Information For Authors
The Uganda Journal of Agricultural Sciences (UJAS) (ISSN:1026-0919) provides publication of articles in all areas of the subject. The Journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts that meet the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence. The article should be original and submitted exclusively for publication in UJAS. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that the article's publication has been approved by all the other co-authors. It is also the authors' responsibility to ensure that the articles emanating from a particular institution are submitted with the approval of the necessary institution.
Submission of manuscripts via the journal portal at journal.naro.go.ug is strongly encouraged, provided that the text, tables, and figures are included in a single Microsoft Word file (preferably in Arial font).
1. Types of contribution
Four types of manuscripts may be submitted: (i) original research, (ii) review articles, (iii) short communications, and (iv) views and ideas.
Original research: should report a concise, focused account of original research whose conclusions represent a significant contribution to the understanding of a problem. The material should not have been previously published elsewhere. Usually should not exceed 5 pages of UJAS and have no more than 30 references. Should include unreferenced summary i.e. intelligible background, rationale of work and a well crafted statement of conclusion.
Review articles: should cover a part of the subject of active current interest. They do not exceed 3 pages of UJAS, and have no more than 20 relevant and authoritative references.
Short communications: is a peer-reviewed, concise, complete report of a novel finding usually needing one figure or table. Together, do not exceed 2 pages, and have no more than 15 references. May include preliminary results of exceptional interest for which fast publication is essential. Should be presented in the sequence: title, text, methods, references, acknowledgements, tables, figure legends, figures.
Views and ideas: offers comments or useful critique on material published in UJAS. A contribution to this section is usually 500-600 words.
Review Process
All manuscripts are reviewed by an editor and members of the editorial board or qualified reviewers. Decisions will be made as rapidly as possible and reviewers’ comments returned to authors within four weeks. It is the goal of the UJAS to publish manuscripts within 12 weeks after submission.
2. Preparation of manuscripts
Manuscripts should be written in English. All portions of the manuscript must be typed doublespaced and all pages numbered at the bottom right starting from the title page. The title, authors and affiliated institutions should be on the face page. The abstract should be on the second page. The main body of the manuscript (Introduction, Materials and Methods) and appended figures and tables should follow continuously on subsequent pages. The entire submission should not exceed 20 pages. Manuscripts should be organized in the following order: Title, Abstract; Key words; Introduction; Materials and methods; Results; Discussion; Conclusion; Acknowledgement; References; Legends; Tables; and Figures .
The Title should be a brief phrase not exceeding twenty words describing the contents of the paper. The Title page should include the authors' full names and affiliations indexed using superscripts in Arabic numerals after each author where necessary; the name of the corresponding author along with phone, fax and e-mail information. Present addresses of authors should appear as a footnote.
Abstract. The abstract should be informative and completely self-explanatory, briefly present the topic, state the scope of the study, indicate significant data, and point out major findings and conclusions. The abstract should not exceed 200 words in length. Complete sentences, active verbs, and the third person should be used, and the abstract should be written in the past tense. Standard nomenclature should be used and abbreviations should be avoided.
Key Words: Should be neither part of the title, nor the abstract and not exceeding five words. Do not use phrases.
A list of non-standard Abbreviations should be added. In general, non-standard abbreviations should be used only when the full term is more than three words 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. Authors should use the solidus presentation (mg/ml). Standard abbreviations (such as ATP and DNA) need not be defined.
Introduction: Should include background with references to previous studies; contextualized objectives; and hypotheses. It should be understandable to colleagues from a broad range of scientific disciplines.
Materials and methods: Should include tools, procedures, location of study, experimental designs; equipment and supplies used in the study. Should be complete enough to allow experiments to be reproduced. Truly new procedures should be described in detail. Previously published procedures should be cited and not reproduced. However, any modifications should be comprehensively described. 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. Data analysis must depict the models applied. Formulae and equations used in the investigation should be indexed with Roman numerals at the right hand side of the page. This section should usually not exceed 600 words.
Results: Results should contain the summaries of data derived from rigorous analysis and scientific interpretations of information generated from the investigation. Previously published data is not acceptable without expressed consent of the copyright holder. Statistical significance level in-text should be indicated with the signs < or > (e.g: p< 0.05; or p> 0.01) as appropriate. In Tables use of asterisks is acceptable where: (*), (**), and (***) refer (p < 0.05), (p < 0.01) and (p < 0.001) progressively. Tables and figures of results should be submitted on separate pages. Titles of Tables and Figures should be captioned at the top and bottom respectively.
Discussions: Discussions streamlined in the presentation of results should be designated as.
Results and Discussion. However, UJAS prefers a separate section on discussion with references to relevant primary literature and the interpretation of the results of the investigation reported. Secondary literature citations must be clearly indicated with due acknowledgement (e.g.: Baguma (1990) cited in Okello et al, 2004). However, this should be minimally used.
References
a) In the list of references all publications cited in the text should be presented in an alphabetical order of the first authors. Multiple references in-text should be presented in a chronological order of year of publication. Names of authors, dates of publication and Journal specifications (name, volume, issue and page numbers) should conform to the identity of authors as previously published in the original literature.
b) In the text refer to the author’s name (without initial) and year of publication. Examples: “Mukiibi (1982) has shown that ....” “This is in agreement with results obtained in Mukono (Bekunda, 1990)”.
c) If reference is made in-text to a publication written by two authors, the first names of both authors should be included (e.g. Mukiibi and Bekunda, 2004, BUT NOT: Mukiibi & Bekunda, 2004). In case of more that two authors the first name of the lead author should be used followed by “et al.” in italics. For example: Mukiibi, Bekunda, Otim and Aluma (2004) can referred to in the main text as: (Mukiibi et al., 2004).
d) Publications by the same author(s) in the same year should be listed as 2002a, 2002b, etc.
e) Arrange your references as shown:
(i) For books, write as:
Gaugh, Jr., H.G., 1992. Statistical Analysis of Regional Yield Trials. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 278 pp. Stover, R.H. and Simmonds, N.W., 1987. Bananas. Tropical Agriculture Series. Longman, Singapore, 468 pp.
(ii) For periodicals. Bekunda, M.A., Smethurst, P.J., Khanna, P.K. and Willet, J.R., 1990. Effects of post-harvest residue management on labile soil phosphorus in a Pinus radiata Plantation, Forest Ecology and Management, 38:13-25.
(iii) For edited symposia, special issues, books, etc. published in a periodical, write as: Swift, M.J., Bohren, L., Izac, A.M. and Woomer, P.L., 1994 Biological management of tropical soil: Intergrating process research and farm practice. In: P.L. Woomer and M.J. Swift (Editors), The Biological Management of Tropical Soil Fertility. John Wiley, Chichester, pp. 209-227.
f) Titles of periodicals in the list of references should be in full.
g) Work accepted for publication but not yet published should be referred to as “in press”.
h) References concerning unpublished data and “personal communications” should not be cited in the reference list but may be mentioned in the text. This should be minimally used.
Acknowledgements: should be limited to financial, capital, intellectual (pre-paper review of peers) and institutional support invested in the study. UJAS will not publish anonymous referees and editors.
Nomenclature: a) With the exception of common domestic animals, identify all biotica (crops, plants, insects, birds, mammals, etc.) by their scientific names when the English term is first used.
b) All biocides and other organic compounds must be identified by their genera names when first used in the text. Active ingredients of all formulations should be likewise identified.
c) For chemical nomenclature, the conventions of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the official recommendations of the IUPAC-IUB Combined Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature should be followed.
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 manuscript. With the exception of typographical or minor clerical errors, no changes will be made in the manuscript at the proof stage. Because UJAS will be published freely online to attract a wide audience, authors will have free electronic access to the full text (in PDF) of the article. Authors can freely download the PDF file from which they can print unlimited copies of their articles. All reprint orders and enquiries should be made to the UJAS Secretariat, NARO, Box 295, Entebbe, Uganda.
Copyright: Submission of a manuscript implies that the work described has not been published before (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, or thesis), is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; and if and when the manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors agree to automatic transfer of the copyright to the publisher.