SLJB considers for publication original research that has not been previously published (this generally includes posting the article on a preprint server) or not under consideration for publication elsewhere. However, SLJB accepts submissions that have previously been presented at conferences; or have previously appeared in other “non-journal” formats (for example: blogs or posters). In addition to full papers, short communications and invited reviews are accepted for publication.
Scope:
Biological research findings of a wide array of sub disciplines including (but not limited to); Anthropology, Agriculture, Animal Behavior, Bioinformatics, Biochemistry, Biodiversity, Biotechnology, Cell Biology, Conservation Genetics, Developmental Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Entomology, Evolution, Ethnomedicine, Freshwater Biology, Genetics and Genomics, Mathematical Modeling of Biological Systems, Marine Biology, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Nanobiology, Natural Products, Physiology, Plant Sciences, Quantum Biology, Taxonomy, Toxicology, Wildlife, Zoology.
Number of issues per year: Two (in June and January)
Publishing fee: Free of charge
Online access for the public: Free of charge
Research Articles of not more than 8000 words, Short Communications of not more than 2500 words and Review articles of not more than 8000 words are accepted.
Authors should clearly highlight the key findings of the paper and explain their significance to the field in their cover letter.
Journal accepts manuscripts written only in English either American or British; however, a mixture of both should be avoided.
Copyrights for articles are retained by the authors, with first publication rights granted to the journal SLJB. Authors have rights to archive and distribute their own articles after publication in SLJB. SLJB is not responsible for subsequent uses of the work.
Manuscripts should be prepared in Microsoft Word and submitted online. The editors reserve the right to edit or otherwise alter all contributions; however, Managing Editors will send proofs to the corresponding author for approval before publication.
Authors should declare that the manuscript has been seen and approved by all authors and the authorities responsible where the work was carried out. If applicable, authors should state in the methods section, that ethical clearance has been obtained and the experiments were conducted in conformity with ethical guidelines.
Responsibility for the accuracy of statements, the authenticity of scientific findings or observations, expressions of scientific or other opinion and any other material published in the journal rests solely with the author(s) of the article in which such statements, etc., appear. The Institute of Biology of Sri Lanka, editors and reviewers take no responsibility for these matters.
Selection of manuscripts and publication process
a) Upon receipt of a manuscript, the Managing Editor will send an e-mail of confirmation to the corresponding author within five working days.
b) Peer review process would be handled by the Editorial Board lead by the Editor in Chief. A double-blind system of peer reviewing would be used where reviewers’ and authors’ identities remain anonymous. The manuscripts will be reviewed by at least two experts. The peer review process of the articles will take 1-3 months period from the date of submission of the properly formatted article.
c) Reviewer’s comments/decisions are notified to the corresponding author by e-mail.
d) If the manuscript is accepted, the authors should revise accordingly and submit the final version within the specified period. Otherwise, the manuscript will be considered as being withdrawn by the corresponding author. Decision of the Editorial Board shall be final in this regard.
e) After publication, the corresponding author will receive an e-mail notification.
f) A PDF version of the journal is available for download on the SLJB webpage free of charge.
Guidelines for preparation of manuscripts
Title Page
The title page should only consist of the title of the paper, name of author(s) and afiliation/s of author(s).
The title should be concise and informative enough to indicate the purpose/findings of the paper. The title page should be uploaded as a supplementary file for the editor to review (This will not be sent to reviewers).
Authors’ names and affiliations
The preferred form of an author’s name is last name/family name and initial(s); Omit all titles (e.g., Dr., Professor) and degrees (e.g., BSc, PhD).
The authors’ affiliation at the time of conducting the research should be given, more than two affiliations per author is not allowed. If an author has no institutional affiliation, state the city/state and the country of residence. The names of authors should appear in the order of their contributions. For names with suffixes (e,g., Jr. and II), separate the suffix from the rest of the name with a space instead of a comma.
Example:
Perera L.A.1, David A.C. 1,2 *, Andersson P II1 & Erickson J Jr.2
1 Department of Biology, University of XXXX, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
2 Institute of Genetic Engineering, University of yyyyyyy, Riverside, CA 92541, USA.
*Corresponding author: Department of Biology, University of XXXX, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Tel: 0112xxxxxx. E-mail: [email protected]
Manuscript
Manuscripts should be organized in the following order:
Title, Abstract, Keywords (indexing terms), Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgements, References.
General Rules for formatting the text
The entire text should be in the following text format.
Font: Times New Roman; Size: 10 pt.
Paragraph Spacing: Above paragraph – 0 pt.; below paragraph -4 pt.
Line Spacing: Exactly, 12 pt.
Heading 1: Times New Roman; 10 pt.; Bold; for example, 1. First-level Heading
Heading 2: Times New Roman; 10 pt.; Italic; for example, 1.1 Second-level Heading
Heading 3: Times New Roman; 10 pt.; for example, 1.1.1 Third-level Heading
Abstract
A concise abstract between 150 and 250 words (A review should contains a summary of not
more than 300 words) should be written for full length articles briefly indicating the purpose of the research, the principal findings and conclusions. References should be avoided. The abstract must be able to stand alone.
Keywords
Immediately after the abstract, 3-6 keywords should be included in alphabetical order, avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (e.g., “and,” “of”). Avoid abbreviations unless otherwise they are firmly established in the field of publication (e.g. PCR).
Tables
Number the tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Place the caption above the body of the table and its description (if any) below the body. Avoid vertical lines. The data presented in tables should not duplicate the results described elsewhere in the article. Tables should fit the size of the page. Tables in the final revised version of the article need to be in JPEG format.
Figures and illustrations
Number the figures consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Place the caption and description below the figure. A minimum resolution of 300 dpi is required. Figures should fit the size of the page. If previously published figures/illustrations are included, the copyright holder’s written permission should be submitted. Figures in the final revised version need to be in JPEG format.
References:
References must be indicated in the text and tables as per the Harvard System, by the first author’s surname and year in parenthesis (i.e. Silva, 1990; Dutta & Manamendra-Arachchi, 1996).When there are more than two authors, surname of first author should be followed by et al. (i.e. Liyanage et al., 2005). Multiple citations should be in chronological order separated by a semi-colon (i.e. Perera et al.,1990; Able et al., 2002). Multiple publications by the same first author in the same year should be coded by letters (i.e. Erickson, 2002a, 2002b). Reference to unpublished work, work in preparation or work under review should be avoided as much as possible. In unavoidable circumstances those may be cited in italics as (Unpublished data) with the author’s name with initials; such work should not be included in the Reference section. Personal communications may be mentioned in the text with the name and the date of the communication (i.e. Perera, D., Personal communication, 14 June 2015).
The list of references should be written in the following format and should be arranged in the alphabetical order of the surname of the first author.
Journal article:
Jayasuriya, A.H.M., Kitchener, D.J., Biradar, C.M. (2011) Viability status of biosphere reserves in Sri Lanka, Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka 39 (4): 303-319.
Note: Journal name should be given in full and italicized
Books:
Dutta, S.K., Manamendra-Arachchi, K. (1996) The Amphibian Fauna of Sri Lanka, Wildlife Heritage Trust of Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 230 p.
Note: Name of the book should be italicized.
Chapter of a book:
Gunatilleke, N. (2014) Forests and current status. In: Sri Lanka’s Forests-Nature at Your Service, First Edition, pp. 2-30, Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science, Colombo, Sri Lanka,
Note: Name of the book should be italicized. If book is edited follow the sequence as for an article from an edited volume given below.
Article from an edited volume:
Amarasinghe,U.S., Nguyen, T.T.T. (2009) Enhancing rural farmer income through fish production: Secondary use of water resources in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. In: S.S. De Silva and F.B. Davy (eds), Success Stories in Asian Aquaculture. pp. 103-130, Springer Science, The Netherlands.
Note: Name of the edited volume should be italicized.
Conference paper:
Kumari, A.M.M.T., Suwadarathna, N.I., Fernandopulle, M.N.D. (2009) Determination of larval and pupal development of the two colour leaf beetle Plesispa reichei (Chapuis) under three different temperatures, Proceedings of the 9th Agricultural Research Symposium, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, Gonawila, Sri Lanka, pp 177-180.
Note: Name of the Conference/Proceedings should be italicized.
Webpage:
Goolsby, D.A., Battaglin, W.A. (2000) Nitrogen in the Mississippi Basin – Estimating sources and predicting flux to the Gulf of Mexico. http://ks.water.usgs.gov/pubs/fact-sheets/fs.135-00.html, Retrieved on 24th December 2015.
References should be cited as ‘in press’ only if the paper has been accepted for publication.
Page numbering:
Number all pages consecutively including Figures and Tables.
Submission:
Submit the completed manuscript, the Manuscript Submission Form and a scanned copy of the Author Declaration Form (JPG or PDF format) through e-mail to the Managing Editor ([email protected]).
Managing Editor will return any un-reviewed manuscript which falls outside the scope and policy of SLJB to the corresponding author within five working days.
Download pdf : Sri Lankan Journal of Biology Guidelines for Authors