GUIDE FOR AUTHORS
Manuscript preparation
Manuscripts submitted must be type written (Times New Roman-12), double-spaced, on good quality A4 paper, or paper of similar format. Original drawings of photos, tables and figures should be furnished together with the manuscripts. Manuscripts should be kept between 2500 – 3000 words and should be subdivided into labeled sections (Title page, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgement, Conflict of Interest, Declaration of AI generative tools and References).
Title page
A title page is to be provided and should include the title of the article in bold font, authors’ names with full first name (with degrees), authors’ affiliation, suggested running title and corresponding author by indicating suitable superscripts. The affiliation should comprise the department, institution (usually university or company), city and state (or nation). The suggested running title should be less than 50 characters (including spaces) and should comprise the article title or an abbreviated version thereof. For correspondence purposes, the title page should include the name and complete mailing address, telephone and fax number, and email of the one author designated by asterisks as the corresponding author.
Abstract
An abstract no longer than 250 to 300 words for reviews and research articles is to be provided as the second page. Abstract should be briefly informative and completely self-explanatory, structured as introduction, objective(s) (including purpose setting), materials and methods, results, and conclusion. The abstract page should also contain a list of 3-8 keywords, chosen from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list, to be provided directly below the abstract. Abbreviations should be avoided in the abstract and no references are to be cited. Keywords should express the precise content of the manuscript, as they are used for indexing purposes.
NB: All abbreviations should be written in full at first use and authors are advised to use abbreviations sparingly and only when necessary to save space, and to avoid repeating long chemical names or therapeutic regimes.
Introduction
Beginning with a new page, it should be brief and limited to the statement of the problem/ objectives and aims of the experiments with brief review of literature pertaining to the type of work.
Materials and Methods
It shall be started as continuation to Introduction on new page. New methods should be described in sufficient details, and others can be directed to the published sources. The information given should be clear and complete so that anyone interested in repeating the experiments should be able to do. The section should clearly indicate the experimental design followed and the statistical methods used to summarize information for interpretation.
Results
This should be designed for maximum comprehension of the experimental data. The statistical treatment of data and significant level of the factors should be stated wherever necessary. Result should be written in past tense when describing findings in the author’s experiments without referral to any literature.
Tables in limited numbers should be self- explanatory, clearly arranged, and supplemental to the text. The captions should be placed above. It should be typed in Microsoft-Word Table format on separate pages (Times New Roman). They should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals and should bear brief title. Column heading should be brief. Respective legends should be provided for abbreviated Units of measurement.
Figures should be utilized only if they augment understandability of the text and the captions should be placed below. Drawings and graphs should be professionally prepared in deep black and submitted as glossy, black and white clean Photostats. Professionally designed computer generated graphs with a minimum of 300 DPI laser printer output is preferable. Color photographs are welcomed.
NB: The same data should not be presented in tables, figures and text, simultaneously.
Discussion
Discussion section should deal mainly with the interpretation of results, making the readers to have clear understanding of the problem taken and should be logical. Repetition of result should be avoided.
Conclusion
Present the conclusions of the study in a short Conclusions section.
Acknowledgement (if any)
Acknowledgement should include the names of those who contribute substantially to the work described in the manuscript but do not fulfill the requirements for the authorship. It should also include the sponsor or the funding agency of the project.
Conflict of interest
Authors should disclose, at the time of submission, information on financial conflicts of interest or other interests that may influence the manuscript. Authors should declare sources of funding for the work undertaken, if any.
Declaration of generative AI in scientific writing
Where authors use generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process, authors should only use these technologies to improve readability and language. Applying the technology should be done with human oversight and control, and authors should carefully review and edit the result, as AI can generate authoritative-sounding output that can be incorrect, incomplete, or biased. AI and AI-assisted technologies should not be listed as an author or co-author, or be cited as an author.
However, authors must disclose the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process by adding a statement at the end of their manuscript, before the References list. The statement should be placed as ‘Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process’ and should contain the following:
“During the preparation of this work the author(s) used [NAME TOOL / SERVICE] in order to [REASON]. After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the publication”
Kindly note that this declaration does not apply to the use of basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, references etc. If there is nothing to disclose, there is no need to add any statement.
Reference
Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy of the references. The punctuation given must be exactly followed. References in limited numbers and up-to-dated must be numbered consecutively in order of citation in the text (number in parentheses). Listed below, are references to a Journal, a chapter in a book and a book, respectively, in correct and acceptable style:
Kolawole, O.M., Ogah, I.J. and Suleiman, M.M. (2016). The acceptable end of text reference style. Nigerian Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences. Vol: page X – page Y.
Ogah, I.J. and Suleiman, M.M. (2016). In: Kolawole, O.M. (editor). Handbook of referencing: A focus on end of text. 1st ed. Unilorin: NJPAS Press Inc; 2016. P X- Y.
Kolawole, O.M., Ogah, I.J. and Suleiman, M.M. (2016). End of text reference style. 1st ed. NJPAS.
For short communication, follow the instructions for original articles, except that the total word number of the main text (excluding references, tables and figure legends) is limited to 2000 with no more than 2 figures and/or tables and no more than 15 references. An abstract, not exceeding 150 words should be presented at the beginning of the article.
Note:
- After manuscript submission, authors cannot be added, removed or ordered differently. Submission will be canceled if not followed.
- After manuscript submission, manuscripts cannot be withdrawn in any stage of the review process without acceptable reasons.
- The editor-in-chief may reject manuscripts prior to peer review if they are beyond/below the scope of the journal or do not comply with the instructions for authors.
- Only one corresponding author should be provided
- There are no publication charges but authors are required to pay article processing charges of 25,000 Naira for local authors and 100USD for international authors.