Submission Template

Manuscript Formatting Guide

To follow the Forest and Nature guideline for manuscript preparation, authors are encouraged to use the downloadable article template document (click the above "Article Template" image). Replace the title and other contents of the downloaded template document with your title and content. When pasting, please use a paste special/unformatted sequence so that your copying does not introduce unintended changes in fonts, margins, or various auto-format settings of the software. Within the text of the template, you will find further author instructions. The following is a summary:

File types: The article should be submitted in MS Word format. Other word processing applications are not accepted.

Format: All submissions should be typed on A4 paper with Times New Roman font, following the article template.

Language: The article should be written in English.

Title: The title should identify the main issue of the paper. It should be accurate, unambiguous, specific, and comprehensive. The length of the title is recommended to not exceed fifteen words.

Author’s Name and Affiliations

Author(s) names should be written in the order of First, Middle, and Last names without title and professional positions such as Prof, Dr, Production Manager, etc. Affiliation of all authors should be written clearly, including the name of department/unit, faculty, name of university, address, and country. Corresponding Author should be indicated behind the name and should provide e-mail and/or phone number for correspondence.

Abstract: Writing an abstract means to extract and summarize (AB - absolutely, STR - straightforward, ACT - actual data presentation and interpretation). The authors should structure the abstract following the IMRaD (Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion) principle. Make sure your abstract is clear, concise and follows all rules. Show your draft to colleagues for critique, and if you are not a native English speaker show it to a person who can improve/correct your text. The abstract must begin with a brief introduction to the problem. This should generally be followed by explanation regarding the methodology. Methods should describe the study design and tools of data acquisition shortly, not data. The explanation of the results and discussion should be brief. Provide data that answer the research question. Describe most important data with numbers and statistics. Make your point with data, not speculations and opinions. Abbreviations should be avoided and only be used after they have been spelled out or defined. The abstract should end with a comment on the significance of the results or a brief conclusion based on the present study findings. Common mistakes include failure to state the hypothesis, rationale for the study, sample size and conclusions. Highlight the novelty of your work by carefully chosen straightforward wording. The abstract should be written in 9 pt Times New Roman, preferably 250-300 words.

Introduction: The introduction should cover the background, importance, and objectives of the study. It should be sufficient, well-argued, and backed by available references relevant to the study.

Materials and Methods: The Materials and Methods section describes the materials used in the research and the steps taken to execute the study. A brief justification for the method used is also provided, allowing readers to evaluate the appropriateness of the method, its reliability, and the validity of the results.

Results and Discussion (Separation or combination of Results and Discussion section is accepted): Results should be presented clearly and concisely. The results should summarize (scientific) findings rather than providing data in detail. Authors are encouraged to use figures or tables, whichever are the most appropriate, to elucidate the research findings. The discussion should focus on the significance of the work's results, rather than merely repeating them. Separation or combination of the Results and Discussion sections is accepted.

Tables and Figures

All figures and tables should be cited in the main text as Fig. 1, Table 1, etc. Figures and tables should be placed near the location where they are first mentioned in the text. Table titles should be written above the tables, while figure titles are below the figures. Tables should be written without a vertical line in the table. There should only be a horizontal line shown within the table. All figures should be cited in the paper in consecutive order. Images should have a resolution of at least 300 dpi, unless the resolution is intentionally set to a lower level for scientific reasons.

Units, Abbreviations, and Symbols

SI units (metric units) should be used throughout, always be written in roman and separated from the numerical value by a space. Define abbreviations and symbols for the first time as they are introduced in the text.

Conclusions: The conclusions should answer the research objectives. Conclusions should not merely repeat the abstract or list experimental results. The author should provide a clear scientific justification for the study and indicate possible applications and extensions. Authors are also encouraged to suggest future works and/or policy implications.

Acknowledgments: Recognize those who helped in the research, especially funding supporters of your research. Include individuals who have assisted you in your study: Advisors, Financial supporters, or other supporters, i.e., Proofreaders, Typists, and Suppliers who may have given materials.

References: All published works referred to in the text should be presented in a list of references and arranged alphabetically by the author without serial numbering. The author-year system is used in the text. Use the list of periodicals indexed in abstracts for the abbreviation of journal names: If there is any doubt, give the full name of the periodical. They should be referred to in the text by the name(s) of the first author and the year of publication in parentheses, using the following format: (Jordano and Godoy, 2002) or Jordano and Godoy (2002). Use the first author's name and "et al." when there are more than two authors. The order for references within parentheses in the text should be typed starting from the oldest year (Cobo et al., 2002; Kwabiah et al., 2003; Lupwayi et al., 2005). If the references have the same year, place them alphabetically. For works by the same author(s) in the same year, append a lowercase a, b, c, etc. to the year of publication. At least 80% of the cited references shall be from scientific journals, and recent references (published within the last 5 years) are strongly encouraged.