Author Guidelines

General Instructions for Authors

Manuscripts should be written in clear, concise, scientific and grammatically correct English.

Text: The presentation style of the paper should appear in the following order: Title, Authors' names, Address and institutional affiliation of authors, Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussions, Conclusions, Acknowledgements, References, Tables, Plates and Figures. Main section headings should be bold, aligned Left and of uppercase letters. Do not underline the title or section headings. Subsections (also bolded) may be included and only the first letter of the subsection should be capitalized. Avoid excessive fragmentation of the paper. Font size 12 should be Cambria and in Microsoft word.

Use SI units of measurement, and italize all Latin and scientific names. Use numerals before standard units of measurements, e.g. 5 kg, 9 m, 36 hr; otherwise use words for numbers one to nine and numerals for larger numbers.

Abbreviations should be explained in the text for reader easy understanding.

Title: Should be brief (less than 20 words) and reflect the main theme of the paper.

Authors' names and affiliations should appear below the title and below which the corresponding authors address should be typed. Authors should write their names in full with the surnames capitalized.

Abstract: Abstract should have a word limit of 250 and should contain salient features of the study, briefly indicating the problem and justification, method of study, results and discussions, and the main conclusion.

Keywords: Authors should provide five keywords

Introduction: The introduction should argue the case of your study, outlining only essential background and indicating clearly the problem and justification of the study as well as the objectives. It should not be a review of the subject area, but should finish with a clear statement of the question being addressed.

Materials and Methods: This should contain detail information on the materials and methods used for easy conduct of similar research and interpretation of the results obtained. Particular attention should be paid to the design, data collection, and statistical analysis. Standard protocols can be referred to but may not be explained.

Results and Discussions: This section should present the findings of the study and their significance with reference to other literature. A discussion of the significance and implications of the results obtained. Inferences and opinions should be distinguished from facts, and should not duplicate results except to introduce or clarify points. Reference should be made to published literature.

Conclusions: This should present a summary of the key findings of the study and indicate any suggestions or recommendations emanating from the work.

Acknowledgements: To laboratory staff, field staff, financial contributors, pre-paper reviewers, etc. can be acknowledged.

References: Only published articles (journals and proceedings) or books may be cited. In addition, articles with evidence of journal acceptance are considered as "in press" and can also be cited. The reference list should be arranged alphabetically. Authors should be referred to in text by name and year (Havard system).

Literature older than ten (10) years will not be accepted for publication.

Examples:

1. For journals list as:

Musah, M., Adongo, T. and Williams, K. 2010. Irrigation Frequency and Yield of Carrots in a Savana Ecosystem. Ghana Journal of Science, Technology and Development 5 (3):149 - 159.

Within the text referencing should be given as: Musah et al. (2010), or ... similar results have been obtained........... (Musah et al., 2010).

2. For proceedings list as:

Ildo, P. U., Ayaga, L., Jacks, K., Bombie, D., Tuuts, I. and Claver, M. 2010. Irrigation Water Use Economics, a Temperate Environment Experience. 2017 Irrigation and Agriculture Development Conference Proceedings 1:49 - 62.

3. For books list as:

Mclean, J. and Singer, G. 2011. Securing Food Using Irrigation and Crop Improvement. Bells University Press, Ogun State, Nigeria. 210pp.

4. For electronic resource materials (online publications) list as:

Kidesel, P. 2010. Field Experiences from Dugouts Usage in Food Security. Foreign Policy. May/June 2008 (web-exclusive story). http://www.foodsecurity.com/story/cms.php?story id=4306. Accessed 26 August 2011.

5. For thesis list as:

Surname and initials of author, year of submission, title of thesis, degree for which the thesis was submitted. Name of University.

6. Personal communication may be cited only in the text, giving names, date, and institution or organization of source of information and should not appear in the reference list.

Tables and Figures:

Tables and Figures should be self-explanatory, without reference to the text or other tables and figures. Captions should be brief but should adequately describe contents. The word Table should be in uppercase letters, and should be numbered with arabic numerals. Figure captions should be typed on a separate sheet of paper. In the text spell out the word Table but abbreviate Figure to Fig. Capitalize the first letter of table column and row headings. Footnotes are designated with superscript lowercase letters.

Graphs should be boxed and ordinates and abscissions marked with index lines. Illustrations should be in black and white and of a size that allows a reduction of up to 50%. If color prints are necessary, the cost of production will be charged to the authors. Figures should be numbered on the reverse side with authors' names, shortened title, and the top indicated.