Aims and Scope
The Sarusar ti Sirib, Abra State Institute of Sciences and Technology Research Journal (SSARJ) is a biannual, peer reviewed, printed journal, edited and published by the ASIST Research and Development Journal Editorial Board. It accommodates researches on Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resources (AFNR), Social Sciences and Education (SSED) and Industry, Energy and Emerging Technologies (IEET).
THE PEER REVIEW SYSTEM
Description
The process of putting an author’s scholarly work, research, or ideas to the examination of others who are specialists in the same field is known as peer review (also known as refereeing). Peer review requires a group of specialists in a specific (and generally tightly defined) topic who are qualified and capable of conducting an objective review. The activity done during the screening of submitted publications is referred to as peer review. This normative procedure encourages authors to adhere to their discipline’s established standards and discourages the spread of unfounded claims, undesirable interpretations, and personal viewpoints. Peer review enhances the likelihood that flaws will be found and corrected with the help of advise and encouragement. It is usually a condition for both grant money and publication in an academic journal that the subject be both original and substantial.
Type
For the journal, a double-blind review method is used. The identity of the reviewer(s) and the author(s) is unknown to each other.
Recruiting Referees
The editorial board has the obligation of selecting reviewers. When a manuscript is received, an editor seeks out reviews from academics or other specialists to referee it. Referees must have a strong track record as field researchers, as indicated by research published in peer-reviewed journals, research-related awards, and peer-review experience. The research authors are kept unknown about the names of the referees chosen by the Editorial Board.
Peer Review Process
The Editorial Board distributes early copies of an author’s work by e-mail to specialists in the field (known as “referees” or “reviewers”). For each article, one referee is in-charge who is a subject matter specialist. These referees return to the board the evaluation of the work that indicates the observed weaknesses or problems along with suggestions for improvement. The board then evaluates the referees’ comments and notes opinion of the manuscript before passing the decision with the referees’ comments back to the author(s).
Criteria for Acceptance and Rejection
A manuscript is accepted if it has been (1) endorsed for publication by the referees, (2) the reviewers’ instructions have been substantially followed, (3) ethical standards and protocols for human and animal studies have been followed, and (4) the manuscript has passed the plagiarism detection test with an originality score of at least 85. The referees’ reports offer a specific recommendation for how to proceed with the paper, based on the journal’s options. The majority of the suggestions are in this vein:
- Accept, after minor revisions suggested in this review
- Accept, after major revisions suggested in this review
- Reject, not fit for publication
TECHNOLOGY-BASED QUALITY ASSURANCE
Plagiarism Detection
To improve the manuscript’s chances of approval, contributors are encouraged to employ plagiarism detecting tools. Grammarly and Turnitin are two examples of licensed software used in the editing office. To pass the plagiarism detection test, the standard set must be 85 percent original.
Word Count, Spelling and Grammar Checks
Contributors are urged to count the words in the abstract (200) and complete text (about 4000 or more). Before submitting your work, make sure it is free of errors in spelling and punctuation. Grammarly Software requires an average score of 80% to pass.
ORCID membership of authors
Contributors must provide an orcid number or an open researcher contributor ID as confirmation of membership from orcid.org. Contributors must provide an orcid number or an open researcher contributor ID as confirmation of membership from orcid.org.
GUIDE FOR AUTHORS
Manuscript Preparation
1. Title, Author(s) and address(es), Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods for experimental study or Methodology for non-experimental study, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Acknowledgement, and Literature Cited are the major headings to follow.
2. References, Acknowledgements, Table Titles, and Figure Legends should be typed double-spaced or numbered consecutively on all pages, including the title page, figures, and tables, on a short white bond paper (8.5×11 in) on one side only with 2.5 cm margins all around, using a Calibri font size of 12.
3. Two spaces should be left before and after the primary headings, as well as two spaces between the sub-headings. If the discipline requires it, use endnotes instead of footnotes.
4. When acronyms or unfamiliar abbreviations are referenced for the first time in the text, spell them out.
5. When a species’ scientific name is first referenced in the text, write it completely with the author(s) and without the author(s) in subsequent references. Italics or boldface should be used for scientific names.
6. Numbers should not be spelled out unless they are used to begin a sentence.
7. Use the International System of Units or the metric system exclusively. Only use unit abbreviations next to numerals (e.g. 6 m); otherwise, spell out the units (e.g. kilometers from here). When abbreviating units, avoid using plural forms or periods. For compound units (e.g. 1 kg/ha/yr), use the bar. In numbers smaller than one, use a zero before the decimal (e.g.0.25).
8. Consider the journal’s printed page size of 5.75 in x 8.5 in and the decrease that will be required for generating Tables and Figures. Table and figure captions should be as brief as possible and readable without consulting the text. Figure captions should be typed on a separate sheet, double-spaced. Simple line drawings, computer-generated visuals, or good quality black and white pictures should be used as figures. Original figures that have not been electronically enhanced should be sent as a jpeg or png file. Figure labels should be large enough that they can still be read after being shrunk by up to 50%.
9. In the text, cite references as author (year). The use of et al. in the list of references/literature referenced is discouraged, and instead all of the authors’ names are included; references in press are referred to as (author, in press), while unpublished references are referred to as (author, unpublished) (author, unpubl. data or author, pers.comm.). If there are two or more references, sort them by year.
10. The manuscript should be as brief as the subject and research approach allow, with a word count of no more than 4,000 words single-spaced.
11. Authors should not identify themselves directly or indirectly in their articles or in experimental test instruments included in the submission to facilitate anonymous review. The editorial “we” should not be used by single authors.
12. The title of the article, the authors’ names, titles and affiliations, email addresses, and any acknowledgements should all be included on the cover page.
Pagination
Serially number all pages, including tables, appendices, and references. Roman numerals should be used to number major parts. Numbering subsections isn’t necessary.
Numbers
Except in tables and lists, especially when used with mathematical, statistical, scientific, or technical units and quantities, such as lengths, weights, and measurements, spell out numerals from one to 10.
Percentage and Decimal Fractions
Use the word percent in the text in nontechnical copy.
Hyphens
To combine unit modifiers or to clarify usage, use a hyphen. For instance, re-form a cross-sectional equation. If you’re not sure how to use a word, look it up in a dictionary.
Abstract/ Introduction
On a separate page immediately preceding the material, a 200-word abstract should be supplied. The Abstract should provide the reader with five key pieces of information: a brief introduction to the issue, the main goal, the objective, the technique, the results, and the conclusions. Only recommendations with a universal or broader application could be included, but only as an option. Keywords should follow the Abstract. The text of the paper should start with a section labeled “Introduction,” which provides more details about the paper’s purpose, motivation, methodology, and findings. Both the Abstract and the Introduction should be relatively nontechnical yet clear enough for an informed reader to understand the manuscript’s contribution. The manuscript’s title but neither the author’s name nor other identification designations, should appear on the Abstract page.
Keywords
The abstract must be followed by four pieces of keywords: study discipline, concepts/variables, techniques, process, and research geography, nation, continent.
Documentation
Citations: Author-year format is used for in-text citations. The works cited must match the works specified in the “Literature Cited” section.
1. Author’s last name and year, without comma, in parenthesis, are used to cite works in the text.
2. The suffix a, b, etc., is used to follow the date in within-text citations and in the “Literature Referenced” section for cited works that include more than one work by the same author (or same co-authors) that was published in the same year.
3. The author’s name does not need to be repeated in the citation if it is mentioned in the text.
4. When possible, abbreviations or abbreviated titles should be used in citations to institutional publications.
5. Citations admissible in law reviews should be used if the work refers to statutes, legal treatises, or court cases.
Conclusions
Conclusions should briefly answer the objectives of the study. They are not repetitioning of the discussions but are judgments of the results obtained.
Literature Cited
Writers should avoid using links and instead use references that are traceable online, have a Digital Object Identifier, are indexed by worldwide databases, and are produced by writers or agencies. The URL, which includes the date of retrieval and a link, must be placed at the conclusion of the bibliographic item. Except for sources of theories, historical documents, or chronologic presentations of the literature review, sources must be at least five years old. Writers should avoid using unpublished thesis or dissertations because research is never complete until it is published.
Submission of Manuscripts
Authors should note the following guidelines for submitting manuscripts:
1. Manuscripts that are currently being reviewed by another journal or publisher should not be sent in. The author must specify that the work has not been submitted or published elsewhere before submitting it.
2. If extra documentation (e.g. questionnaire, case, interview schedule) is supplied as a separate file with a manuscript reporting on field surveys or experiments, any information that could identify the authors(s) must be removed from the instruments.
3. Manuscripts should be sent to the Managing Editor via email as a Microsoft Word or PDF file to journal@asist.edu.ph. Separate files should be submitted for (1) the manuscript’s title page with identifying information (not forwarded to reviewers), (2) the manuscript with the title page and all other identifying information removed, and (3) any necessary supplement files like experimental instructions and/or response memoranda on invited revisions. It is recommended that you submit a copy of the research questionnaire or tools. These tools must be used by the editors and reviewers.
4. Revisions must be provided within the time frame specified in the invitation to revise letter.