South African Journal of Science and Technology

 

Instructions for authors

 

 

Peer review

This journal operates a single blind review process. All contributions will initially be assessed by the editor-in-chief or deputy editor-in-chief for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then allocated to a member of the editorial panel. This editor will typically send the manuscript to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The editor/executive editors is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. If an article is submitted in English, the publication fee is R2,500.00. The author then pays half of the translation fee and we the other half.

Articles can be submitted on the website at http://www.satnt.ac.za/

Use of MSWord software

It is important that the file be saved in the original format of the wordprocessor used. The text should be in single-column format, 1.5 line-spacing, 12 pitch font size and must contain page and also line numbering. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. In particular, do not use the wordprocessor's options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc.

When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each individual table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs, not spaces, to align columns.

Tables and figures should be placed in the text where it should appear in the published manuscript.

Note that source files of figures, tables and text graphics will be required.

To avoid unnecessary errors, you are strongly advised to use the 'spell-check' and 'grammar-check' functions of your wordprocessor.

Article structure subdivision - numbered sections

Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ...), 1.2, etc. (the abstract is not included in section numbering). Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to 'the text'. For an extensive review paper, a table of contents should be provided at the beginning. Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line.  The following headings are typically used in research publications.

Introduction

State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

Material and methods

Any species or infraspecific taxon studied is to be referenced against appropriate literature used to identify the material concerned. Give full scientific name(s) of organisms or plant(s) used, as well as cultivar (cv.) or variety (var.) where applicable. All growth conditions should be properly described. Sufficient detail of the techniques used should be provided to allow easy repetition.

Results

Results should be clear and concise. Do not duplicate results in tables and figures unless there is a specific motivation. Do not include material appropriate to the discussion.

Discussion

This should highlight the significance of the results and place them in the context of other work. Do not be over-speculative or reiterate the results.

In many cases it may be more appropriate to combine the Results and Discussion sections. In such a case a Conclusion section may also be appropriate.

Appendices

If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc. Formulae and equations in appendices should be given separate numbering: Eq. (A.1), Eq. (A.2), etc.; in a subsequent appendix, Eq. (B.1) and so on. Similarly, for tables and figures: Table A.1; Fig. A.1, etc.  The legend to tables and figures should be clear that it can be understood without referring to the text.

Essential title page information

• This should be concise and informative or interesting. Think whether your title would interest a potential reader to read your abstract and manuscript. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
• Author names and affiliations. Please clearly indicate the given name(s) followed by the family name(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled.
• Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lowercase superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address.
• Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.
• Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. This responsibility includes answering any future queries about Methodology and Materials. Ensure that the email address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author.
• Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.

Abstract

A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. It must not exceed 5% of the manuscript. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, references should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s).  Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.

Abbreviations

Define abbreviations that are not standard in this field in a footnote to be placed on the first page of the article. Such abbreviations that are unavoidable in the abstract must be defined at their first mention there, as well as in the footnote. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.

Acknowledgements

Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article before the references and do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise.

List those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proof reading the article, etc.), but do not meet the four requirements for authorship.

Formatting of funding sources

List funding sources in this standard way to facilitate compliance to funder's requirements: Funding: This work was supported by the National Research Foundation [grant numbers xxxx to yyyy]. It is not necessary to include detailed descriptions on the programme or type of grants and awards. When funding is from a block grant or other resources available to a university, college, or other research institution, submit the name of the institute or organization that provided the funding. If no funding has been provided for the research, please include the following sentence: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Contribution of each author

To justify the authorship indicate the contribution of each author to the manuscript.

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors stated that to qualify an author should fulfil all the following criteria:

• Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
• Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
• Final approval of the version to be published; AND
• Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

References

Citation in text

Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or 'Personal communication'. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.

Web references

As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when 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

Text: All citations in the text should refer to: 1. Single author: the author's name (without initials, unless there is ambiguity) 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. Citations may be made directly (or parenthetically). Groups of references should be listed first alphabetically, then chronologically. Examples: "as demonstrated (Allan, 1996a, 1996b, 1999; Allan and Jones, 1995). Kramer et al. (2000) have recently shown.

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. Use only the initials of the authors' given names. No full stop and space between the initials. Last name comes first.

Examples in text:
(Reygaert 2018)
(Sadig & Smit 2018)
(Sadiq et al. 2018) 

Examples:

Reference to a journal publication (journal names in full, not abbreviated):

Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J.A.J., Lupton, R.A., 2000, The art of writing a scientific article. Journal of Science Communication 163, 51-59.

Reference to a book: Strunk Jr. W, White EB. 1979. The Elements of Style, third ed. Macmillan, New York.

Reference to a chapter in an edited book: Mettam GR, Adams LB. 1999. How to prepare an electronic version of your article, in: Jones BS, Smith RZ (Eds.). Introduction to the Electronic Age. E-Publishing Inc., New York, pp. 281–304.