Author Guidelines
The Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka publishes the results of research in all aspects of Science and Technology. It is open for the publication of Research articles, Short Communications, Reviews/Short Reviews, Feature articles, General articles, Correspondence, Research News, Opinions, Book Reviews and Commentaries and Notes.
Research articles: (view sample)
Articles are full length papers presenting complete descriptions of original research or technological achievements. They should contain an Abstract, Introduction, Methods and Materials, Results and Discussion and should be prepared according to the guidelines for the preparation of manuscripts (not exceeding 6000 words).
Short Communications: >(view sample)
Should contain important findings in a specific area of limited scope that are worthy of dissemination among the scientific community. The article should consist of keywords, an abstract, a brief introduction, an outline of the methodology, main results and conclusions and limit itself to key references and up to 3 tables/figures. They should not carry subheadings (up to 2000 words).
Reviews/Short Reviews:
Reviews are critical presentations on selected fields of Science or Technology and should be well focused and organized and avoid general “textbook” style. (not exceeding 8000 words). Short Reviews will focus on a narrow, selectively specialized topic of shorter length than a Review Article (not exceeding 4000 words). The policy of the Journal is to invite review articles on current topics. However, if a person wishes to submit a Review Article he/she should obtain prior approval from the Editorial Board, having submitted a concise summary of the intended article, along with a list of the author’s recent publications, in the related area.
Feature articles:
Should be on a topic of current interest with major significance that would be of interest to readers outside the field (not exceeding 2500 words).
General articles:
These include interdisciplinary topics, science policy and science administration, some aspects of the application of science and technology to human needs or the impact of science and technology on society/eco systems/life. The articles should include an abstract, introductory paragraph, brief subheads at appropriate places, illustrations that will help a general reader and references (not exceeding 5000 words).
Research Notes: (view sample)
The Research Note is intended to rapidly communicate important new findings. It should briefly report on the author’s research in progress or recently completed research and should feature work that has not been published elsewhere. It may be written with appropriate paragraphing, without sub headings. Total of 5 key reference and 1 table or graph may be included (not exceeding 1000 words).
Correspondence:
Correspondence regarding one or more articles in a recent issue of the Journal including Letters to the Editor will be considered. Publication will be made at the discretion of the Editor- in- Chief (not exceeding 1500 words).
Research News/News:
Articles are intended to inform non-specialists about recently published advances or important findings. Authors should also send a copy of the papers on which the articles are based. It could cover important scientific events or any other news of interest to scientists in general. Highlights/technical contents of conference/symposia/meetings etc., conveying to readers the significance of important advances are also considered (not exceeding 2000 words).
Opinions:
Articles present views on issues related to Science and Scientific activity (not exceeding 1000 words).
Book Reviews:
Reviews of books of scientific nature will be considered. Such reviews should not be comprehensive and convey some information about the subject of the book (not exceeding 2000 words).
Commentaries and Notes: (view sample)
Inform readers about interesting aspects of personalities or institutions of science or about the philosophy of science, watershed events in the history/development of science; preferably related to Sri Lanka. Photographs can be included. Appreciations and obituaries are also included in this section (not exceeding 2000 words).
GUIDE TO PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPT
Manuscript
The manuscript should be free of errors and typewritten using double-spacing throughout on one side of A4 size white bond paper, leaving at least 3 cm margins on either side and liberal spacing at the top and bottom of each page. Sheets should be numbered consecutively.
a. Length and Style
There is no prescribed maximum length for a paper. The paper should be written clearly and concisely. The style of writing should conform to acceptable English usage. Slang, jargon, unauthorized abbreviations, abbreviated phrasings and the like, should be avoided. In general, the impersonal form should be used.
b. Layout
Manuscripts should be organized as follows: Title, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Methods and Materials, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgement, References. Pages should be numbered consecutively and arranged in the following order.
Page 1
Title page should include the title of paper, names and affiliations of all authors including e-mail address, telephone and fax number of corresponding author.
If the paper was based on material presented at a meeting, this fact should be indicated as a footnote on the title page.
Page 2 ff.
Title should accurately reflect the content of article and must not exceed 100 characters.
Running title must be limited to a maximum of 50 characters
Abstract: Should not be more than 250 words for full length articles. It should not contain any references and should be able to stand on its own without modification in abstracting journals. It should outline objectives and methodology together with important results and conclusions. A Review should carry a summary of not more than 300 words.
Key Words: Include a maximum of six keywords which may include the name of organisms (common or scientific), method or other important words or phrases relevant to the study.
Introduction: This should state the reasons for performing the work with brief reference to relevant previous work. At the end of the introduction reference should also be made to previously published abstracts and whether the work had been presented at meetings.
Methods and Materials: New methods may be described in detail with an indication of their limitations. Established methods can be mentioned with appropriate references. Sufficient detail should be included to allow direct repetition of the work by others. Where human subjects are involved, they should be referred to by number or fictitious names. A paper reporting the results of experimental investigations on human subjects or on animals must include a statement to the effect that the relevant national or other ethical guidelines have been adhered to. Methods of statistical analyses should be mentioned where applicable.
Results: The results should be concisely and logically presented. Only data essential for the main conclusions emerging from the study should be included. Interpretation of data should not be included there. Repetition of the same results in figures, tables or text should be avoided.
Discussion and Conclusion: Long, rambling discussions should be avoided. The discussion should deal with the interpretation of results without repeating information already presented in results. It should logically relate new findings to earlier ones. Unqualified statements and conclusions not completely supported by data should be avoided. All hypotheses should be clearly identified as such.
Acknowledgement: Should be brief and made for specific scientific and technical assistance only and not for routine help in preparing manuscripts. If a significant part of the research was performed in an institution other than in those indicated by the authors' affiliations given in the title page, this fact should be acknowledged.
References : References to the literature must be indicated in the text and tables as per the Harvard System, by the author’s name and year, in parenthesis (i.e. Able, 1997). Citation to work by more than two authors should be abbreviated with the use of et al. (i.e. Able et al., 1997). Multiple works by the same first author should be coded by letters, (i.e. Thompson, 1991a, b). Multiple citations should be listed in chronological order and separated by a semi-colon, (i.e. Zimmerman et al., 1986; Able et al., 1997). Reference to unpublished work, work in preparation or work under review should be cited in italics as (unpublished data) or, with the author’s initials and surname given; such works should not be included in the Reference section. Personal communications may be mentioned in the text as (Personal communication, 2 June 2000), with the date of communication.
The list of references should be arranged in alphabetical order. All the initials of the author must be given after the surname and the year of publication should be followed in parentheses. This should be followed by the full title of the referred publication. When journal articles are listed, the journal name should be given in full and it should be indicated in italics and followed by the volume number in bold type and then the inclusive pages. Where there are several works by the same author(s) and published in the same year they should be differentiated by adding a lower case letter after the year. When books are listed, the order should be: author(s), year, book title, volume number, edition, pagination/ inclusive pages, publisher and place of publication. The book title should be indicated in italics. When sections of a book are listed, the order should be: author(s) of section, year, title of the section, title of the book, edition, inclusive pages, publisher and place of publication. References should only be cited as ‘in press’ if the paper has been accepted for publication.
Examples of correct forms of references are given below.
Journal Articles
ü Boutin C. & Harper J.L. (1991). A comparative study of the population dynamics of five species of Veronica in natural habitats. Journal of Ecology 79(01): 199-221.
Books & Book Chapters
ü Burnham K.P. & Anderson D.R. (2002). Model Selection and Multimodel Inference, 2nd edition. Springer Science + Business Media, Inc., New York, USA.
ü Hinrichsen R.A. & Holmes E.E. (2009). Using multivariate state-space models to study spatial structure and dynamics. Spatial Ecology (eds. R. S. Cantrell, C. Cosner & S. Ruan), pp. 145–166. CRC/Chapman Hall, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
Conference Papers
ü Weaver D. (2002). Implementation of a learning management system using an integrated approach to professional development. In: Winds of change in the sea of learning. Proceedings of the 19th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning and Tertiary Education (ASCILITE) (eds. A. Williamson, C. Gunn, A. Young & T. Clear), volume 2, Auckland, New Zealand, 8-11 December. Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand, pp. 711-720.
Agency Publications
ü U.S. Census Bureau (2009). World Population: 1950-2050. U.S. Census Bureau, Washington DC, USA.
ü Department of Health (2008). Health Inequalities: Progress and Next Step. (pdf). Department of Health, London. Available at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications PolicyAndGuidance/DH _ 08 5307, Accessed 9 June 2008.
Other
ü Robinson, L.J. (2003). Spatial scale and depletion models of farmland birds in a fragmented landscape. PhD thesis, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
ü Efford, M.G. (2008). Density 4.3: software for spatially explicit capture–recapture. Available at http://www.otago. ac.nz/density, Accessed 15 March 2009.
Footnotes: These should be included only if they are indispensable. They should be indicated in the text by small superior symbols and listed on a separate page in the manuscript.
Abbreviations and Symbols: Unless common, these should be defined when first used, and not included in the abstract. The SI System of units should be used wherever possible. lf measurements were made in units other than SI, the data should be reported in the same units followed by SI units in brackets. e.g. 5290 ft (1610 m).
Formulae and Equations: Equations should be typewritten and quadruple spaced. They should be started on the left margin and the number placed in parentheses to the right of the equation.
Nomenclature: Scientific names of plants and animals should be printed in italics, and should be either underlined or typed in italics in the manuscript. In the first citation, genus, species and authority must be given. e.g. Borassus flabellifer Linn. In later citations, the generic name may be abbreviated. e.g. B. flabellifer L.
Tables : should be clear and intelligible without reference to the text, and should not repeat data available elsewhere in the paper. They should be typed on A4 size paper and numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals and attached at the end of the paper. If a table must be continued, a second sheet should be used and all the headings repeated.
The number of columns or rows in each table should be minimized. Each table should have a title which makes its general meaning clear without reference to the text. All table columns should have explanatory headings. Units of measurement, if any, should be indicated in parentheses in the heading of each column. Vertical lines should not be used and horizontal lines should be used only in the heading and at the bottom of the table. Footnotes to tables should be placed directly below the table and should be indicated by superscript lower case italic letters (a, b, c, etc.). The preferred position of tables should be indicated in pencil in the manuscript.
Figures (Illustrations) : should be kept to a minimum and their total should not exceed ten. If previously published illustrations are essential, the copyright holder's written permission should be obtained. All illustrations are considered as figures, and each graph, drawing or photograph should be numbered in sequence with Arabic numerals. Any lettering to appear on the illustrations should be of a suitable size for reproduction and should be indicated on a photocopy of the illustration. Scanned figures should be of high quality(300 dpi), to fit the proportions of the printed page (12 x 17 cm).
Each figure should carry a legend so written that the general meaning of the figure can be understood without reference to the text. Figure legends should be typed with double-spacing on a separate sheet and, along with the Figures, placed at the end of the paper. The maximum number of words per legend should be 40. Where magnifications are used, they should be stated. The approximate position for each figure should be indicated in the margin of the text.
Colour illustrations are considered only very exceptionally. Only non-mounted high quality glossy photographs are acceptable. Magnification should be indicated with a scale line on the photograph. The author's name and figure number should be given on the back of each photograph.
Note: Original artwork and photos should not be sent until the manuscript has been accepted for publication.
Units of measurement
Length: km, m, mm, μm, nm etc.
Area: km2, m2, etc.
Capacity: kL, L, mL, μL etc.
Volume: km3, m3, cm3 etc.
Mass: kg, g, mg, μg etc.
Time: year(s), month(s), wk(s), d(s), h, min, s
Concentration: M, mM, N, %, g/L, mg/L, etc., ppm
Temperature: °C
Gravity: x g
Molecular weight: mol wt
Others: Radio-isotopes: 32P
Radiation dose: Bq
Oxidation-reduction potential: rH
Hydrogen ion concentration: pH
SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPT
All manuscripts should be submitted to the following address in triplicate, one original and two copies (including tables and figures) with the completed Checklist for Authors. The electronic version may be submitted by e-mail or as a CD, depending on the size of the file. Authors submitting Research articles must furnish a signed statement on authorship responsibility. The forms can be obtained from http://www.nsf.ac.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=122&Itemid=220.
The Editorial Office
Journal of the National Science Foundation
of Sri Lanka
47/5, Maitland Place
Colombo 7.
SRI LANKA
Email:jnsf@nsf.ac.lk
All submissions should be in English. If the manuscript conforms to the guidelines specified, the date received will be the date the manuscript reaches the Editorial Office.
Manuscripts are accepted on the understanding that they will be reviewed prior to acceptance and they have not been submitted for publication elsewhere. The decision of the Editorial Board on publication is final. Papers may be subject to editorial revision in order to improve presentation. When revision of a manuscript has been requested, the revised manuscript should be submitted within two months. Otherwise, the manuscript will be processed as one withdrawn from submission. The accepted date will be the day when the Editorial Board has judged it to be publishable after the reviewing process.
The authors are required to submit a list of five names of local or foreign referees when submitting their manuscript. Referees should not be from the institution where the work was carried out. The addresses and institutional affiliation of the suggested referees should be supplied.
A complimentary copy of the Journal will be supplied to each of the authors and twenty reprints to the corresponding author.