INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

 

The Nigerian Food Journal publishes original research articles in all aspects of Food Science and Technology and closely related topics. Authorities and experts in the field should preferably contribute review articles or special reports from industry. Papers accepted become the copyright of the journal.
Manuscripts: Manuscripts of original research on all aspects of Food Science and Technology are welcome. Original manuscripts should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief at nifoj2010@gmail.com. Manuscripts written in English should be typed single spaced on A4 paper with 2.5cm and submitted electronically. Submitted manuscripts must not exceed 15 A4 pages (including tables, figures and references) for original research papers, 10 pages for technical review papers and 5 pages for special reports. Reviews should be 14-18 pages, must be concise, a constructive criticism of the topic and with good conclusion. Authors are required to send along with the manuscript a letter of undertaking signed by the principal author, stating that the submitted paper is not under consideration in part or in full for publication in any other Journal. Only manuscripts that conform to the recommended format shall be considered for review. The artwork for the technical adverts should be sent along where applicable. All submissions must include a properly filled checklist as indicated below.
Along with the manuscript, authors should include evidence of payment (e.g. scanned bank teller) of the sum of N2,500.00 or Fifty US Dollars as handling charge. Payment should be made into the NIFOJ Current Account Number 2000636885, First Bank Plc, Ilupeju Branch, Lagos, Nigeria.
The revised version of the manuscript must be returned by e-mail in MS Word within two weeks. The e-mail address of corresponding author(s) must be included in the manuscript. Accepted papers not returned as requested will not be considered in the subsequent issues of the Journal. Manuscript may be withdrawn or changes effected before the typeset. Authors shall be requested to pay the prevailing page charges when the acceptance of their papers is confirmed.
FORMAT: Manuscripts should normally be divided into distinct sections as follows. The text should be Garamond, single line spacing and the font size should be 11 or as indicated in the checklist for each section.
TITLE: Should be presented on the first page along with abstract and keyword(s) with font style Calibri 15 points bold. Authors’ names and affiliation should be font style- Garamond, and size- 10 points
Running title and lead author should appear on each page of the paper.
ABSTRACT: Abstract must state briefly the objective of the study; highlight the major results and the conclusion. Font style-Garamond, font size-11 points, not more than 250 words are allowed.
KEYWORDS: Not more than five (5) keywords should be inserted below the abstract. Keywords should reflect the content of the paper for easy retrieval of the paper. This should not be a repeat of the words contained in the title.
INTRODUCTION: Should highlight the topic, using appropriate and up-to-date references followed by the objectives clearly indicating the aim of the research performed.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This section should be written in a manner that enables the reader to follow in detail both the materials and methods of uncommon procedures, in order to reproduce the experiments. An additional short description is advisable if the references are not accessible or are given in unfamiliar languages. Scientific and vernacular names should be written in full at first citation and in italics. Subsequently, the genus names may be abbreviated.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The result should describe Tables, Figures, Schemes, formulae etc. presented in manuscript. Font style- Garamond and font size-10 should used for Tables and Figures. The contents should only be repeated in the text, while drawing inferences to highlight the findings of the study. Experimental data should be evaluated by suitable statistical methods, where applicable. The results should be discussed with regards to current knowledge and objectives of the research.
CONCLUSION: This should be a distinct inference drawn from the findings of the research.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: This is optional.
REFERENCES: The Harvard style of referencing should be adopted, i.e. reference should be listed in alphabetical order. The list of references should include only those publications that are cited in the text. References to periodicals must be indicated by author’s name and year (in parenthesis) in the text. The title of the work, title (italicized) and the volume of the periodical should be indicated. The beginning and end pages of the article should also be indicated, e.g. Meadows, A. B., Ogunmoyela, O. A. and Abu, J. O. (2007). Effect of drum drying of banana pulp on the sorption isotherm and flexible packaging requirement. Nigerian Food Journal 25: 130-140. For textbooks, the name(s) of the author(s) and the title of the book, followed by the publisher, city of publishing and the pages referred e.g. Iwe, M. O. (2003). The Science and technology of soybean, Rojoint publishers Enugu, pp. 123-230. For chapters in a book, the names of the author, date, title of the article should be given, then followed by the editor(s), title of the book, publisher and place of publication and the page numbers, e.g. Ebuehi, O. A. T. and Ikanone, C. E. (2007). Mineral and vitamins content of some Nigerian bread sample. In: Kirsop, B. E. and Kurtzman, C. P. (Eds). Living Resources for Biotechnology, David Livingstone, London, pp. 141-187.
For references obtained from the internet, the authors, the author or source of the material with date should be indicated, followed by the title of the article, then the internet identification, and when it was accessed. E.g. USDA (2007) USDA National Nutrient database for standard reference. Available from http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/. Accessed Feb. 23, 2007.
Illustrations and Figures: Each figure should be given an Arabic number, e.g. Table 1. Photographs and photomicrographs should be scanned and submitted along with manuscript electronically. Coloured photographs and micrographs attract extra charges. Scientific measurements should be given in SI Units. Internationally recognized abbreviations may only be used after the long form has been written and explained. Limit the numbers of illustration only to the most essential ones. Express “hours” as “h”, “minutes” as “min”, “seconds” as “sec”.
Tables: Each table should be given an Arabic number, e.g. Table 1. The title of the tables should be indicated at the top. Each table should be on separate page. The numbers should be limited to the absolutely necessary ones. Footnotes to Tables should be typed below the Table and should be referred to by superscripts lowercase letters. No crisscross lines should be used. Only two horizontal lines should be ruled, one under the Table-heading and the other at the bottom-line of the table. Tables should not duplicate results presented elsewhere in the manuscripts (e.g. in graphs).

CHECKLIST

SELF-ADMINISTERED CHECKLIST BY THE AUTHOR

Checklist should be submitted along with manuscript. Manuscript that does not satisfy the conditions indicated in the checklist given below will be returned to the authors for correction before it is accepted for review.

Please indicate with a tick (√) where appropriate

I. Manuscript information:

Title:              
Abstract Word Count Manuscript Word Count
Number of Pages Number of Keywords
Number of Tables Number of Figures
Number of Equations  

II. Author(s) Information (Surname first with initials only):

Name Address
      8.

III. Corresponding author’s details:

Name
Telephone
Email

IV. Manuscript Text Format:

Feature Specifications Yes No
Sectioning Indicate if the appropriate order has been followed: (Title, Authors, Affiliation, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussions, Conclusion, Acknowledgement (optional),  References, Figures and Tables)
Number of Pages Not exceeding 15
Manuscript Title Calibri, 15 points, bold
Authors Names Garamond, 10 points
Abstract Garamond, 11 points, bold, Maximum word count of 250
Keywords Garamond, 11 points, bold, Maximum word count of 5
Sectional Titles Garamond, 11 points, bold
Sectional Subtitles Garamond, 11 points, italics
Body of manuscript Garamond, single spaced, 11 points, 2.5 cm margin
Tables (title and content) Garamond, 10 points, (bold the title only)
Figure (title) Garamond, 10 points, (bold the title only)
Equations Written using Microsoft equation editor or MS word equation format available in MS Word 2000 and above

V. Equations, Figures and Tables:

Feature Specifications Yes No
Citation in text All tables, figures and equations were cited consecutively in the text in Arabic numerals
Captions Captions appropriate and self explanatory
Figure Original in colored or gray format

Scanned figure in jpeg format

Tables sectioning Only two horizontal lines are allowed, one under the table headings and the other at the bottom-line of the table. Internal borders or crisscross lines are not allowed.
Symbols and number Legible and distinctive axes and graphical symbols and number

VI. OTHER INFORMATION

Specifications Yes No
Submission of letter of undertaking
Payment of handling charge