Author Guidelines

Presubmission Inquiries

AAS allows authors who are interested in submitting work for potential publication to send a presubmission inquiry before any formal manuscript submission. Presubmission inquiries should include the abstract of the manuscript. Presubmission inquiries can be especially useful if the authors wonder whether their chosen topic or experimental design would fit the scope and requirements of the Journal.

Presubmission inquiries should be sent by e-mail to Mostafa Farghal ([email protected]). We will usually reply within 3 days. A positive response to a presubmission inquiry is no guarantee for a positive final decision, as the submitted manuscript will be subject to a preliminary assessment by an editor and then a subsequent peer review.

Types of paper

• Original Research Papers

• Review Articles

• Short Communications

• Perspective articles

• Letters to the Editor

Original Research Papers should report the results of original research on topics that are within the scope of the journal. The material should not have been previously published elsewhere, except in a preliminary form.

Review Articles Review Articles should cover subjects falling within the scope of the journal, which are of active current interest. They may be spontaneously submitted or invited. Review articles do not have to be systematic reviews but must provide a complete insight into the selection of articles, with the literature search, sources, and selection process described in a Methods section.

Short communications are a concise but complete description of a research study. This format is especially suitable for studies with straightforward methods and a modest amount of results. Short communications should be complete studies of sufficient sample size (at least 6 experimental units per treatment group) and it is not meant for case studies or pilot data. A Short Communication article can contain a maximum of 2,000 words (everything included, except the references). The number of tables and figures together should not exceed 4 in total; for example, a manuscript can have 3 figures and 1 table.

Perspective articles present a viewpoint on a specific research area. Perspective articles should discuss recent research developments, and future directions, or raise awareness of a topic of general interest, which potentially elicits high interest from the research community. It is different from a review paper, as it has to show a clear presentation of the authors’ perspective and may include original data. The maximum word count is 3,000 words excluding references, with no more than 30 references. The number of tables and figures should together not exceed 4 in total; for example, a manuscript can have 3 figures and 1 table. Perspective articles should have the following format: Abstract, Introduction, subsections relevant to the subject, Discussion, and Conclusion.

Letters to the Editor offering comments or useful critique on material published in the journal are welcomed. The decision to publish submitted letters rests purely with the Editors-in-Chief. It is hoped that the publication of such letters will permit an exchange of views which will be of benefit to both the journal and its readers. .

Case Reports are also considered for publication.

Submission checklist

You can use this list to carry out a final check of your submission before you send it to the journal for review. Please check the relevant section in this Guide for Authors for more details.

Ensure that the following items are present:

One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:

• E-mail address

• Full postal address

All necessary files have been uploaded:

Manuscript:

• Include keywords (maximum of six)

• All figures (include relevant captions)

• All tables (including titles, descriptions, and footnotes)

• Maximum 8 figures and/or tables in total (sum of tables and figures does not exceed 8)

• Ensure all figure and table citations in the text match the files provided

• Indicate clearly if color should be used for any figures in print

• The Abstract should not exceed 300 words, the Introduction should not normally exceed 750 words, and the limit for the Discussion is 1500 words

Graphical Abstracts / Highlights files (where applicable)

Supplemental files (where applicable)

Further considerations

• The manuscript has continuous line numbers

• The manuscript has been 'spell-checked' and 'grammar checked'

• All references mentioned in the Reference List are cited in the text, and vice versa

• Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Internet)

• A competing interests statement is provided, even if the authors have no competing interests to declare

• Journal policies detailed in this guide have been reviewed

• Referee suggestions and contact details provided, based on journal requirements

Language

Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these).

Peer review

This journal operates a single anonymized review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor's decision is final. Editors are not involved in decisions about papers, which they have written themselves or have been written by family members or colleagues or which relate to products or services in which the editor has an interest.

The use of English, punctuation and grammar should be of a sufficient high standard to allow the article to be easily read and understood. Do not quote decimals with naked points (e.g. use 0.08, not .08). Times of day should be in the format 10:00 h. Numbers less than 10 should be text, unless they are followed by a unit of measurement or are used as designators e.g. seven pigs from Group 3 were each trained for 7 days, with three sessions each lasting 3 min. Numbers greater than nine should be written as numerals.

Article Structure

Manuscripts in general should be organized in the following order:

•Title (should be clear, descriptive and not too long)

•Name(s) of author(s) - we would like to publish full first names rather than initials, and would appreciate it if you would provide this information

•Complete postal address(es) of affiliations

Full telephone number and e-mail address of the corresponding author

Present address(es) of author(s) if applicable

Complete correspondence address including e-mail address to which the proofs should be sent

•Abstract

•Keywords (indexing terms), maximum 6 items

•Introduction

•Material studied, area descriptions, methods, techniques and ethical approval

•Results

•Discussion

•Conclusion

•Acknowledgment and any additional information concerning research grants, etc.

•References

•Tables

•Figure captions

•Tables (separate file(s))

•Figures (separate file(s)).

Manuscripts should have numbered lines, with wide margins and double spacing throughout, i.e. also for abstracts, footnotes and references. Every page of the manuscript, including the title page, references, tables, etc., should be numbered. However, in the text no reference should be made to page numbers; if necessary one may refer to sections. Avoid excessive usage of italics to emphasize part of the text. Articles should not normally exceed 25 pages of text (11-point font, aligned left and double spaced) and contain a maximum of seven Tables and Figures in total.

Title page information

• Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible. Author names and affiliations. Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled. You can add your name between parentheses in your own script behind the English transliteration. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.

• Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. This responsibility includes answering any future queries about Methodology and Materials. Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author.

• Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.

Abstract

A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, References should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and

year(s). Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.

As this is the most-read part of a paper, it is useful to provide some data and significance levels in the description of the main results. The Abstract should not be longer than 300 words.

Introduction

State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

The introduction "sets the scene" for your work. Do not over-reference statements; two or three key references should suffice unless each adds something specific. The introduction should not normally be more than 750 words (approximately two pages in double-line spacing).

Material and methods

Provide sufficient details to allow the work to be reproduced by an independent researcher. Methods that are already published should be summarized, and indicated by a reference. If quoting directly from a previously published method, use quotation marks and also cite the source. Any modifications to existing methods should also be described.

When locations are given, it should be remembered that this is an international journal and provide the state/county and country, or longitude and longitude for lesser-known locations. Full details of commercial products and technical equipment should be provided, as necessary, including name of the model, manufacturer and location of manufacture, and any Trademarks. As appropriate, a statement should be made that the work has received ethical approval or that the authors have read the policy relating to animal ethics and confirm that their study complies. Data collection and collation: units of all measures need to be specified; the experimental design should be explained together with an explanation of the experimental unit; the ways in which data are derived must be specified (e.g. individual scores were summed for the four, 12-h periods and the mean used for the analysis); the methods used for determining the normality of distribution of the residuals and homogeneity of variances need to be specified; any transformations of data need to be described; statistical analyses need to be reported in full.

Results

This section should include only results that are relevant to the hypotheses outlined in the Introduction and considered in the Discussion. Present results in tabular or graphical form (see following sections) wherever possible. Text should explain why the experiment was carried out, and elaborate on the tabular or graphical data. Sufficient data should be presented so that the reader can interpret the results independently. If data require transformation to be suitable for parametric analyses, then due consideration needs to be given as to which and how data are presented in the manuscript. For example, putting error bars on graphs of the raw or back-transformed data is meaningless if analysis was performed on transformed data. To assist with interpretation of biological meaning, however, back-transformed means (but not errors) could be presented instead of/in addition to transformed data. In particular, statistical analyses should be complete and appropriate, and full details should be given either in the text, or in the Figures or Tables legends. Include the type of test, the precise data to which it was applied, the value of the relevant statistic, the sample size and/or degrees of freedom, and the probability level. Any assumptions that have been made should be stated. If in doubt, a statistical expert should be consulted.

Discussion

The discussion should interpret the results, and set them in the context of what is already known in the appropriate field. This section should normally start with a brief summary of the main findings. The discussion should be focused and limited to the actual results presented, and should normally not exceed about 1500 words. All results presented in the Results section should be discussed (if they do not warrant discussion, they do not warrant inclusion) and there should be no presentation and discussion of results that have not been presented in the Results section (i.e. no new data presented in the Discussion). Any necessary extensive discussion of the literature should be placed in the Discussion, and not in the Introduction.

Conclusion

The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.

References

This section describes the references for this journal.

Citation in text

Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or 'Personal communication'. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.

Reference links

Increased discoverability of research and high quality peer review are ensured by online links to the sources cited. In order to allow us to create links to abstracting and indexing services, such as Scopus, Crossref and PubMed, please ensure that data provided in the references are correct. Please note that incorrect surnames, journal/book titles, publication year and pagination may prevent link creation. When copying references, please be careful as they may already contain errors. Use of the DOI is highly encouraged.

A DOI is guaranteed never to change, so you can use it as a permanent link to any electronic article. An example of a citation using DOI for an article not yet in an issue is: VanDecar J.C., Russo R.M., James D.E., Ambeh W.B., Franke M. (2003). Aseismic continuation of the Lesser Antilles slab beneath northeastern Venezuela. Journal of Geophysical Research, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JB000884. Please note the format of such citations should be in the same style as all other references in the paper.

Web references

As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.

Data references

This journal encourages you to cite underlying or relevant datasets in your manuscript by citing them in your text and including a data reference in your Reference List. Data references should include the following elements: author name(s), dataset title, data repository, version (where available), year, and global persistent identifier. Add [dataset] immediately before the reference so we can properly identify it as a data reference. The [dataset] identifier will not appear in your published article.

Preprint references

Where a preprint has subsequently become available as a peer-reviewed publication, the formal publication should be used as the reference. If there are preprints that are central to your work or that cover crucial developments in the topic, but are not yet formally published, these may be referenced. Preprints should be clearly marked as such, for example by including the word preprint, or the name of the preprint server, as part of the reference. The preprint DOI should also be provided.

References in a special issue

Please ensure that the words 'this issue' are added to any references in the list (and any citations in the text) to other articles in the same Special Issue.

Reference formatting

There are no strict requirements on reference formatting at submission. References can be in any style or format as long as the style is consistent. Where applicable, author(s) name(s), journal title/book title, chapter title/article title, year of publication, volume number/book chapter and the article number or pagination must be present. Use of DOI is highly encouraged. The reference style used by the journal will be applied to the accepted article by Elsevier at the proof stage. Note that missing data will be highlighted at proof stage for the author to correct. If you do wish to format the references yourself they should be arranged according to the following examples:

Reference style

Text: All citations in the text should refer to:

1. Single author: the author's name (without initials, unless there is ambiguity) and the year of publication;

2. Two authors: both authors' names and the year of publication;

3. Three or more authors: first author's name followed by 'et al.' and the year of publication.

Citations may be made directly (or parenthetically). Groups of references can be listed either first alphabetically, then chronologically, or vice versa.

Examples: 'as demonstrated (Allan, 2000a, 2000b, 1999; Allan and Jones, 1999)... Or, as demonstrated (Jones, 1999; Allan, 2000)... Kramer et al. (2010) have recently shown...'

List: References should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must be identified by the letters 'a', 'b', 'c', etc., placed after the year of publication.

Examples:

Reference to a journal publication:

Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J.A.J., Lupton, R.A., 2010. The art of writing a scientific article. J. Sci. Commun. 163, 51-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.Sc.2010.00372.

Reference to a journal publication with an article number:

Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J.A.J., Lupton, R.A., 2018. The art of writing a scientific article. Heliyon. 19, e00205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00205.

Reference to a book:

Strunk Jr., W., White, E.B., 2000. The Elements of Style, fourth ed. Longman, New York.

Reference to a chapter in an edited book:

Mettam, G.R., Adams, L.B., 2009. How to prepare an electronic version of your article, in: Jones, B.S., Smith , R.Z. (Eds.), Introduction to the Electronic Age. E-Publishing Inc., New York, pp. 281-304.

Reference to a website:

Cancer Research UK, 1975. Cancer statistics reports for the UK. http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/aboutcancer/statistics/cancerstatsreport/ (accessed 13 March 2003).

Reference to a dataset:

[dataset] Oguro, M., Imahiro, S., Saito, S., Nakashizuka, T., 2015. Mortality data for Japanese oak wilt disease and surrounding forest compositions. Mendeley Data, v1. https://doi.org/10.17632/xwj98nb39r.1.

Reference to software:

Coon, E., Berndt, M., Jan, A., Svyatsky, D., Atchley, A., Kikinzon, E., Harp, D., Manzini, G., Shelef, E., Lipnikov, K., Garimella, R., Xu, C., Moulton, D., Karra, S., Painter, S., Jafarov, E., & Molins, S., 2020. Advanced Terrestrial Simulator (ATS) v0.88 (Version 0.88). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3727209.

References to books

If a book or monograph is cited as a source of specific information, then please give the relevant page(s).