Preparation of Manuscripts

Document version 1.0. Last review: 11/12/2022.
0. Before reading all the details, how about watching two short videos on how to use the templates?






Some template files may have ben updated since the videos were recorded, but the fundamental concept was not altered. Thank you for your understanding.

Thank you very much for your time. Now please take some moments to read the detailed information on the submission process. Please remember that the only e-mail used to do the submission process is southbchem@gmail.com, and we appreciate you to reply all the follow-up messages in the same original message.

1. PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS (TEMPLATE):

All manuscripts must be written in English or Portuguese and submitted as a Microsoft Word document only using the Journal's TEMPLATE. In addition, manuscripts should be written following the guidelines below.

Please, observe the following points in preparing manuscripts. Papers not conforming strictly to these instructions may be returned to their authors for appropriate revision or may be delayed in the review process.

READABILITY: Manuscripts should be written in clear, concise, and grammatically correct English (British or American English throughout). The editors can not undertake wholesale revisions of poorly written papers. Every paper must be free of unnecessary jargon and readable by any specialist in the related field. The abstract should be written in a STRUCTURED FORMAT that will be understandable to readers who are not experts in the subject matter.

PROOFREADING: Please proofread carefully for both errors and inconsistencies in the following: spelling (especially of scientific terminology, proper names, and foreign words), mathematical notation, numerical values in tables and text, and accuracy of quotations. The Journal will evaluate the file seeking English grammatical issues, correctness, clarity, and engagement errors. There will be a tolerance of up to 100 errors in all manuscripts. In case more errors were found, editors will allow the authors to resubmit again, and, in case these errors persist, a proofreading fee will be charged.

GENERAL FORMAT: The completed paper must be written in English or Portuguese and submitted as a Word document only using the Journal's template. Page size: A4, line spacing: single, font type: Arial. Please leave headers and footers unchanged since the editors should fill them. Please check guidelines for accurate information based on all different categories (review articles and technical notes). A single file of the whole manuscript should then be submitted through the SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF SCIENCES email (southbchem@gmail.com) along with the COVER LETTER. The Journal no longer accepts submissions in any other form than by EMAIL (southbchem@gmail.com).

FORMAT FOR INITIAL SUBMISSION: Title, Author(s), Abstract (maximum 350 words), Keywords (at least 3, maximum 5), Main text (Introduction, Review of Literature, Definitions (if any), Materials and Methods or Methodology, or Development, or Background, Results and Discussion or Findings, Conclusions), Acknowledgements (if any), References, Appendix (if any). This structure of the main text is not obligatory, but the paper must be logically presented. Footnotes should be avoided. The main text must be written with font size 11, justify. Within each main section, three levels of subheadings are available, and the titles must be bold, bold, and italic italic, respectively. The manuscript should contain the whole text, figures, tables, and explanations. For more details, please check the template of the Journal.

2. THE FIRST PAGE OF THE MANUSCRIPT

TITLE: ENGLISH. It should be brief and informative. The title should reflect essential aspects of the article, in a preferably concise form of not more than 100 characters and spaces: font size 12, capital letters, center alignment.

BY-LINE: Names (size 12, Arial, small capital) of the authors. No inclusion of scientific titles is necessary. In the case of two or more authors, place their names in the same row, separate them with a semicolon (;) and please indicate the corresponding author with * in superscript. The corresponding author should be the one submitting the article online and an email given (only one email) below the addresses of all authors. Authors from different institutions must be labeled with numbers in superscript after the names. The affiliation of the authors should also be given (size 10).

ABSTRACT: ENGLISH. Required for all manuscripts in which the problem, the top results, and conclusions are summarized. Required for all manuscripts in which the IMRAD (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion) format should be summarized. It should not contain formulas, references, or abbreviations. The name ABSTRACT should be written in capital letters, Arial, size 12, bold, left alignment. The abstract should be written font Arial, size 10, justify. The editors can translate the abstract to Portuguese for those who Portuguese is not the first language. The Journal adopts the STRUCTURED ABSTRACT from 250 to 350 words as follows:

To easily write a good abstract, please follow the instructions at the Abstract maker tool. Later, just copy and paste your newly created abstract into the journal template file.

KEYWORDS: ENGLISH. Authors should provide appropriate and short keywords that encapsulate the principal topics of the paper. The maximum number of keywords is 5 not including items appearing in the title. The keywords should be supplied, indicating the scope of the paper. Size 10, italic, justify, only the word Keywords must be bold, left alignment.

The authors should include Abbreviations and Nomenclature listings when necessary.



3. THE MAIN TEXT PART OF THE MANUSCRIPT

TIP: You are welcome to use The Manuscript Sketch Tool to speedup the process of creating your manuscript, and later manually edit your newly created file.

The words Introduction, Review of Literature, Definitions (if any), Materials and Methods or Methodology, or Development, or Background, Results and Discussion of Findings, Conclusions must be written in capital letters, Arial, font size 12, left alignment, bold.

INTRODUCTION: The introduction must clearly state the problem, the reason for doing the work, the hypotheses or theoretical predictions under consideration, and the essential background. It should not contain equations or mathematical notation. A brief survey of the relevant literature so that a non-specialist reader could understand the significance of the presented results. A good introduction should ideally have 3-5 well-explained paragraphs and should finish pointing out the study's AIM.

MATERIALS AND METHODS OR METHODOLOGY OR DEVELOPMENT: Provide sufficient details to the reader to understand how the study was performed. The technical description of methods should be given when such methods are new. It is generally recommended that the materials and methods be written in the past tense, preferably in the passive voice. In this section, ethical approval, study dates, number of subjects, groups, evaluation criteria, exclusion criteria and statistical methods should be described sequentially. The following questions should be absolutely provided: the beginning, and termination dates of the study period; number of subjects/patients/experimental animals etc. enrolled in the study; has the approval of the ethics committee been obtained? Study design (prospective, retrospective or other); still, additional study design features (cross-sectional) should be indicated. Apart from this, other types of study designs (randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled or double-blind, parallel control etc.) should be revealed. Before you finish your manuscript, ask yourself the following questions about your Materials and Methods section to ensure that you have included all important information. Is there sufficient detail so that the experiments can be reproduced? Is there excess information that could be removed without affecting the interpretation of the results? Are all the appropriate controls mentioned? Are all appropriate citations included? Is the source of each reagent listed? The Materials and Methods section is a vital component of any manuscript. This section of the report gives a detailed account of the procedure followed in completing the experiment(s) discussed in the paper. Such an account is significant, not only so that the reader has a clear understanding of the experiment, but a well-written Materials and Methods section also serves as a set of instructions for anyone desiring to replicate the study in the future. Considering the importance of "reproducible results" in science, it is very relevant why this second application is so vital. Some general rules for Methods sections are:
  • It should be clear from the Methods section how all of the data in the Results section were obtained.
  • The study system should be clearly described. In medicine, for example, researchers need to specify the number of study subjects, how, when, and where the subjects were recruited, and that the study obtained appropriate 'informed consent' documents, and what criteria subjects had to meet to be included in the study.
  • In most cases, the experiments should include appropriate controls or comparators. The conditions of the controls should be specified.
  • The outcomes of the study should be defined, and the outcome measures should be objectively validated.
  • The methods used to analyze the data must be statistically sound.
  • For qualitative studies, an established qualitative research method (e.g. grounded theory is often used in sociology) must be used as appropriate for the study question.
  • If the authors used a technique from a published study, they should include a citation and a summary of the procedure in the text. The method also needs to be appropriate to the present experiment.
  • All materials and instruments should be identified, including the supplier's name and location.
  • The Methods section should not have information in another section (such as the Introduction or Results).
  • You may suggest if additional experiments would significantly improve the quality of the manuscript. Your suggestions should be in line with the study's aims. Remember that further investigations could strengthen almost any research, so only suggest further work if you believe that the manuscript is not publishable without it.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION OR FINDINGS: Results should be presented concisely. Also, point out the significance of the results, and place the results in the context of other work and theoretical background. The results and discussion sections are some of the challenging sections to write. It is essential to carefully plan this section as it may contain a large amount of scientific data that needs to be presented clearly and concisely. The purpose of a Results section is to present the key results of your research. Results and discussions can either be combined into one section or organized as separate sections. Use subsections and subheadings to improve readability and clarity-number all tables and figures with descriptive titles. Present your results as figures and tables and point the reader to relevant items while discussing the results. This section should highlight significant or interesting findings along with P values for statistical tests. Be sure to include negative results and highlight the potential limitations of the paper. Your research paper's results and discussion section should include the following: Findings; Comparison with prior studies; Limitations of your work; Casual arguments; Speculations; Deductive arguments.

CONCLUSION: Summarize the data discussed in the Results and Discussion or Findings section showing the relevance of the work and how different it is from other researches. Also, point out the benefits and improvements that can be observed to develop new science standards that can change something in the related field.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: (if any) These should be placed in a separate paragraph at the end of the text, immediately before the list of references. It may include funding information too.

REFERENCES: References should be cited in the text using the name-and-year system (Author, year) (APA FORMAT). Alternatively, the author's surname may be integrated into the text, followed by the year of publication in parentheses. Examples: Grasslands are regarded as important foraging areas for many insectivores in Europe, such as birds (Vichery, 2001; Barnet et al., 2004), bats (Guttinger, 1997) or amphibians and reptiles (Langton and Burton, 1997). However, the knowledge of the overall arthropod availability in such grasslands is scarce, since many studies about insect populations concentrate on extensive grasslands on poor, dry or wet soils include only few species or systematic groups (Ellgsen et al., 1997; Gibson et al., 1992; Hansel and Plachter, 2004; Manhart et al., 2004; Kruess and Tscharntke, 2002a, b; Wingerden et al., 1992; Sjodin, 2007a, b; Perner et al., 2005). Carbon dioxide produced by the combustion of biodiesel can be recycled by photosynthesis, thereby minimizing the impact of biodiesel combustion on the greenhouse effect (Korbitz, 1999; Agarwal and Das, 2001).

Cite only essential resources, avoid citing unpublished material. References to papers "in press" must mean that the article has been accepted for publication. Please, list only those references cited in the text and prepare this list as an automatically numbered list. The word References with size 12, bold, capital letters, left alignment

4. GUIDELINES FOR REFERENCES:


TIP: Please consider to use the DOI-to-APA tool to write the references. It will make your job faster.
  • The Journal uses the APA (American Psychological Association) FORMAT CITATION as follows:
Author's surname, initial(s). (Date Published). Title of Source. Location of publisher: publisher. Retrieved from URL



GENERAL RULE FOR ACADEMIC PAPERS:

Author's surname, initial(s). Year of publication after the name of the authors (between parentheses). Title of the paper. Name of the Journal in italic, number of the edition also in italic, volume between parentheses and finally initial and final page, and, if the case, retrieved from (what website) or DOI
Examples:
1. Nikolaeva, L.P., Cherdantsev DV., Titiv K.S. (2017). Characteristics of bone marrow stem cells in patients with complicated diabetes mellitus. The Russian biotherapeutic journal, 16(1): 47-50.
2. Mitchell, J.A. (2017). Citation: Why is it so important. Mendeley Journal, 67(2), 81-95. Retrieved from https://www.mendeley.com/reference-management/reference-manager
3. Karthiga, N., Rajendran, S., Prabhakar, P., Rathish, R.J. (2015). Corrosion inhibition by plant extracts - An overview. Int. J. Nano. Corr. Sci. Eng, 2(4):31-49.
4. Akbulut, S., and Bayramoglu, M.M. (2013). The Trade and Use of Some Medical and Aromatic Herbs in Turkey. Ethno Med, 7(2): 67-77.


For different types of references than scientific papers, the Journal recommends visiting the websites below for more detailed information.
< https://www.mendeley.com/guides/apa-citation-guide >
< https://libguides.murdoch.edu.au/APA6/all >
< https://aut.ac.nz.libguides.com/APA6th/referencelist >


5. FIGURES:


The number of pictures (including graphs and diagrams) should not exceed 15 and should be submitted either in JPEG or PNG formats. All photographs, charts, and diagrams should be numbered consecutively (e.g., Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3,…..) in the order in which they are referred to in the text. Caption must appear below the figure (size 11, bold, italic) and sufficiently detailed to understand apart from the text. Explanation of lettering and symbols should also be given in the caption and only exceptionally in the figures. Figures should be of good quality. Scanned figures should be at a resolution of 800 dpi/bitmap for line graphs. Diagrams containing chemical structures should be of high graphical quality and always be of the same size to be uniformly reduced. Figures should have a maximum width of one Journal column (8.5 cm) to be inserted on the body of the text to be applied to the Journal's standards. If the figures exceed 8.5 cm, they will be placed at the end of the article. Also, authors may be requested to submit each figure as an image file in one of the following formats: jpeg or png. For pictures, graphs, diagrams, and tables identical to material already published in the literature, authors should seek permission for publication from the companies or scientific societies holding the copyrights and send it to the SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF SCIENCES editors along with the final form of the manuscript.

Important summarized information:
  • Upload the images either in JPEG or PNG formats. Poor quality and resolution figures will not be accepted. Pay attention when scanning or making a print screen of an image. In these cases, the resolution is usually low, and it becomes challenging to the reader to see the information of the figure;
  • Figures should be numbered consecutively, in Arabic numerals, according to the order in which they have been first cited in the text;
  • All information, including numbers and symbols, should be clear and of uniform size. The lettering for figures should be large enough to be legible either in the two or one column format;
  • Any details to point out a specific view like symbols, arrows, or letters used in photomicrographs should contrast with the background;
  • Titles and detailed explanations belong in the legends for illustrations, not on the images themselves.
  • When graphs, scatter-grams, or histograms are submitted, the numerical data they are based on should also be supplied and clear enough.
  • The photographs and figures should be trimmed to remove all the unwanted areas. Also, if pictures of individuals are used, their images must be accompanied by written permission to use the photograph.
  • If a figure has been published elsewhere, acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material. A credit line should appear in the legend for such figures.
  • Legends for illustrations: When symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters are used to identify parts of the images, identify and explain each one in the legend. Explain the internal scale (magnification) and identify the method of staining in photomicrographs when suitable;
  • The Journal reserves the right to crop, rotate, reduce, or enlarge the photographs to an acceptable size.


6. TABLES:


Tables should be self-explanatory and should not duplicate textual material. They should be mentioned in the text, numbered consecutively (e.g., Table 1, Table 2, Table 3,....), and accompanied by a title at the top (size 11, bold, italic). Please insert all the tables in the text and do not enclose huge tables that cannot fit within the page margins. Other important considerations.

  • Tables with more than 15 columns and 30 rows are not acceptable.
  • Number tables, in Arabic numerals, consecutively in the order of their first citation in the text and supply a brief title for each.
  • Place explanatory matter in footnotes, not in the heading.
  • Explain in footnotes all non-standard abbreviations that are used in each table. If necessary, use symbols to explain and make all abbreviations clear to the reader.
  • Obtain permission for all entirely borrowed, adapted, and modified tables and provide a credit line in the footnote.
  • Tables with their legends should be provided at the end of the text after the references. The tables, along with their number, should be cited at the appropriate place in the text.
  • In the text, do not use Tab. For an abbreviation of a Table. Write Table 1, Table 2 instead of Tab.1, Tab.2;


7. MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSIONS:


In general, minimize unusual typographical requirements, use solidus, built-up fractions. Avoid lengthy equations that will take several lines (possibly by defining the terms of the equation in separate displays). For drawing equations, please use the Equation Editor of Word, if possible. Make subscripts and superscripts clear. Display only those mathematical expressions that must be numbered for later reference or that need to be emphasized. The equations displayed should be consecutively numbered throughout the paper. The numbers should be placed in parentheses on the right of the equation, e.g. (Eq. 1).

8. SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL:


Any Supplementary material (extra figures, tables, diagrams, appendix, abbreviations list) should be placed at the end of the manuscript and indicated as such. All supplementary material should also be cited in the text. Editors may ask authors to split off part of the manuscript at any time of the editing process, presenting it as supplementary material.


HOW TO SUBMIT A MANUSCRIPT

This is the only email of the Journal, southbchem@gmail.com. Please be advised that the Journal has no representatives, and the authors should only submit manuscripts through this email account. After ensuring you have followed all applicable guidelines to your manuscript, you should send the manuscript file (Microsoft word format - .DOC) along with the cover letter file (editable PDF) to southbchem@gmail.com. The manuscript submission message to the Journal should be as follow:
Dear Editor-in-chief
SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF SCIENCES
281/202, Carlos Tarasconi Av.
District: Sagrada Familia.
Postal Code: 95320-000.
Nova Prata - RS. Brazil.

I am sharing a manuscript entitled "TITLE OF THE MANUSCRIPT," which I am submitting for consideration for publication in the SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF SCIENCES.
I, [Insert the name of the corresponding author here] (Corresponding author) certify that:
* The manuscript is the original work of all authors.
* All authors made a significant contribution to this study.
* This manuscript has not been submitted for publication and has not been published in any other journal.
* All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Thank you for your consideration of my work! Please address all correspondence concerning this manuscript and feel free to correspond with me by email (Corresponding author's email address).
Sincerely,
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR DETAILS
[Add here the name, contact address, contact phone number, email of the corresponding author. The corresponding author must be one of the authors of the manuscript.]
First Name - Middle Name - Surname
Complete Mailing Address
City
State
Country
Postal Code
Contact Phone Number: [Country prefix followed by whole phone number]
Contact Email:
Attachment:
[list of all files attached such as manuscript, cover letter, and any other relevant files as supplementary materials, images, appendix]
On submitting an article, a cover letter is requested in the same email message. In this letter, the emails of all authors and all information regarding the article like the title, name, and address of the authors, must be given. In the case of multiple authors, the corresponding author should be indicated. The corresponding author will be notified of acceptance, rejection, or need for revision.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
  • ALL SUBMISSIONS SHOULD BE MADE THROUGH THE EMAIL (southbchem@gmail.com) of the Journal. This is the only email address applicable to submit a manuscript to this Journal. The Journal does not have or use any other way or electronic system to receive papers;
  • After the editors have checked the submission, an email will be sent with suitable information;
  • The reviewing process starts as soon as the Journal receives the paper and sends the author an email confirming the paper and cover letter have been received. The reviewing process may take up to 180 days from the date of receiving the manuscript;
  • After submitting the manuscript, one of the editors will perform a preliminary review to check some essential topics related to the scope of the Journal, formatting, structure, plagiarism, and so on. If the paper is on the scope, and there are no significant issues, the paper can move forward to the next steps (double-blind peer-review);
  • Please, before submitting your paper, do not forget to check all relevant information regarding the AIMS and SCOPE and make sure you are submitting to the most suitable Journal;
  • Please review the Article Processing Charges (APCs);
  • Make sure your manuscript is accurate and readable;
  • Asking a colleague who is a native English speaker to review your manuscript for clarity;
  • If necessary, please hire an Academic and Scientific Proofreading and Editing Services in your country to ensure the meaning and the overall text of your manuscript is clear and with no significant English errors;
  • Understand the copyright agreement - Copyright;
  • Speed of publication: The SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF SCIENCES DOES NOT OFFER ANY FAST PUBLICATION SCHEDULE. All papers received by our team will have the same treatment, and the review process will take the standard processing time (up to 180 days from the date of receiving the paper);
  • Check the Ethical Guidelines;
  • Plan your publication in the Journal. Please, check the publication schedule of the Journal;
  • Please, check the instructions to the authors. Avoid making incomplete submissions;
  • Please BE ADVISED THAT THE JOURNAL HAS NO REPRESENTATIVES, and the AUTHORS SHOULD, BY THEMSELVES, SUBMIT MANUSCRIPTS THROUGH THE OFFICIAL email account of the Journal (southbchem@gmail.com).


    • Templates and instructions

    Please, DOWNLOAD HERE the files (TEMPLATE AND COVER LETTER) required to perform the submission process of the manuscript. Alternatively, you can CLICK ON THE IMAGES BELOW TO DOWNLOAD the files.
    You will be downloading a compressed file in which there will be three files (TEMPLATE - .DOC format, COVER LETTER - editable PDF and READ ME, txt format with the instructions for submissions)
    Please, fill in the Cover Letter (editable PDF) and submit it along with the manuscript file (.DOC) in one e-mail to southbchem@gmail.com.



    Guidelines for publication

    GENERAL:

    articles suitable for publication in the SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF SCIENCES (SJS) are those that cover the traditional fields of Chemistry, and interdisciplinary areas, such as Physics, Mathematics, Biology, Pharmacy, Medicine, Engineering, Industrial Science, and Agriculture. Articles should conform to one of the categories below.

    ORIGINAL ARTICLES:

    for communicating original research. Articles should follow the usual form of presentation, including the IMRAD STRUCTURE (introduction, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusions) appropriate for the work being submitted. They should have a maximum of 20 pages, including figures, tables, diagrams. All pages should be numbered following the template.

    REVIEW ARTICLES:

    for communicating progress in a specific field of Chemistry, and interdisciplinary areas, such as Physics, Mathematics, Biology, Pharmacy, Medicine, Engineering, Industrial Science, and Agriculture., to provide a critical account of state of the art from the point of view of the highly qualified and experienced specialist. They should have a maximum of 40 pages, including figures, tables, diagrams. All pages should be numbered following the template. Authors need to have publications in the field reviewed, attesting their experience and qualification. Before submitting the manuscript, authors should send an e-mail to the editors with an abstract of the review and a letter explaining the publication's relevance. The material will be examined by the editors, and, once approved, authors will be requested to submit the full manuscript, according to SJS guidelines.

    TECHNICAL NOTES:

    for communicating methods, validation of methods, techniques, equipment, and accessories developed in the author's laboratory or according to the professional experience of the authors in checking some situations at the site. They should have a maximum of 25 pages, including figures, tables, and diagrams. All pages should be numbered following the template.

    INTERVIEWS:

    for communicating interviews linked to one of the subjects of the interest of SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF SCIENCES. The interview should have a maximum of 20 questions or 15 pages. The person who is going to be interviewed does not necessarily need to be a researcher. It may be another person since the subject to be discussed shows relevance in the field of science. All pages should be numbered following the template.

    SHORT COMMUNICATIONS:

    short communications are short papers that present original and significant material for rapid dissemination. For instance, short communication may focus on a particular aspect of a problem or a new finding that is expected to significantly impact. Short articles include, but are not limited to, discovering or developing new materials, cutting-edge experiments and theory, the novelty in simulation and modeling, elucidation of mechanisms. Short communications are limited to 3000 words and are not subdivided. The paper should contain an abstract, main body, and references and have no more than six (6) figures or tables combined. The abstract is limited to 100 words.

    CASE STUDY:

    a case study research paper examines a person, place, event, phenomenon, or another type of subject of analysis to extrapolate key themes and results that help predict future trends, illuminate previously hidden issues that can be applied to practice, and/or provide a means for understanding a significant research problem with greater clarity. A case study research paper usually examines a single subject of analysis. Still, case study papers can also be designed as a comparative investigation that shows relationships between two or more subjects. The methods used to study a case can rest within a quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method investigative paradigm. A case study as a qualitative methodology explores a time- and space-bound phenomenon and requires much more from their authors, who are acting as instruments within the inquiry process. In the case study methodology, a variety of methodological approaches may be employed to explain the complexity of the problem being studied. A case study research is defined as a qualitative approach in which the investigator explores a real-life, contemporary bounded system (a case) or multiple bound systems (cases) over time, through detailed, in-depth data collection involving multiple sources of information, and reports a case description and case themes. The unit of analysis in the case study might be multiple cases (a multisite study) or a single case (a within-site case study).

    OTHER CATEGORIES ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION BY THIS JOURNAL:
    BOOK REVIEW
    FORUM ARTICLE
    RETROSPECTIVE CHART REVIEWS
    PROSPECTIVE OR RETROSPECTIVE DATA COLLECTION

    Researchers from all countries are invited to publish on its pages. The journal is committed to achieving a broad international appeal, attracting contributions, and addressing various disciplines related to chemistry, physics, mathematics, biology, pharmacy, medicine, engineering, industrial science, and agriculture. The SJS is a refereed journal dedicated to express views on the covered topics, thereby generating a cross current of ideas on emerging matters.