FUTA Journal of Life Sciences

INSTRUCTION TO AUTHORS

Scope of the journal: FUTA Journal of Life Sciences (FJLS) publishes original scientific papers, short communications, reports and book reviews covering all areas of life sciences. The official language of the journal is English (UK) and premium is placed on high standard of technical content. It is expected that prior to submission, the manuscript will have been carefully reviewed for correctness and clarity of expression and should follow the journal format.

Manuscripts will be submitted to [email protected]. Manuscripts will be peer-reviewed and accepted manuscripts will be published online first ahead of full publication online and in hard copy. Duration between submission and first decision is 35 days. Manuscript should be typewritten (Microsoft Word, Times New Romans, Font 12 points), double spaced on white A4 (21cm x 30cm) paper with sufficient margins at the sides and top and bottom of the pages.

Text: Manuscript should be arranged in the following order: title page, abstract, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, conclusion, acknowledgement and references (all in sentence case), tables and figures.

Title: The title should be brief and reflect the main theme of the paper. The name(s) of the author(s), addresses and e-mail should be included. The corresponding author should be asterisked. The title should be in bold, font size 14. The names of the authors should be in font size 12 and the addresses in font size 10. All should be in sentence or title case.

Abstract: The abstract should be concise and informative and should include objective of the study, methodology, findings and conclusion/recommendation. It should not be more than 200 words and provided with 4-6 keywords.

Introduction: This should contain an updated review of literature to give essential background information and objectives of the research.

Materials and Methods: Materials and methods should be described explicitly except when known procedures have been followed or modified, to enable others interpret the result or duplicate the work.

Results: This should be presented without duplicating data that can be seen in Tables or Figures. It should be concise.

Discussion: Discussion should explain rather than be repetitive of the results, relate findings to previous knowledge and focus on implications or consequences of the results. Inference and opinions should be distinguished from facts.

Acknowledgement: Financial contributors, pre-paper reviews etc could be acknowledged.

References: In the text, citation should be made by the author’s name and year of publication e.g. “according to Ashamo (2003)” or “as shown in an earlier study (Ashamo, 2003)”. Two or more papers by the same author in the same year should be distinguished by a suffix (a, b, c etc) to the year of publication. The name of the journal should be written in full without italicising. References should be given at the end of the paper in alphabetical and chronological order without numbering noting the following examples strictly:

Ashamo MO (2006) Life history studies of the yam moth, Dasyses rugosella Stainton (Lepidoptera: Tineidae). Journal of Stored Products Research 42, 302-312.

Hill DS (1983) Agricultural Insect Pests of the Tropics and their Control. 2^nd edition., Cambridge University Press, London, U.K. 746pp.

Jackai LEN, Singh SR, Raheja AK, Wiedijic F (1985) Recent trends in the control of cowpea, V. unguiculata (L.) Walp., pests in Africa. In: Cowpea Research, Production and Utilization (Singh SR and Rachie KC eds). Pp. 233-243. John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, U.K.

Mathematical Formulae, symbols and units: Greek letters and unusual symbols should be identified separately on the margin. Distinction should be made between capital and lower case letters between letter o and zero (0), between letter I and number 1. All measurements should be made in the SI system.

Tables and Figures: Tables and figures should be self-explanatory. Caption should be brief but adequately describe contents. The tables should be numbered in Arabic numerals. Figure caption should be appropriately typed. In the text, spell out the word Table but abbreviate Figures to Fig. Capitalize the first letter table, column and row headings. Footnotes are designated with superscript lowercase letters.

Graphs should be boxed and coordinate lines marked with index lines. Illustration should be in black and white and of a size that allows reduction of up to 50%. If colour prints are necessary, the cost of production will be charged to the author’s account.

Copyright: Papers are accepted for publication with the explicit understanding that they are not being processed for publication elsewhere and as such implying that copyright is transferred automatically to the FUTA Journal of Life Sciences (FJLS).

.