Author Guidelines
Research manuscripts in science and technology and related disciplines are considered for publication in SINET.
Manuscripts must be in English.
Submission of a manuscript to the journal must be accompanied by a letter stating that no similar paper, other than an abstract or an oral presentation, has been or will be submitted for publication elsewhere.
Manuscripts should be typed with wide margins (minimum 30 mm) on good quality A4 (210 x 297 mm) paper using double spacing throughout.
The original and three copies should be submitted. Each page of the typescript must be numbered.
The manuscript must be addressed to: The Editor-in-Chief, PO Box 31226, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. All copies should be carefully checked and any corrections clearly indicated.
The first page should contain the full title of the manuscript, the name(s) of the author(s) including address(es) and the institution(s) in which the research was carried out. If more than one authors are involved, the author to whom all correspondence will be addressed should be indicated by an asterisk.
The first page should also contain the abstract. The abstract must not be more than 250 words. Key words (up to five, and in alphabetical order) should be given next to the abstract in a separate line.
A desirable, though not strictly prescribed plan, for the organization of a research paper is to start with an introduction giving a description of the problem and its relation to other works in the same field. The objective(s) of the investigation should also be stated in this section. Abbreviations (e.g., BAP, 6-Benzylaminopurine; GA3, gibberellic acid 3; etc.) should be put under the introduction in a separate paragraph. The remaining sections can then cover materials and methods, results and discussion. Then follows acknowledgements, if any, and the last item would be a list of references. References in the text should have the following form: Darwin and Morgan (1993) or, if more than two authors, Andersson et al. (1993). (Hartmann and Kester, 1975; Andersson et al., 1993; Darwin and Morgan, 1993) — chronologically. Ethiopian names should be in direct order, that is, the full first name followed by the father's name; e.g., Solomon Kassa and not Kassa, S. Listing of references is alphabetical, and should have the form: Kalb, J.E. (1978). Miocene to Pleistocene deposits in the Afar depression, Ethiopia. Sinet: Ethiop. J. Sci. 1:87–98. Hartmann, H.T. and Kester, D.E. (1975). Plant Propagation: Principles and Practices. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, pp. 53–66. To cite some pages in a publication prepared by one or more editors, an acceptable format is: Fraser, D.A.S. (1971). Events, information processing, and the structural model (with discussion). In: Foundations of Statistical Inference, pp. 32–35, (Godame, V.P. and Sprott, D.A., eds). Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Toronto. Tables, however small, should bear arabic numerals and be referred to in the text by their numbers, e.g. `Table 4'. Each table must be typed on a separate sheet and should be placed at the end of the manuscript. The approximate position of each table should be indicated in the text. Footnotes in tables should be indicated by superscript letters beginning with `a' in each table. Descriptive material not designated as a footnote may be placed under a table as a note. Vertical lines should not be used to separate columns; instead extra space should be left between the columns. Ditto marks should be avoided. All illustrations should be given separately, not stuck on pages and not folded. They should be numbered as figures in sequence with arabic numerals. Each figure should have a descriptive legend and this should be given on a separate sheet after the manuscript. Clear, glossy black and white photographs (100 x 70 mm) can be submitted to the Journal; they should be clearly numbered on the back in pencil. Only International System of Units (si) are acceptable. Symbols and nomenclatures should conform to international recommendations with respect to specific fields of specialization.
COLUMNS
Research articles Report of original research in any branch of science will be considered for publication in this section.
Review articles Covering recent advances in an area in which an author has been actively engaged will be published under this column.
Short communications News of interest to researchers including progress report on ongoing researches, records of observations — short comments, correction and reinterpretations of articles previously published in SINET, etc. Manuscripts submitted for this column should be prepared following the preceding instructions, and should not be more than six pages and should not contain more than two figures and/or two tables.
Feature articles These are articles that may be published in SINET feature columns covering a range of topics in science education, and science and society.
Science education: Articles related to science education in schools and colleges, new or simple methods of scientific experiments for science educators, discussion of science curricula textbooks, teaching aids, etc.
Science and society: Articles related to applications of science to solving daily problems of man; the scientific method as applied to solving man's problems; the role of science experiments in the "Third World", etc., are considered in this column.
Book review A critical evaluation of recently published books in basic sciences, science education, technology and development will be published under this column.
Submission fees
SINET: Ethiopian Journal of Science does not charge a submission fee
Peer-review process:
It is the policy of the Ethiopian Journal of Science (SINET) to uphold the quality and standards of the journal by ensuring that all manuscripts pass through a rigorous review process by peer-reviewers.
Double-blind peer review
SINET follows a double-blind peer review process and both the author and the reviewer are maintained anonymously. The identities of the reviewers are withheld from the reviewer’s comments that are sent to the authors.
Preliminary review
The Editor-in-Chief forwards new manuscripts to the appropriate Associate Editor with the relevant expertise. After submission of a new manuscript, the Associate Editor makes a preliminary review of the manuscript and decides whether it is publishable as is, publishable following resubmission or rejection.
Peer-review by reviewers
A manuscript is sent to at least three reviewers who have relevant expertise in the subject matter. Reviewers are requested to complete and submit the journal’s review report form including additional and detailed comments as they deem necessary once the manuscript is reviewed. The final decision whether to accept or reject the reviewer’s decision lies with the Associate Editor. Associate Editors can review manuscripts as reviewers in their area of specialization. All the comments of reviewers are sent to authors for revision of manuscripts. In the event that a reviewer recommends rejection while the other reviewers accept a manuscript, the reason(s) given for rejecting the manuscript is sent to authors in cases when the Associate Editor considers the comments constructive and useful in assisting authors to improve the manuscript.
Revision of manuscript
Following submission of revised manuscripts, the Associate Editor reviews the revised version to ensure that the authors have addressed the comments of reviewers. In the event that the Associate Editor is of the opinion that the revision has not adequately addressed the comments of reviewers, the manuscript is sent to authors for re-revision indicating the issues that require attention. In rare cases, the Associate Editor may decide to send the revised version to the reviewers for checking the manuscript.
Editing and proof reading
Articles that are accepted shall be formatted as per the in-house formatting style. All articles shall be edited and proof read by the Editor-in-Chief and checked for adherence to SINET guidelines and reference.
