Manuscript Structure
updated on 09th February 2017
1. Manuscript Outline
All figures and tables are to be included within a single file, placed before the reference section. Additional data files (e.g. figures, tables) that contain information directly supportive to the document can be accepted as supplementary files. Supplementary files are published exactly as provided, and are not copyedited. Notes to the editor are to be submitted using the designated text box during the submission process and not as supplementary files.
The language of the journal is English. The manuscript should be submitted as a PDF or Microsoft Word compatible document (.doc, .docx, .rtf) using, for example, Times New Roman, 12 pt with 1.5 line spacing. Please make use of line numbering for easier correspondence with the reviewers.
The manuscript should comprise the following parts in this order: Summary, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgements, References.
The name of the participating research facility or institution should be given at the head of the first page, followed by the title and short title of the manuscript and the name(s) of the author(s). The summary should be self-contained and makes no use of citations. It should not exceed 200 words.
Acknowledgments (if applicable) must be included before the references section and may include supporting grants. The complete postal address of the author(s) should be given after the references section at the end of the paper.
1.1 Introduction
The introduction should be written in a concise form. Do not use subheadings. Important findings relevant for the manuscript as well as the scientific background should be described and the relevant publications should be cited. Please limit the introduction to what is necessary for the reader to understand the topic and your objective. Do not try to list as much literature as possible.
1.2 Materials and Methods
Materials and methods have to be described in a precise manner so that the reader can reproduce the experiments. Details on statistical analyses including number of replicates, statistical testing procedures, and, if applicable, methods of randomization and reasons for exclusion of data or subjects from the study, are to be included. If several methods are described, the use of subsections is recommended.
1.3 "Results" and "Discussion"
The sections “Results” and “Discussion” may each be divided by subheadings or may be combined. The discussion should not be a simple repetition of the results or the introduction. Instead, a critical reflection of the findings and comparison to previously published studies is expected. The novelty of the work and the additional value for the scientific field should be demonstrated. At the end of the manuscript, the main conclusions of the work should explain its importance and relevance.
1.4 Nomenclature
Generally, scientific names of plants and animals should be italicized. Units should be presented using System International (SI) units.
1.5 Tables and Figures
Not all numerical data must be presented in tables. Data comprising of only few data points or 'yes/no' or '+/-' data types as well as overviews over experimental conditions and data with only one variable are best presented in written form in the results section.
Tables should be labeled with a descriptive title and should be cited in the text consecutively. Units should be included in the column heading, abbreviations or symbols (asterisks, superscript letters, …) used in the table should be explained in a caption below.
If results of a statistical analysis are included, please provide information on number of replicates, type of test, significance level and so on. Tables can be printed one or two columns wide (87mm or 180mm) in the final article.
All figures and pictures have to be original work by the authors. In case you want to include a picture from another source, please provide written permission from the copyright holder. Please be aware, that you might no longer hold the copyright on your own pictures if you have published them previously in another journal. Figures should be supplied in either vector art formats (EPS, WMF, FreeHand, CorelDraw, etc.) or bitmap formats (TIFF, GIF, JPEG, etc.). Bitmap images should be at least of 300 dpi resolution; one column width is 87mm, two-column width is 180mm. Please check if all important details are recognizable if your picture is scaled to these sizes and choose the appropriate width. If a bitmap image has labels, the image and labels should be embedded in separate layers. There is no fee for color pictures. Should you decide to color your diagrams, please keep in mind that not all readers might print them in color. Also remember that about 9% of the male population suffers from red-green-blindness. Refrain from using 3D diagrams or pie charts.
1.6 References
The authors are solely responsible for completeness and accuracy of the cited references. A standard article should contain no more than 40 references. Focus on the most important and relevant literature and data.
Please have a look at an article from the current issue of the JABFQ for formatting of in-text citations and the style of the reference list. Journal names are to be abbreviated according to the ISI journal abbreviation index. Author and editor names have to be written in small capitals and not in upper- or lowercase capitals! If available, each reference in the reference list should be provided with a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). If you cite research data, please refer to them as same as to articles with respect to both in-text citation and style of the reference list. The necessary items of a data citation are author/creator, year, title, publisher/distributor, DOI and, if present, data type and version. If not visible or obvious, please use the DOI citation formatter to identify the necessary items for a citation.
EndNote users may download the JABFQ citation style file here. To achieve the correct style, your EndNote library must contain abbreviated journal titles.
Journal articles:
SCHÜTZENDÜBEL, A., SCHWANZ, P., TEICHMANN, T., GROSS, K., LANGENFELD-HEYSER, R., GODBOLD, D.L., POLLE, A., 2001: Cadmium-induced changes in antioxidative systems, hydrogen peroxide content, and differentiation in scots pine roots. Plant Physiol. 127, 87-898. doi: 10.1104/pp.127.3.887.
Books:
AOCS, 1998: Official methods and recommended practices of the American Oil Chemists Society. Methods 5th ed. Champaign, IL, USA: AOCS Press.
Research data:
OLIVEIRA, I., PINTO, T., FARIA, M., BACELAR, E., FERREIRA, H., CORREIA, C., GONÇALVES, B., 2017: Correlations between morphological and biochemical characteristics of five common medicinal and aromatic plants. Data from OLIVEIRA, I., PINTO, T., FARIA, M., BACELAR, E., FERREIRA, H., CORREIA, C., GONÇALVES, B., 2017: Morphometrics and chemometrics as tools for medicinal and aromatic plants characterization. J. Appl. Bot. Food Qual. 90, 31-42. doi: 10.5073/JABFQ.2017.090.006 . OpenAgrar – Repository, doi:10.5073/openagrar.2017.000001
Web page:
EFSA, 2015: Neonicotinoids: foliar spray uses confirmed as a risk to bees. Retrieved 3rd February 2016, from http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/150826.
2 Data availability and deposition
An inherent principle of publication is that others should be able to replicate and build upon the authors' published claims. JABFQ strongly recommend authors to deposit all data and related metadata underlying the findings reported in a submitted manuscript in an appropriate public repository. The repository may be either general (e.g. Dryad, Zenodo) or subject-specific. JABFQ works close together with OpenAgrar, a subject-specific repository for agricultural research, which publishes and deposits the data without further costs. In OpenAgrar the article and data publication are bi-directional linked and to both a DOI is assigned making them citable, accessible and discoverable. Authors interested in depositing their data in the OpenAgrar repository can contact ulrike.stahl@julius-kuehn.de for further information. JABFQ defines the “underlying data” as the data set used to reach the conclusions drawn in the manuscript with related metadata and methods, and any additional data required to replicate the reported study findings in their entirety. Whether processed or raw data should be published depends on how the standard is to share data in the field.