Template for Research Article

The template consists of essential headings along with body text explaining what to include in each section. You should overwrite (or copy and paste) the body text with the corresponding section text for your article. Obviously, you should add other headings as needed.

Prior to online submission, please ensure that the manuscript has been prepared according to this Instruction, with special emphasis on the style of the manuscript and reference list.
Please follow these instructions carefully to ensure that the review and publication of your paper is as swift and efficient as possible. These notes may be copied freely.

Sequence of Preparation

  • Title
  • Authors' full names and affiliations
  • Name of corresponding author along with phone, fax and E-mail information
  • Abstract
  • Keywords (4 to 6)
  • Introduction
  • Materials and methods
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements (if any)
  • Abbreviations (if any)
  • References
  • Figure legends (separate file in Microsoft Word)
  • Figures (each submitted as a separate file)
  • Tables (each submitted as a separate file in Microsoft Word)
  • Supplementary Materials (optional)

Main headings (Introduction, Materials and methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions) should be numbered in the manuscript. They should be bold & left-aligned.

Subdivision - numbered sections

Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2,), 1.2, etc. (the abstract is not included in section numbering). Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to "the text". Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line. All subheadings should be italicized & left-aligned.

Title (150 characters or fewer) (Times New Roman, 14; Centrally-aligned)

The title should be specific to the study yet concise, and should allow sensitive and specific electronic retrieval of the article. It should be comprehensible to readers outside your field. Avoid specialist abbreviations if possible. Only the first letter and proper names (e.g. Lewis acid) should be capitalized. Titles should also include relevant information about the design of the study, e.g.: Television watching and family dysfunction in medical journal editors: a case-control study.

Authors and Affiliations (Times New Roman, 12; Center.)

Provide the first names or initials (if used), middle names or initials (if used), surnames, and affiliations—department, university or organization, city, state/province (if applicable), and country—for all authors. One of the authors should be designated as the corresponding author.

E-mail address of the corresponding author should be provided. If the article has been submitted on behalf of a consortium, all author names and affiliations should be listed at the end of the article.

Abstract (Times New Roman, 12; One paragraph)

Theabstract should be informative and completely 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 100 to 200 words in length. Complete sentences, active verbs, and the third person should be used, and the abstract should be written in the past tense. Standard nomenclature should be used and abbreviations should be avoided. No literature should be cited.

Following the abstract, about 4 to 6 key words that will provide indexing references should be listed.

Introduction (Times New Roman, 12; Single-columned & Justified)

The introduction should put the focus of the manuscript into a broader context. As you compose the introduction, think of readers who are not experts in this field. Include a brief review of the key literature. If there are relevant controversies or disagreements in the field, they should be mentioned so that a non-expert reader can delve into these issues further. The introduction should conclude with a brief statement of the overall aim of the experiments and a comment about whether that aim was achieved.

Materials and Methods (Times New Roman, 12; Single-columned & Justified)

This section should provide enough detail to allow full replication of the study by suitably skilled investigators. Protocols for new methods should be included, but well-established protocols may simply be referenced. We encourage authors to submit, as separate supporting information files, detailed protocols for newer or less well-established methods. These are published online only, but are linked to the article and are fully searchable.

Results (Times New Roman, 12; Single-columned & Justified)

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. The section may be divided into subsections, each with a concise subheading. Large datasets, including raw data, should be submitted as supporting information files; these are published online alongside the accepted article. We advise that the results section be written in past tense.

Discussion (Times New Roman, 12; Single-columned & Justified)

The discussion should spell out the major conclusions of the work along with some explanation or speculation on the significance of these conclusions. How do the conclusions affect the existing assumptions and models in the field? How can future research build on these observations? What are the key experiments that must be done? The discussion should be concise and tightly argued. Conclusions firmly established by the presented data, hypotheses supported by the presented data, and speculations suggested by the presented data should be clearly identified as such. The results and discussion may be combined into one section, if desired.

Conclusions(Times New Roman, 12; Single-columned & Justified)
The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.

Acknowledgments (Times New Roman, 12; Single-columned & Justified)

People who contributed to the work but do not fit criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments, along with their contributions. It is the authors’ responsibility to ensure that anyone named in the acknowledgments agrees to being so named. Details of the funding sources that have supported the work should be confined to the funding declaration provided on submission. Do not include them in the acknowledgments.

A list of non-standard Abbreviations (Times New Roman, 12; Single-columned & Justified) should be added. In general, non-standard abbreviations should be used only when the full term is very long and used often. Each abbreviation should be spelled out and introduced in parentheses the first time it is used in the text. Only recommended SI units should be used. Authors should use the solidus presentation (mg/ml). Standard abbreviations (such as ATP and DNA) need not be defined.

References (Times New Roman, 12; Single-columned & Justified)

Only published or accepted manuscripts should be included in the reference list. Meetings abstracts, conference talks, or papers that have been submitted but not yet accepted should not be cited. Limited citation of unpublished work should be included in the body of the text only.

Unnecessarily long reference lists should be avoided by selecting references carefully and citing reviews whenever possible.

Text: Indicate references by number(s) in square brackets in line with the text. The actual authors can be referred to, but the reference number(s) must always be given.
Example: "..... as demonstrated [3, 6]. Barnaby and Jones [8] obtained a different result ...."
List: Number the references in the list in the order in which they appear in the text.
Examples:
Reference to a journal publication:
1. J. van der Geer, J.A.J. Hanraads, R.A. Lupton, The art of writing a scientific article, J. Sci. Commun. 163 (2000) 51–59.
Reference to a book:
2. W. Strunk Jr., E.B. White, The Elements of Style, third ed., Macmillan, New York, 1979.
Reference to a chapter in an edited book:
3. G.R. Mettam, L.B. Adams, How to prepare an electronic version of your article, in: B.S. Jones, R.Z. Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the Electronic Age, E-Publishing Inc., New York, 1999, pp. 281–304.

For Patent reference

4. H. Aviv, D. Friedman, A. Bar-Ilan, and M. Vered. Submicron emulsions as ocular drug delivery vehicles, U.S. PatentUS 5496811, 1996.

Dissertations

5. K. P. Lund, Ph.D. Thesis, UCSD, 1992.

Conference Proceedings

6.L.T.Scott, P.-C.Cheng, M. S. Bratcher, Eighth International Symposium on Novel Aromatic Compounds, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, July 19–24, 1992: Abstract No. 64.

Figure legends

Figure legendsshould be typed in numerical order as a separate file in Microsoft Word file. 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.

Figures

1] Each submitted as a separate file and not embedded or incorporated within the text of the manuscript.

2] Numbered consecutively in the order of their initial citation in the text.

3] Referenced within the text.

Example:

“The number of aerial-application events was relatively constant from 1995 to 2000, but the number decreased in 2001 and 2002 (Fig.1).”

4] Digitally created in black and white or gray scale, with 12-point Arial font, wherever possible. Freehand or typewritten lettering is unacceptable.

5] Saved in one of the following acceptable image formats:

✓ DOC, XLS or PPT: If your electronic artwork is created in any of these Microsoft Office applications please supply "as is";

✓ JPEG (created from the original document and saved at a resolution of 300 dpi (dots per inch) and at approximately five inches wide);

or

✓ TIFF (Line Art 900 dpi, Combination (Line Art + Halftone) 900 dpi, Halftone 300 dpi).

6] Figures created in Excel should be submitted in Excel and accompanied by all source data.

7] Unacceptable image formats: BMP (bitmap), GIF images, and PowerPoint files.

8] Written permission for use of previously published figures should be included with the manuscript.

Tables

1] Tablesshould be kept to a minimum and be designed to be as simple as possible.

2] Each submitted as a separate file in Microsoft Word (not as a picture or embedded object within the text) or Excel, depending on the program in which it was created (i.e., if the table was created in Excel, it should be submitted in Excel format).

3] Tables are to be typed double-spaced throughout, including headings and footnotes.

4] Avoid vertical rules. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article.
5] Numbered consecutively in the order of their initial citation in the text.

5] Referenced within the text.

Example:

“Blood lead levels of ≥10 μg/dL were identified in 26 children (Table 2).”

Supplementary Materials (optional)
Supporting information such as extended Tables, spectra, etc. may be published as Supplementary Material at the discretion of the author or upon request by a referee or the Scientific Editor. Supplementary Material should have a title page containing the information containing the information below:
Title of the manuscript;
Author's name(s);
Author's address(es);
Table of Contents with the page numbers of all the data;
All pages must be numbered as S1...
Tables, graphics, figures should be numbered as Table S1 or Scheme S1, or Fig. S1.
Readers will be able to access supporting information using the link "Supplementary Material" in the journal issue contents page.

Submission checklist
It is hoped that this list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal's Editor for review. Ensure that the following items are present:

  • Title (should be short, specific and informative)
  • Authors' full names and affiliations
  • Name of corresponding author along with phone, fax and E-mail information
  • Abstract
  • Keywords (4 to 6)
  • Introduction
  • Materials and methods
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements (if any)
  • Abbreviations (if any)
  • References (double spaced, and following the journal style)
  • Figure legends (separate file in Microsoft Word)
  • Figures (each submitted as a separate file)
  • Tables (each submitted as a separate file in Microsoft Word)
  • Supplementary Materials (optional)

Further considerations

• Is the manuscript in Microsoft Word with double-spaced type, 1-inch

margins, and 12-point Times New Roman font?

• Manuscript has been "spellchecked" and "grammar-checked".

• The pages are numbered.

• The text suitably divided under headings.

• The approximate position of figures and tables should be indicated in the

margin of the text.

• All references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text, and vice versa.
• Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Web).

Author inquiries

For inquiries relating to the submission of articles (including electronic submission where available) please visit this journal's homepage or mail us at or . You can track accepted articles at Contact details for questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those relating to proofs, will be provided by the publisher.