For Authors

Manuscript Formatting Guide
This guide describes how to prepare contributions for submission. We recommend you read this in full if you have not previously submitted a contribution to Science International. We also recommend that, before submission, you familiarize yourself with Science International's style and content by reading the journal, either in print or online, particularly if you did not submit to the journal recently.

Manuscript not formatted according to the Science International style will simply be returned

Outlines


General
Science International is a multidisciplinary journal dedicated to publishing high-quality research in all areas of the biological, physical and chemical sciences. Papers published by the journal represent important advances of significance to specialists within each field.

Science International is committed to providing an efficient service for both authors and readers, and exists to facilitate the rapid peer review and publication of research. With the support of an external Editorial Board and a streamlined peer-review system, all papers are rapidly and fairly peer reviewed to ensure they are technically sound. An internal publishing team works with the board, and accepted authors, to ensure manuscripts are processed for publication as quickly as possible.

Rapid dissemination of accepted papers to the widest possible audience is achieved through a program of continuous online publication.

Submission of a paper
Science International only accepts online submission. Click here to access the Online Manuscript Submission System. Simple on-screen instructions are provided. If you experience problems with the online submission system, send an email to editor@scienceinternational.comDo not send your manuscript to that email address, it will be ignored.

Conflicts of interest
Will be mentioned in the manuscript as "Authors declared they have no conflicts of interest".


Organization of a full-length research paper

Download the journal manuscript template.

Maximum length: 4000 words in main text (i.e., excluding abstract, references, legends, tables and figures), 4 tables/figures maximum, and a structured abstract of 250 words plus up to 50 references.

Title page – This page should state: a) The title of the paper (includes the study design if appropriate; for example: A versus B in the treatment of C: a randomized controlled trial; X is a risk factor for Y: a case control study), b) Authors' names (full name – no qualification. Strictly follow this order: First Name, Middle name (if ever), Last Name. e.g: Paul Kevin Akuna), c) institution(s) of origin, d) Corresponding author plus his/her address, telephone and fax number, e-mail address, e) Word count (for both abstract and the main text)

Abstract - The abstract of the manuscript should not exceed 250 words and must be structured into separate sections: Background: the context and purpose of the study; Methods: how the study was performed and statistical tests used; Results: the main findings; Conclusion: brief summary and potential implications. Please minimize the use of abbreviations and do not cite references in the abstract.

Keywords. Up to ten keywords (suitable for indexing purpose) should be provided at the end of the Abstract.

Introduction  - The introduction should:

  • Provide some background to put the manuscript into context and allow readers outside the field to understand the purpose and significance of the study
  • Define the problem addressed and why it is important
  • Include a brief review of the key literature
  • Note any relevant controversies or disagreements in the field
  • Conclude with a brief statement of the overall aim of the work and a comment about whether that aim was achieved

Materials and Methods Sufficient information should be given to permit repetition of the experimental work. This should include the design of the study, the setting, the type of participants or materials involved, a clear description of all interventions and comparisons, and the type of analysis used, including a power calculation if appropriate.

Results, Discussion, and ConclusionsThese sections may all be separate, or may be combined to create a mixed Result/Discussion section (commonly labeled "Results and Discussion") or a mixed Discussion/Conclusions section (commonly labeled "Discussion"). These sections may be further divided into subsections, each with a concise subheading, as appropriate. These sections have no word limit, but the language should be clear and concise.

Together, these sections should describe the results of the experiments, the interpretation of these results, and the conclusions that can be drawn. Authors should explain how the results relate to the hypothesis presented as the basis of the study and provide a succinct explanation of the implications of the findings, particularly in relation to previous related studies and potential future directions for research.

Acknowledgements - Please acknowledge anyone who contributed towards the study by making substantial contributions to conception, design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, or who was involved in drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content, but who does not meet the criteria for authorship. Please also include their source(s) of funding. Please also acknowledge anyone who contributed materials essential for the study. The role of a medical writer must be included in the acknowledgements section, including their source(s) of funding. Authors should obtain permission to acknowledge from all those mentioned in the Acknowledgements. Please list the source(s) of funding for the study, for each author, and for the manuscript preparation in the acknowledgements section. Authors must describe the role of the funding body, if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; and in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Competing interest - Authors are responsible for recognizing and disclosing conflicts of interest that might bias their work. They should acknowledge in the manuscript all financial support for the work and other personal connections. Authors are required to complete a declaration of competing interests. All competing interests that are declared will be listed at the end of published articles. Where an author gives no competing interests, the listing will read 'The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests'. When completing your declaration, please consider the following questions:

Financial competing interests

  • In the past five years have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future? Is such an organization financing this manuscript (including the article-processing charge)? If so, please specify.
  • Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organization that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future? If so, please specify
  • Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents relating to the content of the manuscript? Have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that holds or has applied for patents relating to the content of the manuscript? If so, please specify.
  • Do you have any other financial competing interests? If so, please specify.

Nonfinancial competing interests

  • Are there any non-financial competing interests (political, personal, religious, ideological, academic, intellectual, commercial or any other) to declare in relation to this manuscript? If so, please specify.
  • If you are unsure as to whether you, or one your co-authors, has a competing interest please discuss it with the editorial office.

Author contributions
Science International bases its criteria for authorship on those outlined by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), summarized below:

Authors should meet conditions 1, 2, and 3 below to be assigned credit for authorship:

  • Substantial contributions to conception and design of the work, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data
  • Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and final approval of the version to be published.

References
Only published or accepted manuscripts should be included in the reference list. 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 as “unpublished data.” All “personal communications” citations should be supported by a letter from the relevant authors.

Style information:

  • Science International uses the numbered citation (citation-sequence) method and mention all the authors in reference list.
  • References are listed and numbered in the order that they appear in the text.
  • References must be cited in the text in superscript digits at end of sentence or paragraph before punctuation or full stop1. In case of two or more references, separate the superscript digits by comma1,3,7. Moreover, if there is more than one reference of the same author and the same year, they should be indicated with letters2a,b,c. If there are more references but in continuous numbers then use dash between superscript digits2-6.
  • The parts of the manuscript should be in the correct order before ordering the citations: body, boxes, figure captions, tables, and supporting information captions.
  • Abstracts and author summaries may not contain citations.

Because all references will be linked electronically as much as possible to the papers they cite, proper formatting of the references is crucial. For convenience, a number of reference software companies supply PLOS style files (e.g., Reference Manager [http://www.refman.com/rmhome.asp], EndNote [http://www.endnote.com/]).

Published Papers
1. Hou WR, Hou YL, Wu GF, Song Y, Su XL, et al., 2011 cDNA, genomic sequence cloning and overexpression of ribosomal protein gene L9 (rpL9) of the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). Genet Mol Res 10: 1576-1588.

Note: Use of a DOI number for the full-text article is acceptable as an alternative to or in addition to traditional volume and page numbers.

Accepted, unpublished papers
Same as above, but “In press” appears instead of the page numbers.

Electronic Journal Articles
1. Huynen M.M.T.E., P. Martens, H.B.M. Hilderlink, 2005. The health impacts of globalisation: a conceptual framework. Global Health 1: 14. Available: http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/content/1/1/14. Accessed 25 January 2012.

Books
1. Bates B., 1992. Bargaining for life: A social history of tuberculosis. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 435 p.

Book Chapters
1.Hansen B., 1991. New York City epidemics and history for the public. In: Harden VA, Risse GB, editors. AIDS and the historian. Bethesda: National Institutes of Health. pp. 21-28.

Figure legends.
Figure legends should be listed one after the other, as part of the text document, separate from the figure files. Please do not write a legend below each figure.

Each figure legend should begin with a brief title for the whole figure and continue with a short description of each panel and the symbols used.

Figures
Figures should be as small and simple as is compatible with clarity. The goal is for figures be comprehensible to readers in other or related disciplines, and to assist their understanding of the paper. Unnecessary figures and parts (panels) of figures should be avoided: data presented in small tables or histograms, for instance, can generally be stated briefly in the text instead. Avoid unnecessary complexity, coloring and excessive detail.

The figures should not contain more than one panel unless the parts are logically connected; each panel of a multipart figure should be sized so that the whole figure can be reduced by the same amount and reproduced on the printed page at the smallest size at which essential details are visible.

Some brief guidance for figure preparation:

  • Lettering in figures (labelling of axes and so on) should be in lower-case type, with the first letter capitalized and no full stop.
  • Units should have a single space between the number and the unit, and follow SI nomenclature or the nomenclature common to a particular field. Thousands should be separated by commas (1,000). Unusual units or abbreviations are defined in the legend.
  • Scale bars should be used rather than magnification factors.
  • Layering type directly over shaded or textured areas and using reversed type (white lettering on a colored background) should be avoided where possible.
  • Where possible, text, including keys to symbols, should be provided in the legend rather than on the figure itself.

Figure quality
On initial submission, figures should be of good enough quality to be assessed by referees, ideally as JPEGs. Authors are advised to follow the initial and revised submission guidelines with respect to sizing, resolution and labelling.

Please note that print-publication quality figures are large and it is not helpful to upload them at the submission stage. Even if they will upload onto the submission site, many referees’ institutions have e-mail systems that will not accept large attachments. Authors will be asked for high-quality figures at the time of acceptance of their article for publication, so it is not necessary to send them at the submission stage.

Figure costs
A contribution towards the total cost of reproduction of color figures is requested. We currently charge 780USD for the first color figure and 278USD for each additional figure. Inability to pay this charge will not prevent publication of color figures judged essential by the editors, but this must be agreed with the editor prior to acceptance.

Production-quality figures.
When a manuscript is accepted in principle for publication, the editor will ask for high-resolution figures. Do not submit publication-quality figures until asked to do so by an editor.

Tables
Tables should be included at the end of the manuscript. All tables should have a concise title. Footnotes can be used to explain abbreviations. Citations should be indicated using the same style as outlined above. Tables occupying more than one printed page should be avoided, if possible.

Review
A maximum of 5000 words in the main text (i.e. excluding abstract, references and legends) plus up to 100 references. Reviews are usually solicited, although unsolicited Reviews may be considered for publication. Prospective writers of Reviews should first consult the Editors

Letters to the Editors
Comment briefly on the findings of Journal articles or other noteworthy public health advances (up to 800 words in the main text, no abstract, limited to 10 references). Please note that word counts refer exclusively to the main text and do not include abstract, references, or acknowledgments.

Commentaries
Up to 2500 words in main text, 2 tables/figures, and an unstructured abstract of 120 words.

Revised manuscripts
If you are asked to revise your manuscript you will be expected to provide a covering letter that responds in detail to each point raised by reviewers or editors, and to highlight new material in the text using a different color (do not use the 'track changes' mode of Word). If a manuscript returned to the authors for revision is not returned to the Editorial Office within the stipulated time-period (usually 4 weeks), it will be treated as a new manuscript.

Final Proofs
A final proof will be provided to the corresponding author via the online manuscript submission system. Typographical errors only should be corrected. The corrected proof should be returned within 48 h. Failure to comply with this deadline will delay publication. Any changes to the text or figures are liable to be charged to the author.

Permissions
Verbatim material or illustrations taken from other published sources must be accompanied by a written statement from the author, and from the publisher if holding the copyright, giving permission to Science International for reproduction.

Copyrights
The author(s) keep(s) the copyright to his/their article if and when the article is accepted for publication. The copyright covers the exclusive and unlimited rights to reproduce and distribute the article in any form of reproduction (printing, electronic media or any other form) subjected to cite the original journal source; it also covers translation rights for all languages and countries.

Article Processing Charges
To maintain its Open Access business model, the Science International will charge an Article Processing Fee (APF) of manuscripts accepted for publication as per the following table:

Detail 
Amount in US$
Amount in AED
Publication cost for Non-Members
300.00
1000.00
Publication cost for Members
150.00
500.00

 Authors or research sponsors are responsible for the payment of the APF. Editorial Board Members of Science International are eligible for a discount or waiver of this fee. We strongly encourage authors to assess their capacity to cover the APF before submitting their manuscript for publication to Science International. A discount or waiver may be granted for multiple submissions from the same authors during the same year.

Authors can request partial or complete waiver during the submission process. Waivers are subjected to thorough investigation and are rarely granted, considering that the amount charged is already very low and barely cover the cost of publishing a manuscript.

 
 
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