Author Guidelines

Nepalese Journal of Zoology publishes research articles, review articles, short communications, and biology news in the field of biology. The journal is published by the Central Department of Zoology, Institute of Science and Technology, Tribhuvan University, Nepal.

By submitting a paper, author(s) confirm(s) that the work has not been published anywhere, and is not under consideration for publication anywhere.

The submitted manuscripts will be subjected to pre-review by editors. The manuscripts deemed to be appropriate will be sent to reviewers, and the handling editor will moderate communication between reviewers and the corresponding author. The submitted manuscript is expected to get the first decision within two months of submission.

 Authors are required to submit their manuscripts by either online form or manuscript central (https://www.cdztu.edu.np/njz/). In case of problems in manuscript central, the corresponding author can also send the manuscript by email to: njz@cdztu.edu.np

Research Articles: These are the original research papers reporting cutting-edge biological sciences-related research of international relevance (e.g., biodiversity conservation, environmental problems, animal health-related issues) that has clear application to the conservation/management of natural systems. It should be less than 9000 words (includes all parts of paper except figures and tables). It should be organized as Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Acknowledgments, Authors' Contributions, and References.

Review Articles: It provides a timely synthesis of topical themes covering the scope of the journal. Reviews should also offer new insights or perspectives to guide future research efforts. It should not exceed 8000 words inclusive of all parts of the paper, as mentioned above.

Short Communications: It provides a short but insightful glance of environmental issues. It should be less than 4000 words and should be organized as research articles.

Checklists: Checklists are the original research papers in the broad aspects of Faunal Diversity including species diversity, genetic diversity, and ecological diversity, with their detailed subaspects. It includes an annotated list of species, notes on the geographic distribution of species, and a distribution summary of a taxonomic group. Research papers containing identification keys of species will get high priority. Species details should be verified with authentic and updated sources of respective taxa such as published books related to taxonomy (e.g., Birds of Nepal), databases (e.g., https://www.antweb.org/), and websites (e.g., https://www.iucnredlist.org/).  In the papers with extensive taxonomic works, author (s) need to provide  (1) information on type material and type locality, according to the ICZN requirements, (2) description of species with high-quality images, (3)  identification keys to at least one of the closest relatives of the new species (e.g., species group), (4) etymology, and (6) as much additional information as possible about the biology, distribution, natural history, and conservation status (e.g., https://www.iucnredlist.org/). It should be less than 10000 words (includes all parts of paper except figures and tables). It should be organized as Abstract, Introduction, Materials and methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Acknowledgments, Authors Contributions, and References.

Biology News: It covers the interesting recent developments/issues/news about biology. It should be less than 2000 words.

Letters to the Editor: It covers the issues that can draw the attention of the scientific community about issues of environment and public health. It should be less than 1000 words.

Submission Preparation Checklist

• The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
• Authors retain the copyright of the contents published in NJZ and need to grant the right of first publication to the journal with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
• The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, or RTF document file format.
• Manuscripts should be in English, typed on the A4 paper, single column, double spaced with ample margins (Left 1.25’’, Top, Bottom, and Right 1’’) including line and page number for each page separately. Authors are suggested to use Times New Roman font (12pt bold for headings, 12pt for the text including captions of figures and illustrations) and Arial font 10pt for figures and illustrations. A clear justification must be provided in the cover letter during submission for manuscripts over the word count in each form of paper type.
• Line and page numbers.
• The International System of Units (meters, kilograms, seconds) should be used for all measurements.
• Where available, Uniform Resource Locator (URL)s and Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for the references have been provided.

 Submission of papers

During submission author (s) require to submit: a cover letter to the editor, a separate title page as mentioned below, a manuscript file without authors' details ensuring double-blind peer review, tables and figures should be placed at the end of the manuscript file as mentioned below.

Title page: The title page should be submitted separately with the following information:  Title of the article (less than 25 words), the name(s) of the author(s), affiliation(s), and address (es) of the author(s), e-mail address, telephone, and fax numbers of the corresponding author, acknowledgments.

The title page should contain:

• A concise and informative title of fewer than 25 words.
• A list of author names, affiliation(s), and e-mail address of the corresponding author.
• The name, complete mailing address (including e-mail address, telephone, and fax numbers) of the corresponding author.
• A running title not exceeding 45 characters.
• A word count of the entire paper broken down into abstract, main text, acknowledgments, references, tables, and figure legends.
• The number of tables and figures.
• The number of references.

Both American and British English are accepted but not of the combination of these. Please use Times New Roman font (12-point) for text preparation. Abbreviations should be defined at first mention and used consistently thereafter.

For original research papers and short communications, the text should normally consist of Abstract, Introduction, Materials and methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Research implications (if any), Acknowledgments, and References.

Abstract: This section should be written in a paragraph with less than 300 words and includes the following:  Scope, Location, Methods, Results, Research implications in the respective fields, and ending with a list of 5-6 keywords arranged in alphabetical order.

Introduction: State the clear reason for the research work, the context, background, aims, and the hypotheses that are being tested. A brief statement of what has been achieved should be written at the end of the introduction.

Materials and Methods: Include sufficient details for the work to be repeated. Where specific equipment and materials are named, the manufacturer’s details (name, city, and country) should be given so that readers can trace specifications by contacting the manufacturer. Where commercially available software has been used, details of the supplier should be given in brackets or the reference given in full in the reference list.

Results: State the results of experimental or modeling work, drawing attention to important details in tables and figures. The Results section should conform to the highest standards of rigor.

Discussion: Point out the importance of the results and place them in the context of previous studies and in relation to the application of the work (expanding on the Synthesis and applications section of the Summary). Include clear recommendations for management or policy.

Conclusions: Highlight the key findings of your research.

Acknowledgments: It must be placed after the main text and before the references. Be brief (Acknowledgments of people, grants, funds, etc.). If authors refer to themselves as recipients of assistance or funding, they should do so by their initials separated by points (e.g., J. B. T.). Do not acknowledge Editors by name.

Authors’ contributions: A brief author contributions statement must be provided for all submissions with more than one author. A general guideline for author contributions statement is given below:

“Subedi, J. R. Designed research, and collected data; Subedi, J. R. and Smith, H. analyzed and wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed critically to the drafts and gave final approval for publication.”

Funding Information: Provide the finding source in less than 50 words. 

ORCID: Provide the ORCID ID(s) of the author(s).  

References: Only the most relevant references should be used in the papers. The references should be limited to published work, work in press, research reports of authentic institutions, or theses and dissertations. References should be listed in alphabetical order. Check the manuscript to make sure that all references are cited and that all citations in the text are included in the references. DOI is compulsory for citing journal research papers. Follow the following given citation style.

Citations in the text:

For one author:  Smith (2010) and (Smith 2010)

For two authors: (Williams & Pandey 2004) and Williams and Pandey (2004)

For more than two authors: Waterman et al. (2015) and (Waterman et al. 2015)

Multiple citations within a bracket are to be kept in chronological order of old to new references and separated by a comma, for example: (Nowell & Jackson 1996; Jnawali et al. 2011; Chhetri et al. 2018)

Citations for Personal Communication are not included in the reference list. Cite such references only in text. Provide the full name of the communicator with the date of communication if possible. It can be written as: (John Williams Pers. Comm., March 26, 2019). 

In reference list:

• Journal article, single author

Sanders, N. J. 2002. Elevational gradients in ant species richness: area, geometry, and Rapoport's rule. Ecography 25:25–32. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0587.2002.250104.x

• Journal article, two authors

Schlaepfer, M. A. and Gavin, T. A. 2001. Edge effects on lizards and frogs in tropical forest fragments. Conservation Biology 15:1079–1090. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1739.2001.0150041079.x

• Journal article, more than two authors

Tscharntke, T., Sekercioglu, C. H., Dietsch, T. V., Sodhi, N. S., Hoehn, P. and Tylianakis, J. M. 2008. Landscape constraints on functional diversity of birds and insects in tropical agroecosystems. Ecology 89:944–951. https://doi: 10.1890/07-0455.1

• Journal article, more than six authors

Whiles, M. R., Lips, K. R., Pringle, C. M., Kilham, S. S., Bixby, R. J., Brenes, R. et al. 2006. The effects of amphibian population declines on the structure and function of Neotropical stream ecosystems. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 4:27–34. https://doi.org/10.1890/1540-9295(2006)004[0027:TEOAPD]2.0.CO;2

• Proceedings

Bhattarai, B. P. and Basnet, K. 2004. Assessment of crop damage by wild ungulates in the eastern side of Barandabhar Corridor Forest, Chitwan. Proceedings of Fourth National Conference on Science and Technology, Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, 23-26 March 2004, Kathmandu, Nepal, pp 1976–1980. 

• Report

Sharma, A. P. 1993. Status of water pollution in Nepal.  A report submitted to the Man and Biosphere, Kathmandu, Nepal, p 320.

• Book

Schuh, R. T. and Brower, A. V. Z. 2009. Biological systematic: Principles and application (2^nd ed). Cornell University Press, Ithaca, USA, p 311.

• Edited book

Glatston, A. R. (Ed.) 2011. Red panda, the biology and conservation of the first panda. Academic Press, London, UK, p 456.

• Chapter in edited book

Nesheim, M. C. 1989. Ascariasis and human nutrition. In: Crompton, D. W. T., Nesbemi, M. C. and Pawlowski, Z. S. (Eds.) Ascariasis and its prevention and control. Taylor and Francis, London, UK, pp 87–100.

• Dissertation/Thesis

Bam, A. B. 2005. Screening of tomato germplasm to the Meloidogyne: a root-knot nematode. MSc Thesis, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Thapa, T. B. 2011. Habitat suitability evaluation for Leopard (Panthera pardus) using remote sensing and GIS in and around Chitwan National Park, Nepal. PhD Thesis, Saurashtra University, India.

• Website

Goodrich, J., Lynam, A., Miquelle, D., Wibisono, H., Kawanishi, K., Pattanavibool, A., Htun, S., Tempa, T., Karki, J. and Jhala, Y. 2015. Panthera tigris. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e. T15955A50659951.

USGS. 2015. Freshwater mussels of the upper Mississippi River system. http://www.fws.gov/midwest/mussel/current_threats.html. Accessed on 19 June 2019.

Endnote Style for citation and referencing to the NJZ is available in the following link: https://www.cdztu.edu.np/publication/njz-endnote-style/ 

Tables: Each table should be on a separate page, numbered, and accompanied by a legend at the top. These should be referred to in the text as Table 1, Table 2, etc. Each table should be the plain format (without any effects and vertical lines). Any additional information on the table should be indicated by superscript upper-case letters and provided beneath the table body. Avoid duplication between figures and tables.

Figures: Figures and their legends should be grouped together at the end of the paper before Supporting Information (if present). Figures (including artwork, map, design except for table) should be referred to in the text as Fig. 1, Fig. 1 & 2, etc. (For multiple figures as:- Fig. 1a, 1b, etc.)  Figure caption should be clear enough to understand without refereeing text. Figures including any other graphical objects should be in TIFF/JPEG format and should have a resolution not less than 300 dpi.

Supporting Information: Essential supporting information can be published in the online version of the article. It includes additional artwork, design, maps, supporting data, appendices, etc.

Manuscript submission

 Authors can submit their manuscript through a fully web-based system and as an email attachment and review of manuscripts can also be done via. web-based system.

https://www.cdztu.edu.np/njz/

All correspondence should be channeled via the Subject Editor: njz@cdztu.edu.np

During submission, authors will be asked to confirm the following points:

• The submitted work has not been submitted, published, or accepted for publication, nor is being considered for publication elsewhere, either in whole or substantial part.
• All authors and relevant institutions have gone through the submitted version of the manuscript and approve its submission.
• All persons entitled to authorship have been included as co-authors.
• The submitted work is original and all necessary acknowledgments have been made.
• The work conforms to the legal and ethical requirements of the respective country in which the study was carried out.
• During submission, all co-authors will receive confirmation.
• A cover letter is optional and can be used to provide supplementary information not present in the manuscript and that is important for the editorial office or editors.

Ethical approaches and guidelines

 The publication of an article in a peer-reviewed journal is an essential work of scientists to disseminate their research findings on a global scale. It also reflects the quality of research of the authors and their institutions. Prior to publishing their work, authors need to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior. The following points should be considered as ethical topics before submitting papers for publication in the Nepalese Journal of Zoology:

 Authorship of the paper: Authorship of a paper should be limited to those who have significantly contributed to the conception, design, execution, or writing of the study. There should be transparency on the contributions of authors and authors need to provide author contribution statements as mentioned above.

Originality and plagiarism: The authors should ensure that they have developed entirely original works. They have to use the contents of works, part of work, and words or statements of others, that have been cited or quoted appropriately.

Acknowledgment of sources: Acknowledgment of other people’s work must always be provided.

Reporting standards: Results of the original research work of authors should provide an accurate account of the work with a clear discussion of its implications.

Conflicts of interest: The authors must disclose a potential conflict of interest for all submissions and relationships with others.

Data access and retention: Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be agreed to provide public access to such data if the editorial board finds something doubtful.

Critical errors in published works: If an author finds a critical error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author's responsibility to promptly notify the journal editor and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

Multiple, redundant, or concurrent publication: Authors should not submit/publish the same research, idea, concept, and papers in more than one journal or primary publication. These contents include publication in the form of an abstract, publication as an academic dissertation, conference proceeding, and publication as an electronic preprint.

Use of hazards and human or animal subjects and work in restricted areas: Authors should not use hazardous chemicals or weapons or equipment to handle animals or humans at the time of data collection. They should state complications if their research work involves chemicals, procedures, or equipment that have any unusual hazards to animals or humans. Besides, authors require approval of the ethics committee, prior informed consent to study on patients, direct handling of animals, and working in restricted areas. Authors should get permission to do such works from concerned authorities/people and should declare in a cover letter to the journal at the time of submission.

 Plagiarism policy

 All the submissions will go for plagiarism check prior to go review process. It is one of the most common types of publication misconduct when an author deliberately uses another’s work without permission, credit, or acknowledgment. It includes: Ideas and Concepts, Data, Words, and Phrases. Authors should declare that their work does not have plagiarized contents or parts throughout their paper. For details of plagiarism, authors can check in internet sources and published books.

 Conflict of interest

 All authors must disclose a conflict of interest (COI) in their contributions. The COI includes financial, personal relationships supporting organizations, employment, consultancies, ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. The authors need to provide a statement declaring the conflict of interest in the title page file.

 Changes to authorship

 At the time of submission, authors need to provide the list and order of authors without any conflict. Further addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names and order in the authors' list should be requested journal editor just before the manuscript has been accepted. For such change, the corresponding author should send written confirmation letters from all authors to the editor explaining the reason for change including the consent of all authors. This would be possible only in exceptional circumstances and the Editor considers the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of the author's names and order after the manuscript has been accepted. Before that, the manuscript will be suspended from publication.

 Review process

 Reviewers are the honorary volunteers that play a pivotal role in publishing standards. The review process involves the following steps:

• Double-blind peer-review
• Initial assessment by the editor for suitability and standard for the journal
• Checking for: Plagiarism and Ethical standard
• If the paper is deemed suitable for publication, assigning to the handling subject editor
• Send to at least two independent subject expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper
• The handling editor submits the report of review including the authors' response to the reviewer’s comments and based on the reports, the chief editor is responsible for the final decision of revisions required, acceptance, or rejection of papers. The chief editor’s decision is final. Also, check the editorial process for details

 Editorial process

NJZ follows a double-blind peer-review process. Author names are concealed. Editors and reviewers are expected to handle the manuscripts confidentially and must not disclose any details to anyone outside of the review process. Reviewers also have the right to confidentiality and their names are not revealed to authors unless they choose to sign their review. Further, peer review comments should remain confidential even after a manuscript receives a final decision. Manuscripts are normally reviewed by at least three independent experts in the relevant subjects. All correspondence between an author, editor, and peer reviewer should remain in confidence unless explicit consent has been given by all parties, including the journal, or unless there are exceptional ethical or legal circumstances that require identities or details of the correspondence to be revealed. Reviewers are acknowledged by publishing a list of contributing reviewers for each year on the journal website.

 Types of editorial decisions:

Immediate reject: the paper does not follow the guidelines of the journal and unrelated to the scope and standard of the journal.

Reject: the paper is not acceptable for publication in the journal and re-submission will not be considered.

Decline without prejudice: the paper is rejected but with the option to submit, for further review, a completely new version of the paper that has undergone considerable changes.

Major Revision: the paper requires major changes and needs to go through the review process again, with no guarantee of acceptance.

Minor Revision: the paper requires minor changes. Further review is occasionally required. There is no guarantee of acceptance.

Final acceptance: after a final editorial check, acceptance is confirmed and the manuscript files along with the obtained forms are sent to the publisher.

Production Process

• License to publish: The Nepalese Journal of Zoology has a licensing policy that permits distribution, remixing, adaption, and build upon your work under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License. Authors retain the copyright of the contents published in NJZ and need to grant the right of first publication to the journal. It also allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., on their website) prior to and during the submission process (e.g., as a preprint), as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of the published work. However, authors need to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements with NJZ for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., publish it in an institutional book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
• Colour figures: Colour figures may be published online free of charge; however, the journal charges for publishing figures in color in printed form. If the author supplies color figures, at Early View publication they will be invited to complete a color charge agreement. The author will have the option of paying immediately with a credit or debit card, or they can request an invoice. If the author chooses not to purchase color printing, the figures will be converted to black and white for the print issue of the journal.
• Accepted papers: After a paper has been accepted for publication, authors will receive galley proof of manuscript within one week. After receiving corrections from authors, the manuscript will be corrected and then it will be uploaded online within one week. Any final, minor corrections can still be made to the article at the following proofing stage.
• Offprints: A PDF offprint is available to authors via an automated system integrated with NJZ Author Services. The authors will be directed to retrieve the final PDF file of their article online. A copy of the Publisher's Terms and Conditions for the use of the PDF file will accompany the PDF offprint and the file can only be distributed in accordance with these requirements.

Sponsorship

Presently, the journal is supported by the Central Department of Zoology, Institute of Science and Technology, Tribhuvan University, Nepal for any cost associated with the handling, publishing, and technical things.

(Revised 2020-10-08)