ACTA MANILANA

Guide For authors

Types of papers

The ACTA MANILANA publishes papers dealing with any aspect of the natural sciences. Research papers, preliminary and short communications, and review papers are welcome.

In general, full papers should not exceed 6000 words and include not more than 8 display items, i.e. tables and diagrams. Short communications should not exceed 2500 words. For all contributions the acceptance criteria are quality, originality, and scientific and technological relevance to the field.

Editorial procedure

All submitted manuscripts are first evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief on their suitability for publication in the ACTA MANILANA. The approved papers are then referred to least two independent and qualified referees who will review the merits of the submission and make recommendations to the Editor-in-chief for the revision, acceptance or rejection.

The review process follows a double anonymized procedure. The authors and the reviewers are not known to each other. The manuscript should not contain any information that could lead to identification of the author.

Manuscript submission

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published before and are not under consideration for publication elsewhere. The originality of the submitted paper will be confirmed through a similarity or duplication checker software.

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Online submission

The manuscript of papers should be submitted through (actamanilana.ust.edu.ph) or by email to actamanilana@ust.edu.ph (cc: rcnas@ust.edu.ph). It should be accompanied by the following:

a cover letter (in pdf format) which describes the novel feature of the paper, and which states that the paper has not been published previously in part or as a whole, and is not presently being considered for publication in other journal.

the full manuscript (in doc and pdf format) written in the template (downloadable here) with figures and tables imbedded in the text

an authorship statement (in pdf format), declaring the participation of each author in the concept and design, data collection and analysis, drafting and revision of the manuscript of the work described in the paper, [NOTE:could be placed in information box]

for papers on studies involving human or animal studies, official approval (including permit number) from the Institutional Review Board or equivalent ethics committee

Incomplete submissions shall not be considered.

Manuscript requirements

The manuscript should be in MS Word format. The text should be typed in single-column format, double-spaced on letter-sized paper (21.6 cm x 27.9 cm) using Times New Roman font style at 12 point font size.

Each manuscript should include the following, as indicated in the template:

(1) Title page, which should contain the title of the paper, the names of the authors, and the institutions where the work has been carried out.

The title should be concise and informative with a high keyword content. The names of its authors should include first name, middle initial (if applicable), and surname. If the author has left the institution mentioned, his present address should be given as a footnote.

The corresponding author’s full mailing address, telephone number and email address should be included. The author to whom correspondence should be addressed must be indicated with an asterisk (*).

(2) Graphical Abstract. The graphical abstract is a visual schematic representation of the manuscript. It allows the readers to capture the contents of the manuscript at a single glance. The graphical abstract is mandatory.

(3) Abstract, which should comprise a factual account of the contents of the paper. It should state briefly the objective of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. It must be concise (up to 200 words) and provide a summary of the whole paper.

(4) Keywords, which should be not more than six and separated by semicolon. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.

(5) Introduction, which should mention in a concise manner previously published work and state clearly what is new in the now submitted paper.

(6) Materials and Methods, which should describe the methods and materials used with sufficient details to enable any reasonably experienced workers to carry out the procedure. Description of well-known techniques and equipment are not necessary. In writing, complete sentences should be used, and consistency in voice and tense should be observed. Work involving the use of infectious or potentially infectious biological agents, materials, toxins, and GMOs should have clearance from the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC).

(7) Results and discussion, which should be complete and relevant but concise. Verbose exposition of ideas should be avoided, and unsupported elaboration of hypothesis should not be included. Tables, illustrations, and figures should be imbedded in this section.

(8) Conclusion, which should give the significant summary and contribution of the manuscript.

(9) Acknowledgment, which should include credits for financial support, technical assistance and sources of special materials. Professional titles and wordy sentences should be avoided.

(10) Conflict of Interest

The authors should declare any conflicts of interests related to the manuscript. If none, the authors may state “The authors declare no conflict of interest”.

(11) Author Contributions

Authorship must be limited to those who made substantial contribution to the work. For this section, the following are encouraged to be used, if applicable: Conceptualization, X.X. and Y.Y.; methodology, X.X.; data collection X.X., Y.Y. and Z.Z.; analysis and interpretation of data, X.X., Y.Y.; original draft preparation, X.X.; review and editing of the draft, X.X. The statement “All authors have read and agreed to the final version of the manuscript” should also be included.

(12) Institutional Review Board Statement

This section is mandatory for studies involving humans or animals or both. Please add the Institutional Review Board Statement and approval number. Please add “The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) or the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), of NAME OF INSTITUTE (protocol code XXX and date of approval).” OR “Ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to REASON (please provide a detailed justification).” Otherwise, the authors should state “Not applicable”.

(13) Informed Consent Statement

This section is mandatory only for studies involving humans and should contain the statement “Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.” OR “Patient (or subject) consent was waived due to REASON (please provide a detailed justification).” If applicable, written informed consent for publication must be obtained from participating patients and should include the statement “Written informed consent has been obtained from the patient(s) to publish this paper”.

(14) References, which are listed on a separate page at the end of the manuscript. The references are numbered consecutively in the text where they are indicated by an Arabic numeral enclosed in square brackets. The following format should be used in the listing:

[1] Smith E. Advances in understanding nociception and neuropathic pain. Journal of Neurology 2018; 265(2), 231–238.

[2] Jamison RN & Mao J. Opioid Analgesics. Mayo Clinic Proceedings 2015; 90(7), 957–968.

[3] Fongang ALM, Laure Nguemfo E, Djouatsa Nangue Y, Bogning Zangueu C, Fouokeng Y, Azebaze AGB, José Llorent-Martínez E, Córdova MLF, de Bertrand Dongmo A, & Vierling W. Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of the methanolic stem bark extract of Antrocaryon klaineanum Pierre (Anacardiaceae) in mice and rat. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2017; 203, 11–19.

[4] Tan MA & Takayama H. Recent Progress in the Chemistry of Pandanus Alkaloids. In: Knölker HJ (Ed.) The Alkaloids: Chemistry and Biology (Vol. 82), pp. 1–28. (New York, USA: Academic Press, 2019.