Ethiopian Journal of Crop Science
Journal / Ethiopian Journal of Crop Science / Submissions

 

1. Objectives of the journal
To establish communication among crop science professionals within and outside the country 
To enhance orderly dissemination of crop research information to the farming community through extension and development agencies 
To promote the application of crop research findings and development experiences in the teaching process of all fields of crop science 
To foster exchange of scientific knowledge and information and its application in increasing crop productivity 

2. Scope of the journal
The journal publishes peer-reviewed original research articles in various disciplines of crop science and related fields. It also publishes review articles, short communications and crop technology (variety) registrations.

2.1. Research Articles: Treated under this category are both basic and applied original research findings related to crop research Ethiopia. Articles from regional and international sources covering tropical and sub-tropical crop research findings could also be considered for publication.
2.2. Review Articles: Included here are scientific papers covering advances and current topics in various fields of crop research and development. Normally review articles will be prepared by experts in selected fields, volunteered or through invitation by the Editorial Board of the journal.
2.3. Short Communications: The column is intended for brief scientific notes including preliminary results, scientific observations, experimental techniques and recent technological advances in crop science.
2.4. Technology registration: New crop related technologies that have got official letter of registration can be published in the journal. Crop variety or technology registration requires the following: 1) a letter of confirmation from the technology host institute indicating that the technology or variety has been developed by the author (s); 2) an official letter of approval by the national organization responsible for technology/variety release and registration; and 3) that the technology/variety for registration is not more than two years old since its acceptance/approval. The contents should include a title preferably containing the official name of the technology, author(s) and their affiliations, and description (morphologic, agronomic, genetic, adaptation agro-ecology, performance, etc.) of the technology/variety.

3. General format and style - General Instructions
The Ethiopian Journal of Crop Science publishes original manuscripts of high standard dealing with crop research and development. Reviews on different subjects of crop research and development appropriate to tropical and sub-tropical regions will also be considered. 
At least one of the authors must be a member of The Crop Science Society of Ethiopia for papers to be published in the Ethiopian Journal of Crop Science free of charge. Subsidized publication charges are assessed for papers submitted from non-member authors but no publication charges are assessed for invited review articles. 
Manuscripts should be written in standard grammatical English and should not have been published in other professional journals or simultaneously submitted to another such journals. Manuscripts in the form of thesis, workshop/conference proceedings, and research and development project reports are legible to publication on the EJCS. Papers based on thesis materials should be presented with the thesis advisor as co-author and indicate the institutions and years the work was done. Except in unusual cases, articles should be limited to 3,500 words. 
Manuscripts must be typed, double-spaced, only on one side of an A4 (21 × 30 cm) size paper. Leave margins of 2.5 cm at the top, bottom and sides of each page. Number all pages. Main text headings should be centered and typed in capitals for only the first letter of each word in the heading. Sub-headings are typed in small letters starting from the left- hand margin and italicized.
Papers submitted following the guidelines will be sent to at least two reviewers (within and/or outside the country) selected by the Editorial Board for comments and critical review to improve the technical and editorial standard of the paper. Manuscripts may be returned to the corresponding author for further improvement or as not being acceptable for publication. For accepted articles authors are requested to send both soft and hard copies of the revised versions giving details of the word processing software used. 
Formatted manuscript will be returned to the author for proof reading. Proofs should be read carefully; corrections of only typographical errors should be made and returned to the Editorial Office within one month of receipt. One issue of the journal will be provided to the corresponding author of a published article free of charge. 

4. General outline for research articles (Full length paper) – Specific instructions
The format of the submitted manuscripts should conform to an acceptable standard editorial style that contains title, author(s) and institutions(s), abstract, key words, introduction, materials and methods, results and discussion, acknowledgement (if any), references, and tables and figures as major components.

4.1. Title Page
The title page must contain the following
1) Title: The title should be selected carefully. It should be concise, specific and descriptive enough to contain key words or phrases indicating the contents of the article.
2) Author(s) and Institution(s): The name(s) of the author(s) and the institution(s) they are affiliated to along with the addresses should be provided.
3) Running title: The author(s) should also suggest a short running title of less than 35 characters, including spaces.
4) Corresponding author: Name of the author to whom correspondence should be sent

4.2. Abstract
The following shall appear on the abstract page
1) Full title: Do not include name of authors and their affiliations
2) Abstract text: An abstract reflecting the content of the paper is required. The abstract should not exceed 250 words for research and review papers and 100 words for short communications. It must include reasons for the study objectives, methods used, results and conclusions. Specific rather than general statements must be used in the abstract. For example, it is more informative to state that 40 and 60 kg of N were studied instead of two rates of N. The scientific names of crops or other organisms used in the study and full chemical names must be included in the abstract when the common names are first mentioned. Abstract need not be divided into paragraphs.
3) Keywords: Five to seven index words may be important to the journal editor and the audience for information storage, retrieval and to identify the article from among several other contributions. Important keywords may include phrases and nouns that characterize the study but the use of phrases longer than three words may not be recommended. Together with the title and abstract, keywords comprise most of the content of the article that will be available to people looking for it. Keywords must not repeat the title but they must amplify it.

4.3. Introduction: This part of the paper should state the justification or underlying hypothesis for doing the work, the major objectives of the research or investigation and provide a brief review of literature, which should be limited to information essential to orient the reader.

4.4. Materials and Methods: Under this heading a brief and concise description of the conditions under which the investigation was carried out and the procedures, techniques, and experimental designs used should be stated.

4.5. Results and Discussion: The major findings and assessment of the significance of the results of the investigation and the possible practical implications may be discussed with reference to the problems indicated in the introduction or stated as objective. Conclusions can also be presented as part of this section.

4.6. Acknowledgments: Acknowledgements, if any, may be given in a separate section immediately following the results and discussion.

4.7. References: The references must include only publications cited in the text. Limit the number of references to those that are most pertinent and up-to-date to economize space. It is the responsibility of authors to check on the accuracy of references as reviewers and editors are not expected to do so.

References are cited chronologically using the name-year system (e.g., Gemechu Keneni and Mussa Jarso, 2002 for one or two authors and Gemechu Keneni et al., 2001 for more than two authors) in
the text. Another alternative citation for the same references could also be … according to Gemechu Keneni and Mussa Jarso (2002) for one or two authors and Gemechu Keneni et al. (2001) for more than two authors. References are alphabetically listed against the citations in the body at the end of the text. Examples of acceptable citations of references from various sources are presented below.
(a) Examples of Journal Articles
Collaku, A., Harrison, S.A., Finney, P.L. and D.A.van Sanford. 2002. Clustering of environments of southern soft red winter wheat region for milling and baking quality attributes. Crop Sci. 42: 58–63.
Gemechu Keneni, Belay Asmamaw and Mussa Jarso. 2001. Efficiency of drained selection environment for improving grain yield in faba bean under undrained target environments on Vertisol. Euphytica 122: 279–285.
(b) Example of a Book
Falconer, D.S. 1989. Introduction to quantitative genetics. 3rd ed. Longman, London, England.
(c) Paper in Proceedings
Edmeades, G.O., J. Bolanos and S.C. Chapman. 1997. Value of secondary traits in selecting for drought tolerance in tropical maize. pp. 222-234. In: Edmeades G.O., M. Banzinger, H.R. Mickelson, and C.B. Pena-Valdivia (eds.). Developing drought and low N-tolerant Maize. Proceedings of a symposium, March 25-29, 1996, CIMMYT, El Batan, Mexico. Mexico D.F.,
CIMMYT.
Unpublished and other source materials not readily available in libraries should be mentioned in parentheses in the text or as a footnote. Abbreviate periodical names according to accepted standards.

4.8. Photographs and Illustrations: Each paper should not have more than 10 illustrations, and the originals must be reproducible. When the desired size has not been specifically indicated, the publisher reserves the right to reduce or enlarge the size of illustrations. Photographs should be black and white glossy prints of good contrast preferably of 8 by 10 cm size. Captions for photographs and illustrations should be typed on a separate sheet of paper and identified by inclusion of the figure numbers. Figures and illustrations must separately typed on a page each at the end of the text, and indicate their preferred place in the text. Figures must be provided with concise and descriptive legends.
4.9. Tables: A paper must not have more than six tables. Tables should facilitate comparisons, reveal relationships and save space. Do not repeat information in the text presented in charts or graphs. Do not include in tables or chars data that have not been discussed in the text. They should be numbered consecutively as Table 1, Table2, etc. Each table, with its heading, should be typed on a separate sheet. All measurements are to be reported in metric units. Other units maybe put in parenthesis at the option of the author when felt necessary.
4.10. Standard samples: It is suggested that authors consult with previous issues of the journal. It is also suggested that it would be of help for authors to consult with the Publications Handbook and Style Manual for ASA, CSSA, and SSA publications or with the CBE Style Manual regarding specific points of manuscript preparation

5. Legal Issues
The Editorial committee or the CSSE assumes no responsibility for the loss of manuscripts in the process of mailing. It is suggested that author(s) retain copies of their submission. The Editorial committee is responsible for articles from the time they are accepted for publication. Publication of information in the journal does not by any means imply endorsement by the Editorial Board of the journal and/or the publishers. These guidelines are liable to full or partial amendments or alterations by the Crop Science Society of Ethiopia when felt necessary.

6. Frequency of Publication
Twice/year (January/July)

7. Submission of manuscript
Authors are required to submit manuscript in three identical and standard hard copies and a soft copy preferably as e-mail attachment. Use standard word processing software (such as WORD 2003, 2007 and above versions) for text manuscript processing for submission. Publications can be sent to:

The Editors
Editor in chief: Dagnachew Lule (PhD); e-mail: hawinok@gmail.com, dagnachew_lule@iqqo.org
Associate Editor: Solomon Benor (PhD); e-mail: solomonbenor@gmail.com
Or
Crop Science Society of Ethiopia, P.O. Box 2003, CSSE@CSSOE.org, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia