Submissions

Author Guidelines

Instructions for Authors

• Appropriate subjects for contribution to SRLS are described in the “aims and scope” section.
• Original Research papers should typically be no longer than 6.000 words but can be up to a maximum of 8000 words (without references).
• Papers that describe new taxa should follow taxonomic procedures described in Winston (1999), a reference which is recommended by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). Please refer to Tsang et al. (2016) for more details.

 Article types

Scientific report: This type of paper presents important new research results of broad significance. Reports should include an abstract, an introductory paragraph, figures or tables, conclusions, and references. Materials and methods can be added to the supplementary files.

Review paper: Review articles will also be considered after initial contact with the Editor in chief. They should typically be no more than 7000 words and concisely present an area of interest in life Sciences. Review articles are not expected to adhere to a strict format, though the title page and abstract should be included as described below. Reviews can be up to 7000 words and include up to 100 references, and 4-6 figures or tables. Reviews do not contain supplementary material. They should describe and synthesize recent developments of interdisciplinary significance and highlight future directions. They include an abstract, an introduction that outlines the main themes, brief subheadings, and an outline of important unresolved questions. Unsolicited offers of Reviews are considered. 

Short communication (or Short note): Short note is a concise paper devoted to the rapid publication of new research works, findings, and new records expected to attract the attention of and have a beneficial impact on researchers working in relevant fields of life sciences. Such papers should be up to 2000 words and contain no more than 20 references and 3 display items (figures and/or tables). The abstract should not exceed 75 words. Short notes should normally follow the general format described below, but results and discussion sections should be combined. 

 Original research papers

Manuscripts should be arranged in the following order:

It should be noted that Figures and Tables should be placed into relevant sections within the text. However, the journal keeps the right to re-organize the layout of the accepted paper.

1. Title
2. Author(s), complete name(s) of institution(s) (affiliation address)
3. Abstract
4. Keywords
5. Introduction
6. Material and methods
7. Results
8. Discussion
9. Acknowledgments
10. References

Manuscript structure:

Text preparation

• Non-English speakers are strongly encouraged to have their manuscripts checked by a native speaker before submission.
• Manuscripts must be prepared in 12-point font size (Times New Roman), line numbered, and double-spaced throughout, with a left-hand margin of 4 cm and a right-hand margin of 2cm in A4. There is a Manuscript template that you can use for easy formatting.
  

Title

• Concise and informative.
• Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems.
• Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.

Author names and affiliations

• Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names.
• Indicate all affiliations with a lowercase superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address.
• Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.

Corresponding author

• Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication.
• Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author.

  Abstract

• Should succinctly and clearly describe the major findings reported in the manuscript.
• Avoid specialized terms and use only the usual acronyms.
• All others must be spelled out on the first reference.
• The abstract must not exceed 300 words.

Keywords 

• at least three keywords that should not be repeated in the Title.

Introduction

• Presents the purpose of the study and its relationship to earlier work in the field.
• The introduction should not be an extensive review of the literature and usually is less than one formatted page.

Material and methods

• Presents the locality of the investigation, if any, and describes especially new procedures in detail.
• Previously published procedures should be referenced.
• Modifications of previously published procedures should not be given in detail except where necessary to repeat the work.

Results

• Presented in figures, tables, or text.
• Integrating Results and Discussion in one single section can be accepted upon managing editor's decision.

Discussion

• Should be concise (usually less than two formatted pages) while focusing on the interpretation of the results; should not repeat information in the “Results” section.

Acknowledgments

• Funding sources should be acknowledged as well as database names and accession codes (if applicable) should be mentioned.
• Brief note(s) of thanks to people who helped with the study or preparation of the paper (optional) can be added. Remember that all those designated as authors must meet all four criteria for authorship. 

References

• The 7^th Edition of APA Citation guidelines should be used. You can use the following guide for reference formatting: please click this link for a detailed explanation regarding the use of references in-text and reference section.
• Please add DOI numbers of the cited references, if possible.
• The reference style has the prepared style in Mendeley software, which is freely available on this link.

BOOKS:

Reference List updated from September 2022

References

• The 7^th Edition of APA Citation guidelines should be used. You can use the following guide for reference formatting: please click this link for a detailed explanation regarding the use of references in-text and reference section.
• Please add DOI numbers of the cited references, if possible.
• The reference style has the prepared style in Mendeley software, which is freely available on this link.

BOOKS:

Reference List
1 Author
Smith, J. D. (2009). Research ethics in New Zealand: A student guide. Rata Press.
2 Authors
Smith, J. D., & Khan, V. (2009). Research ethics in New Zealand: A student guide. Rata Press.
3 to 20 Authors
Smith, J. D., Khan, V., & Zhang, H. (2009). Research ethics in New Zealand: A student guide. Rata Press.
21+ Authors
Smith, J. D., Khan, V., Zhang, H., Williams, T., Garcia, J., Sato, Y., Thompson, D., Taylor, F. G., McDonald, L., Laine, C., Arnott, A., Fisher, V., Derryck, W., Young, N., Creswell, I., Greene, P., Walsh, Dubois, T., Wright, B., … Roach, C. (2009). Research ethics in New Zealand: A student guide. Rata Press.
In text Citation
1 Author
According to Smith (2009), the best source of …
… was the case (Smith, 2009).
2 Authors
According to Smith and Khan (2009), the best source of …
… was the case (Smith & Khan, 2009).
3 to 20 Authors
According to Smith et al. (2009), the best source of …
… was the case (Smith et al., 2009).
21+ Authors
According to Smith et al. (2009), the best source of …
… was the case (Smith et al., 2009).

EDITED BOOK CHAPTER:

Reference List
1 Author
Smith, J. D. (2009). Trends in discourse analysis. In G. Schwartz & U. N. Owen (Eds.), Readings in qualitative research design (pp. 15–59). Rata Press.
2 Authors
Smith, J. D., & Khan, V. (2009). Trends in discourse analysis. In G. Schwartz & U. N. Owen (Eds.), Readings in qualitative research design (pp. 15–59). Rata Press.
3 to 20 Authors
Smith, J. D., Khan, V., & Zhang, H. (2009). Trends in discourse analysis. In G. Schwartz & U. N. Owen (Eds.), Readings in qualitative research design (pp. 15–59). Rata Press.
21+ Authors
Smith, J. D., Khan, V., Zhang, H., Williams, T., Garcia, J., Sato, Y., Thompson, D., Taylor, F. G., McDonald, L., Laine, C., Arnott, A., Fisher, V., Derryck, W., Young, N., Creswell, I., Greene, P., Walsh, Dubois, T., Wright, B., … Roach, C. (2009). Trends in discourse analysis. In G. Schwartz & U. N. Owen (Eds.), Readings in qualitative research design (pp. 15–59). Rata Press.
In text Citation
1 Author
According to Smith (2009), the best source of …
… was the case (Smith, 2009).
2 Authors
According to Smith and Khan (2009), the best source of …
… was the case (Smith & Khan, 2009).
3 to 20 Authors
According to Smith et al. (2009), the best source of …
… was the case (Smith et al., 2009).
21+ Authors
According to Smith et al. (2009), the best source of …
… was the case (Smith et al., 2009).

JOURNAL ARTICLE:

Reference List
1 Author
Smith, J. D. (2009). Māori voices: Approaches to bilingual research. Journal of Academic Methodologies, 38(3), 17–28. * https://doi.org/10.1037/1072-5245.15.2.117
* If an online document has a DOI, use it instead of the URL address. Start the DOI link with https:// or http://. Do not end the URL with a full stop as this may affect the functionality of the link.
2 Authors
Smith, J. D., & Khan, V. (2009). Māori voices: Approaches to bilingual research. Journal of Academic Methodologies, 38(3), 17–28.
3 to 20 Authors
Smith, J. D., Khan, V., & Zhang, H. (2009). Māori voices: Approaches to bilingual research. Journal of Academic Methodologies, 38(3), 17–28.
21+ Authors
Smith, J. D., Khan, V., Zhang, H., Williams, T., Garcia, J., Sato, Y., Thompson, D., Taylor, F. G., McDonald, L., Laine, C., Arnott, A., Fisher, V., Derryck, W., Young, N., Creswell, I., Greene, P., Walsh, Dubois, T., Wright, B., … Roach, C. (2009). Māori voices: Approaches to bilingual research. Journal of Academic Methodologies, 38(3), 17–28.
In text Citation
1 Author
According to Smith (2009), the best source of …
… was the case (Smith, 2009).
2 Authors
According to Smith and Khan (2009), the best source of …
… was the case (Smith & Khan, 2009).
3 to 20 Authors
According to Smith et al. (2009), the best source of …
… was the case (Smith et al., 2009).
21+ Authors
According to Smith et al. (2009), the best source of …
… was the case (Smith et al., 2009).

WEB PAGE:

Reference List
1 Author
Smith, J. D. (2009). Kindergartens and childcare centres in New Zealand. Ministry of Education. http://www.example.com/thepage.htm
2 Authors
Smith, J. D., & Khan, V. (2009). Kindergartens and childcare centres in New Zealand. Ministry of Education. http://www.example.com/thepage.htm
3 to 20 Authors
Smith, J. D., Khan, V., & Zhang, H. (2009). Kindergartens and childcare centres in New Zealand. Ministry of Education. http://www.example.com/thepage.htm
21+ Authors
Smith, J. D., Khan, V., Zhang, H., Williams, T., Garcia, J., Sato, Y., Thompson, D., Taylor, F. G., McDonald, L., Laine, C., Arnott, A., Fisher, V., Derryck, W., Young, N., Creswell, I., Greene, P., Walsh, Dubois, T., Wright, B., … Roach, C. (2009). Kindergartens and childcare centres in New Zealand. Ministry of Education. http://www.example.com/thepage.htm

In text Citation
1 Author
According to Smith (2009), the best source of …
… was the case (Smith, 2009).
2 Authors
According to Smith and Khan (2009), the best source of …
… was the case (Smith & Khan, 2009).
3 to 20 Authors
According to Smith et al. (2009), the best source of …
… was the case (Smith et al., 2009).
21+ Authors
According to Smith et al. (2009), the best source of …
… was the case (Smith et al., 2009).

REPORT

Reference List
1 Author
Smith, J.D. (2009). National employment predictions and recommendations (Report No. 122). Rata Press.
2 Authors
Smith, J.D., & Khan, V. (2009). National employment predictions and recommendations (Report No. 122). Rata Press.
3 to 20 Authors
Smith, J.D., Khan, V., & Zhang, H.In-text. National employment predictions and recommendations (Report No. 122). Rata Press.
21+ Authors
Smith, J. D., Khan, V., Zhang, H., Williams, T., Garcia, J., Sato, Y., Thompson, D., Taylor, F. G., McDonald, L., Laine, C., Arnott, A., Fisher, V., Derryck, W., Young, N., Creswell, I., Greene, P., Walsh, Dubois, T., Wright, B., … Roach, C. (2009). National employment predictions and recommendations (Report No. 122). Rata Press.
In text Citation
1 Author
According to Smith (2009), the best source of …
… was the case (Smith, 2009).
2 Authors
According to Smith and Khan (2009), the best source of …
… was the case (Smith & Khan, 2009).
3 to 20 Authors
According to Smith et al. (2009), the best source of …
… was the case (Smith et al., 2009).
21+ Authors
According to Smith et al. (2009), the best source of …
… was the case (Smith et al., 2009).
REPORT
** If a multiple (3+) author citation abbreviated with et al. looks the same as another in-text citation similarly shortened, add enough surnames to make a distinction. e.g., (Smith, Khan, et al., 1998) to distinguish from (Smith, Khan, Zhang, et al., 1998).

(Retrieved from Massey University due to the American Psychological Association - Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 2020)

Figures and image:

should be labeled sequentially, numbered, and cited in the text. Figure legends should be brief, specific and appear in its right position in the manuscript file. Refer to (and cite) figures and tables specifically in the text of the paper or in a parenthesis (Table x, Fig. X). If a table or figure has been published before, the authors must obtain written permission to reproduce the material in both print and electronic formats from the copyright owner and submit it with the manuscript.  Do not use three-dimensional histograms when the addition of the third dimension gives no extra information. Scale markers should be used in images taken on a microscope and indicate the type of stain used. Please note that red and green must not be used together in a figure as some readers cannot perceive the difference between them. Figures and tables legend should be center aligned using time new Romans 11 font.

(Retrieved from Massey University due to the American Psychological Association - Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 2020)