Instruction for Authors

The authors are cordially invited to submit significant new findings of their research work papers in a word document to the journal office via online submission or e-mail: [email protected]  along with a cover letter. The journal will cover the topics related to the field of Zoology and Applied Biosciences.

The editorial board of IJZAB welcomes high-quality research papers, short communications, and reviews in word format. By submission of a manuscript, an author certifies that the work is original and is not being considered simultaneously by other journals. All articles are subjected to double-blind peer review.

Software and format: Manuscripts should be prepared in English using a word processor. MS Word for Windows and .doc files are preferred. Manuscripts may be prepared with other software provided that the full document (with figures, schemes, and tables inserted into the text) is exported to an MS Word format for submission. Name each file with the corresponding author. Papers should be double-spaced with ample margin. The Times New Roman font (12 pt) is preferred.

Paper format Regular articles: Regular papers 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. Papers should be written in a clear, concise language (English). Although variations in accord with the contents of a manuscript are permissible, in general, all papers should have the following sections: Title, Author(s) with address, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results (with Table and Figures), Discussion, Conclusions, Acknowledgments, and References. IJZAB model paper template file may be downloaded here (download here).

1. Title of the paper: The title must be concise, comprehensive and informative. It should not exceed 150 characters (20 words) including spaces.  Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.

2. Name of the author(s) with initials and the name and address of the institution where the work was done must be given. The present address (es) of the author(s) may be given if they are different from the above. Provide e-mail address and mobile number of the corresponding author so that immediate communication with the editor is possible. This e-mail address and mobile number also appear on the first page of the printed article.

3. Abstracts: All papers must have an abstract, not more than 250 words of clear, informative and giving significant objectives, methodology, results and conclusion in the paper. Presentation of numerical results should be avoided as far as possible in the abstract. 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.

4. Keywords: Between 4 and 6 keywords must be provided for the purpose of indexing and information retrieval. Keywords should not repeat the words of the manuscript title. It should be written in alphabetical order.

5. Text: The paper must be divided into sections and subheadings starting preferably with Introduction and ending with Conclusion followed by Acknowledgement and References.

All papers cited in the text, tables, and figures must be included in the references. Check the details of papers given in the references section should be cited in the text. The authors should monitor references at all phases of manuscript preparation. References in the text should be cited by author and year. Single author: Amsath (2002) or (Amsath, 2002). Two authors: Kalaiyarasan and Amsath, (2015) or Kalaiyarasan and Amsath, 2015. More than two authors: Govindarajan et al. (2012) or (Govindarajan et al., 2012). In the event that an author cited has had two or more works published during the same year, the reference, both in the text and in the reference list, should be identified by a lower case letter like 'a' and 'b' after the date to distinguish the works.

6. Introduction: The Introduction should state the purpose of the investigation. It should introduce the clear statement of research problem that the study was designed to address its significance with the relevant literature on the subject and the proposed approach or solution. What gap is the current study designed to fill? In other words, the introduction should provide the information for the reader that he/she will need in order to understand and appreciate the science you will report on later in the article.

7. Materials and methods: The period and location of the research carried out must be mentioned in this section. This section should include sufficient technical information to allow the experiments to be performed. Previously published procedures should be cited and the relevant literature should be provided in the citation. The important modifications of published procedures should be mentioned briefly. Subheadings should be used. Methods in general use need not be described in detail. It should include clear descriptions and explanations of sampling procedures, experimental design, and essential sample characteristics and descriptive statistics, the hypothesis tested, etc. Capitalize trade names and include the manufacturer's name and address. All the data should be applied with statistics.

Statement of human and animal rights: If the manuscript reports on work conducted on vertebrate animals, the appropriate institutional approval number should be listed in this section of the text. When reporting experiments on animals, authors should be asked to indicate whether the institutional and national guide for the care and use of laboratory animals was followed. When reporting experiments on human subjects, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975 (revised in 2000).

Identification: It is particularly important that the authors get their biological specimen authentically identified and quote at least once, on its first citation in the paper, the technical name of the species concerned in full preceded by its popular name where possible, e.g. The water bug Sphaerodema rusticum (Fabricius).

8. Results: The Results section should describe the outcome of the study with clarity and precision. Data should be presented as concisely as possible - if appropriate in the form of tables or figures, although very large tables should be avoided. This section can include subheadings. The results should be written in the past tense when describing findings in the author(s)'s experiments. Previously published findings should be written in the present tense. 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. The data should be arranged in a unified and coherent sequence so that the report is developed clearly and logically. The same data should not be presented both in tabular and graphic forms, which should be numerically (Arabic numerals as 1, 2, etc.) cited in the text and interpreted. Only such tables and figures as are necessary should be given. The statistical significance of the biological data must be included where relevant. Interpretation of the data should be taken up under discussion; in some cases, however, it may be desirable to combine the results and discussion in a single section. Whenever possible use figures rather than tables as it is much easier to see trends in a graphical presentation of data. If you do use figures and tables each of these must be titled descriptively. 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.

Tables:  The tables should be kept to a minimum and be designed to be as simple as possible. It is necessary to use the full width of the page.  Each table should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals and supplied with a heading and a legend. The title should be placed at the top. Provide a heading at the top and footnotes at the bottom of each table. It must be a precise description so that the table is understandable without reading the text of the manuscript.

Explanatory information and experimental conditions should be given as a note at the bottom. Tables should be self-explanatory without reference to the text. The same data should not be presented in both table and graph form or repeated in the text. Tables should be prepared in Microsoft Word.

Figures: Illustrations must be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals. They should be cited in the text as Figure 1, Figure 2, and so on. Provide a title with a legend at the bottom of each illustration. It must be precise 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. Graphics should be prepared using applications capable of generating high resolution (300 dpi) JPEG before pasting in the Microsoft Word manuscript file. Be sure that each table or figure caption is headed as Table 1 or Figure 1. Both figures and tables must be cited in the text. Table or Figure should appear soon after the citation in the text or if it is too large at the end of the Result section.

9. Discussion: The discussion should interpret the significance of the important findings and their significance in view of the results obtained in this and in past studies on this topic by other authors. This should not be a reiteration of the introduction. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.

10. Conclusion: Highlight the significance of the important findings (discoveries) and their values of the research in the conclusion in a few sentences at the end of the paper.

Conflict of Interest Statement: Authors must indicate whether or not they have a financial relationship with the organization that sponsored the research. Examples of potential sources of bias include affiliations, funding sources, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations that may constitute conflicts of interest. These statements should be provided by the corresponding author on behalf of all authors when submitting the manuscript.

11. Acknowledgment: This section is used to acknowledge technical assistance and advice received for the work being published must be indicated in the Acknowledgments section. The contributions of institution authorities who provided the facilities to carry out the research work or source of any financial support received from the funding agencies by the principal investigator to authorship should be addressed briefly.

12. References:  While preparing the research papers, the corresponding author is requested to cite the references in the text using the most popular reference management software products such as Mendeley, Zotero, EndNote, etc. Using the word processor plug-ins from these products, authors only need to select the appropriate journal template when preparing their article, after which citations and bibliographies will be automatically formatted in the journal's (APA) style as given below. 

Amsath, A. (1999). Studies on the female accessory reproductive glands and behavioural strategies of the water bug, Sphaerodema rusticum: A potential predator of mosquito larvae. Ph.D. Thesis, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India.

Amsath, A. (2002). Studies on predatory efficiency of the water stick insect, Ranatra filliformis on mosquito larva, Culex fatigans. Journal of Experimental Zoology, 6, 93-98.

Aryal, M. (2010). Slowly, vulture numbers picking up. http://ipsnews.net,  Downloaded 14^th June 2013.

De Wilde, J. (1964). Reproduction. In: The Physiology of Insecta (Ed. M. Rockstein). Vol. I, Academic Press, New York, 18-58.

Govindarajan, M., Sivakumar, R.,  Amsath, A., & Niraimathi, S. (2012). Larvicidal efficacy of botanical extracts against Culex tritaeniorhynchus Giles and Anopheles subpictus Grassi (Diptera: Culicidae). European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences, 16, 386-392.

Kalaiyarasan, S., & Amsath, A. (2015).  Ultrastructure of scent glands of soft-furred field rat Millardia meltada  (Gray, 1837): An attempt for effective rodent pest management. International Journal of Pure and Applied Zoology, 3(3), 251-258.

Nicolas, V.,  Mataame, A.,  Crochet, P.,  Geniez, P.,  & Ohler, A. (2015). Phylogeographic patterns in North African water frog Pelophylax saharicus (Anura: Ranidae). Journal of Zoological Systamatics Evolutionary Research, 53(3), 239-248. doi: 10.1111/jzs.12094.

Oser, B.L. (1976).  Hawk's Physiological Chemistry.  Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Co. Ltd., New Delhi, 1-1472.

Smith, A.B. (1995a). The rise in blood glucose during hibernation of the golden headed plover Dickus birdus. Journal of Avian Metabolism, 20, 19-21. 

Smith, A.B. (1995b). The fall in blood glucose during hibernation of the golden headed plover Dickus birdus. Journal of Avian Metabolism, 20, 22-23.

SPSS, (1998). SPSS for Windows. SPSS Inc., Headquarters, Chicago.

World Health Organization, 2007. World Health Statistics Report.  http://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/whostat2007.pdf. 

The list of references must contain only items cited in the text. References should be listed at the end of the paper in alphabetical order. Articles in preparation or articles submitted for publication, unpublished observations, personal communications, etc. should not be included in the reference list. Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy of the references. 

If you use reference management software, please ensure that you remove all field codes before submitting the electronic manuscript. The author cited all the reference should be given in the References section and the entire references link to the full manuscript. 

Peer review: All papers are subject to double-blind peer review. Authors are requested to suggest at least 2 independent reviewers with appropriate technical expertise in the field of research work although the editor may not necessarily approach them. Their affiliation and e-mail address (mobile number) should be provided as fully as possible. However, the IJZAB has an identified panel of reviewers and may designate other reviewers based on the topic of a paper required.

Brief checklist for submission

1. Have you provided a Title Page?
2. Have you provided *corresponding author communication address email id and mobile number information at the end of the paper?
3. Have you provided an Abstract of 250 words?
4. Are your Tables denoted by Arabic numerals, and are they in order as cited in the text?
5. Are your Figures denoted by Arabic numerals, and are they in order as cited in the text?
6. Have all your Figures been submitted text files or JPEG or files?
7. Are your References cited in the required format of the Journal?
8. Is an institutional approval number provided for the mammalian animal used for the experiment?
9. Have you obtained permission and submitted documentation for all Personal Communications cited?

Reviews: Submissions of reviews and perspectives covering topics of current interest are welcome and encouraged. Reviews should be concise and no longer than 5-10 printed pages (about 10 to 20 manuscript pages)

We shall try our best to complete the review process within 10 days from the date of submission. The article processing charge is mandatory for all articles. In order to preserve the high quality of this journal, the Editorial Board may wish to set some rules from time to time.

Review articles are an attempt by one or more authors, to sum up, the current state of the research on a particular topic. Ideally, the author searches for everything relevant to the topic and then sorts it all out into a coherent view of the state of the art as it now stands. Review Articles should inform about:

• The main researchers working in a field
• Recent major advances and discoveries
• Significant gaps in the research
• Current debates
• Future directions

Reviews are also peer-reviewed.

Short Communications: Short Communication is suitable for recording the results of complete small investigations or giving details of new models or hypotheses, innovative methods, techniques, or apparatus. The style of the main sections need not conform to that of full-length paper. Short communications are 2 to 4 printed pages in (about 5 to 10 manuscript pages) length. They are limited to a maximum of two figures and one table. They should present a complete study that is more limited in scope than is found in full-length papers. The items of manuscript preparation listed above apply to Short Communications with the following differences: (1) Abstracts are limited to 100 words; (2) instead of a separate Materials and Methods section, experimental procedures may be incorporated into Figure Legends and Table footnotes; (3) Results and Discussion should be combined into a single section.

Submission

All contacts shall be by e-mail. All the authors should have an e-mail id. The manuscript should be submitted preferably by our online manuscript submission centre through the website Login (http://www.ijzab.com).  If you are unable to submit your paper through online submission, kindly send it to [email protected].

The Editorial Board reserves the right to make changes if necessary to improve the quality and format of the paper.

Review Process

The IJZAB shall not accept or publish manuscripts in its online journals without prior peer review. There shall be a double-blind review process for each manuscript. Reviewers are unaware of the identity of the authors, and authors are also unaware of the identity of reviewers. There are at least three or more reviewers for the total number of articles in each issue. Editors of IJZAB shall follow the review process which shall be clearly defined. The referees shall treat the contents of papers under review as privileged information not to be disclosed to others before publication. The editor evaluates the recommendation and notifies the author of the manuscript status. The manuscript may be:

• Accepted as it is
• Accepted after minor revision
• Accepted after major revision
• Rejected

The comments of the anonymous reviewers will be forwarded to the authors, and when the authors are ready to submit their revised manuscript, read the comments of the editors and reviewers, and respond to them by telling what modifications they have made in their manuscript or why they have not made the suggested changes.

Decisions will be made as rapidly as possible, and the journal strives to return reviewers' comments to authors within a week. The editorial board will re-review manuscripts that are accepted pending revision. The goal of IJZAB is to publish manuscripts within a month of submission.

NOTE: If minor revision is required, authors should return a revised version as soon as possible within 3 days. If major revision is required, authors should return a revised version within a week.

Paper Acceptance: The final decision on publication is made by the Editor-in-Chief upon the recommendation of Editorial Board Members. If the manuscript is accepted for publication in IJZAB, it must not be published in any periodical elsewhere.

Proofs and Reprints: Electronic galley proof will be sent (e-mail attachment) to the corresponding author as a PDF file and a word.doc. Corrections should be restricted to typesetting errors. Authors are advised to check their proofs very carefully before return and inclusion of late revision should be avoided. The corrected proof word document should be returned to the editorial board within a week. The authors are responsible for the contents that appeared in their published manuscripts.

Page proofs are considered to be the final version of the manuscript. The Editorial Board reserves the right to make changes like typographical or minor clerical errors if necessary in the research articles. No changes will be made to the manuscript at the proof stage. 

Plagiarism 

The anti-plagiarism software is employed to check the originality of an article. The submitted manuscript is checked for plagiarism before starting the review process. An article plagiarized more than 10% is immediately informed to the author. The communication author will be contacted for an explanation. If the author expresses ignorance or unawareness, the Editors may allow re-submission and the authors are warned as to the seriousness of plagiarism. However, the author is advised to provide proper citations for the referenced sources and resubmit the manuscript for publication without plagiarism. 

IJZAB shall take serious action against published manuscripts found to contain plagiarism and shall completely remove them from the IJZAB website and other third-party websites, where the paper is listed and indexed. 

Authors submitting to the “International Journal of Zoology and Applied Biosciences” sign the author form stating, among others, that this work is original and has not previously been published in full or substantial part thereof and, that no part of the article has been plagiarized from other published material.

Disclaimer: Articles on IJZAB have been reviewed and authenticated by the Authors before sending the publication for print. The journal Editor-in-Chief and the editorial board are not entitled or liable to either justify or be responsible for inaccurate and misleading data if any. The authors are solely responsible for the contents that appeared in their published manuscripts.

Authors will have free electronic access to the full text (PDF) of the article. Authors can freely download the PDF file from which they can print unlimited copies of their articles.

Copyright: Each manuscript must be accompanied by a statement in a covering letter that it has been neither published nor submitted for publication (except thesis), in whole or in part, either in a serial, professional journal or as a part in a book which is formally published and made available to the public. For the mutual benefit and protection of authors and publishers, it is necessary that the authors agree to automatic transfer of the copyright Form (download here) to the publisher before publication of the work. The soft copy should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief’s email id: [email protected]. 

Publication fee

International Journal of Zoology and Applied Biosciences (IJZAB) doesn't charge for article submission fee from the authors. In case of acceptance, an Article Processing Fee will be charged to cover the journal Maintenance, Registration, Indexing, Infrastructures and Editorial expenses. It will be paid by the corresponding author upon acceptance of the research paper for publication in accordance with the following criteria:

*The Journal has the provision to provide a waiver of up to 50% of article processing charges for the authors who have genuine reasons and for the authors who belong to underdeveloped countries. Authors, please note that the request for waiver or discount has to be made at the time of submission of the manuscript.

There are no charges for the rejected article, and no surcharges based on the figures or supplementary data.

Published papers appear electronically and are freely available on our website to download and print. After Publication, the corresponding author will receive a soft copy of the Reprint. A soft copy of the Publication Certificate will be sent to the requested author.