1 General rules
Annals of Forest Research publishes both fundamental and applied research articles in the field of forestry and environmental science. The journal is edited by Forest Research and Management Institute ICAS and Silvică Publishing House.
1.1 Types of accepted papers
(i) Research papers must be original and to refer to topics of fundamental or applied research. They should be concise, focus on new results and data, and not exceed 14 printed pages. It is recommended that the number of figures and tables should not be higher than 10. As exception, longer manuscripts have to receive the acceptance of the editorial office.
(ii) Research notes refer to an ongoing research and should concern a specific aspect or preliminary results. The exigencies regarding are similarly to those of a research paper. The length of a research note, including figures and bibliography, is limited to 4 journal printed pages.
(iii) Review articles present the achievements on a certain research topic in a critical and exhaustive analysis, based on updated, relevant and comprehensive literature. There is no page limit for review articles.
1.2 Copyright
Authors must respect the deontological rules related to research activities, especially those referring to plagiarism. According to the international editorial rules about Copyright, the journal policy totally disagrees with any form of plagiarism and reserve its own right to proceed accordingly.
It is compulsory that the manuscripts sent to the editorial office are addressed exclusively to this journal. Papers must be original and not proposed for publishing in other journals or previously published.
The publishing house owns the copyright on the articles. No part of the articles may be reproduced without the prior written permission of the publishing house. Any re-publication of the articles should be authorized by the publishing house. In the case of any piece from a previously published article, it is necessary to provide full bibliographical source, together with a written acceptance of the copyright holder. The authors are entirely responsible for providing us this kind of copyright transfer.
1.3 Submission of articles
In addition to the document (text, tables, figures etc.), authors are requested to fulfill a cover letter where they present the article and explicitly state that the manuscript was approved by all the authors. The letter should also describe the general framework of the paper and any potential conflict of interest. The copyright transfer to the publishing house will also be mentioned in this letter; a sample of this is available on the journal Website. Articles may be submitted by email, at the address office@e-afr.org. Typewritten manuscripts are not accepted.
1.4 Peer-review process
When the editorial board receives a manuscript and considers that the topic and format is suitable for this journal, the manuscript is sent to at least two reviewers qualified in the field to review the scientific content. If necessary, the Editorial Office could request some necessary changes before the start of the peer-review process. Usual, the evaluation lasts four weeks, but it may be longer for review articles, depending on the manuscript length.
When an article is accepted for peer-reviewing, the author will receive the conclusions of the evaluation together with the required modifications, prior to publishing. Authors are asked to do the recommended modifications and to express in writing any complaint. A letter in which the author has considered each modification suggested by the peer-reviewers should be attached to the final article.
Annals of Forest Research uses a double-blind peer-review process, where authors and reviewers are anonymously to each other. The reviewers help the decision of the Editorial Office to publish, either to reject a manuscript. Four situations might occur: (i) the article is accepted with minor modifications; (ii) the article is accepted with major modifications; (iii) the article should be re-written and re-submitted; (iv) the article is rejected. The papers considered unacceptable by Editorial Office or peer-reviewers will not be published. For all the opinions expressed in the articles, the authors are the only responsible.
2 Article contents
The research articles/notes must be elaborated and structured according to the 2.1-2.12 rules; these are also the rules used during the peer-review process. The mandatory parts are: the title, the abstract, 1. Introduction; 2. Materials and Methods; 3. Results; 4. Discussion, 5. Conclusion, 6. References. Discordant articles will be rejected.
The review articles do not fully follow the below structure. However, they should include at least: (i) an introductory part, (ii) a careful and critical presentation of the relevant aspects of the topic approached, and eventually (iii) emphasis of the aspects that are inadequately known and require further study to progress understanding in the phenomenon.
2.1 The authors. Author’s name, surname and institution (including address), along with a contact address (phone, fax, e-mail) of the correspondent author should be submitted on a separate page.
2.2 The title should be clear, concise and informative and it describe honestly and concisely the content of the study. Ambiguous, too long, too general or one-word titles should be avoided. Abbreviations are not accepted.
2.3 The abstract plays a key-role in introducing the potential readers to an “in extenso” reading. Abstracts are frequently data-based and indexed and it should be analytical, providing sufficient information even to a reader who is neither an expert, nor familiar with the field.
All of the information in the abstract must be present also in the text; the abstract overall will be congruent with the text, giving the same impression as the paper text. It will be approximately 200-300 words, comprising the objectives, methods, results and the main conclusion of the article. The essential details and quantitative (as far as possible) and accurate results have to be presented. The conclusions will be entirely justified by the information in the text. The keywords (3-6) should express the characteristic elements of the article.
2.4 Introduction includes the general framework of the approached topic and its stage of development, both in a specific country/region and abroad. At first, it generally introduces the main topic and explains the eventually specific terminology, and identifies the problem area and the current knowledge gaps. The next step is to describe the specific problem (of the paper). A distinct paragraph, usually the last one, should contain the aim of the research presented in the article and the research questions (hypothesis) to be answered. Everything should be clear and concise formulated, and the proper literature cited.
2.5 Materials and methods
This chapter should present detailed information concerning the place of research, the used materials and methods, and the procedures of data analysis.
The research locations will be clear described and (when it applies), will include specific details (e.g. maps, site coordinates, climatic data etc.). The methodology should be defined according with the research question(s), clearly described and sufficiently detailed in order to allow the exact replication of the experimental work. Instruments have to be described, referenced and (when it applies) will include descriptive information (technical specifications, quantities, source and method of preparation). The data analysis paragraph will be also presented in detail, including mentions regarding the fulfilling of the basic assumptions for the statistics tests/methods used in the paper (e.g. measurement properties of the data and normality of distributions); this will facilitate a correct interpretation of the results, too.
If the article contains different aspects of research, which have distinct methods and materials, these should be treated separately.
2.6 Results
The ‘Results’ chapter has to be configured in accordance with the aims of the research. It is advisable to present the results of the experiments in tables and figures (graphics or photos); tables and figures will be used judiciously and will agree with the text. Also, the text should give a correct interpretation of the charts and figures, but will not contain a comparative assessment with similar papers (which should be contained in the next chapter - ‘Discussion’). The results will be logically presented, easy to understand and organized in the order of the research question(s). Also, the amount of data presented should be appropriate and sufficient (all data presented are commented and used).
2.7 Discussion
This chapter is important in the general framework of the study, because it shows the author’s mastery of the topic, the value of the results and the quality of data interpretation. Its role is to present how the research answered the addressed research questions, and to draw accurate conclusions, through a comparative analysis of own results with those already published, with emphasize on similarities and differences.
The configuration of ‘Discussion’ chapter should be similar to that of the ‘Results’ chapter. It contains references to the data and information presented in the tables and figures (graphics or photos) in the ‘Results’. For other research data, used in the comparative analysis, there must be indicated the references.
Discussions of own results have to be appropriate, following the addressed research questions and using a proper literature. The discrepancies and unexpected findings (including statistics) must be explained in relation with similar research. Findings and inferences should be clearly distinguished, and the speculations limited to what is reasonably well supported by the findings. Limitations, the practical significance or theoretical implications, will be discussed also.
2.8 Conclusion
The conclusions are not simple personal opinions; these should naturally come from ‘Results’ and ‘Discussion’ chapters. These will be original, clearly stated, representing the answers to the research questions. General assertions, as well as tables, graphics and references, are not allowed in this chapter.
2.9 Acknowledgements
This chapter can follow ‘Conclusion’ chapter, mentioning those people or institutions that have facilitated the research accomplishment. This chapter receives no heading number.
2.10 References
It is important to note that all the publications quoted in the text should be included in the bibliography and vice versa. Also, the bibliography should not contain publications that cannot be identified; only journal articles, books or other published papers, including electronics ones, will be used.
In the review of the literature, the ideas will be appropriately acknowledged, and the citation properly integrated in the text, according with the journal requirements. The authors will ensure that the literature is up-to-date and the number/selection of references is appropriate. It is suggested a preponderant use of primary sources.
2.11 Appendix
When a thorough presentation of some research aspects (e.g. statistical methods, an important data set or an detailed explanatory table) is needed, an appendix can be inserted at the end of the article.
2.12 Overall presentation and scientific conduct
As general view, the manuscript must be well structured and fully congruent, with an appropriately used vocabulary. The reported data (figures, tables, equations) must be used effectively, in agreement with the text, accurate and in the proper form (see the requirements from the next chapter 3).
Regarding the scientific conduct, there should be no instances of plagiarism, e.g. the ideas and materials of others will be correctly attributed. Portions of the data or study previously published by the author(s) must be appropriately acknowledged. The publication of the paper should not generate any apparent conflict of interest.
3 Electronic form
As electronic document type, Microsoft Word (.doc) is preferred. It is recommended to use Times New Roman, font size 11 for the body of the text and font size 9 for tables, figures, bibliography and abstract. The body of the text must be double-spaced and the lines numbered. Figures and tables have to be inserted at the end of the document. For optimal publication of the article, the figures should be submitted also separately, as image in digital format (e.g. .tif, .jpg) at a resolution of minimum 600 dpi, or in the original form (e.g. Microsoft Excel sheet). Each figure will be numbered in accordance with the body of the text. As far as possible - e.g. the quality of the information is not affected - it is suggested to send black and white figures (graphics and photos).
The length of the article is recommended to not exceed the limits presented in Section 1.1 (14 pages).
The titles of subsections will be preceded and followed by a blank line and numbered as follows: 1.1, 1.1.1. The latter numbering is the last accepted. If the paper has an appendix it will be placed at the end of the article and should have a distinct title.
The scientific names of species will be given in italics. The popular names of plants, animals or microorganisms will be followed by the scientific names when are first used in the text, along with the author of denomination (e.g. Abies alba Mill.).
To ensure the quality of the article in terms of stylistics and fluency, repeated enumerations should be avoided. Enumerations marked by means of dashes or other graphic signs:
- enumeration 1
- enumeration 2
must be presented as follows: (i) enumeration 1, (ii) enumeration 2.
Abbreviations and acronyms will be explained when first mentioned in the article.
Proper names of any kind will be written with Latin characters and diacritical signs corresponding to the original language in which they were written.
Equations will be written clearly, paying attention to coefficients, exponents and possible confusions: e.g. zero '0', figure and letter 'o', figure '1' and letter 'l'. A consecutive numbering will be used in parentheses on the right side of the text. As editor for equations, it is suggested Microsoft Word or an equivalent one. The units of measurement should be those of the International System. Symbols, Greek or other characters must be defined and clearly explained. Their definition can not vary along the paper.
References will be cited in the text as follows: (Smith 1998), (Smith 1998a, b), (Smith & Wiley 1998), (Smith 1998, Wiley 1998), (Smith 1996, 1997, 1998, Wiley 1998). In the case of multiple references, they will be ordered alphabetically, according with the names of the authors, when they have the same year of publication, or chronologically, when they have distinct years of publication (Wiley 1975, Smith 1999). If there are more than three authors, only the first one is mentioned and its name is followed by 'et al.': e.g. (Smith et al. 1998). If the author of the study is unknown, the term 'Anonymous' will be used for identifying the reference in the text.
Very large tables should be avoided, because it is difficult to insert them appropriately. If these are necessary and require more than one page they will be separated, mentioning 'Table X (continuation)' on each page. Any explanatory text will be given as a note, below the table. The titles of the tables and figures (graphics, images) will be inserted inside of the text immediately when appropriate, after they have been quoted. When the table/figure is explicitly mentioned in the text, it will be cited as table 1/figure 1; otherwise, when tables/figures are indirectly mentioned, they should be cited in parentheses (e.g. table 1/figure 1).
References. Examples concerning bibliographical references are given below. As mention, if the cited paper is not in English, the original title, in the language in which was written the paper, will be given first, followed in square brackets by the English translation.
Smith A., 2000. Title of journal article with one author. Publication name volume (issue): pages (e.g. 10(1): 100-110).
Smith A., 2000. Das Title des Articles mit einem Autor [Title of journal article with one author]. Publication name volume (issue): pages (e.g. 10(1): 100-110).
Smith A., Smith B., 2000. Title of journal article with two authors. Publication name volume (issue): pages (e.g. 10(1): 100
110).
Smith A., Smith B., 2000. Title of book. Publisher, City, number of pages (e.g. 150 p.)
Smith A., 2000. Title of chapter in an edited book. In Editor(s) name(s)(ed.), Book title. Publisher, City, pages (e.g. pp. 80-89).
Smith A., 1999. Title of thesis. Type of thesis, Academic Department, University, City, number of pages (e.g. 300 p.)
Smith A., 2000. Title of the paper published in the proceedings of one scientific conference. In Editor(s) name(s)(ed.), Conference name, period, conference location. Publisher, City, pages (e.g. pp. 70-79).
