, by a succession of techniques, or in another manner. This section may include tables and figures.
RESULTS
A common fault in the results section is to repeat in prose what is already clear from a cursory examination of the graphics. If the tables and figures are well constructed, they will show both the results and the experimental design.
Tables, graphs and other illustrations in the results section should provide a clear understanding of representative data obtained from the experiments. Data include in illustrations and tables should not be extensively discussed in the text, but significant findings should be noted. When only a few determinations are presented, they should be treated descriptively in the text. Repetitive determinations should be presented in tables or graphs.
The objective of each experiment should be made clear in the text call attention to special features, e.g; one quantity being greater than another one, result is linear across a range, or the optimum value, etc.
Finally, the results should be related to one another. Frequently, this causes the results section to be combined with discussion section.
DISCUSSION
The discussion section interprets data presented in the results section, giving particular attention to the problem, or hypothesis, presented in the introduction. A good discussion will contain:
1. Principles, relationships and generalizations that can be supported by the results.
2. Exceptions, lack of correlation and definition of unsettled points, gap areas needing further investigation.
3. Emphasis on results and conclusions that agree or disagree with other work(s).
4. Practical as well as theoretical implications.
5. Conclusions, with summary of evidence for each one.
The discussion section, if not combined with the results section, should not recapitulate results, but should discuss their meaning. The reader should be told how the results provide a solution to the problem stated in the introduction or given as the objective of the work. The work should be connected with previous work, with an explanation of how and why it differs or agree. References should be limited to those that are most pertinent. Older references should be omitted if they have been superceded by more recent ones.
Speculation is encouraged, but should be reasonable, firmly founded in observation and subject to tests. Where results differ from previous results for unexplained reasons, possible explanations should not be laboured.
Controversial issues should be discussed clearly and fairly.
A common fault of discussion section is a tendency towards too much contemplation of nonessentials. Only discussion that illuminates significant areas should be presented.
Some papers may warrant a separate conclusion section, while in other papers it is desirable to present conclusions as part of the discussion section. The latter would be a paper of average complexity where conclusions are few. Whether this section is combined or separate, the author should include any significant conclusions that have been drawn from the work. These conclusions should be carefully worded so the readers can identify and understand them.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT(S)
In this section, the author(s) may wish to thank some research institutions, companies, or governmental bodies or people who have contributed or financially supported the research from which the manuscript is derived.
REFERENCES
The reference section lists the literature cited in the paper. Authors are encouraged to cite only published, significant and up-to-date references in their papers. This section is discussed later in more detail.
DETAILS OF MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION
TYPING
The manuscript must be typed, double-spaced, Manuscripts produced by word processor printers are acceptable only if they are of good legible quality.
Double space all typing, including footnotes, references, data in tables, and captions to figures and tables. Use only one side of the sheet. Indent each paragraph five spaces.
LENGTH OF MANUSCRIPTS
About three manuscript pages of elite typescript occupy one printed journal page. One elite typescript page should contain 25 lines 150 mm wide. If the manuscript is typed with pica (10-pitch face) or some other size and another length of line, the proportions will vary accordingly.
Space required for figures can be estimated from the size of the original and the amount of reduction (usually 40 to 60 %) that will be made in preparing negatives of Photostats for printing.
Space required for tables can be estimated from the number of lines of headings, subheadings and numbers in the table. Ten lines require about 25 mm of column space. If the lines contain more than 60 number or letters, the table will be two columns wide.
HEADINGS AND SUBHEADINGS
Authors should examine samples of the publication for which the manuscript is being prepared. For full-length journal papers, the main text headings, such as materials and methods, are typed in capitals in the center of the line. Secondary center headings and side headings are typed in capital and lower case letters. Run-in headings are typed in the normal paragraph position and understand for printing in italics. Use of subheadings can help divide papers for guiding readers, but excessive use is distracting. Keep subheadings short.
CAPTIONS
Figure captions must be typed together on a separate page. Use " Fig. " for abbreviation in captions. Table headings must be typed along with the table and do not require a separate page. Number the figure caption page to follow the reference list.
FOOTNOTES
Authors should avoid the use of footnotes. A necessary footnote in the text may be a government disclaimer in reference to a named commercial product or a mentioned trade name.
REFERENCES
Only literature that is available through libraries can be cited. Other material, such as personal communications or unpublished data, should be given in the text as parenthetical matter. Material submitted to but not accepted by a journal or other publications is considered to be unpublished data. Include the source of data and the date (e.g. R.D. Jackson, 1997, personal communication). Authors are encouraged to cite only significant and published references. Abstracts, theses or dissertations, and secondary material should be carefully examined by authors before including them in the reference section as many of these are later published in sources that are more easily obtained by readers. If possible, authors should cite the more accessible source of these contributions.
Two sources of error occur in reference citation:
Inaccurate copying of the bibliographic information and compilation of the reference section after the paper is written. Authors, when copying the publication data from a document, should verify their final product against the document. The title of the reference, its author, and other information should exactly match that shown on the original document. When in doubt, the author should consult a reference librarian for the correct bibliographic citation of difficult material. Readers should be able to obtain cited references by presenting the list to a librarian.
The second type of error occurs when authors either (i) do not include a reference cited in the manuscript or have omitted a reference from the text and have left it in the reference list, or (ii) the names and dates in the reference list do not agree with those in the text. Authors are urged to check the alphabetical reference list against the citations in the body of manuscript before submitting the manuscript for publication.
Two methods of giving references in the text are acceptable:
The name-year system (e. g. Smith, 1996; CSSA, 1997) and the reference number method ( e. g. 3). For two authors, name both: Ahmad and Mahsen (1997). With three or more authors, use et al.: Ahmad et al.(1997) or ahmad et al. (9). For two or more article by the same author(s) in the same year, designate them as follow:
Salem (1997 a, b) or Smith et al. (1997a, b).
Each reference to a periodical publication must include, in order, the name(s) of author(s) year of publication, full title of the article, publication in which it appears volume and inclusive page numbers.
Reference to a book, bulletin, governmental document, or conference proceeding must give the name(s) of the author(s), year, title, name(s) of editor(s) if appropriate, edition, if other than the first, location and dates (if applicable), publisher, city of publication, and number of the volume (if tow or more). If specific pages in book (not entire chapters) are cited, mention them in the text: Weisman (1983. p.75).
Publications without consecutive pagination (i.e. each issue within the volume begins with page 1) should include the issue number: 11 (2):5-10.
Arrange the list alphabetically by the surnames of authors. Two or more articles by the same author(s) are listed chronologically; two or more in the same year are indicated by the letters a, b, c, etc. . All single-author works of a given individual should precede multiauthor article of which the individual is senior author. Entries with the same senior author (e. g. Shotwell below) should be organized by alphabetizing surnames of succeeding co-authors and then by year, when the name repeated exactly (see entries 3 and 4 below).
1. Shotwell, O.L., 1994.
2. Shotwell, O.L., Goulden, M. L. and Hesseltine, C. W. 1992.
3. Shotwell, O.L., hesseltine, C. W. and goulden, M. L. 1993.
4. Shotwell, O.L., hesseltine, C. W. and goulden, M. L. 1994.
5. Shotwell, O.L., hesseltine, C. W., Vandegraft, E. E. and Goulden, M. L. 1993.
6. Shotwell, O.L., Kwolek, W. F., Goulden, M.L.,
Jackson , L.K. and Hesseltine, C. W. 1991.
7. Shotwell, O. L. and Zwieg, D. W. 1994.
Do not capitalize the title of the article except proper names and the first letter of the words of the title.
Periodical titles should be abbreviated as given in Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index (Chem. Abstr. Serv., 1984).
UNITS OF MEASUREMENT
The SI system is adopted as standard. As for abbreviations if any non-standards are to be used they should be defined in the text.
TABLES
First mention of tables in text must be in sequential order; indicate first mention of each table in margin of manuscript.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Figures are of two kinds: line drawings and photographs. Line drawings must be drawn using intense black on white: photographs must be of good contrast and in sharp focus throughout. In addition to the usual line-drawn graphs, treat complicated formulas, flow diagrams, metabolic schemes and large or complex tables as figures. First mention of figures in text must be in sequent ional order; indicate first mention of each figure in margin of text. Use [] to indicate the number of formulas.
Figures are photographically reproduced, nearly always at a reduced size from the material provided by the authors. Plan for maximum reduction wherever possible, figures will be reduced to fit one journal column (69 mm). All letters, numbers and symbols thus must be large enough in original to be at least 1.5 mm high after reduction. Use standard symbols starting with : l, , n, o, p, r
PREPARATION FOR PUBLICATION
Page author proofs will be sent to authors for checking before publication. Alterations other than correction of printer's error will be allowed only at the editor's discretion. Manuscripts after being corrected must be returned to the editorial office within 15 days, otherwise the editor reserves the right to correct the proofs himself and to send the material for publication.
Instructions for Contributors to tahe
Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology
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