JOURNAL PLANTARUM

Journal Plantarum

Journal Policy

Journal Plantarum is an official Journal of Department of Botany, and Botanical association of University Women, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Pakistan. It publishes innovative research from all areas of plant sciences including Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Food Sciences, Medicinal Plants, Molecular Biology, Mycology, Nanobiotechnology, Physiology, Plant Pathology, Plant Tissue Culture, Taxonomy and Virology etc. Research work submitted to journal plantarum must be innovative. You can browse archives to better understand and explore the subject areas of the Journal Plantarum. It is an open access biannual journal of plant sciences. A manuscript would normally require at least 10-12 weeks from the date of receipt for its appearance in the journal. For any inquiry about publication process, email at info@plantarum.pk OR journalplantarumlcwul@gmail.com

Journal Plantarum publishes

1. Original papers (word limit 7000 with maximum reference list of 50)

2. Short Communications (word limit 3000)

3. Quality reviews (Word limit 10000 with maximum reference list of 100)

4. Letters of Botanical interest to Editors

5. Research briefs (word limit 3000)

1. Preparing the Article
Papers may be submitted in MS Word or LaTeX formats. Article, figures and tables should be saved in a single document. Font style is Times New Roman whereas all scientific names should be italicized.

Language

Please note that this journal publishes manuscripts in English only.

Research Article

Journal considers all original research articles that are technically sound and provide considerable new information for scientific community. A research article should typically contain the following elements: title page; abstract; keywords; main text (introduction; materials and methods, results and discussion, acknowledgments; declaration of conflict of interest statement; references). Table(s) with caption(s) and figures and figure captions should be merged in article where they are described. Total length of research article should not exceed 10 type pages with 50 references maximum.

Short Communication

Short communications are short papers but containing significant information and data to be dispersed rapidly. Short communications may be limited to 3000 words or a maximum of 4 type set pages. Short communication in Journal Plantarum may have sections like in Research Article or it may be an simple form. Materials and methods of short communication should be provided as supplementary data.

Reviews

Journal Plantarum invites high quality analytical and critical review with a broad range of topics of Plant Sciences. Review articles may be written in the following order: title page; abstract; keywords; main text, discussion; conclusion; acknowledgments; declaration of interest statement; references. Review articles should not contain more than 100 references.

Letter to Editors

A letter to editor may be considering any one of these
a. A reanalysis of already published article in Journal Plantarum
b. An emerging issue of research interest lying within the scope of J. Plantarum
c. A brief report of research finding of public interest and scope of J. Plantarum

Research Brief

Research brief is a non-technical and short summary of an article that may include a report of analytical technique, a short case study or a snapshot of an emerging issue.

2. Arrangement

Title: The title should be concise and informative. All capitals (Font Size 12), bold and center aligned. Authors Information: Title should be followed by complete name (s) of authors in all capitals with center alignment and Font size 10 and bold. In case of more than one authors with different Institutions, use numbering in superscripts to separate the author's affiliation. Use * for corresponding author. Next to Authors name list, there must be affiliations of authors and Email address/s of corresponding author (font size 10, center aligned, not bold, and italicized).
Abstract: A short and comprehensive abstract (Not more than 300 words) should be provided including research problem, hypothesis, objective, brief methodology, important findings and conclusion (font size 9). Graphical abstract can be submitted also (600 dpi).
Key words: Appropriate 6-10 Key words should be given after abstract (alphabetically arranged and font size 10)
Highlights: Research highlights can be submitted (optional). Highlights should be submitted separately and should be in bullets (3-5) and word count should not exceed 150 words limit. Introduction: Must contain research background, research problem to be addressed, valid hypothesis to be tested and objective. All the section of introduction must be justified properly by comprehensive and latest literature (font size 10).
Materials and Methods: This section must contain all the details of the laboratory and field studies. In case of agriculture data of at least two years must be included. However, data of one year will be acceptable if the experiments are conducted at two different sites (font size 10). Methods that are already published must be summarized with proper citation.
Result and Discussion: This part may be in a single section as "Results and Discussion" or if necessary, can be split into separate "Results" and "Discussion" sections. Avoid to make subsections however, if necessary, subheadings can be used in this section. Discussion should be logical and results must be discussed in the light of previous finding (preferably recent ones) justifying your findings (font size 10). Nomenclature Scientific plant names must be used in accordance with the International Code of Nomenclature of algae, fungi and plants. In taxonomic studies, author’s names of all taxa should be provided as standardized by the International Plant Names Index. Resourceful link may be like https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=521671
Conclusions: It can be given in a separate heading or a short paragraph containing important conclusions of the study.
Conflict of Interest: All the authors have to declare conflict of interest if there is any. The journal requires that all authors disclose any potential sources of conflict of interest. Any interest or relationship, financial or otherwise that might be perceived as influencing an author's objectivity is considered a potential source of conflict of interest. The existence of a conflict of interest does not preclude publication. If the authors have no conflict of interest to declare, they must also state this at submission. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to review this policy with all authors and collectively to disclose with the submission ALL pertinent commercial and other relationships.
References: References must be arranged alphabetically and stick to the Journal format. In the text reference should be mentioned in the following ways In case of one author should be cited as Erin, 2018. Use of a citation software like Endnote should be preferred. In case of two authors in parenthesis, both authors must be separated with "and" (e.g. Khalid and Khan, 2019). In case of publications of more than two authors, the name of first author should be followed by et al. (e.g. Khan et al., 2017). In case of two or more citations in the text, the citation must be arranged in chronological order (Khan, 2009; Ali & Murai, 2010; Zeb et al., 2012, Wang, 2014). The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the Thomson Reuters Journal List (Journals in the 2018 Release of Journals). In case of more than one publication by the same author in the same year, the references must be separated by a, b, c etc (e.g. Khan et al., 2018a, 2018b)
Journal article: Micheal, C.H. 2017. The role of biosynthesis of Thymoquinones in vascular plants: J. Exp. Bot., 52:1145-1164. Sana, K. and R. Rehana. 2018. Dynamics of the antioxidant system during seed osmo priming, post-priming germination, and seedling establishment in Spinach (Amaranthaceae). Plant. Sci., 180(2): 212-220. Sana, F., F. Khan, M. Zeb and R. Rehana. 2018. Taxonomy and species association of grass species in response to altitudinal gradient in the Potohar region. Pak. J. Bot., 50(1): 41- 49.
Book: Brow, E.J.H. 2017. The Seed biology. Vol: 1. Cambridge University Press, Britain.
Book Chapter: Aliya, S.M. 1994. Nutrient uptake by plants under salt stress conditions. In: Parasad, M. (Ed.), Handbook of Plant and Crop Stress.xxxxxx, Pakistan, pp. 227-246.
Edited Book: Ali, S.I. and M. Qaiser (Eds.). 2001. Flora of Pakistan. 205. University of Karachi, Karachi

Publication Ethics

Journal Plantarum follows and is adhered to Research Ethics policies of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) Articles must be submitted with the understanding that there is not any prior publication of any part of submitted article/data in form of article, abstract or published lecture. It should not be a duplicated or plagiarized submission. Data should be accessible. All sources should be acknowledged.
Animal rights: When animals are used in the research of submitted manuscript, approval from the ethics committee of the institute or organization should be submitted along with the submission. It should also be stated that all efforts were taken to minimize pain and discomfort to the animal while conducting these experiments. Article may be retraced in case of any ethical issue found in the publications later on even after publication.
Biodiversity rights: Every country has its own biodiversity laws. Authors must make sure that all the international, regional laws of biodiversity have been followed.

Plagiarism policy

Journal strictly follows the antiplagiarism policy of HEC, Pakistan. Similarity index should not exceed 18%.
Retraction of articles on plagiarism/data fabrication/falsification If any stage of article processing, any discrepancy is found, paper will be rejected at once. If an article is published and editorial board finds discrepancy related to that article, then journal has complete authority and rights to retract the article. Its retraction will also be mentioned online with authors name and title of article. Manuscripts that are found that are found to have been plagiarized from any other published data, will be immediately rejected and authors may face severe penalties including sanctions on future submissions. Furthermore, any submission found with data/results/image fabrication or falsification will be immediately rejected during evaluation process and will be retracted if published. Authors name will be mentioned on website with reason of retraction and article and will have to face other penalties. Appeals made to journal will be presented in Editorial board meetings and decision will be made by Editorial board under the convenorship of Editor-in-Chief. A committee may be formed by board to make a decision on the complaint or appeal of authors.
Use of AI Tools Generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI assisted technologies should be used only in writing with human oversight and control. AI should not be listed as author or coauthor. If AI is used in writing process, statement should be included in article.
Citation manipulation Unethical use of citation (just for increasing citation of a particular work/author/s) is strongly discouraged and if any author found guilty, may be incurred sanctions.

Authorship

Authorship is a mean to assign responsibility and giving credit of intellectual and research work. Corresponding author should consider the authorship in terms of their substantial role but not simply on good will. The list of authors should be based on facts that who contributed to the work and how. Any change in authorship is strongly discouraged after acceptance of article in J. Plantarum. In any case, if author change is necessary, Author Change proforma has to be filled, signed and submitted by corresponding Author. All those listed as authors should qualify for authorship according to the following criteria:
1. Have made substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; and
2. Been involved in drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and
3. Given final approval of the version to be published. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content; and
4. Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
5. There must be a main author (Corresponding author) responsible for all the activities and responses to queries made by Editors or reviewers during evaluation, review and publication of article.
6. Articles should include a statement describing the role of each author using the relevant Credit roles (14 different roles, details are available at credit.niso.org). There is an author consent form that is required to be submitted for next submission in Journal Plantarum.

Peer review policy

Journal Plantarum is open access and a peer-reviewed journal that uses a double-blind peer-review process. Under our double-blind policy, reviewers’ names are not disclosed to the authors. To increase transparency, reviewers may choose to sign their reports. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible to maintain high-quality peer-review of papers submitted to the journal and works together with Editor, Managing Editors, subject Editors, and Advisory Board to ensure a thorough and fair peer-review and the highest scientific publishing standards. All submissions undergo preliminary assessment by the Editor-in-Chief and subject Editors, who may reject a paper before peer review when it is outside the journal’s scope or is of insufficient quality. Associate Editors select external reviewers (Not from the publisher institute) and after at least two review reports are received, they make the decision whether to accept/reject or send a manuscript for revision. The final decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief. Furthermore, if any Editor is the author of an article, he/she is not included in the review process. The Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor/s of J. Plantarum have the right to decline peer review of manuscript when it
a. does not lie in the scope of journal
b. results reported are not novel
c. is not sound technically
d. reports only routine work

Article Processing Fee

There was not any article processing fee and no charges on acceptance earlier but from 1st July 2024, an Article Processing fee will be charged to authors according to following
Local Authors ………… 10000/- PKR
Foreign Authors…………100/- USD
Extra pages………………1000/- PKR or 20 USD per page

Copyrights

These guidelines will help establish a clear and transparent copyright policy that protects the rights of authors while maximizing the accessibility and usability of research findings. Implementing such policies ensures the integrity and usability of scholarly work.

Journal Plantarum follows an open-access publishing policy and all articles are free to access. Any submission to Journal Plantarum must be original, that is, neither published previously nor accepted/under consideration for publication elsewhere. On acceptance of a manuscript, the corresponding author on the behalf of all co-authors will sign and submit a Copyright and Author Consent Form. The author(s) shall be solely responsible for any information written/informed/reported in the submitted manuscript. It is the author's responsibility to obtain signed permission from the copyright holder to use and reproduce text, illustrations, tables, etc., published previously in other journals, electronic or print media. If any material (Figure/Table/map etc.) is taken from other copyrighted material, should have prior permission to use it in their publication. Articles can be reproduced, distributed, derived and may be used commercially_ provided the original work is properly cited. Author(s) possess the full rights of their published articles.

Authors have certain rights to reuse their work
1. Authors have trademark and patent rights
2. Authors retain the right to reuse their own published material to fully acknowledging their original work
3. Authors can reuse and share their work for scholarly purposes, in class room teachings, in conferences, in research theses
4. Authors can publically share the final published article.

Publication Schedule

Each Year, two issues (one in June and one in December) are published. Special issues are also invited upon approval of Editorial and Advisory Board.

Policy for Special Issue

For a special issue, scope and theme is required and it should be aligned with the scope of the journal. Proposal may be submitted by the qualified guest editor. Guest editor of the special issue should be a well-recognized scientist/researcher of the plant sciences or equivalent. He/she should have proven expertise and an academic background in the theme of special issue. It is highly desirable that the guest editor should have experience in editorial roles and peer review. Guest editor should have a good network of contacts within the scientific community to facilitate high quality submissions. Guest Editor is responsible for following
1. Provide a clear timeline for call of papers, submission deadlines, review periods, revisions and final decisions
2. Identify and invite potential contributors of the relevant field
3. Smoothly oversee the peer review process, ensuring timely responses of reviewers
4. Making editorial decisions on submissions, based on peer review reports and journal policies
5. Ensuring the high quality and integrity of the content published
6. Ensuring the compliance of all the submissions with the ethical guidelines of the journal
7. Ensuring the strategies to promote the special issue to reach the wide audience and in achieving the significant impact
Detailing any available budget for special issue and mentioning any compensations

Disclaimer:

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.
Journal Policy will be revised every year by editorial team to maintain scientific and technical standards of Journal.

Dated: 01-03-2024
Editor in Chief
Prof. Dr. Zubaida Youaf

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