Guidelines for submitting papers at the Midlands State University Journal of Science Agriculture and Technology (MSUJSAT)

Scope

The MSUJSAT is the flagship journal of the Midlands State University that publishes original research articles, short communications and reviews in the fields of pure and applied science, agriculture, engineering, medicine and veterinary science.

Peer Review Process

Manuscript will be assessed by the Editor-In-Chief for their suitability to the journal. Those deemed suitable will be sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to conclude on the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor-In-Chief will make the final decision which could be either to accept, reject or send the manuscript back to the author/s for minor or major revisions. The Editor-In-Chief’s decision is final.

Publication Frequency

Two issues per year.

Submission

Manuscripts in the journal format should be submitted by email to the Editor-In-Chief at sungiraim@staff.msu.ac.zw. Manuscripts which are not written in the journal format and do not fall within the scope of the journal will not be reviewed.

Manuscript Format

Manuscripts should have numbered lines, written in Microsoft Word, font size 12 and double spaced. Each page of the manuscript should be numbered. Manuscripts should be submitted in the following order;

Title (should be clear, descriptive, not too long and ideally mention the geographical region where the study has been made)

Name(s) of author(s)

Complete postal address(es) of affiliations

Full telephone, Fax No. and e-mail address of the corresponding author

Present address(es) of author(s) if applicable

Complete correspondence address including e-mail address to which the proofs should be sent

Abstract

Keywords (indexing terms), normally 3-6 items.

Introduction

Material studied, area descriptions, methods, techniques

Results

Discussion

Conclusion

Acknowledgments and any additional information concerning research grants, etc.

References

Tables

Figure captions

Tables (separate file(s))

Figures (separate file(s)).

SI units should be used.

Title page information

• Title. Very brief and informative. Should be useful for information-retrieval. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.

• Author names and affiliations. The given name(s) and family name(s) of each author should be clearly indicated .Check that all names are accurately spelt. Present the authors’ affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author’s name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.

• Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. This responsibility includes answering any future queries about Methodology and Materials. Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author.

Abstract

The abstract should be concise and factual. It should state briefly the purpose of the research, materials and methods used in the study, principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. References should be avoided. Non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself. The abstract should be clear, descriptive and not more than 300 words.

Formulae

1. Give the meaning of all symbols immediately after the equation in which they are first used.

2. For simple fractions use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line.

3. Equations should be numbered serially at the right-hand side in parentheses. In general only equations explicitly referred to in the text need be numbered.

4. The use of fractional powers instead of root signs is recommended. Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp.

5. In chemical formulae, valence of ions should be given as, e.g. Ca2+, not as Ca++.

6. Isotope numbers should precede the symbols e.g. 18O.

7. The repeated use of chemical formulae in the text is to be avoided. The name of the compound should be given in full. Exceptions may be made in the case of a very long name occurring very frequently or in the case of a compound being described as the end product of a gravimetric determination (e.g. phosphate as P₂O₅).

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements should be in a separate section at the end of the article before the references. List here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proof reading the article, etc.).

Funding sources

Funding sources should be acknowledged in the following way:

Funding: This work was supported by Midlands State University Research Board [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy] and the Food  & Agriculture Organisation, Rome, Italy [grant number zzzz].

Nomenclature

1. The rules governing biological nomenclature, as laid down in the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria, and the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature should be followed always.

2. All biotica (crops, plants, insects, birds, mammals, etc.) should be identified by their scientific names when the English term is first used, with the exception of common domestic animals.

3. All biocides and other organic compounds must be identified by their Geneva names when first used in the text. Active ingredients of all formulations should be likewise identified.

4. For chemical nomenclature, the conventions of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the official recommendations of the IUPAC-IUB Combined Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature should be followed.

Figure captions

Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.

Tables

1. Large tables should be avoided. Reversing columns and rows will often reduce the dimensions of a table.

2. If many data are to be presented, an attempt should be made to divide them over two or more tables.

3. Tables should be numbered according to their sequence in the text. The text should include references to all tables.

4. Each table should occupy a separate page of the manuscript. Tables should never be included in the text.

5. Each table should have a brief and self-explanatory title.

6. Column headings should be brief, but sufficiently explanatory. Standard abbreviations of units of measurement should be added between parentheses.

7. Vertical lines should not be used to separate columns. Leave some extra space between the columns instead.

8. Any explanation essential to the understanding of the table should be given as a footnote at the bottom of the table.

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. If these references are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either ‘Unpublished results’ or ‘Personal communication’. Citation of a reference as ‘in press’ implies that the item has been accepted for publication.

Reference Style

1. All publications cited in the text should be presented in a list of references following the text of the manuscript. The manuscript should be carefully checked to ensure that the spelling of author’s name(s) and dates are exactly the same in the text as in the reference list.

2. In the text refer to the author’s name (without initial) and year of publication (Moyo, 2016).

3. If reference is made in the text to a publication written by more than two authors the name of the first author should be used followed by “et al.” e.g. (Sungirai et al., 2015). This indication, however, should never be used in the list of references. In this list names of first author and co-authors should be mentioned.

4. References cited together in the text should be arranged chronologically. The list of references should be arranged alphabetically on author’s names, and chronologically per author. If an author’s name in the list is also mentioned with co-authors the following order should be used: publications of the single author, arranged according to publication dates – publications of the same author with one co-author – publications of the author with more than one co-author. Publications by the same author(s) in the same year should be listed as 2018a, 2018b, etc.

5. Use the following system for arranging your references:

a. Journal Articles

Sungirai, M., Moyo, D.Z., De Clercq, P., Madder, M., Vanwambeke, S.O., De Clercq, E.M., 2018. Modelling the distribution of Rhipicephalus microplus and R. decoloratus in Zimbabwe, Veterinary Parasitology: Regional Studies and Reports.14C, pp.41-49.

b. For edited symposia, special issues, etc., published in a periodical

1.    Hoshino, A.A., Bravo, J.P., Morelli, K.A., Nobile, P.M., 2012. Microsatellites as tools for genetic diversity analysis. In: Caliskan, M. (Ed.), Genetic Diversity in Microorganisms. INTECH Open Access Publisher, Rijeka, Croatia

c. For books

Blaha, T. (Ed.), 1989. Applied Veterinary Epidemiology. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 344 pp.

d. For multi-author books

Wi, M.B., Nakane, P.K., 1978. Recent developments in the periodate method of conjugating horseradish peroxidase (HRPO) to antibodies. In: Knapp, W., Holubar, K., Wick, G. (Eds.), Immunofluorescence and Related Staining Techniques. North Holland, Amsterdam, pp. 215–224.

7. In the case of publications in any language other than English, the original title is to be retained.

8. Work accepted for publication but not yet published should be referred to as “in press”.

9. References concerning unpublished data and “personal communications” should not be cited in the reference list but may be mentioned in the text.

10. Web references may be given. As a minimum, the full URL is necessary. Any further information, such as Author names, dates, reference to a source publication and so on, should also be given.

11. Articles available online but without volume and page numbers may be referred to by means of their Digital Object identifier (DOI) code.