Guide for Authors

General Guidelines

  • Headings should include a title page, title, abstract, keywords, main text (introduction, methods, results, discussion), acknowledgements, supplementary material, author contributions, conflict of interest, ethics statement, and references.
  • The manuscript should be written in A4 sized paper (8.3” x 11.7”) , font style: Times New Roman, font size: 10, double spaced, margins at 2.54 cm in all sides, and aligned right.
  • The spelling should conform to the Webster International Dictionary.
  • The manuscript must be ‘spell checked’ and ‘grammar checked’ and language to be used should be American English.
  • Periods are not used when using acronyms (e.g., UPV not U.P.V; DOST not D.O.S.T.).
  • If abbreviations, unfamiliar terms, and symbols are used, it should be defined/spelled out at first mention.
  • Footnotes are not allowed in the text.
  • The number of pages should be limited to a total of 30 pages and it should be numbered on the top-right corner.

Title Page

The title page should contain:

  • Title of the article wherein the use of words such as “Studies on”, “Investigations on”, and “Observations on” are discouraged;
  • Running title
  • Author’s information (Given name, middle initial, family name; Below the author/s profile is their affiliation/University)
  • Corresponding author’s information to whom inquiries should be directly sent (Complete name, affiliation/University, postal address, phone number, and email address)

Title

  • 14 to 17 word count is encouraged
  • The title of the paper should be written in sentence form in bold and above-centered.
  • Only the first words of the title should be capitalized.
  • Scientific name (s) included in the title should be italicized with accompanying taxonomic authority.

Abstract

  • Number of words is limited to 250 and must be written in one paragraph.
  • Must include the facts and conclusion included in the manuscript.

Keywords

  • Keywords should be lower cased, arranged alphabetically and not more than six (6) words.
  • It should not be mentioned in the title.

Introduction

  • Provide sufficient information on the rationale of the study, general information, gaps or significance, and the general objective.
  • It should not be more than 600 words in one page.

Methods

  • Include comprehensive description of the study site, design of the study, sampling procedure, materials used, and data analysis conducted.
  • Sub-headings are encouraged to distinguish the different methods used for each objective.
  • Brand/model and country of chemicals/equipment must be provided.
  • When using equations, it should be inserted using the Equation Editor.

Results

  • Results should cover the findings of the research arranged according to the order of objectives which are indicated by subheadings.
  • Repetition of words in from tables and figures are strictly discouraged.
  • Full information of molecular methods is required which include sequences of novel primers.

Discussion

  • Includes comprehensive interpretation of the results which explains new knowledge or insights discovered or what is already known about the problem investigated.
  • Restating the results and introduction is vetoed.

Conclusion and Recommendation

  • It may include the main conclusion of the study, its scientific contribution, significance of the findings, and suggestions for future research on the topic.

Acknowledgements

  • Acknowledge the source of any financial support (funding and granting institutions) received during the conduct of research including individuals who provided intellectual and technical assistance but did not qualify for authorship.

References

  • References should be ordered alphabetically by author.
  • Online sources must be properly cited with links or DOI.

Citations

  • Citations should conform to the latest edition of American Psychological Association (APA).
  • For single author, (Clement 2014); Two authors, (A and B 2021); More than two authors, (Espectato et al. 2019)
  • If the publication has more than 10 authors, state the first 10 authors followed by et. al.
  • When citing more than two authors, use a semicolon followed by a single space and it should be arranged based on the date of publication with the latest being the last (e.g. A et al. 2009; Gonzales 2014; C and D 2020).
  • Comma must be used to separate citations of different references with the same author (e.g. A 2009, 2019).
  • Arrange citations alphabetically if they all have the same year of publication.
  • All citations used in the text should be included in the references section and should be arranged alphabetically and chronologically.

Figures and Tables

  • Figures and tables must be numbered chronologically.
  • Titles of tables and captions of figures short be concise and understandable without referring to the text.
  • Figures are photos, maps, drawings/illustration, and graphs.
  • Format should be in TIFF/JPG/JPEG with 300 dots per inch (dpi) resolution.
  • Photos should not be stretched. It must be taken by the author(s), if possible. If taken from other sources, it should be properly acknowledged. Downloaded photos from the internet will not be accepted unless a written approval from the copyright holder is presented.
  • Maps should be drawn using appropriate software and georeferenced.
  • Drawings or illustrations should be scanned before embedding. It must be an original drawing with readable inscriptions.
  • Graphs must be generated from Microsoft Excel with white background excluding the yaxis.
  • Legends and labels on the x and y-axis are required.
  • Tables should be captioned above each table, aligned left. If legends are used, it must be clearly identified below the table. The use of vertical lines are highly discouraged.

Numbers, equations, dates, and time

  • Numbers mentioned at the start of a sentence should be spelled-out as well as numbers less than 10.
  • International System of Units must be used where the value and the unit measure are separated (e.g. 10 cm, 15 g, 20 ind ha-1).
  • Mathematical equations should be presented clearly. If it is set off from the text, it must be numbered and typed in quadruple spacing
  • Dates should be written in day-month-year format (e.g. 1 September 2022).
  • Time should be in 24-hour system.

Scientific, English, and Local names

  • All organisms are to be identified by their English, scientific, and local names.
  • Only the scientific names must be italicized.
  • Complete scientific name of the species should be stated when it is first mention in the text and commo name should be used in succeeding segments of the manuscript.
  • Local names should be in double quotes (e.g. “sapsap”, “kamatis”).
  • If species list is present, it should provide the authorities for each species.