Submissions

 

Author Guidelines


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1     Introduction

Acta agriculturae Slovenica is an open access peer-reviewed scientific journal published quarterly by the Biotechnical Faculty of the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia (University of Ljubljana Press). Since 2021 it is published only online. The journal accepts original scientific articles from the fields of plant production (agronomy, horticulture, plant biotechnology, plant-related food-and-nutrition research, agricultural economics, information-science, ecology, environmental studies, plant physiology & ecology, rural development & sociology, soil sciences, genetics, microbiology, food processing) and animal production (genetics, microbiology, immunology, nutrition, physiology, ecology, ethology, dairy science, economics, bioinformatics, animal production and food processing, technology and information science) in the Slovenian or English languages. Review articles are published upon agreement with the editor. If the paper is part of a BSc, MSc or PhD thesis, this should be indicated together with the name of the mentor at the bottom of the front page and will appear as footnote. Authors of mentioned thesis should be also co-authors of manuscript. Slovenian-language translation of selected bibliographic elements, for example the title, abstract, and key words, will be provided by the editorial board.

Manuscripts are accepted throughout the year. It is not recommended that author/group of authors submit several manuscripts at a time. Only online submissions are accepted.

 

2     Structure of the article 

  • Article title, which adequately describes the content of the manuscript

  • Author’s full name(s): First Name SURNAME(S)

  • Authors' address in full (example: University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Agronomy Department, Ljubljana, Slovenia)

  • Corresponding author has to be indicated

  • E-mail of the corresponding author

  • Abstract in one paragraph (up to 200 words)

  • Key words (up to 8), separate with a semi-colon

  • Body of the article

  • Manuscript TEMPLATE (Word)

Body of the article consists, preferably, of 5 main sections, numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals: 1 INTRODUCTION, 2 MATERIALS AND METHODS, 3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION, 4 CONCLUSIONS, 5 REFERENCES. Subsections, if needed, are numbered accordingly (2.1 ... 3.2.1). References in reference list must comply with those cited in the text.

 

3     Body of the article

Formatting should be simple, without indentations, special margins, underlining, word division, or similar. The only font styles allowed are bold and italic. Italic is reserved for the Latin scientific names of taxa at the range of genus and lower and special scientific characters, symbols and formulae (for example: a = 100, p > 0.001, standard error se), symbols for quantities in physics (for example: m for mass, l for length, etc). Avoid unnecessary abbreviations and acronyms.

Lower case Times New Roman is used (capitalised accordingly, when appropriate), with the font size: 12. Ariel should be used for graphs and figures captions and Courier for the nucleic- and amino acid sequence alignments. All lines should be numbered.

Use blank non-breaking spaces (shortcut in MS Word: Ctrl+Shift+Space) between numerical value and unit symbols (125 m, 33.4 %, 15 °C) as also among items in equations (y = x + z), and no space with superscripted/subscripted numbers (123, km2, a5) and between numbers and minus and plus signs (−5, +4). Decimal point is used in English texts and decimal comma in Slovene texts.

International units of measurement are used. Use kg ha–1 instead of kg/ha. The unit of litre is indicated with a lowercase symbol (l).

Use the MS Word Equation Editor. Regular/italic font style is used (see examples of previously published articles). Equations are left-justified and must be numbered if they are referred to in the text, with right-justified numbers (in round brackets) on the same line as the equation. Space is used in simple equations (for example: a = 100, p > 0.001; do not write a=100, p>0,001). 

Final layout of manuscript will be designed by Layout Editor.

 

4     Tables and Figures

All tables and figures are numbered and accompanied with captions. Do not use automatic numbering of tables and figures. The number of illustrations should be adjusted to the results presented in the manuscript and should not be too high. Data presented by tables should not be presented additionally by graphs. All statistical data should include averages and their standard errors.

Do not use shading. Apply 1/2-point, single-line, solid-line borders. Use borders for rows sparingly, only to set important data apart. No left and right (outer) borders are applied. Do not exceed one page. Use regular style (no bold formatting). Set column justification (left, left-decimal). See examples: http://ojs.aas.bf.uni-lj.si/index.php/AAS/article/view/323/190.

Figures (photographs, maps, graphs etc.) are numbered separately and consecutively. The caption is placed below the figure. Do not use automatic numbering.

Vector graphics must be in .ai, .cdr, or .eps format, with text converted to curves. Raster illustrations and photographs should be in one of the common formats (e.g. .tiff, .jpg, .bmp) with at least 200 dpi resolution. Photos can be black & white or colour.

Graphs are black & white or colour. Use Arial style (regular) everywhere in the graph (see examples of previously published articles). The font size must be adjusted to the size of the figure. It must not exceed the general font size of the text, in the final inserted version (but should not be less than 75 % of the text size). No borders are applied. The units are shown in round brackets.

 

5     Scientific names of organisms

Scientific names of organisms in manuscripts should follow international codes of nomenclature as presented in the examples below:

    a) For plants, algae and fungi:

Turland, N. J., Wiersema, J. H., Barrie, F. R., Greuter, W., Hawksworth, D. L., Herendeen, . . . Smith, G. F. (eds.) 2018: International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Shenzhen Code) adopted by the Nineteenth International Botanical Congress Shenzhen, China, July 2017. Regnum Vegetabile 159. Glashütten: Koeltz Botanical Books. https://doi.org/10.12705/Code.2018

Examples: common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.); chlorella (Chlorella pyrenoidosa Chick, 1903); cereal rust (Puccinia graminis Pers.).

   b) For cultivated plants:

Brickell, C. D. (Commission Chairman), Alexander, C., Cubey, J. J., David, J. C., Hoffman, M. H. A., Leslie, A. C., Malécot, V., Jin, X. (2016). International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP or Cultivated Plant Code) Adopted by the International Union of Biological Sciences International Commission for the Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants. Scripta Horticulturae, 18, 1–190. https://www.ishs.org/sites/default/files/static/ScriptaHorticulturae_18.pdf

Examples: apple cultivar Golden Delicious: Malus domestica ‘Golden Delicious’, grafted on rootstock M9: Malus domestica ’M9’.

   c) For plant communities:

Weber, H. E., Moravec, J. & Theurillat, J.-P. (2000). International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature. 3rd edition. Journal of Vegetation Science, 11(5), 739–768.

Example: false oat-grass (Arrhenatherum elatius (L.) P. Beauv. ex J. Presl & C. Presl.)  grassland (Arrhenatheretum elatioris Br.-Bl., 1919).

   d) For microorganisms:

Lapage, S. P., Sneath, P. H.A., Lessel, E. F., Skerman, V. B. D., Seeliger, H. P. R. & Clark, W. A. (1992). International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria (Bacteriological Code (BC)). Washington (DC): ASM Press.

Examples: fire blight: (Erwinia amylovora (Burrill, 1882) Winslow et al., 1920, Type strain = NCPPB 683; Pseudomonas fluorescens (Flügge, 1886), Migula, 1895.

   e) For animals:

Ride, W. D. L., Cogger, H. G., Dupuis, C., Kraus, O., Minelli, A., Thompson, F. C., & Tubbs, P. K. (1999). International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (4th Edition). London, UK: The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature.

Examples: corn moth: Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner, 1796); cattle: Bos taurus, Linnaeus, 1758

 

6     Citation and references

For citations and references, please apply the APA system (American Psychological Association) (blog).

In the body of the text, use the following style for citations: one author: (Surname, year), two authors: (Surname & Surname, year), three or more (Surname et al., year). Two (or more) same-year references by the same author are indicated by consecutive small letters, following the year, for example: Surname (1997a).

Instances of personal communication are not included in the reference list but only cited in text.


Examples:

... as has been shown (Pugliese & Sirtori, 2012) ...

... as later demonstrated Thaler (2013) ...

... fatty carcasses are common (Bonneau, 2010a, 2010b; Furman et al., 2011) ...

... on climate change (Climate ..., 2000) ...

... risk analysis (FAO/WHO, 2006) ...

Secondary referencing:

Arditti (1986) cited in Burley-Doe (2012) has argued ...

Personal communication:

T. K. Lapage (personal communication, June 18, 2015) ...


Citations in the text shall be accompanied by references. The list of references should only include works that are cited in the text and that have been published or accepted for publication. Personal communication and unpublished works should only be mentioned in the text. The final list of references is alphabetical and is not numbered. Do not use footnotes or endnotes as a substitute for a reference list. Whole titles of cited journals should be given in the reference list, written in a standardised form (see examples below).


Examples:

Journal article

Mihevc, S., & Dovč, P. (2013). Mammary tumors in ruminants. Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 102(2), 83–86. 

Journal article with DOI, more than seven authors

Baird, N. A., Etter, P. D., Atwood, T. S., Currey, M. C., Shiver, A. L., Lewis, Z. A., . . . Johnson, E. A. (2008). Rapid SNP discovery and genetic mapping using sequenced RAD markers. PLOS ONE, 3(10), e3376. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003376

Book

Arditti, J. (2002). Fundamentals of Orchid Biology. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Book chapter

Tang, C. Y., & Chen, W. H. (2007). Breeding and development of new varieties in Phalaenopsis. In W. H. Chen & H. H. Chen (Eds.), Orchids Biotechnology (pp. 1–22). Singapore, SG: World Scientific Publishing.

Conference papers published in book form

Bozič, J., Kordiš, D., Križaj, I., Leonardi, A., Močnik, R., Nakrst, M., … Dovč, P. (2016). Novel Aspects in characterisation of Carniolan honey bee (Apis mellifera carnica, Pollman 1879). In P. Dovč (Ed.), Acta agriculturae Slovenica, Supplement 5: 24th International Symposium Animal Science days: Technology driven animal production (pp. 18–27). Ljubljana: University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty.

Online document

FAO/WHO. (2006). Food safety risk analysis: A guide for national food safety authorities (FAO Food and Nutrition Paper No. 76). Retrieved from ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/a0822e/a0822e00.pdf

ISO Standard

International Organization for Standardization. (2009). Agricultural machinery—Rotary disc mowers, rotary drum mowers and flail mowers—Test methods and acceptance criteria for protective skirts (ISO Standard No. 17103). Retrieved from https://www.iso.org/standard/45639.html


7     Submission process

Manuscripts should be submitted to the Acta agriculturae Slovenica OJS site. Complete manuscripts including title, authors and their affiliations, indicated corresponding author and his/her e-mail, abstract, text body of manuscript with recommended chapters and included illustration at proper sites within the text should be submitted regardless submitted metadata. The submitting author, preferably the corresponding author should be registered to the site. Click Register and fill in the registration form. Be sure to check in the Author check box on the form. We advise you to check in also the Reader check box.

Submission process consists of 5 steps. Before submission, authors should go through the checklist and prepare for submission:

Step 1:  Starting the submission

  • Choose one of the journal sections.

  • Confirm all the requirements of the Submission Preparation Checklist.

  • Additional plain text comments for the editor can be provided in the relevant text field.

Step 2:  Upload submission

  • Upload full manuscript including all items as described above in the form of the Microsoft Word document file format (.doc or .docx).

Step 3:  Enter metadata

  • First name, last name, contact e-mail and affiliation for all authors, in relevant order, must be provided. Corresponding author has to be selected.

  • Title and abstract must be provided in plain text.

  • Key words must be provided (max. 8, separated by semicolons) and enter the language of the text.

  • Data about contributors and supporting agencies may be entered.

  • References in plain text must be provided in the relevant text filed (between each reference should be a blank line).

Step 4:  Upload supplementary files

  • For each uploaded file, the author is asked for additional metadata, which may be provided.

Step 5:  Confirmation

  • Final confirmation is required.


8     Queries about the progress of the review

In case of queries from authors about the progress of the review process, the ID number of the requested manuscript should be indicated.

 

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

  1. The authors warrant that the submission is original and it has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  2. The consent of all the authors of this paper has been obtained for submitting the paper to the journal.
  3. The authors certify that proper citations to the previously reported work have been given and no data/tables/figures have been quoted verbatim from other publications without giving due acknowledgement and without the permission of the author(s). Written permission is obtained from the rightsholder in order to re-use any copyrighted material as figures, tables or text excerpts. In the case of open access content, the terms of use required by Creative Commons licenses are respected.
  4. Where available, URLs for the references or DOI numbers have been provided.
  5. The submission file is in Microsoft Word document file format (.doc or .docx) and the text is written from left to right direction.
  6. The text is single-spaced, lines are numbered and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points.
  7. The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.
  8. The submission is proof-read and checked for language errors.
  9. For research involving human subjects or animals, the author(s) identifies the Committee approving the experiments and provide confirmation that all experiments conform to the relevant regulatory standards.
 

Copyright Notice

Prior to 2016, the sole copyright holder was the publisher: Biotechnical faculty, University of Ljubljana.

As of 2016, Acta agriculturae Slovenica is published under the Creative Commons licence. Authors who publish in the journal Acta agriculturae Slovenica agree to the following:
Authors retain copyrights and grant the journal Acta agriculturae Slovenica the right of first publication with the work simultaneously licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. You are free to share – copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format as long as you follow the licence terms. Attribution – You must give appropriate credit. NonCommercial – You may not use the material for commercial purposes.  NoDerivatives – Users may access, download, copy, text and data mine but they can't change the material in any way. If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.

From 2022, Acta agriculturae Slovenica is published under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY License.

 

 

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