Author Guidelines
Types of manuscripts may be submitted
- Research articles: These should describe new and carefully confirmed findings, and experimental procedures should be given in sufficient detail for others to verify the work. The length of a full paper should be the minimum required to describe and interpret the work clearly.
- Reviews: Submissions of systematic reviews and perspectives covering topics of current interest are welcome and encouraged. Reviews are also peer-reviewed
Format
The submission has not been published, nor is it before another journal for consideration. The submission file is in Microsoft Word document file format. The length of a complete manuscript should be no less than 4 pages and no more than 12 pages (10-point font, single-spaced, including figures, tables, and references). All illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points rather than at the end. A template to guide authors in the preparation of the manuscript can be downloaded here.
Title
The title should be a brief phrase describing the contents of the paper. This should include the full author names (with no titles or qualifications), institutional addresses (department, institute, city, post/zip code, country), and email addresses for all authors. Authors and affiliations must be linked using superscript numerals. The corresponding author should also be indicated. The title should be no more than 15 words in length.
Abstract and Keywords
The abstract should be informative and self-explanatory, briefly present the topic, state the scope of the experiments, indicate significant data, and point out major findings and conclusions. The abstract should be 150 to 250 words in length. Standard nomenclature should be used, and abbreviations should be avoided. While the abstract is conceptually divided into three sections (background, methods/principal findings, and conclusions/significance), do not apply these distinct headings to the abstract within the manuscript file. No literature should be cited. Following the abstract, about five keywords that will provide indexing references should be listed.
Introduction
The Introduction should provide a clear statement of the problem, the relevant literature on the subject, and the proposed approach or solution. It should be understandable to colleagues from a broad range of scientific disciplines.
Materials and Methods
Experimental procedures should be given in sufficient detail to allow these to be replicated by other researchers. The source of the various reagents and materials used in the study should be given, where possible. Capitalize trade names and include the manufacturer's name and address. Subheadings should be used. Methods, in general use, need not be described in detail.
Results
The results section should provide details of all of the experiments that are required to support the conclusions of the paper. There is no specific word limit for this section, but details of experiments that are peripheral to the main thrust of the article and that detract from the focus of the article should not be included. The results should be written in the past tense when describing findings in the authors' experiments. Previously published findings should be written in the present tense. The section may be divided into subsections, each with a concise subheading. Results should be explained, but largely without referring to the literature. Discussion, speculation and detailed interpretation of data should not be included in the results but should be put into the discussion section.
Discussion
This section should present a comprehensive analysis of the results in light of any previous research. The Results and Discussion sections can include subheadings, and when appropriate, both sections can be combined.
Conclusion
The conclusion section should bring out the significance of the research paper, show how it has brought closure to the research problem, and point out remaining gaps in knowledge by suggesting issues for further research.
Acknowledgements
The authors should first acknowledge the source of funding for the research presented in their article, followed by any personal credits. The acknowledgements should be brief.
References
All publications cited in the text should be presented in a list of references following the text of the manuscript. In the text, the citations should be referred to by the author's surname and year of publication enclosed in parentheses, e.g. (Osman, 2014; Mhlongo and Akintola, 2021; Jiang et al., 2022). If a reference is made in the text to a publication written by more than two authors, the first author's surname should be used, followed by “et al.” In the list of references, however, the surnames of all authors should be mentioned. References cited together in the text should be arranged chronologically. The list of references should be arranged alphabetically on the author's surnames and chronologically per author.
Examples:
Baker, A.J.M., McGrath, S.P., Reeves, R.D. and Smith, J.A.C. 2000. Metal hyper-accumulator plants: a review of the ecology and physiology of a biological resource for phytoremediation of metal-polluted soils. In: Terry, N. and Banuelos, G. (eds), Phytoremediation of Contaminated Soil and Water. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL., pp 85–107.
Fernando, E.S., Wuimado, M.O., Trinidad, L.C. and Doronila, A.I. 2012. The potential use of indigenous nickel hyperaccumulators for small scale mining in the Philippines. Proceeding of the International Conference on Environmental, Socio-economic, and Health Impacts of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining. February 7-8, 2012, Brawijaya University, Malang, Indonesia. p 83-90.
Jiang, J.W., Zhang, S.X., Li, S.N., Zeng, W.L., Li, F.X. and Wang, W. 2022. Magnetized manganese-doped watermelon rind biochar as a novel low-cost catalyst for improving oxygen reduction reaction in microbial fuel cells. Science of the Total Environment 802:149989, doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149989.
Mhlongo, S.E. and Akintola, G.O. 2021. Artisanal and small-scale mining activities as post-mining land use in abandoned mine sites: a case of Giyani and Musina areas, Limpopo Province of South Africa. Journal of Degraded and Mining Lands Management 8: 2815-2827, doi:10.15243/jdmlm. 2021.083.2815.
Osman, K.T. 2014. Soil Degradation, Conservation and Remediation. Springer Netherlands. 237p eBook ISBN: 978-94-007-7590-9.
Prabha, J., Kumar, M. and Tripathi, R. 2021. Bioremediation for environmental sustainability. In: Saxena, G., Kumar, V. and Shan, M.P. (eds), Toxicity, Mechanisms of Contaminants Degradation, Detoxification and Challenges. Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam, Netherland, pp. 637-653.
Tables
Tables should be kept to a minimum and be designed to be as simple as possible. The table title should be concise, no more than two sentences. The rest of the table legend and any footnotes should be placed below the table. Footnotes can be used to explain abbreviations. Tables must be cell-based, such as would be produced in a spreadsheet program or Microsoft Word. Do not provide tables as graphic objects. Tables must be no larger than one printed page. Do not include colour, shading, lines, rules, text boxes, tabs, returns, or pictures within the table. The details of the methods used in the experiments should preferably be described in the legend instead of in the text. The same data should not be presented in table and graph form or repeated in the text. All tables must be numbered consecutively (in Arabic numbers). Place tables as close as possible to where they are mentioned in the main text. All Tables should be referred to in the text as Table 1, Table 2, etc.
Figures
Figures should be as small and simple as is compatible with clarity. The goal is for figures to be comprehensible to readers in other or related disciplines and to assist their understanding of the paper. Figure legends should be typed in numerical order. Graphics should be prepared using applications capable of generating high-resolution GIF, TIFF, JPEG or PowerPoint before pasting them in the Microsoft Word manuscript file. Figures should be prepared in Microsoft Word. Use Arabic numerals to designate figures and upper case letters for their parts (e.g. Figure 1). Begin each legend with a title and include sufficient description so that the figure is understandable without reading the text of the manuscript. Information given in legends should not be repeated in the text.
Units and Abbreviations
The writing of units and abbreviations in the manuscript should refer to unit standards; for example, kilogram = kg, gram = g, hectare = ha, meter = m, centimeter = cm; kilometer = km, ton = t or Mg (megagram), milligram = mg, milliliter = mL; liter = L, degrees Celsius =
o C, without period ending. Writing one unit per unit is as follows: for example, kilograms per hectare - written as kg/ha or kg ha
-1, ton per hectare – written as t/ha or t ha
-1, kilometer per hour - written as km/hour or km hour
-1.
