Submission Guidelines

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IJBiotech is a multidisciplinary journal, publishing original research across the whole spectrum of biotechnology, in topics such as food and agricultural biotechnology, health and medicine biotechnology, biomaterials, environmental biotechnology, industrial biotechnology, omics, and bioinformatics. All forms of research within these fields are welcome, provided they are novel, don't focus on method optimization or confirmation or repetitions of previous research but with a different organism, and can make meaningful scientific and social contributions.

These submission guidelines will help you prepare your submission so as to greatly reduce its processing time. Although there are no strict formatting requirements for you initial submission, we do require that it conforms to the document structure laid out below, so reviewers are able to assess the paper based on its scientific merits.

Online submission procedure

By submitting to IJBiotech, authors attest that:

  1. The submission is an original work, free from any form of plagiarism (text, data, and figures).
  2. The submission has not been previously published, nor is it under consideration by another journal.
  3. The submission has been approved by all co-authors and relevant authorities (e.g. an institution or sponsor).
  4. The manuscript has been (to the best of the authors’ abilities) written in good English and is free of grammatical errors. It has been checked with a proofreading tool (e.g. Grammarly) and, if possible, proofed by a language editor.

These submission guidelines will help you prepare your submission so as to greatly reduce its processing time. As per initial submission, we do require the manuscript conforms to the document structure laid out below, so reviewers are able to assess the paper based on its scientific merits.

Author(s) Information and Required Documents

Author(s) information

Submissions to IJBiotech should be through its online submission system. You must provide the information here-below prior to starting the online submission:

Author registration. Authors without an IJBiotech account are required to create an account before beginning their submission. Make sure that the "Author" role is selected in the Role dropdown menu, otherwise, you will not be able to proceed with the submission.

Author(s) data. The submitting author is required to complete the author(s) data during the submission. Please ensure that the affiliation addresses are complete and written exactly as they appear on the manuscript. Indicate the corresponding author (*).

Manuscript metadata. Please complete at least the following information related to the manuscript:

  • Title. Fill in the manuscript title field in sentence case.
  • Abstract. Paste the abstract into the abstract field; make sure that the formatting is consistent with the manuscript (e.g. superscript and italics).
  • Keywords. Provide a maximum of five words/phrases, separated by semicolons.
  • References. References should be written in accordance with the CSE author-date style (IJBiotech's chosen reference style), with the journal name abbreviated. Separate each individual reference with a blank line.

Required documents

Here is a list of required documents to send:

Main file. Manuscript file (in Docx format), please refer to general formatting guidelines for details here.

Supplementary file(s).

  • Cover letter (in pdf format) – in addition to the manuscript and its supplemental files, include a succinct cover letter stating the type of articles (original article/research or review) and author declaration (confirmation that all authors have approved the manuscript for submission, confirmation that the content of the manuscript has not been published, or submitted for publication elsewhere in any languages). Also, the Authors must suggest two potential peer reviewers for their manuscript from different institutions, with whom no conflicts of interest exist. Please provide institutional email addresses where possible, or information which will help the Editor to verify the identity of the reviewer (for example an ORCID or Scopus ID). As a note, intentionally falsifying information, for example, suggesting reviewers with a false name or email address, will result in rejection of your manuscript and may lead to further investigation in line with our misconduct policy. The template can be downloaded here
  • Declaration of originality – author(s) must complete the declaration of originality form which can be downloaded here.
  • Figure files – prepare a png or jpeg file for each figure in a high-resolution image (at least 300 dpi). 
  • References file – in BibTeX format (.bib).
  • Additional files – authors can provide datasets, tables, or other information as additional files. Do not include files such as patient consent forms, certificates of language editing.

For example, if your manuscript contains 4 figures and 3 tables, then you will have 9 files to submit: (1) manuscript file, (1) cover letter, (1) declaration of originality, (4) PNG/ JPEG files, (1) table file, (1) references file in BibTeX format (.bib). All supplementary files should be packaged and submitted as a single zip file during submission.

General Formatting Guidelines

Article type specifications

  1. Original research article. Research articles should report on original primary research and are expected to present a major advance (total words up to ~3500 words, excluding references).
  2. Review article. Reviews should describe and provide substantial coverage of mature subjects, evaluations of progress in specified areas, and/or critical assessments of emerging technologies, highlight future directions (total words 5,000-10,000; excluding abstract references).

These formatting guidelines will help you prepare your submission so as to greatly reduce its processing time. As per initial submission, we do require the manuscript conforms to the document structure laid out below, so reviewers are able to assess the paper based on its scientific merits.

1. Original research article

Quick points:

  • No header and footer
  • Font size 12-pt
  • Use single line spacing for 1st page and double line spacing for the rest of the following pages
  • Include line and page numbering
  • Total words min 3500, excluding references
  • Use SI units: Please ensure that all special characters used are embedded in the text, otherwise, they will be lost during conversion to PDF
  • Do not use page breaks in your manuscript
  • 1st page: Title, authors name (indicate the corresponding author with * symbol), affiliation and email address, author contribution
  • 2nd page: Title, abstract, keywords
  • 3rd – n page: Introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, conclusion, acknowledgment, competing interest, references
  • Last pages: put all figures and tables at the end of the manuscript and put for figures’ caption or tables’ title in the middle of the main manuscript to easily illustrate the preferable placement of the figures or tables.

Title. Use a concise and informative title in sentence case, with a maximum of 16 words.

Affiliation. Provide the full postal address of each author's affiliation, including the street name and number, city, ZIP code, and country.

Abstract. Should consist of a single paragraph of no more than 200 words. Provide the background and objective of the paper (including its originality), its principal results, and its conclusions. Avoid using abbreviations and citations.

Keywords. Include a maximum of five keywords or phrases, arranged alphabetically and separated using semicolons (;). Use specific, relevant terms that do not appear in the title, so that the article is easier to find in search engines. Do not use terms that are too general or too long.

Introduction. This section should briefly explain the background of the study, provide a short review of the pertinent literature, state the originality of the research, and state the research objectives.                                                                                            

Materials and methods. Combine the materials and methods used into one narrative passage. Enough information should be provided to enable repetition of the research. For commercial sources of the materials, the name of the company, and the town and country in which they are located should be indicated. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference, with only the relevant modifications described here; e.g. "Powder solubility was evaluated according to the method proposed by Smith (2000), with modifications. In the case of this study, powders were stirred in 25 mL of distilled water for 5 min using a blender."; or "The powder solubility test followed the method of Smith (2000), with modifications in water volume. Powders were stirred in 25 mL of distilled water for 5 min using a blender.”


Results. Describe the outcome of the study. Data should be presented as concisely as possible, and in the form of tables or figures if appropriate, although very large tables should be avoided. If needed, this section can be combined with the Discussion section into Results and discussion section. 

Discussion. This section should be an interpretation of the results of the work (not a repetition of them) in the context of previous research. Avoid excessive referencing of published literature. If needed, this section can be combined with the Results section into a Results and discussion section.

Conclusions. The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a standalone Conclusions section or included as a subsection of the Discussion section.

Acknowledgments. Acknowledge anyone who contributed to the research, as well as any funding or grants received in support of it. The names of funding organizations should be written in full, along with the grant numbers, if available. List any individuals who helped you during the study (e.g. assistance with study design or analysis, or guidance through a study area), or writing of the article (e.g. providing advice on the language, editing, or proofreading the article).

Authors’ contributions. List the details of each author’s contribution to the research and manuscript. Authorship should be restricted to those who have contributed significantly to the work by either: conceiving of or designing the study, contributing new methods or models, performing research, analyzing data, or writing the paper. Use author’s initials to indicate their names; e.g. "DS, PK designed the study. DS, PK, BTF, GH carried out the laboratory work. DS, BTF, GH, MJ, DW analyzed the data. PK, BTF, GH, MJ, DW wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript."

Competing interests. Declare any competing interests, such as any financial, professional, or personal relationships that are relevant to the submitted work. This can include the name of a funding source and a description of their role in the design of the study, data collection and analysis, writing of the article, and/or decision to submit the manuscript to IJBiotech; whether they serve or have previously served on IJBiotech’s editorial board; and/or whether they work or have worked for an organization that may benefit from the publication of the article.

References. For the purposes of efficiency and conciseness, we suggest avoiding using more than 25 references and less than 10. The Indonesian Journal of Biotechnology (IJBiotech) uses an author-date citation system based on The Council of Science Editors (CSE) Scientific Style and Format. This citation guide provides common examples of how to cite and format your references. For more comprehensive instructions, please refer to Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers – 8th edition. Note that there are some modifications to the CSE citation style to maintain consistency with historical usage in the journal. We strongly suggest authors use a reference manager (e.g. Mendeley, Zotero, or EndNote) to build their reference list. For Mendeley, you can add the CSE Style by clicking on View > Citation Styles >More Styles > Get more styles, then choose or type “Council of Science Editors, Name-Year (author-date)”, and click Install. For Zotero, choose “CSE Name-Year Style” as the Default Output Format (under Preferences > Export) when you export your reference library.

*Update: Our journal will consider a manuscript with a percentage of outdated references (more than the past 10 years) to be under 20%. Please make sure your references are at least 80% using more recent sources (published in the past 10 years).


Example reference style

Book

Basic format:

Author(s). Date. Title. Edition. Address: publisher. Extent. Notes.

An extent can include information about pagination or number of volumes and is considered optional. Notes can include information of interest to the reader, such as language of publication other than English; such notes are optional. Essential notes provide information about location, such as a URL for online works.

  • Book with 2 authors

    In the manuscript: (Campbell and Reece 2000)

    In the references: Campbell NA, Reece J. 2000. Biology. Boston: Benjamin Cummings Pearson.

  • Book with 3-10 authors

    In the manuscript: (Blenkinsopp et al. 2013)

    In the references: Blenkinsopp A, Paxton P, Blenkinsopp J. 2013. Symptoms in the Pharmacy: A Guide to the Management of Common Illness. 6th ed. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN: 9781118598443.

  • Book with more than 10 authors (start from 11th author replaced with “et al.”)

    In the manuscript: (Wenger et al. 1995)

    In the references: Wenger NK, Sivarajan Froelicher E, Smith LK, Ades PA, Berra K, Blumenthal JA, Certo CME, Dattilo AM, Davis D, DeBusk RF, et al. 1995. Cardiac rehabilitation. Rockville (MD): Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (US).

  • Edited book with an author(s)

    In the manuscript: (Luzikov 1985)

    In the references: Luzikov VN. 1985. Mitochondrial biogenesis and breakdown. Roodyn DB, editor. New York (NY): Consultants Bureau.

  • Edited book with no author

    In the manuscript: (Cross et al. 2000)

    In the references: Cross TU, Rollins Q, Barnes G, editors. 2000. Dictionary of biological terms. 5th ed. Boston (MA): Dolin publications.

  • Chapter or part of book, same author(s)

    In the manuscript: (Gawande 2010)

    In the references: Gawande A. 2010. The checklist manifesto: how to get things right. New York (NY): Metropolitan Books. Chapter 3, The end of the master builder; p. 48–71.

  • Chapter or part of book, different authors

    In the manuscript: (Terra et al. 1996)

    In the references: Terra WR, Ferreira C, Jordao BP, Dillon RJ. 1996. Digestive enzymes. In: Lehane M, Billingsley PF, editors. Biology of the insect midgut. London: Chapman & Hall. p. 153-194.

  • Organization as author

    In the manuscript: (ALSG 2001)

    In the references: [ALSG] Advanced Life Support Group. 2001. Acute medical emergencies: the practical approach. London (England): BMJ Books.

Journal article

Basic format:

Author(s). Date. Article title. Journal title. Volume(issue):pages. DOI.

To save space, CSE advises that journal titles be abbreviated in accordance with the ISO 4 standard (you can consult the ISSN List of Title Word Abbreviations or use a tool such as CASSI to generate abbreviated journal titles). 

  • Journal article with persons as author(s)

    In the manuscript: (Coleman 2007)

    In the references: Coleman AW. 2007. Pan­eukaryote ITS2 homologies revealed by RNA secondary structure. Nucleic Acids Res. 35(10):3322–3329. doi:10.1093/nar/gkm233.

  • Journal article with organization as author(s)

    In the manuscript: (NIH 1996)

    In the references: [NIH] National Institutes of Health (US), Task Force on Trauma. 1996. Ending confusion. Trauma Care. 202(2):123-134.

  • Journal article with more than 10 authors

    In the manuscript: (Chen et al. 2010)

    In the references: Chen S, Yao H, Han J, Liu C, Song J, Shi L, Zhu Y, Ma X, Gao T, Pang X, et al. 2010. Validation of the ITS2 region as a novel DNA barcode for identifying medicinal plant species. PLoS One. 5(1):e8613. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008613.

  • Volume with no issue or other subdivision

    In the manuscript: (Mesquita et al. 2015)

    In the references: Mesquita DP, Amaral AL, Leal C, Oehmen A, Reis MAM, Ferreira EC. 2015. Polyhydroxyalkanoate granules quantification in mixed microbial cultures using image analysis: Sudan Black B versus Nile Blue A staining. Anal Chem Acta. 865:8–15. doi:10.1016/j.aca.2015.01.018.

  • Volume with issue and supplement

    In the manuscript: (Frumin et al. 1979)

    In the references: Frumin AM, Nussbaum J, Esposito M. 1979. Functional asplenia: demonstration of splenic activity by bone marrow scan. Blood. 59(Suppl 1):26-32.

  • Volume with supplement but no issue

    In the manuscript: (Heemskerk et al. 2002)

    In the references: Heemskerk J, Tobin AJ, Ravina B. 2002. From chemical to drug: neurodegeneration drug screening and the ethics of clinical trials. Nat Neurosci. 5 Suppl:1027–1029.

  • Journal with multiple issue number

    In the manuscript: (Ramstrom et al. 2002)

    In the references: Ramstrom O, Bunyapaiboonsri T, Lohmann S, Lehn JM. 2002. Chemical biology of dynamic combinatorial libraries. Biochem Biophys Acta. 1572(2–3):178–186.

  • Issue with no volume

    In the manuscript: (Sabatier 1995)

    In the references: Sabatier R. 1995. Reorienting health and social services. AIDS STD Health Promot Exch. (4):1–3.

  • Journal with no page numbers

    In the manuscript: (Rohrmann et al. 2013)

    In the references: Rohrmann S, Overvad K, Bueno-de-Mesquita HB, Jakobsen MU, Egeberg R, Tjønneland A, et al. 2013. Meat consumption and mortality - results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. BMC Medicine. 11:(63).

Thesis and disserattions

Basic format: 

Author. Publication date. Document title [content designator]. [Publisher location]: publisher.

  • In the manuscript:

    (Arif 2013) and (Usman 2016)

    In the references:

    Arif F. 2013. Cloning and sequencing of haloacid dehalogenase gene from Bacillus cereus local strain [Bachelor thesis]. [Bandung]: Institut Teknologi Bandung.

    Usman MS. 2016. Identifications of significant proteins associated with diabetes mellitus (DM) type 2 using network topology analysis of protein-protein interactions [Master’s thesis]. [Bogor]: Bogor Agricultural University.

Websites and other online formats

Basic format: 

Author(s). Date of Publication. Title of Website. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; [date updated; date accessed]. Extent. Notes.

  • Online document

    In the manuscript: (Doe 1999)

    In the references: Doe J. 1999. Title of subordinate document. In: The dictionary of substances and their effects. Royal Society of Chemistry. http://www.rsc.org/dose/title of subordinate document. Accessed 15 Jan 1999.

  • E-Book

    In the manuscript: (Brogden and Guthmille 2002)

    In the references: Brogden KA, Guthmille JM, editors. 2002. Polymicrobial diseases. Washington (DC): ASM Press; [accessed February 28, 2014]. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2475/.

  • Blog

    In the manuscript: (Fogarty 2012)

    In the references: Fogarty M. 2012 Aug 14. Formatting titles on Twitter and Facebook [blog]. Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing. [accessed 2012 Oct 19]. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/formatting-titles-on-twitter-and-facebook.aspx.

2. Review article

Quick points:

  • No header and footer
  • Font size 12-pt
  • Use single line spacing for 1st page and double line spacing for the rest of the following pages
  • Include line and page numbering
  • Total 5000-10000, excluding abstract references
  • Use SI units: Please ensure that all special characters used are embedded in the text, otherwise, they will be lost during conversion to PDF
  • Do not use page breaks in your manuscript
  • 1st page: Title, authors name, affiliation and email address,
  • 2nd page: Title, abstract, keywords
  • 3rd – n page: Introduction, main text, conclusion, acknowledgment, competing interest, references
  • Last pages: put all figures and tables at the end of the manuscript and put for figures’ caption or tables’ title in the middle of the main manuscript to easily illustrate the preferable placement of the figures or tables.

Title. Use a concise and informative title in sentence case, with a maximum of 16 words.

Affiliation. Provide the full postal address of each author's affiliation, including the street name and number, city, ZIP code, and country.

Abstract. Should consist of a single paragraph of no more than 200 words. Provide the background and objective of the paper (including its originality), its principal results, and its conclusions. Avoid using abbreviations and citations.

Keywords. Include a maximum of five keywords or phrases, arranged alphabetically and separated using semicolons (;). Use specific, relevant terms that do not appear in the title, so that the article is easier to find in search engines. Do not use terms that are too general or too long.

Introduction. This section should briefly explain the background of the study, provide a short review of the pertinent literature, state the originality of the research, and state the research objectives.  

Main text. This should contain the body of the article, and may also be broken into subsections with short, informative headings.

Acknowledgments. Acknowledge anyone who contributed to the research, as well as any funding or grants received in support of it. The names of funding organizations should be written in full, along with the grant numbers, if available. List any individuals who helped you during the study (e.g. assistance with study design or analysis, or guidance through a study area), or writing of the article (e.g. providing advice on the language, editing, or proofreading the article).

Competing interests. Declare any competing interests, such as any financial, professional, or personal relationships that are relevant to the submitted work. This can include the name of a funding source and a description of their role in the design of the study, data collection and analysis, writing of the article, and/or decision to submit the manuscript to IJBiotech; whether they serve or have previously served on IJBiotech’s editorial board; and/or whether they work or have worked for an organization that may benefit from the publication of the article.

References. For the purposes of efficiency and conciseness, we suggest using 80-100 references. The Indonesian Journal of Biotechnology (IJBiotech) uses an author-date citation system based on The Council of Science Editors (CSE) Scientific Style and Format. This citation guide provides common examples of how to cite and format your references. For more comprehensive instructions, please refer to Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers – 8th edition. Note that there are some modifications to the CSE citation style to maintain consistency with historical usage in the journal. We strongly suggest authors use a reference manager (e.g. Mendeley, Zotero, or EndNote) to build their reference list. For Mendeley, you can add the CSE Style by clicking on View > Citation Styles >More Styles > Get more styles, then choose or type “Council of Science Editors, Name-Year (author-date)”, and click Install. For Zotero, choose “CSE Name-Year Style” as the Default Output Format (under Preferences > Export) when you export your reference library.

*Update: Our journal will consider a manuscript with a percentage of outdated references (more than the past 10 years) to be under 20%. Please make sure your references are at least 80% using more recent sources (published in the past 10 years).

Example reference style (please look at the original research article)

Other formatting details for both original and review article

Please note that IJBiotech's editors have the right to change an article's formatting to adhere to the journal’s style or maintain consistency.

Headings. Use no more than three levels of headings (e.g. 2, 2.1, and 2.1.1, but no 2.1.1.1). 

Abbreviations. Abbreviations should be given at the first instance of the full term and used consistently thereafter.

Species scientific names. Binomial names with an authority should be given in full in the title and the first time the species is mentioned in the text. Thereafter, either the vernacular or common name of the species or the shortened scientific name (e.g. S. aureus, S. macrophylla) may be used, but not a mixture of both.

Italicization. Words of non-English origin should be italicized, except for terms that are widely used in the English language; e.g. kayu manis and zimt, but in vitro and vice versa. Do not italicize words for emphasis.

Numbers. Spell out numbers of less than two digits (i.e. eight, nine, 10, 11), except when using them in a technical context or to present data, such as in the materials and methods or results. Spell out “percent” in text, and do not use the symbol (%), except in tables or figures or when presenting materials (e.g. 70% ethanol). 

Units of measurement. In general, IJBiotech adheres to the International System of Units (SI) for how units of measurement are written, with several deviations to remain consistent with the journal's historical usage. The rules for the most common units are as follows:

Unit Example      Note
Temperature    30°C No space after the number
Volume mL, L Capital L for liter
Time d day(s)
  h hour(s)
  min minute(s)
  s second(s)


Figure size and quality. When preparing your figures, size them to fit in a column width (either 80 mm or 170 mm), with a maximum height of 230 mm. Ensure that images are of sufficiently high resolution to be easily viewable (minimum of 300 dpi).

Image format. Send images in an image file format (png, jpeg, tiff). Do not send them in a PowerPoint presentation format.

Graphs. For optimal results, all line art, graphs, charts, and schematics should be supplied in image formats, such as PNG or JPG, and should be saved or exported as such directly from the application in which they were made. Please ensure that data points and axis labels are clearly legible. Present graphs in 2D (not 3D), without shadows or other effects, and without gridlines.

Figure formatting. Photographs must have internal scale markers and symbols, and arrows or letters should contrast greatly with the background. Arial is the recommended typeface for text within figures. Where photographs of gel, autoradiograms, and so on have been processed to enhance their quality, this should be stated. The costs of color printing will be incurred by the author.

Table size. Size tables to fit in a column width (either 80 mm or 170 mm), with a maximum height of 230 mm. Use only horizontal lines for borders.

Table and figure numbering. Every table and figure should be cited in the text in numerical order using Arabic numerals (i.e. Figure 2 cannot be cited before Figure 1). Tables should be referred to as "Table" and figures as "Figure" (not "Fig."). Place table footnotes below the table, indicating them with superscripted lowercase letters or asterisks (for significance values and other statistical data). Multi-panel figures (those with parts a, b, c, d, etc.) should be denoted with lowercase letters (e.g. Figure 1b, Figure 1b) and submitted as a separate file. 

Table and figure captions. Every table and figure should have a title or caption, which should be concise but clear enough to explain its main components independently from the text. If the table or figure contains previously published material, cite the original source at the end of the caption. If the results are expressed as a percentage, state the absolute value(s) that correspond to 100%. State in the caption if a figure has been altered or enhanced in any way.

Files submission. Put all figures and tables at the end of the main manuscript file, while the figures’ caption and tables' title can be put in any places which preferable within the manuscript. In addition to that, please also submit all the main figures in high-resolution quality in separate files (PNG or JPEG) and all tables in another separate file.

File naming. Name your figure files "Figure" with the figure number; e.g. Figure1.jpeg. Name your tables file "Tables"; e.g. Tables.docx or Tables.xlsx.

Checklist

Author(s) can use the following checklist when preparing their submission.

Files to send

  • Cover letter (in pdf format).
  • Declaration of originality (in pdf format)
  • Manuscript file (in doc, docx, rtf, or odf format).
  • Images (png, jpeg, tiff, eps, svg, pdf; at least 300 dpi); one figure per file.
  • Tables file (put all tables into one file in Ms. Excel).
  • Captions file (put all captions for figures and tables into one file).
  • References file in BibTeX format (.bib).