Guide for Authors

 

Copyright Transfer Form

Conflict of Interest Form

 

Publication Charges

For the time being, there is NO charges for publishing in Dry Land Soil Research (DLSR).

 

Important Point

Aims and scope

Manuscript Submission

Submission checklist

Article Categories

 Manuscript preparation

 References

Tables

Figures

Numbers and Units

Review Process

After Acceptance

 

 

Important Points:

  • During the initial submission of the article and the review process, the submitted manuscript must not contain the authors' names.
  • Prior to the final acceptance, the names affiliations should be fully included in the article as follows:
  • Organizational Affiliation/Department, University/ Institute, City, (Postal Code) and Country
  • Copy-right Transfer Form: The assignment form is the right to publish the article, which is completed after receiving it from the authors' guide and is uploaded in the relevant section.
  • Conflict of Interest Form: It is a conflict of interest form that is completed after receiving it from the authors' guide section and is uploaded in the relevant section.

Aims and scope

The Dry Land Soil Research (DLSR) international journal welcomes all worldwide soil researchers and authors in all aspects of soil science and related subject areas (physics of soil and water, mechanics, chemistry and fertility, biology and biotechnology, genesis and classification, conservation and management,  and land evaluation and suitability) for collaboration of publishing their activities.

 

Manuscript Submission

- Submission of a manuscript implies that the submitted work has not been previously published or it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Of course, research that has been presented in seminars and scientific conferences or published in the monthly or annual framework, and similar reports can also be reviewed and published in this journal. Submitted articles will be reviewed and, if approved, will be published in order of priority of receipt and acceptance.

- The responsibility for the article and the order of the authors' names (with their written consent) is with the person who submits the article to the journal (corresponding author) and all correspondence will be done with him/her.

- Graduates of master's and doctoral students must also obtain the written consent of their professor or supervisors in order to submit an article extracted from the dissertation.

- Articles must be submitted electronically via the https://dlsr.iut.ac.ir/contacts?_action=loginForm, website and all of the related files should be uploaded according to the instructions given on the screen. This allows the authors to submit articles easier and quick, to conduct the peer-review process and subsequent correspondence between the author (s), the referees, and the editors of the journal. It is also possible for the author(s) to be informed for the status of their article at any stage by referring to the relevant section.

 

Submission checklist

You can use this list to carry out a final check of your submission before you send it to the journal for review. Files required at the time of submission:

  • Copy-right Transfer Form: The assignment form is the right to publish the article, which is completed after receiving it from the authors' guide and is uploaded in the relevant section.
  • Conflict of Interest Form: It is a conflict of interest form that is completed after receiving it from the authors' guide section and is uploaded in the relevant section.

The steps for submitting a manuscript electronically follows as:

1- One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details (E-mail address and full postal address). The responsibility of the article and the order of the authors' names is on the corresponding author and all correspondence will be done with him/her. The corresponding author (marked with an asterisk) cannot be a student and must be a faculty member or researcher at a research institute.

2- Filling out the registration form and enter the website with a special username

3- Submit manuscript

Confirm all required sections are included in the submitted manuscript:

Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials & Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Figures/Tables with relevant captions, and Supplementary Information (where applicable)

Further considerations

  • Manuscript has been 'spell checked' and 'grammar checked'
  • All references mentioned in the Reference List are cited in the text, and vice versa
  • Journal policies detailed in this guide have been reviewed
  • Referee suggestions and contact details provided, based on journal requirements

If there are problems in submitting the article through the website, the file can be sent to the e-mail of dlsr@of.iut.ac.ir

Article Categories

  • Original research papers

Original papers should represent the results of original research that make a significant contribution to knowledge.

Manuscript preparation

Manuscripts should be submitted in Word.

- Use a normal, plain font (e.g., 12-point Times New Roman) for text.

- Keep 2.5 cm of margin on each side and line spacing of 1.5 cm in MS Word software

- Use the automatic page numbering function to number the pages.

- Use tab stops or other commands for indents, not the space bar.

- Continuous line numbering should be used throughout the manuscript.

- Divide your manuscript into clearly defined and numbered sections. The abstract is not included in section numbering. The use of subheadings is not prohibited, but the use of multiple subheadings should be avoided.

 

Arrangement of different parts of the article: Title Page, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgements, References.

 Title page:

The title page should contain:

- A brief informative title up to 20 words that reflects the content of the article.

- During the initial submission of the article and the review process, the submitted manuscript must not contain the authors' names.

- Prior to the final acceptance, the names affiliations should be fully included in the article as follows:

Organizational Affiliation/Department, University/ Institute, City, (Postal Code) and Country

 

  • Abstract:

The abstract of the article consists up 200 to 500 words, expressing the problem, purpose, method and results obtained and the general conclusion of the research to be presented continuously. Non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.

 

  • Keywords:

It is 5 to 10 separate words (in alphabetical order, separated by commas) that are not mentioned in the title of the article.

 

  • Introduction:

In this section, the research topic should be introduced and the desired hypothesis should be defined. The most important previous research works in this case should be mentioned and the necessity and purpose of the research should be explained.

 

  • Materials and Methods:

Includes materials used and descriptions of new methods and formulas used or citation of common and known methods. Materials and Methods must be described in sufficient detail to allow the study to be replicated by a third party. This includes a clear and detailed description of experimental designs and statistical analyses. Equations and formulas are numbered and should not be pictorial but prepared with the Math type 6 tool or later.

 

  • Results:

Contains the results of the research in the form of text, table, figure and image. Results should be clear and concise. Duplication of results in multiple forms (table, figure, etc.) should be avoided.

 

  • Discussion:

This section should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. If necessary, the results and discussion sections can be presented simultaneously under the heading "Results and discussion".

  • Conclusion:

This section contains a final conclusion from the research and mentions its possible application (or applications).

  • Acknowledgments:

This section introduces individuals, organizations, and institutions, in general, natural and legal persons who are effective in conducting research and thanking and appreciating them.

  • References

- The sources mentioned in the text of the manuscript must already be in the form of a book or article in a scientific journal and be accessible to the reader. The list of references used at the end of the article should be only from the sources mentioned in the text and should be prepared by the number and alphabetical order of the author's last name. All Persian and English sources cited in the text of the article must be written in the list of references in English. Therefore, the whole solar year of Persian sources should be converted to the Gregorian year and in translating the names of the people, it should be ensured that their spelling and the year of publication are correct. Two or more articles by the same author (or authors) are listed chronologically and then by title. Articles by the same author or authors published within a single year are presented by adding lowercase letters, a, b, c, etc., to the year.

References

- References follow the APA style (i.e. the author/date method of citation). Reference examples follow:

  • In-text Citation

All citations in the text should refer to:

  1. Single author: the author's sure name and the year of publication. Example: Dexter (2004)
  2. Two authors: both authors' names and the year of publication. Example: Allan and Jones (1999)
  3. Three or more authors: first author's name followed by 'et al.' and the year of publication. Example: Mamedov et al., (2014)

Citations may be made directly (or parenthetically). Groups of references will go in alphabetical order, and then chronological (the oldest to the newest for works by the same author). Example: (Danesh and Bahrami, 2022; Danesh et al., 2022; Gia et al., 2015; Xu et al., 2018)

 

  • Reference List

            a. Journal Article

Obour, P. B., Lamande, M., Edwards, G., Sorensen, C. G., & Munkholm, L. J. (2017). Predicting soil workability and fragmentation in tillage: a review. Soil Use and Management, 33(2), 288-298. https://doi.org/10.1111/sum.12340

 

            b. Journal publication with an article number:

Wenjun, J., Zhou, S., Jingyi, H., & Shuo, L. (2014). In situ measurement of some soil properties in paddy soil using visible and near-infrared spectroscopy. PloS one, 9(8), e105708. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105708

 

            c. Book

White, R. E. (2005). Principles and practice of soil science: the soil as a natural resource. John Wiley & Sons.

- Provide the author, year of publication, title, and publisher of the book. Use the same format for both print books and e-books.

- If the book includes a DOI, include the DOI in the reference after the publisher name.

 

            d. Edited Book Chapter

Caddell, D. F., Deng, S. and Coleman-Derr, D. (2019). Role of the plant root microbiome in abiotic stress tolerance. In S. Verman & J. J. White (Eds.), Seed Endophytes (pp. 273–311). Springer International Publishing, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10504-4_14

            e. Dissertation or Thesis

Kabir, J. M. (2016). Factors influencing customer satisfaction at a fast food hamburger chain: The relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Doctoral dissertation, Wilmington University.

 

            f. Conference presentation

Evans, A. C., Jr., Garbarino, J., Bocanegra, E., Kinscherff, R. T., & Márquez-Greene, N. (2019, August 8–11). Gun violence: An event on the power of community [Conference presentation]. APA 2019 Convention, Chicago, IL, United States.

 

Tables

  • Please submit tables as editable text and not as images.
  • Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text
  • For each table, please supply a table caption (title) explaining the components of the table.
  • Footnotes to tables should be indicated by superscript lower-case letters (or asterisks for significance values and other statistical data) and included beneath the table body.
  • Please avoid using vertical lines and shading in table cells.
  • Letters and statistical symbols on the right side of the numbers should be written in superscript. These letters and symbols should be clearly stated and defined below the table.

 

An example of presenting a table in an article is as follows:

Table 1. Mean comparisons of soil organic carbon (SOC, g kg−1), dimensionless water repellency index (RI); soil- water contact angle (β, °); volume of drainable pores of fast-wetted aggregates (VDPFW, g g−1); structural index of slow wetted aggregates (SISW, hPa−1); stability ratio (SR) and ratio of VDP of fast-wetted to slow-wetted aggregates (VDPR) as affected by plant cultivation.

In each column, numbers with different uppercase letters indicate significant differences (LSD, p < 0.05).

 

Figures

  • All figures should be prepared with Times New Roman 10 font.
  • Number the figures according to their sequence in the text.
  • Provide captions to figures separately. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration.
  • Please ensure that all images are clear and visible, even in the print version.
  • Name your figure files with "Fig" and the figure number, e.g., 1
  • If a figure has multiple parts, or panels, label each of these with a letter: A, B, C, etc. If you have panel labels, the letters and panels should all be incorporated into a single image file.
  • When preparing your figures, size figures to fit in the column width (if applicable).
  • Statistical letters and symbols must be clearly defined in the caption.

 

An example of presenting a figure in an article is as follows:

 

 

Fig. 1. Mean comparisons of interaction effect of soil air-filled porosity (AFP) and tall fescue genotype (75B and 75C) on soil stability ratio (SR); Bars with similar letters are not significantly different (LSD, p < 0.05).

 

Numbers and Units

  • The number of decimals related to the data of measured properties should be in accordance with the accuracy of the measurement method and the device used. In the case of a property, numbers with the same number of decimal places should be uniform throughout the article. Numbers greater than 100 should be given without decimals. Numbers between 10-100 with one decimal place and numbers less than 10 with a maximum of two decimal places should be provided. Avoid using more than two decimal places as much as possible.

 

  • To express the unit of quantities, attributes and parameters, use the units of SI International System, which are given in the following examples:

 

Length: m, mm, µm, nm

Level: ha, m2

Volume: m3, L

Mass: kg, g, mg, µg, ng

Yield: kg ha–1

Energy: J

Water pressure and potential: hPa, kPa, MPa

Temperature: ºC

Transpiration: mmol H2O m–2 s–1

Photosynthesis: µmol CO2 m–2 s–1

Concentration: g L–1, mol L–1, mmol L–1, µmol L–1, nmol L–1

 

Review Process

- All submitted manuscripts will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Suitable Papers are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor in Chief is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles.

- Once your manuscript was reviewed, you may be given the opportunity to revise it in accordance with the referees and/or editor comments. You will usually receive a letter from the editor who handled your manuscript outlining the changes they would like you to make and links to the reviewer reports. This letter usually contains information on how to return your revised manuscript including instructions on how to highlight the changes made and when you need to return the revised version.

- Send the referee's response at the beginning of the modified manuscript file. The corrections should be highlighted (considered a distinctive color according to the opinion of each referee) and upload only one file.

 

After Acceptance

Once your manuscript has been accepted, it will be sent to our production team for copyediting and typesetting. You will receive an email notification when your proof is ready for review. When this notification arrives, please read the instructions carefully before making your changes.

 

تحت نظارت وف ایرانی