ISSN 2375-1134
Instructions for Authors
The African Journal of Agriculture (ISSN 2375-1134) welcomes the submission of manuscripts that demonstrate significance and scientific rigor. Accepted papers will be published approximately one month after approval. We strongly encourage authors to submit their manuscripts electronically, ensuring that the text, tables, and figures are all included in a single Microsoft Word document, preferably using Arial font.
Scope of the Journal
AJA publishes high-quality, peer-reviewed articles that contribute to the advancement of agricultural sciences in Africa. We welcome original research articles, reviews, case studies, and short communications that address a wide range of topics, including but not limited to:
Manuscript Preparation
All manuscripts should be prepared according to the following guidelines:
3. Figures and Tables
Submission Process
A manuscript number will be mailed to the corresponding author same day or within 72 hours.
Authors are expected to write out their personal information in a cover letter that should include the corresponding author's full address and telephone/fax numbers and should be in an e-mail message sent to the Editor, with the file, whose name should begin with the first author's surname, as an attachment. The journal does not accept number citations in the body of the manuscript. All citations must be in-text citation or in-body citation, that is, cite the author’s name and the year of publication.
Types of Articles Accepted by AJA
Three types of manuscripts may be submitted:
Short Communications:
A 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 main sections need not conform to that of full-length papers. Short communications are 2 to 4 printed pages (about 6 to 12 manuscript pages) in length.
Regular articles:
These should describe original and carefully confirmed findings, and experimental procedures should be given in ample 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. The use of subheadings in the main body of the text is highly recommended.
Review articles:
Submissions of reviews and perspectives covering topics of current interest are welcome and encouraged. Reviews should be concise and no longer than 4-6 printed pages (about 12 to 18 manuscript pages). Reviews are also peer-reviewed.
Review Process
All submitted manuscripts undergo a double-blind peer review process. Authors will be notified of the review outcome within a reasonable timeframe. Please be prepared to address reviewer comments and submit a revised version if required.
All articles are reviewed by an editor and members of the Editorial Board or capable external reviewers. Decisions will be made as quickly as possible, and the journal try hard to return reviewers’ evaluations/comments to authors within 2 weeks. AJA publish accepted manuscripts within one month after submission.
Regular articles
All portions of the manuscript must be typed double-spaced.
The Title should be a brief phrase describing the contents of the paper. The Title Page should include the authors' full names and affiliations, the name of the corresponding author along with phone, fax and E-mail information.
The Abstract or summary should be exciting, revealing and abundantly clear. It should briefly describe the topic, convey the scope of the research, specify significant data, and point out major findings and conclusions. The Abstract should be 100 to 200 words in length. Well constructed sentences, active verbs, and the third person should be used, and the abstract should be written in the past tense. Standard names should be used and abbreviations should be avoided. No work should be cited.
Under the abstract, about 5 to 10 key words that will provide indexing references should be listed.
A list of non-standard Abbreviations should be added. In general, non-standard abbreviations should be used only when the full term is very long and used often. Each abbreviation should be spelt out and introduced in parentheses the first time it is used in the text. Only recommended SI units should be used.
The Introduction should provide a clear statement of the problem, the relevant literature on the subject, and the proposed approach or solution in such a manner that should be intelligible to scholars and researchers from a broad range of scientific disciplines.
Materials and Methods should be complete enough to allow experiments to be reproduced. However, only truly novel procedures should be described in detail; earlier published procedures should be cited, and significant changes of published procedures should be mentioned briefly. Capitalize trade names and include the manufacturer's name and address. Subheadings should be used. Methods in general use need not be described in detail.
Results should be presented with simplicity, clarity and precision. The results should be written in the past tense when describing findings in the authors' experiments. Previously published findings should be written in the present tense. Results should be explained, but basically 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 Discussion should interpret the findings in view of the results obtained in this and in past studies on this topic. State the conclusions in a few sentences at the end of the paper. The Results and Discussion sections can include subheadings, and when appropriate, both sections can be combined.
The Acknowledgments of people, grants, funds, etc should be brief and concise.
Tables should be kept to a minimum and be designed to be as uncomplicated as possible. Tables are to be typed double-spaced throughout, including headings and footnotes. Each table should be on a separate page, numbered one after the other in Arabic numerals and supplied with a heading and a legend. Tables should be self-explanatory and easy to comprehend without reference to the text. The details of the methods used in the experiments should preferably be described in the legend instead of in the text. The same data should not be presented in both table and graph form or repeated in the text.
Figure legends should be typed in numerical order on a separate sheet. Graphics should be prepared using applications capable of generating high resolution GIF, TIFF, JPEG or PowerPoint before pasting in the Microsoft Word manuscript file. Tables should be prepared in Microsoft Word. Use Arabic numerals to designate figures and upper case letters for their parts (Figure 1). Begin each legend with a title and include sufficient 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.
References, Footnotes, and Endnotes: In the text, references should be cited using the author's name followed by the publication date in parentheses. For works with more than two authors, only the first author's name should be mentioned, followed by "et al." If an author has multiple publications in the same year, distinguish these works by adding lowercase letters (e.g., "a" and "b") after the year in both the text and the reference list. Footnotes and endnotes must be numbered consistently and placed after the reference section.
In-text Reference Citations
Examples of in-text citations include:
For example, several studies (Soenaryo, 2004; Lemeshow and Levy, 1999) indicate that a minimum of 24-hour recalls are necessary for assessing dietary intake in children. References should be listed alphabetically at the end of the manuscript. Articles that are in preparation, submitted for publication, unpublished observations, or personal communications should not be included in the reference list but can be mentioned in the text (e.g., C.K. Palmer, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, personal communication). Journal names should be abbreviated according to Chemical Abstracts, and authors are responsible for the accuracy of their references.
Reference Section Format
Incorrect Format:
Adams K.M., Kate Pedro D.K., and Dunca L.F. (2012). Perception and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), J. Libr. Sci. Res. 9, 165-174.
Correct Format:
Adams KM, Kate Pedro DK, Dunca LF (2012). Perception and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). J. Libr. Sci. Res. 9: 165-174.
Incorrect Format:
Soenaryo, E. (2004). Food product development to optimize children growth and development: indofood Perspective. Proceeding on food and nutrition innovation for Optimizing Children Growth and Development. American Soybean Association, Jakarta.
Correct Format:
Soenaryo E (2004). Food product development to optimize children growth and development: Indofood Perspective. Proceeding on Food and Nutrition Innovation for Optimizing Children Growth and Development. American Soybean Association, Jakarta.
Incorrect Format:
Lemeshow S., and Levy P. S. (1999). Sampling of Populations: Methods and Applications. 3rd edn. New York, US: John Wiley & Sons Inc, P. 18-19.
Correct Format:
Lemeshow S, Levy PS (1999). Sampling of Populations: Methods and Applications. 3rd edn. New York, US: John Wiley & Sons Inc, pp. 18-19.
Incorrect Format:
Maleta K., Kuittinen J., Duggan M.B., Briend A., Manary M., Wales J., Kulmala T., and Ashorn P. (2004). Supplementary feeding of underweight, stunted Malawian children with a ready-to-use food. Journal of Pediatrics, Gastroenterology and Nutrition, vol. 38, 152-158.
Correct Format:
Maleta K, Kuittinen J, Duggan MB, Briend A, Manary M, Wales J, Kulmala T, Ashorn P (2004). Supplementary feeding of underweight, stunted Malawian children with a ready-to-use food. J. Pediatr. Gastroenterol. Nutr. 38: 152-158.
Incorrect Format:
Nazni P, et al., (2009). Comparative study on supplementation of potato flour biscuits on the nutritional and cognitive profile of the selected children. Iran Journal of Pediatrics, volume 19, pages 285-292.
Correct Format:
Nazni P, Subramania A, Subramaniam P (2009). Comparative study on supplementation of potato flour biscuits on the nutritional and cognitive profile of the selected children. Iran J. Pediatr. 19: 285-292.
Short Communications
Short Communications 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.
Proofs and Reprints: Electronic proofs will be sent (e-mail attachment) to the corresponding author as a PDF file. Page proofs are considered to be the final version of the article. With the exception of typographical errors, no changes will be made in the manuscript at the proof stage. Since AJA articles will be published liberally online to attract a wide audience), authors will have free electronic access to the full text (in both HTML and PDF) of the article. Authors can freely download the PDF file from which they can print unlimited copies of their articles.
Copyright: Submission of an article is done with the understanding that the article has not been published before (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, or thesis) that it is not under consideration for publication somewhere else; that if and when the article is accepted for publication, the authors consent to automatic transfer of the copyright to the publisher.
Ethical Standards: Authors must adhere to ethical standards in research, including obtaining necessary approvals for studies involving human or animal subjects. Any data fabrication or plagiarism will result in immediate rejection of the manuscript.
Fees and Charges: Authors are required to pay a $500 handling fee. Publication of an article in African Journal of Agriculture is not contingent upon the author's ability to pay the charges. Neither is acceptance to pay the handling fee a guarantee that the manuscript will be accepted for publication. Authors may still request (in advance) that the editorial office waive some of the processing fee under special circumstances. However, there are no submission charges. Authors are required to make payment ONLY after their manuscript has been accepted for publication.