Submissions

Author Guidelines

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION AND INSTRUCTION TO AUTHORS

Submission of a manuscript implies: that the work described has not been published elsewhere, that it is not under consideration for publication anywhere and that the publication has been approved by all co-authors as well as by the responsible authorities at the place where the work was carried out.

Manuscripts are welcomed from authors who want to submit their contribution(s) to Tropical Animal Production Investigations (TAPI) Journal for peer review in any of the following categories:

1. a) Research articles: A full length report of original research with added value to animal research or policy. A research article must contain: abstract, keywords, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion and reference list. . The results and discussion section may be combined if desired. A full length research article must not exceed 8 journal pages (6,000 words)
2. b) Short communications: Short original research articles, rapid publications, as well as interesting case reports worth publishing but with less body than for full length research report. A short communication must be provided with abstract, keywords, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion and reference list. A short communication should not exceed 4 journal pages (3,000 words)
3. c) Review articles: A review article contains an overview of current research in the field, supplies links between research areas, discusses and provides new ideas and possibilities for further research including extensive reference list. A review article must not exceed 15 journal pages (7,000 – 8,000 words)
4. d) Letter to the editor: A letter to the editor provides a means of reacting to published articles. They should be received within 3 months of the publication of the particular journal and should not exceed one page. Introduction of new data will not be permitted. Authors of original papers will be giving opportunity to react to issues raised
5. e) Opinion paper: Opinion papers will focus on policy and policy makers, as well as critical commentaries on animal policy statements and regulations. An opinion paper will have a maximum length of 4 pages (3,000 words) only

Online Submission

Authors should submit their manuscripts online. Electronic submission substantially reduces the editorial processing and reviewing times and shortens overall publication times. To submit online, follow the instruction on the journal website (http://animalsci.agric.ui.edu.ng/TAPI/index.php/tapijournal/index). You can also prepare your manuscript in MS WORD, save file with correspondence author’s surname and send as email attachment to the Journal email address (editor.tapi@gmail.com).

Manuscript Preparation

Manuscripts in general should be organized in the following order:

• Abstract
• Keywords (indexing terms), normally 3-5 items
• Running title
• Introduction
• Materials and Methods
• Results
• Discussion (Implication of the results not duplication)
• Conclusion
• Conflict of interest
• Acknowledgment
• References

Where necessary, the Results and Discussion sections may be combined

Title Page Information

The title page should include:

• A concise and informative title
• The name(s) of the author(s)
• The affiliation(s) and address(es) of the author(s)
• The e-mail address, telephone and fax numbers of the corresponding author

Corresponding authors should ensure that phone numbers (with country and area code for authors outside Nigeria) are provided in addition to the e-mail addresses and complete postal addresses. Corresponding authors should ensure that their contact details are kept up to date.

Abstract

A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions and should not be more than 300 words.  An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. Non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at the first mention in the abstract.

Keywords: Use 3-5 keywords (do not repeat any of the words of the title of the manuscript). Keywords should be low case separated by a comma.

Text Formatting

Manuscripts should be submitted in MS Word.

• Use a normal, plain font (e.g., 12-point Times Roman) for text.
• Use italics for scientific or botanical name.
• Use British English style consistently (e.g. favour NOT favour, organisation NOT organization)
• Use the automatic page numbering function to number the pages.
• Use the automatic line numbering for all the text
• Use tab stops or other commands for indents, not the space bar.
• Use the table function, not spreadsheets, to make tables.
• Save your file in docx format (Word 2007) or doc format (older Word versions).

Headings

Please do not use more than three levels of display headings in title case format

Abbreviations

Abbreviations should be defined at first mention and used consistently throughout the text

Footnotes

Footnotes can be used to give additional information, which may include the citation of a reference included in the reference list. They should not consist solely of a reference citation, and should never include the bibliographic details of a reference. They should also not contain any figures or tables. Abbreviation in the tables should be defined at footnote to give clear meaning to the abbreviation. Abbreviations of tables should be indicated by superscript lower-case letters (or asterisks for significance values and other statistical data). Footnotes to the title or the authors of articles should not be given reference symbols.

Human and animal rights

If the work involves the use of animal or human subjects, the author should ensure that the work described has been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humans http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/index.html; EU Directive 2010/63/EU for animal experiments http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/lab_animals/legislation_en.htm; Uniform Requirements for manuscripts submitted to Biomedical journals http://www.icmje.org. Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed

Nomenclature and units

Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units (SI). If other quantities are mentioned, give their equivalent in SI units. You are urged to consult IUB: Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents: http://www.chem.qmw.ac.uk/iubmb/ for further information. Authors are, by general agreement, obliged to accept the rules governing biological nomenclature, as laid down in the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature

Tables and Figures

• All tables and figures should be numbered numerically with Arabic numerals and placed immediately after the reference section
• Each table and figure, should be identified by appropriate legends
• Authors must indicate the source of any previously published material in addition to obtaining permission from copyright owner(s) for both online format and printed materials. They must also include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to have originated from the authors
• Footnotes to tables/figures should be indicated by superscript lower-case letters (or asterisks for significance values and other statistical data)
• Any necessary explanations essential for understanding the figure should be given as a footnote at the bottom of the table. Use either numbers or letters for footnotes

Formulae and equations

• Formulae should be typewritten, if possible.
• Subscripts and superscripts should be clear.
• Give the meaning of all symbols immediately after the equation in which they are first used.
• Equations should be numbered in Arabic numbers serially at the right-hand side in parentheses.
• When referring to equations in the text use Equation followed by the number, not Eq.

Illustrations

• All illustrations should be black and white. Full colour illustrations will be converted to black & white in print. If coloured illustrations are needed in prints you will receive information regarding the extra costs from the publisher. Online publication of colour illustrations is free of charge.
• Do not insert your illustrations in the Word.doc file, but submit them separately. Never submit illustrations as PowerPoint files, with the exceptions of cladograms or as PDF.
• If photographs are necessary, submit original photographs with good contrast and intensity. Sharp and glossy copies are required. Reproductions of photographs already printed cannot be accepted.
• Resolution of photos and pictures should be at least 300 dpi. For line drawings use at least 900 dpi.
• Illustrations should be numbered in Arabic numbers according to their sequence in the text. The text should include reference to all illustrations. Use Figure followed by the number in the text, not Fig.
• Each illustration should have a title. Type this title in the text where the illustration should be placed.

Conflict of Interest

Authors should state potential conflict of interest including financial, personal or other relationships with people and organisations within two to three years of performing the experiment that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence their work

Acknowledgement

Acknowledgment of people who contributed to the work, grants, funds, etc. should be placed in a separate section before the reference list. The names of funding organizations should be written in full.

References

Web references
The full URL of the web reference should be listed including the date the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.) should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.

Reference style
1. Single author: the author's name (without initials) and the year of publication;
2. Two authors: both authors' names and the year of publication;
3. Three or more authors: first author's name followed by et al., and the year of publication.  Groups of references should be listed first alphabetically, then chronologically.
Examples: as demonstrated (Ewuola, 2009a, 2009b; Tewe and Abu, 2008). Adewumi et al. (2006) and Agboola et al. (2011) have recently shown that ....'

Reference list: References should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must be identified by the letters a, b, c, etc., placed after the year of publication.

Examples:

Reference to a journal publication:

Ewuola, E. O. 2009. Organ traits and histopathology of rabbits fed varied levels of dietary fumonisin B₁. J. Anim. Physiol. and Anim. Nutr.,  93: 726–731.

Sokunbi, O. A, Egbunike, G. N, Salako, A. O and Bobadoye, A. O. 2002. Biochemical and haematological responses of weanling female pigs fed diets containing sun-cured neem (Azadirachta indica) Leaf meal. Trop. Anim. Prod. Invest. 5: 1-8.  

Reference to books:
Omidiwura, B. R. O and Ewuola, E. O. 2014. Significance of L-Dopa in Animal Physiology, fourth ed. University press, Nigeria. pp 400-453

Reference to a chapter in a book:
Gbore, F. A. and Ogunlade,  J. T. 2012. How to prepare an electronic version of your article, In: Babayemi, O. J and Ewuola, E. O.  (Eds.), Introduction to the Animal husbandry. E-Publishing Inc., Nigeria, pp. 374–397.

Reference to online documents

Babayemi, O. J. and Abu, O. A. 2013. Title of subordinate document. In: The dictionary of substances and their effects. Animal Science Association of Nigeria. http://www.rsc.org/dose/title of subordinate document. Accessed 16 June 2014

Proof Reading

The purpose of proof reading is to check for typesetting or conversion errors and the completeness and accuracy of the text, tables and figures. Substantial changes in content, e.g., new results, corrected values, title and authorship will not be allowed

Copyright

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to transfer copyright to the publisher. After copyright transfer, the paper may not be

published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the publisher. If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included in the manuscript, the author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owner(s).

Page Charges

Authors will be requested to pay a non-refundable fee of ₦2,000 as handling/processing charges and ₦23,000.00 per article of not more than 8 journal pages upon acceptance of manuscript. Any extra page will attract additional ₦1000

Reprints

Corresponding authors will receive a pdf copy of their article (s) upon publication which can be printed and distributed upon specific request by colleagues.