The International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences (IJBCS) is a journal published by International Formulae Group (IFG), and is devoted to the publication of contributions in all fields of biology including microbiology, parasitology, molecular biology, physiology, pathology, health sciences, pharmacology, toxicology, biochemistry, biotechnology, biophysics, biostatistics, bioinformatics, environmental biology, hydrobiology, food science, food technology, nutrition, agricultural sciences, agropastoralism, animal production, wildlife, zoology, botany, ethnobotany, forestry, agroforestry and agrogeology. It is also devoted to the publication of contributions in all fields of chemistry including chemistry of natural products, organic synthesis, physical chemistry, analytical chemistry, inorganic chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, industrial chemistry, clinical chemistry, hydrochemistry, agrochemistry, geochemistry and biogeochemistry. IJBCS publishes original research papers, critical up-to-date and concise reviews on topics of current interest, short communications and medical case reports. Submission of a manuscript will be held to imply that the work reported in it is original, that the results have not been previously published and are not under consideration for publication elsewhere; and further, that if accepted, will not be published elsewhere. Six issues are published per year.

Submission of papers

Papers should be submitted in electronic form through e-mails as attachment, to: The Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences,Dschang,Cameroon, E-Mail: ijbcs@yahoo.fr

Referee suggestions

In the covering letter, authors should suggest names and addresses (including e-mail) of at least three experts in the field for evaluation of manuscript. The choice of referees will however remain with the editorial board.

Typescripts

Manuscripts should be neatly typed (Times New Roman, 12), in French or in English, double-spaced on A4 format with2.5 cmon all margins. If the manuscript is written in French, an English version of the title, the abstract and the keywords should also be provided. Receipt of papers will be acknowledged. Authors will be informed of the referee's comments.

Manuscript types

a)  Full-length paper (Original Paper; maximum: 25 pages, 35 references)

b)  Review (maximum: 40 pages, 100 references)

c)  Short Communication (maximum: 10 pages, 20 references)

d)  Case Report (maximum: 10 pages, 20 references)

Copyright

Submission of a paper for publication implies the transfer of the copyright from the author(s) to the publisher upon acceptance. International Formulae Group is therefore the copyright holder after publication of an article in International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences, and published articles should not be used for commercial purpose without the written consent of the Editor-in-Chief. They are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Manuscript preparation

The format of the typescript should be as follows:

Title and authors: The title should describe the content fully but concisely. The names, written in full (surname last), and affiliations of authors should be given with postal addresses. The author to whom proofs and correspondences are to be sent should be indicated, with its e-mail address and telephone.

Abstract: All articles should be provided with an abstract not exceeding 200 words. It should be written in simple language and should highlight the aims of the work, the approach or methodology, the main results obtained and the conclusions reached. All abbreviations should be avoided and if used, explained at least once.

Keywords: A maximum of 6 keywords must be given at the end of the Abstract. Words already in the title should not be included.

Introduction: A concise account is required of the background of the subject, its significance and its relationship to earlier works, with references.

Materials and methods: Previously described methods should be cited and not elaborately described. Statistical methods of treatment should be mentioned if they have been used. If the work done involved the use of human subjects, primates or the release of genetically modified organisms into the environment, it should be stated if clearance from the appropriate authority was obtained. The Editor may request a copy of the clearance document or informed consent form for verification.

Results: The original and important findings should be stated. Results should be illustrated with figures or tables where necessary but these should be kept to the minimum. Reference should be made to display items such as tables and figures where appropriate.

Discussion: The purpose of the discussion is to present a brief and permanent interpretation of the results against the background of existing knowledge. The discussion should highlight what is new in the paper. Any assumption on which conclusions are made must be stated clearly. A mere recapitulation of the results is not acceptable. Conclusion: this should be given at the end of the Discussion section.

Competing interests: Authors should declare any competing interests. In case there is none, the following statement should be provided: “The authors declare that they have no competing interests”.

Authors’ contributions: In order to give appropriate credit to each author of a paper, the individual contributions of authors to the manuscript should be specified in this section.

Acknowledgments: These should be presented at the end of the text and before the references. Technical assistance and advice may be acknowledged in this section. However, funding acknowledgments should be stated on the first page of each manuscript, just after the affiliations of authors.

References: Authors are responsible for the accuracy and the completeness of their references. References should be cited in the text by the last name(s) of the author(s) and year of publication, for example, (Ali, 1999) or (Ali and Hussain, 1999). If the citation is the subject of the sentence, then only the date should be given in parentheses, for example, According to Khan (1984) or as suggested by Khan and Khan (1984). For citation of references with three or more authors, only the first author’s name followed by et al. should be used, for example, (Nouri et al.,1988; Aliyu et al., 2007) or as shown by Elwakil et al. (1988). If there is more than one reference in the same year for the same author(s), then please add the letters ‘a’, ‘b’, etc. to the year, for example, (Berkel, 1970a, 1970b). Only published papers or papers in press can be mentioned in the manuscript. References should be listed alphabetically at the end of the text without numbering. References to journal articles, books, chapters in books, theses, etc. should be listed as given below:

Journals (The DOIs of journal articles cited in the manuscript should be provided):

Kouakou R, Kouassi AM, Kwa-Koffi EK, Gnonsoro UP, Trokourey A. 2015. Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a tropical coastal lagoon (Grand-Lahou lagoon, Côte d’Ivoire). Int. J. Biol. Chem. Sci., 9(2): 1120-1129. DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ijbcs.v9i2.47

Books:

Paul G, Pearson S. 2005. The vitamins (2nd edn). Academic press:New York.

Chapters in Books:

Kips RH. 1985. Environmental aspects. In Pesticide Application: Principles and Practice, Haskel PT (ed). Oxford University Press: Oxford; 1-34.

Theses:  Reference to a thesis must be made if it is unavoidable.

Ratnakar P. 1992. Biochemical studies of Allium sativum Linn. (Garlic). PhD thesis,DelhiUniversity,Delhi, p. 87.

Illustrations

Tables

Table should be typed on separate sheets, numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals (e.g. Table 2) and have a short descriptive caption at the top. Avoid the use of vertical lines.

Figures

Figures should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals (e.g. Figure 5). Graphs should preferably be drawn using appropriate computer software and presented on separate pages ready for mounting. These should be constructed in such a manner that they can be understood without reading the text. Appropriate symbols should be used on graphs and explained in the legends. Graphs should not duplicate results presented in tables. Photographs should be produced in black and white. Title and comments of the figures and photographs should be provided under the corresponding figure or photograph using MS Word.

Page charges and E-reprint

Authors of accepted articles will be required to pay a fee of FCFA10,000 or US$22 or €19 per printed page of the Journal. Authors residing outside Cameroon will receive their invoice in US$ or in €. For each article published in IJBCS, a PDF copy of the article will be sent to the corresponding author.

Correcting proofs

Galley proofs for correction of printer's errors only will be sent to the author specified on the typescript. Any other changes may be chargeable to the author. Corrections should be returned to the publisher within the specified time period.