Guide for Authors

Preparing your manuscript

Prepare the entire manuscript as a single Microsoft Word file in Times New Roman, 12 pt, double-spaced, with margins of at least one inch on all sides. Headings and sub-headings in bold (sub-headings italic), unnumbered; number all pages consecutively.

Required order

• Title and authors
• Abstract (200–250 words) with 4–6 keywords
• Introduction · Materials & Methods · Results & Discussion · Conclusion
• Acknowledgements · Conflict of Interest · References

A cover letter confirming originality (that the work is not published elsewhere, nor under consideration by another journal) must accompany the submission, along with the signed Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement.

Title and authors

The title should reflect the scope of the manuscript within its field of science and technology, set in bold and centred. Give each author's surname followed by their given name, in bold.

• Authors with different affiliations carry a superscript number on the given name: K. John¹, M.J. George²
• Affiliations go below the author names, un-bold, each beginning with its own superscript number
• Give the full postal address including postal code, with no names and no designations
• Author names and affiliations are centred

Abstract and keywords

Write 200–250 words covering the scope of the work, what is novel in the approach, the key findings, and what those findings enable, whether in current applications or in further development. Follow the abstract with 4 to 6 keywords, each within the scope of the work presented.

Introduction

Summarise the background work already in the literature, with suitable references, and state the aim and scope of your research clearly; the introduction should support both. Three to four paragraphs, 400–700 words in total.

Materials and methods

Divide this section under sub-headings. Each should give the materials, instruments, equipment and software used, with their specifications and suppliers, and describe the methodology in enough detail for another group to repeat the experiment. 300–600 words.

Results and discussion

A combined Results and Discussion section is preferred. Interpret the results carefully and discuss them; every table and figure must be referred to in the text and placed in the body after its first mention.

• Figures must be clear and reproducible, with axis names and values in the same format as the body text
• Label both the x- and y-axis with the quantity and its unit
• Do not place the figure title inside the image
• No horizontal or vertical grid lines in Excel-based figures

Conclusions

Draw the conclusions from the results you have reported, highlighting what the work found and what follows from it. Do not simply restate the Results and Discussion. One paragraph, 250 words at most.

Conflict of interest

State any conflict of interest with stakeholders. Where there is none, write “No conflict of interest”.

Acknowledgements

Name any private or government funding body that supported the research, and anyone who contributed to the work without being listed as an author.

References

• Cite in the text by number in square brackets: [1]
• List them all at the end under “References”, numbered continuously in the order cited
• Do not include unpublished sources
• 10–15 references for short communications, 15–30 for research articles and mini-reviews, 50–100 for reviews

Use Vancouver style, as in these examples: