Call for Papers: Journal of Institute of Science and Technology

Tribhuvan University, Institute of Science and Technology (IOST), Office of The Dean calls for research/review articles for publication in the Journal of Institute of Science and Technology (JOIST). The Institute has provided guidelines to be followed by the researchers/authors.

The interested applicants can submit their papers via the official email addresses: journal@iost.tu.edu.np or jist@tuiost.edu.np

Instructions to authors 

Scope

Journal of Institute of Science and Technology (JIST) is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary science journal published by the Institute of Science and Technology (IOST), Tribhuvan University (TU), Kathmandu, Nepal. JIST publishes two issues (June and December) in a year considering original research papers, review articles, short communications/reports/notes/comments  and  letters   to   the   editor  on   diverse   areas  of   Science   and Technology,   including   botany,   chemistry,   computer,   environment,   geology,   hydrology/meteorology, mathematics, microbiology, physics, statistics, zoology and allied fields. JIST is an open-access journal indexed in NepJOL (https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JIST) and ranked TWO STARS by INASP Journal Publishing Practices and Standards (JPPS). JIST will move to online submission and tracking system promoting continuous publication of the articles.

Authors are kindly requested to check the final paper thoroughly before submission – that you have considered all requirements stated in the instructions.

Specific points to note:

1. The manuscript should be in grammatically correct English language (preferably British). Text title (12 pt. Uppercase) and subtitles (10 pt. Sentence case) and text 10 pt., table and figure captions 9.5 pt. (Bold) in Times New Roman. Do not give numbers for title and subtitle.
2. The length of the paper, including tables and figures, should preferably not exceeding 5-10 typed pages for the original article and 3-4 pages for short communications.
3. The manuscript in a word file with table(s) and figure(s) inserted in the main text in the appropriate position, but high- quality JPEG or TIFF files should be sent separately.
4. The text should be double spaced with a margin of at least 3 cm in A4.
5. Paragraphs should be separated by a blank space.
6. Enter the page number on every page.
7. Language should be precise, clear without redundant words.
8. Binomial names of organisms should be spelled out in full at the first use.

Instructions for preparing manuscript 

A full-length paper should normally be divided into the following parts: 

Title: Titles should indicate the content of the manuscript, serve as a guide to reference librarians, and facilitate communication. It should be concise, meaningful, and clear. Subtitles may be used whenever needed.

Author(s): The full name of the author(s) should be written center aligned, below the title. The authors’ list should include only those who have made a substantial contribution to the design and execution of the work and the writing of the manuscript. Provide the full postal address, including the country name and email address of each author. Authors should identify the name and address of the author to whom correspondence should be sent.

Abstract: Abstract should be understandable by itself and briefly explain the main messages of the paper. It must contain an experimental question, method, major findings and conclusions not exceeding 250 words. The abstract must be followed by 3-5 keywords in alphabetical order. 

Introduction: The purpose of your research should appear in the introduction. State the questions you sought to answer and provide pertinent and adequate background information of previous findings for those questions.

Materials and methods: Provide sufficient information clearly to allow someone to repeat your work. A clear description of your experimental design, sampling procedures, and statistical procedures should be described. Give the model number for equipment used (if any). The methods already published should be indicated by a reference, and only relevant modifications should be described.

Results: Results should be clear and stated concisely. Present the results logically in text, tables and figures but do not interpret your findings.

Discussion: Differentiate the results of your study from data obtained from other secondary sources. Interpret your results, relate them to the results of previous research, and discuss the implications of your results.

[NOTE: Results and discussion sections can be combined if you think necessary]

Conclusions: State clearly the main conclusions of the research and give a clear explanation of the importance and relevance. This section should be based on your findings and standalone. 

Acknowledgements: Acknowledge only those who have made an important contribution to the study. Many contributions justify acknowledgements, such as technical help, financial support, sources of materials, and persons who have contributed intellectually to the development of the manuscript. Do not acknowledge anyone who has no contribution.

Authors contribution statement: The authors should mention the contributions to the work by each author. For instance, the section should cover but not limited to: conceptualization, project administration, fieldwork, laboratory works, resources, supervision, writing original drafts, review and editing, etc. 

Conflict of interest: The authors should declare if there is any conflict of interest. If there is no conflict of interest, that should also be clearly stated as 'the authors do not have any conflict of interest pertinent to this work'.

Ethical statement: The authors should state that it is their original work and has not been previously published or submitted for publication elsewhere. In addition, if human subjects and/or animals are part of the research work, the authors must provide ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board (or similar entity) to show that they obtained consent to carry out the research. 

Data availability statement: The data availability statement should be clarified by mentioning the responsible author who has owned the raw data. For instance, one can state: 'The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request'.

References: List all cited references alphabetically following the format explained below in separate section.

Tables, figures, pictures, and equations

The tables and figures should be marked with self-explanatory notes and figure legends. Figure and table captions should be given below and above, respectively. Figures and illustrations should be in JPEG/TIFF (at least 300 dpi resolution) format. Each figure and table should be linked with the text. Figure and Table number should be in sequence, using Arabic numerals – i.e., Fig. 1. 2., 3., etc., Table 1., 2., 3., etc. Equations should be written in Equation Editor/Math Type. They should be numbered. All the new symbols must be clearly explained.

Metric units: for all kinds of measurements would be preferred.

Biological taxonomic treatments: Scientific names and taxonomic treatments by the concerned author should follow the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (CN), International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria (ICNB), International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP) and International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV).

Citations

Before submitting the manuscript, please check each citation in the text against the References and vice-versa to match exactly. Citations in the text should be formatted as follows (APA, 6th edition referring style): Single author: The author's last name and the year of publication, e.g., (Sharma, 2008) or Sharma (2008).

Two authors: Both author's last names and the year of publication, e.g., (Gotelli & Ellison, 2004).

Three or more authors: First author's last name followed by 'et al.', e.g., (Ghale et al., 2019) or Ghale et al. (2019).

Groups of references: Many references, when cited in the parenthesis, should first be cited chronologically and then alphabetically, e.g., (Dickinson & Lukas, 1979; Singer, 1996; Adhikari & Bhattarai, 2014). 

References

The list of references should include only those works that are cited in the text. Personal communications should only be mentioned in the text, not in the references.

The reference list should be arranged alphabetically by the last names of the first author. If the last name of the first author is the same in two or more references, the last name of the second author and so on should be considered while preparing the list. Different kinds of publications should be listed in different styles, as mentioned below.

Journal articles

Surname, Given Name Initial. Second Name Initial (if any). Published Year in the bracket. Paper Title (sentence case). Full Journal Name (italics), Volume No. (Issue No.), (blank space) xx-xx (page ranges without spacing). Sharma, C.M. (2008). Freshwater, fishes, fisheries, and habitat prospects of Nepal. Aquatic Ecosystem Health &

Management, 11(3), 289-297.

Ghimire, M.P., & Richter, M. (2017). Chemical gating of a weak topological insulator: Bi14Rh3I9. Nano Letters, 17(10), 6303-6308.

Chhatkuli, D.N., Paudel, S., & Aryal, B. (2020). Study of star formation rate and metallicity of an interacting dwarf galaxy NGC 2604. Journal of Institute of Science and Technology, 25(2), 55-60.

Ghale, D.B., Bohara, N.B., Duwal, N., & Bhattarai, J. (2019). Investigation on the mineralogical phase of ancient brick samples of Kathmandu valley (Nepal) using XRD and FTIR analysis. Rasayan Journal of Chemistry, 12(2), 402-408.

Neupane, B., Dang, N.C., Acharya, K., Reppert, M., Zazubovich, V., et al. (2010) Insight into the electronic structure of the CP47 antenna protein complex of photosystem II: Hole burning and fluorescence study. Journal of American Chemical Society, 132(12), 4214-4229.

Book

Gotelli, N.J., & Ellison, A.M. (2004). A primer of ecological statistics. Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA: Sinauer Associates, Inc.

Edited Book

Sutherland, W.J. (Ed). (2006). Ecological census techniques: A handbook (2nd ed.). Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

Book Chapters

Richter, M. (2001). Density Functional Theory applied to 4f and 5f Elements and Metallic Compounds. In K.H.J. Buschow (Ed.), Handbook of magnetic materials (pp. 87-s228), Vol. 13, Elsevier, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Sharma, C.M., Borgstrøm, R., & Rosseland, B.O. (2011). Biomanipulation in Lake Årungen, Norway: A tool of biological control. In Ansari, A.A., Singh Gill, S., Lanza, G.R., Rast, W. (Eds.) Eutrophication: causes, consequences and control (pp. 292-323), Springer. 

Report

Bhattarai, J. (2019). Investigation on physico-chemical and sintering properties of ceramic tiles and bricks available in local market of Kathmandu Valley. The University Grants Commission-Nepal, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur, Nepal. p. 121. 

Conference paper

Swar, D.B. (2008). History of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) introduction in Nepal. In T.B. Gurung (Ed.), Proceedings of the first national workshop on scaling up rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) farming strategies in Nepal (pp. 21-24), Kathmandu, Nepal.

Theses/ Dissertations

Pyakurel, U. (2016). Evacuation planning problem with contraflow approach. PhD Thesis, Central Department of Mathematics, Institute of Science and Technology, Tribhuvan University, Nepal.

Bhattarai, J. (1998). Tailoring of corrosion-resistant tungsten alloys by sputtering. PhD Thesis, Department of Materials Science, Faculty of Engineering, Tohoku University, Japan. 

Submission preparation checklist

As a part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

1. The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
2. The submission file is in Open Office, Microsoft Word, RTF, LaTeX2e or WordPerfect document file format.
3. Where available, DOI or URLs for the references have been provided.
4. The text is double-spaced; uses a 10-point font; employs italics rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
5. Use the table function to prepare the tables, not spreadsheets.
6. The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines.
7. Authors must have obtained permission to use the materials from other works.
8. The ethical approval certificates to carry out the research work must be submitted to the journal along with the manuscript, if applicable.
9. A cover letter must be submitted declaring the originality, no parallel submission elsewhere, and ethical statements.
10. If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed. 

Publication charges

The Journal of Institute of Science and Technology does not charge a fee for submission, processing and publication.

Copyright notice and licensing policy

The copyright of the articles is held by the Institute of Science and Technology, Tribhuvan University (IoST- TU). The views and interpretations in this journal are those of the author(s). They are not attributable to the IoST-TU and do not imply the expression of any opinion concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city, area of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The corresponding author is responsible for any conflict of interest between authors and others.

The articles in the Journal of Institute of Science and Technology are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Share alike 4.0 International License (CC: BY-SA), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, remix, transfer, and build upon the materials for any purpose, even commercially, provided the original work is properly cited.

Authorship change

If you require to change the authorship, including the order of the authors, during or after the review, you need to send the consent letter to the Editorial Office. The consent letter is available upon request. The change in authorship after the acceptance of the article is not entertained unless there is a valid reason or some technical mistakes. The Chief Editor will make the final decision in such cases. 

Peer review process

Following the submission of the manuscript to the journal, the editorial board will check whether the submitted manuscript is appropriate for the journal or not. The manuscript will go through a plagiarism check before starting the review process. If deemed suitable for the journal, the Chief Editor will assign the article to reviewers corresponding to their expertise. Generally, the article is sent to two reviewers; however, the third reviewer will also be assigned in the situation where it is deemed necessary. The reviewers are given two weeks period for reviewing the article. Double-blind peer review is applied for the article submitted. Once the author submits the corrected paper addressing the reviewer's comments, it will be sent to the corresponding reviewers again to decide whether the manuscript has the potential for acceptance. Authors should incorporate all questions or should defend (clarify) reviewers' comments. However, the final decision to accept the paper for publication is taken by the Chief Editor.