Authors Guidelines

Introduction

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
All figures (include relevant captions)
All tables (including titles, descriptions as notes)
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 (where applicable)

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)
A competing interest’s 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 (where applicable)

Referees

Please submit the names, addresses and e-mail addresses of three potential reviewers. Potential reviewers should be experts in the field of your submitted paper and have published papers on the subject. Do not suggest reviewers who are part of your or your co-authors' institutions, or reviewers with whom you have collaborated in recent years. Note that the editor retains the sole right to decide whether or not the suggested reviewers are used.

Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication

An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal of primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical behaviour and is unacceptable. In general, an author should not submit for consideration in another journal a paper that has been published previously, except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or as an electronic preprint.

Style of Manuscript

Typing:

Manuscripts must be typed in Calibri with a font size of 12 points, with single line spacing throughout (including footnotes, references, tables, and legends), and a 2.5 cm wide margin on all four sides (left, right, top, bottom). All pages must be numbered in the right bottom margin. Manuscripts should be written in clear, concise, and grammatically correct English. Indent new paragraphs.

Spelling:

Use American spelling. If the word is not found in the dictionary as some foreign words are not (like some Amharic words), you must italicize the word. For the name of an organization or corporation, however, use the official spelling.

Capitalization:

In general, capitalize the first letter of proper nouns (that is, the names of specific persons, places, or things), and lowercase common nouns (like tef, barley, wheat, …).

Place names:
Capitalize the first letter of names of countries, states, provinces, and established regions. Lowercase directional words that are not part of an established name.

Amhara Regional State, North Shewa Zone, South Gonder Zone
eastern Amhara, northwest Amhara, western Amhara

Job titles:
Capitalize the first letter of job titles when they appear immediately before a personal name. Lowercase them when they appear after a name or are used alone.

Before a name:

Chairman Mao
President Sahilework Zewdie

After a name or alone:

Ahimed Shide, the minister of finance
The president has executive authority

Numbers:

Spell out a number when it appears at the beginning of a sentence. Within a sentence, spell out whole numbers from one to nine and use numerals for 10 and over. Numbers greater than 999 should contain commas to indicate thousands, except for page numbers in citations or references.

Ten leading diplomats from four countries urged the United Nations to take action (this is correct).
10 leading diplomats from four countries urged the United Nations to take action (this should be avoided).
Only two researchers were present at the experiment.
At least 12 separate agencies collaborated on the initiative.
The sample contained 100,000 households.

Dates:

Use the 1 January 2020 style; avoid the January 1, 2020 style

Nomenclature and units:

Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units (SI). If other quantities are mentioned, give their equivalent in SI.

Headings:

Main headings should be in upper case and bold type (like MATERIALS AND METHODS). The first letter of sub-headings should be in upper case and bold type (like Materials and Methods). Sub-sub headings should be in a sentence case and bold type (like Materials and methods). Sub-sub-sub headings should be in a sentence case, in bold type, and in italics (like Materials and methods).

Tables and Figures:

Each table and figure must be numbered sequentially in order of mentioning in the text body of the manuscript (like Table 1, Table 2, …; Figure 1, Figure 2, ...). Following the first citation, tables and figures should be presented in the appropriate place of the text body of the manuscript page in which they are cited or the immediate next page. Each table or figure should be complete or able to stand alone so that the reader can understand it without referring to the text. For example, acronyms, abbreviations, or other technical or unfamiliar terms should be explained or defined in notes (see below for table presentation which also applies to figures). Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used. Please submit tables as editable text and not as images. Tables can be placed either next to the relevant text in the article, or on separate page(s) at the end. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in them do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Please avoid using vertical rules and shading in table cells.

Table 1: Some descriptor data of the respondents

Serial Number of respondents	Sex	Age (years)	Weight (kg)	Height (cm)
1	M	25	65.3	175.8
2	F	-	45.6	165.0
3	F	-	65.2	170.2
4	M	45	76.4	185.3

Note: M = Male; F = female; — = data not available.

In a Note, when describing an abbreviation or acronym, use an equals sign (=) between the acronym or abbreviation and meaning.

Presentation order of the manuscript

An article should have the following sections: Title page, abstract, keywords, introduction, materials and methods, results and discussions, conclusions (and recommendations), acknowledgment (optional), and references.

Title page:

The title page should contain a concise and informative title written in a sentence case; a list of author(s) name (s), and affiliation(s); name and complete mailing address (including e-mail address, telephone and fax numbers) of the corresponding author.

ABSTRACT:

The abstract should outline the rationale, objective(s), materials and methods, the main results, conclusions, and recommendations (if any) using clear and factual statements. The whole abstract should be readily understandable to all the Journal's readers including non-specialists, and must not exceed 300 words.

Keywords:

Keywords should reflect the precise content of the paper, and should be in alphabetical order containing three to eight words or phrases in a sentence case; a comma separates each word or phrase from the other.

INTRODUCTION:

The introduction should be as brief as possible and should state the reason for the work, the context, background, aims, and the hypotheses being tested. While reviewing the literature in the introduction, indicate the achievements and gaps leading to the conduct of your research. Reference should be made to recent and important literature on the main topic.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

They should be described with sufficient detail to allow others to replicate and build on published results. It should mention the time and place of research in the first part. The study area description should include at least ranges of altitudes, geographic coordinates, annual rainfall and temperature (minimum and maximum) averages, and soil types of study target areas. Particular attention should be paid to the study factors/treatments and their structure, design, analysis, and other statistical considerations. New methods and protocols should be described in detail while well-established methods can be briefly described and appropriately cited. Give the name and version of any software used

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS:

Results and discussions must be written in the same part to avoid repetitions. Tables and figures should be used to effectively present the results. The result presentation should provide a concise and precise description of the experimental results and their interpretations. Discussion of the results should elaborate and point out the importance of the results and place them in the context of previous studies. Authors must discuss their results articulately first before rushing to literature to substitute for their much-needed professional contributions. Discussions should clearly indicate the significance and implications of the results obtained, in the context of the answers expected against the study objectives, and subsequently, how they auger with the existing literature on the subject, and the limitations of the work highlighted. It should end with a clear statement of the main conclusions of the research, and a clear explanation of their importance and relevance for management or policy.

CONCLUSIONS (AND RECOMMENDATIONS):

The conclusion should elaborate on the implications of the results and discussions and may also suggest recommendations based on the findings. This should state clearly the main conclusions and provide an explanation of the importance and relevance of the study to the field. Suggestion placed after the conclusion contains a recommendation on the research done or an input that can be used directly by consumers.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

The acknowledgments should be brief and include only those with very significant contributions to the study. List all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship, such as a person who provided purely technical help (those who critically reviewed the study proposal, collected data, and reviewed the manuscript), typewriting assistance, or a department chair who provided only general support. Financial and material support should also be acknowledged.

REFERENCES:

The references section lists only the literature cited in the paper. Authors are responsible for the completeness and accuracy of all references. Indent the second and subsequent lines of each reference in the list. Some details on how to organize and arrange a reference list are provided below.

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'. The 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 the 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.

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.

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.

Reference management software

For BNJAR you should use the American Psychological Association (APA) reference style available in many of the most popular reference management software products. These include all products that support APA, such as Mendeley, EndNote, Citavi, Zotero, etc. Using citation plug-ins from these products, authors only need to select the APA journal template when preparing their article, after which citations and bibliographies will be automatically formatted in the journal's style.

Style of the reference list:Text: All citations in the text should refer to:

Single author: the author's name (without initials, unless there is ambiguity) and the year of publication; In-text: (Allan, 2000).
Two authors: both authors' names and the year of publication; Intext: (Miller & Schuh, 2005)
Three or more authors: first author's name followed by 'et al.' and the year of publication. Citations may be made directly (or parenthetically); In-text: (Kramer et al., 2010).
Groups of references should be listed chronologically. Examples: 'as demonstrated (Jones, 1999; Allan, 2000; Miller & Schuh, 2005; … Kramer et al. 2010)'

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 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.

General Editorial Policies

Blue Nile Journal of Agriculture (BNJAR) is dedicated to publish high-level scientific research papers or reports that can best serve the interests of the wider scientific and development communities. Thus, BNJAR is devoted to maintaining a high level of professionalism. However, due to reports of fraud and plagiarism in the scientific literature, we remind authors of their obligation when submitting manuscripts for publication.

The editorial policy of the journal strictly prohibits authors from submitting more than one article for consideration in each issue. This regulation has been put in place to ensure fair and equal opportunities for all contributors. Thus, authors are kindly requested to adhere to this guideline and refrain from submitting multiple articles for the same issue. By upholding this rule, the journal aims to maintain the quality and diversity of content featured in each publication. Authors are encouraged to prioritize the quality of their submissions over quantity, as this allows for a more robust selection of articles and promotes a balanced representation of diverse perspectives and topics within the journal.

Minimum requirements for authorship:

Each author to qualify for authorship should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content. Authorship credit should be based only on: a) substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; and b) final approval of the version to be published. Conditions “a” and “b” must meet the criteria for authorship in BNJAR. Acquisition of funding, the collection of data, or general supervision of the research group, by themselves, do not justify authorship.

Changes to authorship:

Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting the manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. To request such a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason for the change in the author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal, or rearrangement. In the case of the addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed. Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publication of the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue, any requests will not be accepted.

Exclusivity of the work:

The corresponding author must verify, on behalf of all authors (if more than one) that neither this manuscript nor one with considerable content has been published, accepted for publication, or is being considered for publication elsewhere.

No-footnote rule:

In BNJAR, it is important to adhere to the no-footnote rule, meaning that author should abstain from using footnote citations in their manuscript. This guideline serves to promote clear and concise writing by discouraging the inclusion of additional information in footnotes. By avoiding footnotes, authors can maintain a seamless flow of content in their manuscripts and ensure that readers can easily follow the argument without distractions. It is recommended that instead of relying on footnotes, authors incorporate any necessary details or references directly into the main body of the text to enhance clarity and readability.

Disclaimer:

Opinions expressed in articles published in BNJAR are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the BNJAR. BNJAR does not guarantee the correctness for any purpose, of any method, product, process, or devise described or identified in an article. Trade names, when used, are only for identification and do not constitute approval by BNJAR.

Age of Data:

When evaluating manuscript submissions in regards to clinical trials, crop varieties, fertilizer rates, and other related areas for potential inclusion in BNJAR publication, the required data age must not to exceed a span of 3 years. Contrarily, for manuscript submissions involving soil laboratory analyses, social science data, and related categories intended for BNJAR publication, the acceptable data age limit should not surpass 6 years in order to maintain the relevance and timeliness of the findings. This systematic approach ensures that the published content in BNJAR reflects the most current and pertinent research insights across various disciplines within the agricultural landscape. BNJAR considered month, but not date, as it is rare for published agricultural research studies to report the data collection period to the level of date. Next, we made a universal assumption that the start and end dates of the data collection period fell on the first and last days, respectively, of the reported months. For example, if the data collection period ranged from January 2023 to April 2024, the start and end dates were assumed to be January 01, 2023 and April 30, 2024, respectively.

Plagiarism:

BNJAR will evaluate any case of duplication or plagiarism on its limits. If plagiarism is identified by the editor-in-chief, reviewer and editor etc., at any step of article before or after peer review process and acceptance in that case we will alert the author(s) and will request them to rewrite the content in the article or to cite the references from where the content has been copied. If more than 20% of the content is plagiarized, the article may be suggested to rewrite or rejected and the same is informed to the author.

Conflicts of interest:

Authors must declare all relevant interests that could be perceived as conflicting. Authors should explain why each interest may represent a conflict. If no conflicts exist, the authors should state this. Submitting authors are responsible for coauthors declaring their interests. Conflicts of interest (COIs, also known as ‘competing interests’) occur when issues outside research could be reasonably perceived to affect the neutrality or objectivity of the work or its assessment. Authors must declare all potential interests – whether or not they actually had an influence – in the conflicts of interest section, which should explain why the interest may be a conflict. If there are none, the authors should state: “The author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article”. Submitting authors are responsible for coauthors declaring their interests. Declared conflicts of interest will be considered by the editor and reviewers and included in the published article.

Funding statement:

Authors must state how the research and publication of their article was funded, by naming financially supporting body(s) (written out in full) followed by associated grant number(s) in square brackets (if applicable), for example: “This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; the National Science Foundation [grant number zzzz]; and a Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grant”. If the research did not receive specific funding but was performed as part of the employment of the authors, please name this employer. If the funder was involved in the manuscript writing, editing, approval, or decision to publish, please declare this.

Acknowledgments:

All acknowledgments (if any) should be included at the very end of the manuscript before the references. Anyone who made a contribution to the research or manuscript, but who is not a listed author, should be acknowledged (with their permission).

Peer review:

All submitted articles are subject to assessment and peer review to ensure editorial appropriateness and technical correctness. This journal operates a double 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.

Research published in the journal must be:

Scientifically valid – adhering to accepted community standards of research.
Technically accurate in its methods and results.
Representative of a specific advance, or replication, or null/negative result, which is worthy of publication.
As reproducible as possible – sharing underlying data, code, and supporting materials wherever able.
Ethically sound and transparent – adhering to best practices with respect to animal and human studies, consent to publish, and clear declaration of potential conflicts of interests, both real and perceived.

Chief-editor: Hailu Kendie Addis (PhD).

Associate Editor: Asresu Yitayew Mengie (PhD).

Editorial Board Members: Firew Mekbib Hailemariam (PhD), Gizaw Desta Gessesse (PhD), Tadele Amare Kassie (PhD), Melaku Wale (PhD), Ermias Abate Desta (PhD), Menale Wondie (PhD), Tesfaye Getachew (PhD), Legesse Garedew Kifelew (PhD), Professor Yihenew Gebre Selassie (PhD).

Advisory Board Members: Asmare Dejen Demeke (PhD), Likawent Yeheyis Engedaw (PhD), Alemayehu Assefa (PhD), Semagn Asredie Kolech (PhD), Tesfaye Feyisa Beyene (PhD), Menale Wondie (PhD), Getnet Zeleke (PhD).