Author Guidelines

Guidelines for Author

Types of paper

Contributions falling into the following categories will be considered for publication: original research papers, article reviews and research note. Please ensure that you select the appropriate article type from the list of options when making your submission. Authors contributing to special issues should ensure that they select the special issue article type from this list.

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.

• 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).
• The research should be innovative and contribute to solving a problem or part of a scientific problem
•  The Manuscript should be written in English only
• An English Abstract should be provided (250 to 300 words) and Arabic abstract, for Arabic Authors only.
• 50% of references are recent and are within the last five years.
• References are written only in English language with Vancouver Citing & Referencing.
• The research undertaking, submission request, and copyrights form (available in the Author Guidelines section) should be completed formally and submitted before any action taken by the journal.
• All authors should be provide their an ORCID ID ( https://orcid.org/register)
• If the author used the laboratory animal therefore; the author/s should sign on the animal welfare statement https://jige.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/IJB/libraryFiles/downloadPublic/5
• Authors who present Manuscripts reporting studies involving human participants, human data or human tissue are required to sign this form:
  https://jige.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/IJB/libraryFiles/downloadPublic/7
• It is important to mention the full names of all authors with their email and the correct corresponding author with his/her email and full corresponding address; otherwise the submission will be rejected.

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 body of manuscript. All figures (include relevant captions) All tables (including titles, description, footnotes) 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 Graphical Abstracts / Highlights files (where applicable) Supplemental files (where applicable) Further considerations 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) Relevant declarations of interest have been made Journal policies detailed in this guide have been reviewed Referee suggestions and contact details provided, based on journal requirements For further information.

Before you Begin Ethics in publishing Human and animal rights is required

Hazards and Human / Animal Subjects

1-Human rights

Any work that involves the use of human subjects, it is the responsibility of the author(s) to make sure that the work does not pose any risk or threat to the human subjects and the work should be approved by institutional ethical committee.

A declaration form for Author https://jige.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/IJB/libraryFiles/downloadPublic/7

2- Animals rights 

The use of laboratory animal in any research must be done according to the ethics relating to the use of these animals in the scientific work.  Therefore the authors should sign on their responsibility for the application of these ethics. https://jige.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/IJB/libraryFiles/downloadPublic/5

INSTRUCTION TO AUTHORS

Iraqi Journal of Biotechnology (IJB) publishes papers on various aspects of molecular biology and biotechnologies, medical genetics, molecular genetics medicinal plant and agricultural science. Iraqi Journal of Biotechnology (IJB) is a fully open access journal. Open access (OA) refers to free, unrestricted online access to journal articles.

1. The journal publishes the Iraqi and foreign articles submitted by researchers then subjected for evaluation and should fall into one of the following groups:

• Research Article: Paper should contain all experimental details. New, significant, innovative and original findings are suitable as Research papers. The length of a full paper should be the minimum required to describe and interpret the work clearly. The total number of words in the research paper is within 5000 words.
• Review article. The main part of the review should be a comprehensive but critical analysis of recent reviews should be concise and no longer than 4-6 printed pages (about 12 to 18 manuscript pages). Reviews manuscripts are also peer-reviewed and the total number of references should not less than 70 reference "50% of references are recent and are within the last five years".
• Research note. The research note includes a new idea in one of the disciplines of IJB journal, or new results limited in quantity but important. The pattern of the research note is: title, researcher’s name and affiliation, and the Arabic and English abstract, around 70–100 words. Followed by the introduction, are the materials and methods, results combined with each other without a title, and approved references, not more than 4 pages maximum. Globally, research note is an innovation in most cases.

2. The manuscript could be applied online or copy printed in three copies written in English with the abstract in Arabic on A4 white paper and the lines between the line and the last 1.5 cm. The first page of abstracts is assigned without columns. The pages from the introduction to the end of the research are printed according to two columns. The distance between the columns is 1 cm, and the margin from left, right, upper, and lower left is 2 cm. The fonts used in the text as well as graphics should be restricted to Times New Roman, Symbol.
3. The author should write out the manuscript title, abstract, introduction, results and discussion, and reference in capital English letters.

4. The manuscript should be in English and submitted to Iraqi Journal of Biotechnology (IJB) online or a printed copy. All the manuscript must be typed double-spaced and all pages numbered starting from the title page. The manuscript divides into the following sections: 

• Title: The Title should be a brief phrase describing the contents of the paper. The Title Page should include the authors' full names and affiliations, the name of the corresponding author along with phone, fax and E-mail information. Running title which is a short title printed in the Journal at the right corner of right hand page of the article (except the lead page).
• Abstract: Typed separately "as one paragraph”. The Abstract should be informative, briefly present the topic, state the scope of the experiments, indicate significant data, and point out major findings and conclusions. The Abstract should be 100 to 200 words in length.  Complete sentences, third person should be used, and should be written in the past tense and abbreviations should be avoided.
• keywords Key: Following the abstract, about 3 to 5 key words that will provide indexing references to should be listed.
• Introduction: should provide a clear statement of the problem, the relevant literature on the subject, and the proposed approach or solution. It should be understandable to wide range of scientific disciplines.
• Materials and methods: It should complete enough to allow experiments to be reproduced. However, only truly new procedures should be described in detail; previously published procedures should be cited, and important modifications of published procedures should be mentioned briefly. Capitalize trade names and include the manufacturer's name and address. Subheadings should be used.
• Results and Discussion: Should be written in the past tense when describing findings in the authors' experiments. Previously published findings should be written in the present tense. Results should be explained, without referring to the literature.  Discussion should be included speculation and detailed interpretation of data in view of the results obtained in this and in past studies on this topic. State the conclusions in a few sentences at the end of the paper.
• Conclusion The conclusion should be a brief paragraph, that summarizes the findings presented.
• Acknowledgment
• Tables: should be designed to be as simple as possible. Tables are to be typed double-spaced throughout, including headings and footnotes. Each table should be numbered consecutively and supplied with a heading and a legend. The same data should not be presented in both table and graph form or repeated in the text. The caption for a table should be written above it.

A table’s internal lines should be deleted, and the width of the writing column should be 8 cm.

• Figure: Figures, graphs, legend and tables, should be drawn and typed carefully and clearly within their required position in the manuscript. Graphics should be prepared using Microsoft Word manuscript file. Use Arabic numerals to designate figures and upper case letters for their parts (Fig 1). Begin each legend with a title and include sufficient description so that the figure is understandable without reading the text of the manuscript. Legends should be typed in numerical order on a separate sheet and Information given in legends should not be repeated in the text. The caption for a figure or an image should be written under it.
• References: In the text, a reference identified by means of numbers When there are more than two authors, it should be refereed by 1,2,3----, ‘. In the event that an author cited has had two or more works published during the same year, the reference in the reference list, should be identified by a lower case letter like ’a‘ and ’b‘ after the year to distinguish the works. References should be listed at the end of the paper according to their number in the text. Articles in preparation or articles submitted for publication, unpublished observations, personal communications, etc. should be included in the reference list and should be mentioned in the article text. Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy of the references.

    When writing the references in the text line, indicate the name of the researcher and then the reference number if the sentence is actual, such as Delacy and et. al.(17).  If the sentence is an interceptor, then the reference numbers are serialized upwards, such as’’ some researchers (4, 9, and 13) found that The MTHFR C677T gene polymorphisms were a risk factor for male factor infertility in the Iraqi population’’. 50% of references are recent and are within the last five years. Arabic references should be written in English, including thesis and dissertations. Due to the importance of references to any scientific research, it must be not less than 20 references.

    The number of foreign references should not be less than two-thirds of the number of references in the research, because of the importance of global references that proceeded for accurate and numerous details in science, and some references should be added from the Iraqi Journal of Biotechnology.

References arranged as in the example:

-Yoshimoto, M.; Yamaguchi, M.; Hatano, S. and Watanabe, T. (1984). Configurational changes in liner nuclear chromatin caused by Azo dyes. Food and Chemical Toxicology,  22(5): 334- 337

-Al-Deresawi, M. S.; AlFaisal, A .M .and Al-Rekabi, A.R.(2019). SOX4     gene contributes in induction of uterine adenomyosis. The 1st international scientific conference. Education College for pure science-AlQadesya University, 1-10.

-Lafta, Sh.A. and  AL-Faisal, A.H.M. 2017.The correlation between KRAS mutations and H. pylori in gastric cancer patients. Iraqi Journal of Biotechnology,. 16( 3): 82-93

4. It should be mentioned if the research is abstracted from M.Sc. or Ph.D. thesis
5. The abstract should include the objective, summary of the work, the experimental design (if any), experimental factors and levels, and their effect on the research. The author(s) should write the abstract in a clear, comprehensive, practical manner, and the research results should be expressed in significant numbers.
6. Discussion can be included within results in certain circumstances.
7. Metric system units (International System of Units or S.I. units) must be used in the research.                                                                                
8. Authors are required to sign a submitting request and manuscript undertaking.
9. The secretary of the journal checks the plagiarism of research submitted for publication using professional software and the accepted limit for plagiarism is 20%.
10. Review Procedure:

IJB- employ the peer review process in order to maintain academic standards and insure the validity of individual works submitted for publication. In addition, follows a single-blinded peer review process, to ensure independent editorial decision-making. The manuscript is sent to experts in your field of study (at least three reviewers) via open journal system for evaluation it and the editorial board reserves the right to ask for modifications of the text by the authors. The author(s) makes the suggested revisions that the reviewers see as necessary. If the author(s) is not satisfied with some points, they may be answered on a separate paper. The manuscript will be rejected if the two peer reviews find a low quality manuscript or reject it because substantial amendments are needed. .             Valuable opinions of Reviewers certify the quality of the article under thoughtfulness and play a pivotal role in scholarly publishing. Peer review, establishing a standard for evaluation within research communities and helps to approve research. Further, standard review process shall take 2-3 weeks' time. Depending on reviewer recommendations, manuscripts may be sent back to authors for revision. After the assistant editor receives the revised manuscript, it is assigned to the reviewer(s) once again, for approval of changes. The editorial board will re-review manuscripts that are accepted pending revision. The revised manuscript should be re-submitted within two weeks; otherwise the submission will be rejected.

11. The revised manuscript should be re-submitted within two weeks; otherwise the submission will be rejected.
12. If the manuscript is accepted and the suggested revisions are made, and then the author(s) should submit one corrected copy with a CD – Microsoft Word- and will be matched with a member of the editorial board. The author(s) will pay the fees of the publication. The author(s) should be provided with a sealed paper confirming the acceptance of the research for publication.
13. For any article accepted for publication , the author(s) or the corresponding author should agree to transfer the copy right to the journal and sign a declaration of this effect
14. If the reviewers believe that the manuscript is suitable for a (Research Note), then the author should be informed. If the author refuses to publish the manuscript as a research note, the draft manuscript will not be returned to him because of the confidentiality of the research. The research note includes a new idea in one of the disciplines of IJB journal, or new results limited in quantity but important. The pattern of the research note is: title, researcher’s name and affiliation, and the Arabic and English abstract, around 70–100 words. Followed by the introduction, are the materials and methods, results combined with each other without a title, and approved references, not more than 4 pages maximum. Globally, research note is an innovation in most cases.
15. It is prohibited to use any term (abbreviation) before mentioning it in advance. For example, one would state “total soluble solid (TSS),” after which the abbreviation can be used whenever the author(s) wants. The English abstract should use lowercase letters, not capital letters, to refer to the day, hour, and measurement. For example, it should use kg for kilogram, g for grams, h for hour, and d for day, etc.
16. The editorial board of the journal is keen to make a decision to accept or reject a research within a period not exceeding four months from the date of receipt of the research until the decision to publish it. The editor-in-chief and the editorial board members have the right to reject the research if they are satisfied that the authors do not comply with the journal’s publication requirements.
17. To download a search template ready to help the researcher in the context of the journal please download the template from Instruction to Author.
18. Proofs, Reprints and manuscript charges: Electronic proofs will be sent (e-mail attachment) to the corresponding author as a PDF file. Page proofs are considered to be the final version of the manuscript. no changes will be made in the manuscript at the proof stage. , authors will have free electronic access to the full text (PDF) of the article. Authors can freely download the PDF file from which they can print unlimited copies of their articles. There is charge for the processing of paper and author(s) of each accepted paper is required to pay the publication charge.
19. Authors are required to pay submission fees: 35000 IQD &Article Processing Charges  (APCs): 90000 IQD IQD (Iraqi Authors), free of charge (foreign authors) upon acceptance of manuscript. Iraqi Journal of Biotechnology (IJB) is an open access journal, so there are no subscription fees.