Submissions

Author Guidelines

NARC Journal (Journal of Nepal Agricultural Research Council)

Instruction to Authors (http://narc.gov.np/narc-journal/)

Journal of Nepal Agricultural Research Council (a peer reviewed and open access journal published by Nepal Agricultural Research Council, NARC) abbreviated as J. Nep. Agric. Res. Counc. publishes original (not published or submitted for publication elsewhere) research, review, and vision articles written in English (use US or British English which has shorter words or phrases eg color not colour) from the world in all aspects of agricultural sciences, particularly in the field of agriculture (crop science, livestock science, agro-forestry, fisheries) and topics related to agricultural sciences (germplasm characterization, post-harvest technology, integrated agricultural management systems, community based management of crop and livestock diversity, agricultural policy. In addition to full length research articles or critical reviews, research notes including characterization notes of stable genotypes/landraces having accession number from the National Genebank, NARC and opinion papers may also be published in the journal. 

Evaluation field trials (though depend on the nature of trials) should be repeated across more than one season, or in more than one location as appropriate. Research findings from a single season or location of evaluation trials may be accepted as Research Note only, if the findings are of exceptional interest. Announcement about meeting, conference, seminar, workshop, book review, correspondence and other items of interest of the NARC may also be included. All materials should be sent to the Managing Editor (Chief, CPDD-NARC, Khumaltar) at an email: cpdd@narc.gov.np or narcjournal@gmail.com or both.

Authors interested to publish their article in the journal are requested to submit online through https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JNARC/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions or http://narc.gov.np/submission/. Paper can be submitted anytime. All authors must submit a cover letter mentioning why the contents in submitted paper is of interest to scientific community, researchers and general readers, and novelty (key new findings). The letter should also mention that the paper has not been submitted to any other journals for review and publication. All papers are screened first for format and style as per this guideline. The paper will be returned immediately, if guidelines are not met, and resubmission of such revised manuscript is encouraged. Paper after accepting at first stage screening will be assigned a number and go for review process.

Each manuscript submitted to the editorial committee is registered and reviewed by at least two peer reviewers. All authors and reviewers are requested not to change the file name; however, words can be added at the last of the file name. Manuscripts that need improvement as suggested by reviewers and editorial committee will be returned to corresponding author for correction and incorporation of the comments. The corrected version of the manuscript should be submitted within 7 days to the Managing Editor. Plagiarism is checked on corrected version, and if noted, the paper will be returned to author for revision. After print setting, author will have a chance for proof read.

Authors are encouraged to have colleagues review the manuscript before submitting it for publication. Additional authorities are consulted as necessary to confirm the scientific merit of any part or all of the manuscript. A reviewer is asked to review the manuscript and to transmit within two weeks. Each reviewer makes a specific recommendation for the manuscript based on the following aspects that are applicable:

Publication in the journal is free of charge. Print copy is distributed freely from CPDD, Khumaltar. On request, electronic pdf file will be provided and all papers published in any volume of this journal are downloadable from http://narc.gov.np/narc-journal/ or https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JNARC. Visit http://narc.gov.np/narc-journal/ for details and earlier volume.

Journal Features

Format for Main Research Articles

The manuscript should be submitted in English typed in A4 size page in single space (Times New Roman) in MS-Word. Use normal text and do not format text, Table other than as mentioned in this guideline. Capitalize initial of each keywords in title with 14 font size and capitalize first level HEADINGS, capitalize initial of each keywords in Sub-headings. Capitalize initial letter of Table and Figure. Bold all HEADINGS and Sub headings. Do not use period (.) in very common abbreviations for example eg, etc, et al, ie, Rs, Mr, Dr, spp, sp. All years should be in English calendar and write single year, not two years as 2015/16. Generally harvesting time as well as year of longer growing period determines the year. Use ‘and’ instead of &. Do not provide space before percentage sign of any value (67%) and use word per or symbol (/ mostly in Table and Figure) not superscript. Italicize non-English words and scientific name and it should be followed by authority and genetics (eg Oryza sativa L., 2n=2x=24). Capitalize first letter in word after colon. Use Times New Roman with 11 font size for general text (body); 10 for abstract, keywords, Table, Figure, acknowledgments and references. Do not keep any things in text box. Foot note or Table foot note, header, footer and source should be italicized with 9 font size. Make appropriate color for Table, Figure, Title, HEADINGS and sub headings (see latest issue for color use). Color is used for title, headings, sub-headings, Table lines, Figures, column headings, headers, all link address (email, URL, etc) without underline, words Table and Figure. Do not justify title, HEADINGS, sub headings, Table caption, Figure caption, authors name and address, keywords, text column, etc. Indicate the end of paper by inserting this symbol |l-------l|l-------l|.

Title and Author: The title should be informative and unique started with keyword but concise and clear and should reflect the content of the paper. It should be in title case. Abbreviated and shortcut word should not be used in the title. Provide running title (short as much as possible). If common name of any species or genotypes are available, mention only common name and not scientific name in the title. Below the title, name and the address of all authors should be given. Write the addresses of the authors at the time of the work reported in the paper. Indicate current or postal addresses as a footnote on the first page of the paper, if the address is different from workplace. Full name and complete address of each author should be written and indicate the corresponding author using symbol @. Provide email address of all authors, in case of multiple authors with same address other than corresponding author, give email of each author indicating by initials eg (ABC: abnepal@yahoo.com Corresponding author must mention ORCID (visit this site for getting this ID, https://orcid.org/) as ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7848-5824  just after email address.

ABSTRACT

Every manuscript (article) must have a short abstract (not more than 300 words), which should be complete itself but it should be concise and clear without any cited references. Abstract should highlight rationale, objectives, materials and methods, important results and conclusion written in a manner so that it is suitable for direct reproduction in abstracting journals. Keywords (not more than 5 words) should be written below the abstract in alphabetical order. Authors and subjects index are published at volume number that are divisible by 4. In addition to these, abstract should also be written in Nepali language (not applicable to foreign authors) using Kalimati Unicode font in 11 font size.

INTRODUCTION

Should give appropriate background and explain the things that are proposed. It should include short introduction to justify the research and relevant reviews and state the objectives clearly.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Should include description of the site or system where the work was carried out, the experimental materials, procedures and statistical design used as well as method to analyze the results. New methods should be described in detail and for methods developed by earlier researcher, only reference may be cited. Detailed methodology descriptions are preferred. Report the location, geo-references (altitude, latitude and longitude, etc) and date of experiment conducted. Write scientific name with authority, common and local name of organism. If possible mention chromosome number of organism as 2n=2x=24 for Oryza sativa L.

RESULTS

Results and discussion should be under different headings. Results should be presented in a concise manner avoiding data that are already given in Tables and Figures.

DISCUSSION

Discussion part should not repeat the results but should explain and interpret the data based on the published relevant studies. Insert graph and Table wherever necessary and number them sequentially within each paper (article).

CONCLUSION

The conclusion, recommendation, way forward and possible impact (if any) all comes under this heading and should be based on the supporting data.

Units of Measurement: All units and measures should be in the metric system or in the International System Units (SI) and should be abbreviated for technical values. Local units and measures can be used in parenthesis. Currency exchange rates should be in US$ along with the local currency for the appropriate date for any prices cited.

Reporting Time and Dates: Use 12-hr time system with four digits, the first two for hours and the last two for minutes (eg 02:30 pm). Dates are reported with day of the month first, then month, followed by the year without comma (,) eg 7 Aug 2000.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Acknowledge the person and/or institution and funding agencies, if necessary, who actually help to achieve the objectives of the research. If research is project base, it is suggested to include project brief.

REFERENCES

Only the papers closely related to the authors' work should be referred in the text by author's family name and the year of publication and be cited in an alphabetical order. When quoting (citing) references in the text, the last names of the authors for up to two authors (eg Joshi 2015, Gurung and Shrestha 2011) and last name of the first author followed by et al for more than two authors (eg Singh et al 2014) should be given followed by the year of publication within parenthesis. Do not use comma (,) before year or to separate family name and year, do not use period (.) in et al, eg, etc, ed, eds and initials of author name, do not give space between two initials of author name and in between volume and page numbers, do not justify references list, give 0.3” hanging indent to each reference list, capitalize each keyword in title of book, proceedings, workshop, etc. When references made to more than one publication by the authors in the same year, the publication should be numbered as (a) and (b) of that year with the earliest publication the year being designated (a) and so on. Each reference should contain first author's family name followed by his/her first initial name and the middle name (initial only) and the co-author/s with initials of the first and the middle names followed by family name/s, year of publication (English calendar), title of the research article/s, name of the journal or name and place of publisher (in case of book), volume number and page number/s. If no authority is available for citation, credit the work to the publisher. Please refer following examples for reference citing. Provide the link for references that are available online. If DOI is available, provide at the end of reference in the format as DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.87.12.4576. Bold DOI, volume number (5:34-56), pp (pp.67-70) and In (in case of book chapter, proceedings etc (In: Agrobiodiversity …). Keep the link address and email in color text and remove underline without removing hyperlink (http://narc.gov.np/narc-journal/). 

For electronic sources follow as the same kind of material in print, starting with the author, year, title and then giving further information as for a chapter or journal article and add the online address URL. If web address is too long, shorten it through https://goo.gl and cite this short link in the text. For reference without date, write DNA (date not available) in the place of year, eg Maharjan B. DNA.

Journal

Joshi BK. 2019. Twenty Four Approaches for Conservation of Non-Orthodox Agricultural Plant Genetic Resources in Nepal. Journal of Nepal Agricultural Research Council. 5:22-33. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3126/jnarc.v5i1.23801

Wilson RT. 1997. Animal genetic resources and domestic animal diversity in Nepal. Biodiversity and Conservation 6: 233-251.

Book

Cochran WG and GM Cox. 1968. Experimental Designs. 2^nded, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York.

Lewis WH, ed. 1980. Polyploidy: Biological Relevance. Plenum Press, New York.

Book Chapter and Proceedings

Yuan LP, ZY Yang and JB Yang. 1994. Hybrid rice in China. In: Hybrid Rice Technology: New Development and Future Prospects (SS Virmani, ed). IRRI, the Philippines; pp.143-147.

Joshi BK, D Singh, P Chaudhary, KH Ghimireand M Khanal. 2017. Biotechnology, geographical information system and climate analog tool for management of APGRs. In: Conservation and Utilization of Agricultural Plant Genetic Resources in Nepal (BK Joshi, HB KC and AK Acharya, eds). Proc. 2^nd National Workshop, 22-23 May 2017, Dhulikhel; NAGRC, FDD, DoA and MoAD; Kathmandu, Nepal; pp.156-169.http://moad.gov.np/public/uploads/855517450-Plant%20Genetic%20Resources_CUAPGR_Nepal-min.pdf

Annual Report

NWRP. 2015. Rice-wheat system: Opportunities and constraints. In: Annual Report1980. National Wheat Research Program (NWRP), Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Bhairahawa, Nepal; pp.60-65.

Genebank. 2019. Annual Report 2075/76 (2018/19) (BK Joshi, KH Ghimire and S Shrestha, eds). National Agriculture Genetic Resources Center (Genebank), NARC, Khumaltar.

Serials, Newsletter

Shrestha J, MR Bhatta and KH Ghimire. 2013. Shali Dhan: Elite line of rice from Far West Nepal developed under the pre-breeding program in Genebank, Khumaltar. NARC Newsletter 20(4):5.

Web Material

Pretty J. 2003. Genetic modification: Overview of benefits and risks. http://www2.essex.ac.uk/ces/.

In case of citing only website, it is not necessary to include the list in references section, only citation is enough with link.

Thesis and Dissertation

Shrestha SK. 2000. Assessment of the potential of Nepalese rice cultivars and landraces for hybrid production. Master Thesis. Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Rampur, Nepal.

Paper Presented in Workshop or Seminar

Don’t cite presentation, in case of necessity followed this style. Author can consider abstract publication of such workshop.

Upadhyay MP, BK Baniya, BK Joshi, HB KC and D Gauchan. 2003. On-farm management of agrobiodiversity: Experiences of Nepal. Paper presented in: International Conference on Himalayan Biodiversity (ICHB 2003), 26-28 Feb 2003, Kathmandu.

Personal Communication and Unpublished Article

These can be mentioned directly in the text in parenthesis (eg RC Sharma 2014 personal communication, TB Gurung 2016 email correspondence).

Nepali Language References

If references are in Nepali languages, first write authors’ name and year in English and write title in Roman. Remaining parts eg publisher, address, page number, etc are same as other publications and at last write In Nepali language) within parenthesis.

Khatri BH, BP Luitel and D Chaudhary. 2015. Nepalma Sifarish tatha unmochan gariyeko aaluko jaatharu: Ek parichaya. NPRP, NARC, Khumaltar (in Nepali language).

Thesis or Dissertation

If the manuscript to be published is from his/her thesis or dissertation, it should be indicated at the footnote of the first page.

Table: Each Table with a number and proper title heading should be prepared and sorted appropriately. Use the following symbols for footnotes in the order shown: †, ‡, §, ¶, #, ††, ‡‡, etc. The single (*) and double asterisks (**) are used to indicate statistical significance and have priority in this order to show 5 and 1% levels of significance, respectively. Do not repeat information in the text presented in charts or graph. Use 10 font size and bold word Table, Table caption and column headings with only horizontal lines. When necessary, provide actual p-value.

Figure: Each Figure and/or graph with a number and the proper title heading should be drawn or prepared. Figure/picture should be with good color so it can be printed well in black and white. Use 10 font size and bold word Figure, use period (.) at the end of caption. Provide Figure both in Word and Excel format or original picture with high resolution (editable one). If there are many images, they can be arranged in tabular cells. Do not abbreviate Figure as Fig. if there is no line at the bottom of any drawing, underline the drawing to separate such picture from its caption.

So far as possible, Table and Figure should be either one-column width or two-column width in portrait orientation. In case of two column width, figures can be inserted in table cell without boarder.

Page Limit: The page limit for the main research article is 15 typed pages in single space including Tables, Figures and References.

Format for Review or Feature Articles

The review or feature article is much different from the main research articles in that it contains detailed description of certain topics researched or investigated earlier by concerned scientists or technicians. As in the main research article, it should contain abstract not exceeding 300 words. Each topic should have an appropriate heading and/or sub-headings with relevant Tables and Figures numbered separately but sequentially for each review article. At the end of each article, all discussed items should be summarized and the conclusion should be drawn. All the relevant references should be cited. Authors are requested to choose modern topics of interests to the readers. The review or feature articles should not be of more than 25 pages.

Format for Research Note

The articles, which are not suitable to be published as main research articles but have some interesting and useful information, may be published as Research notes. In this type of paper, separate headings for introduction, materials and methods, results and discussion and references cited may not be necessary but concise forms of every part of the paper should be written in separate paragraphs. The relevant Tables, Figures and references may also be included. The article should be of three typed pages including Tables, Figures and references and other format should be as in main research article.

Statistical Methods

Report enough details of experimental design, so that the results can be judged for validation and so that previous experiments may serve as a basis for the design of future experiments. A multiple comparison procedure may be useful when treatments consist of a set of unrelated materials (such as cultivars or chemicals), but may be inappropriate in other cases. When treatments are factorial their effects may be classified by partitioning into main effects and interactions. Specific relationships among treatments may be elucidated with single-degree-of-freedom contrasts (for further consult Joshi et al 2002 J. Institute Sci. Tech. 12:69-81). Regression analyses are appropriate when treatments form a progressive series of an experimental factor. Report actual p value in any test of significance.

Refers following papers for detail guidelines and instructions.

• Joshi BK and TB Gurung. 2018. Writing a Research Paper for NARC Journal. Journal of Nepal Agricultural Research Council 4:90-99
• NARC Journal: Detail instructions and guidelines, Vol 4, 2018

Checklist of papers submitted to J. Nep. Agric. Res. Counc.

Content

• Significance and originality of work are shown. Reproducibility of results is illustrated
• Objectives are clearly stated in the introduction
• Introduction includes a succinct evaluation of the topic, including all relevant literature
• Experimental design and methodology are fully explained
• Proper and sufficient analyses are conducted (review by qualified statistician before submission)
• Discussion relates work to other published material and addresses strengths and weaknesses of research
• Major conclusions are supported by results from repeated experiments. Manuscripts are reviewed critically before submission

Format

• Normal text, paragraph and single spaced
• Numbered Tables and Figures sequentially and located in right place
• Do not use both common and scientific names for organisms in the title
• Full author names, affiliations, addresses, e-mail and telephone number included
• Consistent style, format and size are used for all Figures and Tables
• Subheadings may be used, but avoid, excessive fragmentation of the text.
• Words or phrases useful in index retrieval systems are listed in alphabetical order
• Abstract should be one paragraph. Do not underline and do not make 2-column

Writing

• Give the name of the institute where the research was conducted and not the name of the institute where you are employed at present. If there is a change of address, give the present address as a footnote
• Specify location and the period during which the experiment was conducted.
• Use past tense for materials and methods and results in active voice
• Results should be specific, instead of being indicative
• Indicate date as 21 Jan 2015. Spell out the standard abbreviations when first mentioned
• Do not give data in Table, if they are depicted graphically or described in text
• Do not repeat ideas in different forms of sentences. Check and avoid all repetitions and duplications
• Do not acknowledge for official facilities or help or for encouragement etc
• Write Mr and Dr without full stops and one can omit Mr, Dr or Mrs. Avoid period with initials of authors, acronyms, etc
• Do not cite anonymous as author, instead cite the name of the institute, publisher or editor
• Give only selected, recent references. Avoid reference from non-science literature. Avoid comma between the surname of an author and its initial or the year of citation

Supporting material

• Cover letter with the name, address, phone and email address of the corresponding author, and names and addresses of potential reviewers as well as key findings.

Submission

• Pay good attention on presentations of the article. Always consult a recent copy of our journal
• Check all data and references from original source
• Ensure that all references in the text find a place in the references part of article and vice versa
• The spellings of names and years should correspond in the text and references part
• Do not send the article for publication until it confirms in all respects to the style of the journal and has been checked very carefully. Before submission, check carefully all data and text for factual, grammatical or typographical errors. Send the article electronically
• On revision, please answer all the referees' comments point wise, indicating the modifications made by you. If you do not agree, give reasons for your disagreement with full justification
• Return the corrected electronic copies immediately

Disclaimer

All opinions published in the journal reflect the views of author/s and are not necessarily the views of NARC and editorial board. The editorial board reserves the right to reject or accept any submitted manuscript. All final decision will be of the Editor-in-Chief. No complaints can be lodge against to the Journal and concern authorities for manuscript rejection, delay and changes in contents of the manuscript. The submission of the manuscript in the journal declares that all terms and conditions of the journal has been read and accepted by the authors.              

|l-------l|l-------l|

 Updated: February 17, 2020