STANDARDS - MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

1 - GENERAL INFORMATION

The Científica : Journal of Agricultural Sciences, ISSN 1984-5529, publishes scientific articles, scientific notes and unpublished literature reviews in Agricultural Sciences: Agronomy, Agricultural Engineering, Forestry, Food Science and Technology, Animal Husbandry and Rural Management - Agribusiness. However, regarding the category Literature Review, the Editorial Board of Científica will invite experts for submissions of manuscripts, which will follow all peer evaluation procedures for publication.

Original manuscripts may be submitted in Portuguese, English or Spanish.

Scientific Article : refers to complete scientific work with original research results.

Scientific Note : brief communication; its immediate publication is justified for being important and unprecedented, but with an insufficient volume to constitute a complete scientific article. Communication of methods, validation of methods, techniques, equipment and developed accessories may also be presented.

Literature Review : aims to present critically, not only descriptively, in the author's point of view, the state of the art of one of the areas or specific subareas of Agricultural Sciences.

The original manuscript of any category may only be submitted online at https://cientifica.dracena.unesp.br/index.php/cientifica and should follow the rules and procedures presented on the page Standards - Manuscript Submission. Click on Rules for Submission and read the rules carefully.

A same manuscript or another that contains the same original data cannot be submitted simultaneously or later to Científica or other journals of any kind under penalty of civil and criminal offense under the Law no. 9,610/98 (Brazilian Copyright Law).

Submitted articles will be evaluated first by the Editorial Board as to scope, format and compliance with writing and submission guidelines by the authors. See instructions in " Standards - Manuscript Submission " in the Científica website. Articles that are not approved by the Editorial Board to proceed to the Editors Section will have their submission/processing canceled and the submission fee will not be refunded.

Along with the online submission of the manuscript, the authors should be attached the following documents:

a) A copy of the proof of deposit of submission and processing fees must be attached (see taxa).

If voucher's copy  is not sent together with the manuscript submission, it must be sent to cientifica19845529@gmail.com and fepisa@fepisa.org.br, as an attachment file.

b) Cover letter (Click here)

c) Declaration of authorship and responsibility (Click here)

d) Declaration of conflict of interest (Click here)

These files should be transferred using the "TRANSFER SUPPLEMENTARY DOCUMENT" option immediately below the "TRANSFER SUBMISSION DOCUMENT" option.

The manuscript submitted and approved for processing will be referred to the Section Editor, which will be responsible for sending it to two expert reviewers with a PhD in the manuscript area, ensuring blind peer review "reviewers-authors and authors-reviewers". The Section Editor will decide to edit the manuscript based on its and "ad hoc" reviewers' analysis. The Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Committee in special cases have the autonomy to review the Section Editor's decision.

The approved manuscripts, obeying the order of approval, will only be published in the online version of the journal on the website https://cientifica.dracena.unesp.br/index.php/cientifica. Articles can be freely accessed.

Each article has an electronic identification number (DOI) generated by Científica and ratified by CrossRef.

The Editorial Board will decide cases not listed in these rules.

Contacts can be made by e-mail: cientifica19845529@gmail.com.

2 - FEES

To access the rates, please click on the "rates".

3 - PREPARATION OF ORIGINALS

The author, upon submitting a manuscript to any of the categories described in GENERAL INFORMATION, automatically agrees that all registered authors agreed with the authorship of the manuscript and therefore with all ideas, opinions and interpretations contained in it; that the information about research financing or connection with people or companies that may have a direct interest in the data presented in the article have not been omitted. The authors recognize that Científica: Journal of Agricultural Sciences becomes the owner of the copyright if the submitted manuscipt is published.

The manuscript submission file must be a ".doc", ".docx" or ".rtf" file (other extensions will not be accepted) compatible with Microsoft Word ® or LibreOffice®, and cannot exceed 2 MB.

The manuscript can be in Portuguese, Spanish or English. If in Spanish or English, the authors must submit a language quality certificate by a company certified to do language proofreading.

The article submitted for evaluation, irrespective of the category, must not include the authors’ names and affiliations. This information must be explained in the "Cover letter" document (see item 4 below).

The inclusion and exclusion of the author(s) is not allowed after the submission of the article. However, the order of authors can be changed with an approval in writing signed by all the authors originally listed in the "front page". The author responsible for the submission of the manuscript must send to the journal (cientifica19845529@gmail.com) a signed authors approval and the new "front page" of the manuscript. The documents will be entered into the electronic journal management system by the Chief Editor.

3.1 - Structure of the work

With the exception of titles, footnotes and tables, the body text, tables and figures should follow the following format: Arial, size 10, paper size A4 (210 mm x 297 mm), continuous numbering of lines and pages, all margins with 2.0 cm and spacing 2.0 between lines.

As the manuscripts will only be published online, there is no limit on the number of pages, encouraging the submission of a better quality scientific manuscript, aiming to avoid the splitting of the article into two or more due to page limit. Thus, the quality of the publication is encouraged, and not prolixity. It should be noted, however, that objectivity and clarity, requirements of scientific writing, must be noted.

Manuscript Category (Scientific Article and Scientific Note).

- Formatting: The category of the manuscript must be inserted in the first line of the first page, above the original title in capital letters, centered, in Arial, size 10, bold. Peers in the category to which the manuscript was submitted will evaluate it. That is, a manuscript originally submitted as "Scientific Article" shall be refused if the reviewers and the Editorial Board deem it a "Scientific Note".

Original title in Portuguese, English or Spanish (article written in one of these languages): it should be clear and concise, allowing a quick identification of the work contents.

- Formatting: two lines below ("Enter" twice) the manuscript category, Arial, size 12, bold, centered, scientific names (if any) written in italics and in accordance with international standards. Only the first letter of the first word is capitalized (capital letters).

Title in English : faithful translation of the title in Portuguese or Spanish if the manuscript is written in one of these languages.

- Formatting: two lines below the title in Portuguese or Spanish ("Enter" twice), or two lines below the article category if the manuscript is written in English, font Arial, size 12, bold, centered, scientific names in italics in accordance with international standards, and only the first letter of the first word is capitalized (capital letters).

Example:

(Manuscript Category) Scientific Article

(Title in the original language) Regression equations for...

 

(Title in English) Regression equations for...

Abstracts (maximum 250 words): the word "Abstract" must be aligned to the left and bold. The abstract text should begin on the same line of the word "abstract", separated from it by a space, a dash and a space. It should contain brief information on the subject and the objective of the research (which should be fully in accordance with the objective presented in the "Introduction"), minimum information on materials and methods (if the authors deem the inclusion of this item relevant), main results and most relevant conclusions.

Additional Keywords : up to five words or terms, excluding those already in the work title, in lowercase letters, in alphabetical order, separated by semicolons.

Abstract : Content of the "abstract" translated into English, following the same standards. The translation must be done in scientific English using technical terms of the Article area, avoiding translations made by commercial software.

Additional keywords : English translation of additional keywords will follow the same rules of Portuguese additional keywords.

Introduction : Digressions should be avoided, using preferably recent and appropriate bibliography to formulate the problems addressed and the justification of the importance of the subject, making the research objectives clear.

Material and Methods : Depending on the nature of the work, a characterization of the experimental area must be added, making the conditions under which the research was conducted clear, without, however, including the name of the Institution, Laboratory, Department etc. or any other citation that enables identifying one or more of the authors.

When already established methods are used, only the reference citation will suffice. Otherwise, a description of the procedures used, adaptations made etc. is required. Used products must be specified by their technical names. Trade names followed by the symbol Ò can be cited in parentheses.

Symbols and units of measure should be adopted and used in accordance with the International System of Units. Mathematical expressions should be written using the equation editor built in Microsoft Word® or LibreOffice® in the same font (Arial) and size (10) of the text. They must start on a separate line, in line with the paragraph of the text, and must be numbered sequentially with Arabic numerals in parentheses and aligned with the right margin of the text, as in the following example:

AF=2,35075+0,52959CL (1)

Where, LA is total leaf area (m2), L is greatest length of the leaf blade (m) and W is the greatest width of the leaf blade (m).

Results and discussion : At the discretion of the authors, they may be displayed together in a single item or separated into two items, one being " Results" and the other "Discussion". The results presented in tables and/or figures should be analyzed and discussed neutrally, clearly, directly and concisely, guided by scientific principles, discussing them and confronting them with established knowledge in the classic literature on the subject, if any, in indexed specialized journals with reviewers. Avoid digressions and inaccuracies that are not supported by the results.

 

Tables and Figures

Figures and/or tables with a landscape orientation will not be accepted. Tables with a great amount of information, which do not fit in portrait page orientation, should be divided into two or more. The maximum width of tables and figures should be that of the text page in portrait orientation. Exceptional cases will be evaluated by the Editorial Board if justified by the authors.

Tables : Charts or tables will always be called "Table".

They must be created and formatted using the "Table" tool of the text editor. Tables inserted as figures will not be accepted. They must be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals, headed by the title and inserted after their citation in the text. Tables should be edited without apparent vertical lines and only with simple horizontal lines, thickness 1.0, in the header and in the final row of the table.

In papers written in Portuguese or Spanish, the title of the table should also be translated into English following the same numbering and structure and inserted in italics after the original title.

Tables should be self-explanatory so that it is not necessary to read the text to understand them completely. The units in the international system must be included under the corresponding item or variable, in brackets, in the table body and not in its title. Any observation in the body of the table necessary to identify an abbreviation or variable must be referenced with superscripts (numbers or symbols) placed before the abbreviation or variable and properly identified and defined in the table footer.

In the table body, the font must be Arial, size 10, spacing 1.0; the footer should be Arial, size 9, spacing 1.0 between lines (see manuscript example).

Figures

Figures (graphs, photographs, diagrams, illustrations etc.) must be placed after their first mention in final size and format for publication (maximum width 16 cm, Arial, size 10). Figures and their captions must be clearly legible, with quality needed for an optimal viewing and printing of all the necessary details. Axles (thickness 1 point) and the numbers and letters of these axes (Arial 10) must be in black (not gray or any other color or shade). Captions and equations that are part of the figure must be in a size legible on the screen of a computer monitor without the manuscript being zoomed in, i.e., 100% zoom.

Figures must be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals and the title should be placed directly below them. All the details needed to understand the Figure, which were not fully identified therein, must be explained in the title. The caption must be located below title of the horizontal axis of the Figure so as not to be confused with it. It should not be within the figure. Equations inserted into the body of the figure must be in the same font (Arial) and must be large enough to be legible on the screen of a computer in a 100% zoom.

Results presented in tables should not be repeated in the figures and vice-versa.

In papers written in Portuguese or Spanish, the titles should also be translated into English and inserted in italics after the original title.

Such as in tables, figures should be self-explanatory ( see manuscript example).

 

Conclusions : Must be consistent with the objectives of the work, concise and not repeat the results. They must not contain abbreviations, symbols and quotes.

 

Acknowledgements (optional): In this item, succinct acknowledgements to people or institutions, other than the authors, that contributed to the study may be made.

References :

It will not be accepted as references:

I) draft articles (in press, pre-print or in press),

ii) articles published in a not refereed journal,

iii) simple, expanded or complete paper abstracts,

iv) undergraduate final papers,

v) non-scientific works or dissemination articles available in any media (magazines, newspapers, internet, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM etc.),

vi) personal information,

vii) unpublished documents, e-mails or private electronic web pages.

Avoid the citation of Dissertations and Theses and citation of citation (secondary citation, apud).

Of the references used in the manuscript, 70% must be scientific articles published in refereed and indexed journals. Of the total of articles, 50% must have been published in less than 10 years.

 

Citations in the text

References should contain the author’s last name, and the year of publication is in parentheses. If occurring in the end of a sentence, both author and year should be in parentheses. Only the first letter of the author is a capital letter.

Examples:

§ 1 author: Souza (2014) or (Souza, 2014),

§ 2 authors: Silva & Santos (2012) or (Silva & Santos, 2012),

§ 3 or more authors: Tavares et al. (2013) or (Tavares et al., 2013).

In the event that a cited author, or group of authors, had two or more papers published in the same year, the reference must be followed by a lower case in alphabetical order both in the text and in the references list.

Examples:

§ Smith (2010a) or (Smith, 2010a); Smith (2010b) or (Smith, 2010b)

§ White (2009a,b) or (White, 2009a,b),

§ Souza & Garcez (2011a) or (Souza & Garcez, 2011a); Souza & Garcez (2011b) or (Souza & Garcez, 2011b),

§ Santibañes et al. (2008a) or (Santibañes et al., 2008a); Santibañes et al. (2008b) or (Santibañes et al., 2008b),

§ Santibañes et al. (2008a,b) or (Santibañes et al., 2008a,b)

Quotes in sequence in the text must be in chronological order (in the references list, in alphabetical order).

Examples:

§ Baker (2008), Costa & Silva (2010), Dantas et al. (2011a,b,c)

or (Baker, 2008, Costa & Silva, 2010, Dantas et al., 2011a,b,c)

 

Presentation of references in the references list:

 

1) Alphabetical order.

2) 70% of the references should be scientific articles published in refereed and indexed journals.

3) 50% of all scientific articles must have been published in less than 10 years.

4) It will not be accepted as references: i) draft articles (in press, pre-print or in press), ii) articles published in a not refereed journal, iii) summary of simple, extended or complete works, iv) undergraduate final papers, v) non-scientific works or dissemination articles available in any media (magazines, newspapers, internet, CD etc.), vi) personal information, vii) unpublished documents, e-mails or private electronic web pages.

5) First, list the authors of the reference starting with the last name followed by the initial letters of the other names. The surname should be separated from the initial letters of the name by a space. The initial letters of the names must have no space between them.

6) Separate an author from another of the reference by commas.

7) After all listed authors, mention the year of publication in parentheses. Authors and year of publication must be separated by a space.

8) After year of publication, there must be a space. The title of the reference ends with a full stop. Then, title of the article (or book or thesis), space, followed by volume, number, and pages. In the case of books and book chapters, after the title of the work, insert the publisher.

9) After the title of the journal, mention, after a space, the volume, issue number in parentheses, followed by a colon and initial and final pages separated by a hyphen.

Examples:

§ Scientific paper

Islam MH, Shaheb MR, Rahman S, Ahmed B, Islamand ATMT, Sarker PC (2010) Curd yield and profitability of broccoli as affected by phosphorus and potassium. International Journal Sustainable Crop Production 5(2):1-7.

§ COM DOI (document objet identifier)

Galvani E (2008) Estudo comparativo dos elementos do balanço hídrico climatológico para duas cidadesdo Estado de São Paulo e para Paris. Confins 4(4):25-31. doi: 10.400/confins.4733

§ BOOK

Faquin V (2005) Nutrição mineral de plantas. UFLA/FAEPE. 51p.

Taiz L, Zeiger E (2010) Plant Physiology. Sinauer Associates. 782p.

§ BOOK CHAPTER (preferable to book as a whole)

Brown B, Aaron M (2001) The politics of nature. In: Smith J (ed) The rise of modern genomics, 3rd edn, Wiley. p.234-295.

Chatterjee C, Dube BK (2004) Nutrient deficiency disorders in vegetables and their management. In: Mukerji KG (ed) Fruit and vegetable diseases, Springer. p.145-163.

§ DISSERTATION OR THESIS

Purquerio LFV (2005) Crescimento, produção e qualidade de rúcula ( Erucasativa Miller) em função do nitrogênio e da densidade de plantio. Unesp (PhD thesis in Agronomy).

§ INTERNET

Sharpley AN, Daniel T, Sims T, Lemunyon J, Stevens R, Parry, R (2003)Agricultural phosphorus and eutrophication. 38p. 2nd ed, Agricultural Research Service, Available at<http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/Phos&Eutro2/agphoseutro2ed.pdf> (accessed Jan. 2012).

CEPEA (2010) Laboratório de informação. Available at: <http:// www.cepea.esalq.usp.br/rrs.php > (Access on Nov 10, 2010).

4 - COVER LETTER

A cover letter should be sent as a supplementary document in a ".doc" or ".rtf" file (for example "cover.doc") using the "transfer supplementary documents" option.

In this page, the category of the manuscript, the title in the original language and the title in English should be included (formatted as described in "3.1 - Structure of the work"), the name of the authors in the order they appear in the article upon its publication, according to the following procedures:

Complete name of authors : each in a separated line, the first name two lines below the title in English ("Enter" key twice), with the initial letters of the first name and the last name in uppercase (capital letters), aligned to the right. Each author's last name must be followed by a superscript number in Arabic numerals, for example: Monica Bernardo Neves2, Ricardo Soares Pimenta3 etc.

Academic title, institution and an definitive e-mail of each author : one line below the line with the names, each author or group of authors of the same academic title (if any) and institution must be clearly stated at: one fixed space (keys "Shift" + "Ctrl" and "Space") after the number in superscript Arabic numerals at the beginning of the line, corresponding to the number at the end of the author's last name. Each identification with the corresponding number of the author should be on a new line. Among the authors, the author responsible for submission should be identified as " Corresponding author", which should come after the superscript identification number. This is the author, whom the Editor or the Editorial Board will contact. The identification of the "Corresponding author" should be followed by the title, full name of the institution, of the Department, Section or Laboratory etc. to which the author belongs, the full address of the institution and the e-mail address of this author (do not use a temporary e-mail address).

The identification of other authors consist only of title, full name of the institution and e-mail address. Click here

5 - Declaration of authorship and responsibility (Click here)

6 - Declaration of conflict of interest (Click here)