Review Checklist for Manuscript Submission

1. Familiarize yourself with the Journal's Aims & Scope to evaluate the suitability of your manuscript.

2. Employ either the Microsoft Word template or LaTeX template for manuscript preparation.

3. Address considerations related to publication ethics, research ethics, copyright, authorship, figure formats, data, and references format diligently.

4. Verify that all co-authors have endorsed the submitted manuscript, confirming their acknowledgment of the Instructions for Authors.

Overview of Manuscript Submission Process:

Submission Guidelines:

Authors are requested to submit their article manuscripts through the online submission portal at https://rems.rscope.org, managed by Rscope Collective Group Journals. The corresponding author, who typically oversees the submission and peer-review process, is responsible for ensuring that all eligible co-authors are included in the author list, adhering to the specified authorship criteria, and confirming their approval of the submitted manuscript version.

To commence the submission process, please complete the registration and log in to the submission website. Once registered, you can access the submission form for Agriculture by clicking on this link. Co-authors can also view details of the manuscript through the submission system by registering and logging in with the provided email address during the manuscript submission process.

Use Templates:

Word users should make use of the supplied Word templates, and LaTeX users are advised to utilize LaTeX templates. When submitting LaTeX files, make sure to upload all pertinent manuscript files, such as the .tex file, PDF, and .bib file (if the bibliography is not already integrated into the .tex file).

Engage in Interactive Review:

Authors are urged to upload versions with track changes enabled during the interactive review. It is essential to acknowledge that editors and reviewers have the capability to download only the PDF file of the submitted manuscript.

Manuscript Length Guidelines:

Authors are recommended to closely follow the specified word count lengths for different article types, as detailed on the 'Article types' page of the journals. The manuscript length encompasses the main text, footnotes, and all citations, excluding the abstract, section titles, figure and table captions, funding statement, acknowledgments, and references in the bibliography. Kindly indicate the word count, as well as the number of figures and tables, on the initial page of your manuscript.

Language Editing Support

Language Standards and Editing Services: Rscope requires that submitted manuscripts adhere to international English language standards for consideration of publication. Authors who wish to enhance the clarity and emphasize the research in their manuscripts are advised to consider engaging external partners for language editing or proofreading services. It is important to note that submitting a manuscript for language editing does not guarantee acceptance for publication in Rscope Collective journals, as editorial decisions on scientific content remain independent.

Recommended Partner

Editage:

Rscope proudly endorses Editage as its external partner for language-editing services. Authors, especially those for whom English is not the primary language, are encouraged to utilize Editage to improve grammar, syntax, and overall manuscript flow before submission. Rscope authors can benefit from a 10% discount by visiting the following link: editage.com/rscope.

Author Services Recommendation:

Rscope also suggests utilizing the author services provided by The Charlesworth Group, a well-established entity with a reputable history in language editing and proofreading. As a third-party service, Rscope authors can benefit from a 10% discount by visiting the following link: www.cwauthors.com/rscope.

Rscope推荐您使用查尔斯沃思作者服务，该服务在英语语言编辑和校对领域拥有悠久历史和良好口碑。作为第三方服务，Rscope中国作者可通过访问以下链接享受10％的特别优惠。www.cwauthors.com.cn/rscope

CrossMark Policy:

CrossMark is a multi-publisher initiative designed to provide a standardized means for readers to identify the current version of a piece of content. By displaying the CrossMark logo, our commitment is to maintain the content we publish and to notify readers of any changes if and when they occur. Clicking on the CrossMark logo will provide you with the current status of a document and may also furnish additional publication record information about the document.

Title Guidelines:

The title should be succinct, excluding implicit terms, and preferably, a statement of the primary result or conclusion in the manuscript. Avoid abbreviations within the title. While creative titles are appreciated, they should remain relevant and measured. Consider potential misinterpretations, as the editorial office may veto titles deemed offensive, suggesting alternatives. Authors should steer clear of titles that are mere questions without answers, unambitious beginnings (e.g., 'Towards,' 'A description of'), vague starts (e.g., 'Role of,' 'Link between'), or including irrelevant terms like taxonomic affiliations.

For Corrigenda, General Commentaries, and Editorials, adhere to the following formats:

Corrigendum: 'Title of Original Article'

General Commentaries: 'Commentary: Title of Original Article' or 'Response: Commentary: Title of Original Article'

Editorial: 'Title of Research Topic'

The running title should be a maximum of five words in length.

Authors and Affiliations Format:

List all names together, separated by commas, ensuring the accuracy of author names for indexing in official archives. Affiliations should be linked to the author's name with superscript numbers and presented as follows:

Affiliation(s) - Laboratory, Institute, Department, Organization, City, State abbreviation (only for United States, Canada, and Australia), and Country (without detailed address information such as city zip codes or street names).

Example: Max Maximus^1

^1 Department of Excellence, International University of Science, New York, NY, United States.

Correspondence Section:

Identify the corresponding author(s) in the author list with an asterisk. Include the precise contact email address of the corresponding author(s) in a separate section.

Example: Max Maximus*

Email: maximus@iuscience.edu

If any author wishes to provide a change of address, list the present address(es) below the correspondence details using a unique superscript symbol keyed to the author(s) in the author list.

Equal Contributions

Authors who have contributed equally should be marked with a symbol (†) in the author list of the document/LaTeX and PDF files uploaded during submission. Utilize the appropriate standard statement(s) to signify equal contributions:

. Equal contribution: These authors contributed equally to this work

. First authorship: These authors share first authorship

. Senior authorship: These authors share senior authorship

. Last authorship: These authors share last authorship

. Equal contribution and first authorship: These authors contributed equally to this work and share first authorship

. Equal contribution and senior authorship: These authors contributed equally to this work and share senior authorship

. Equal contribution and last authorship: These authors contributed equally to this work and share last authorship

Example:

Max Maximus^1†, John Smith^2†, and Barbara Smith^1†

†These authors contributed equally to this work and share first authorship

Consortium/Group and Collaborative Authors:

Consortium/group authorship should be included in the manuscript alongside other author(s). When authorship is attributed to the consortium/group, it should be listed as an author, separated by a comma or 'and.' The consortium/group name will be present in the author list, citation, and copyright. If available, consortium/group members should be listed in a distinct section at the end of the article.

To ensure proper indexing in PubMed, collaborators of the consortium/group do not need individual entries in the Rscope Journal submission system. Instead, in the manuscript, create a section with the consortium/group name as the heading, followed by the list of collaborators for proper tagging and indexing.

Example: John Smith, Barbara Smith, and The Collaborative Working Group.

In cases where the author(s) present work on behalf of a consortium/group, include it in the author list using 'for' or 'on behalf of.' The consortium/group will not retain authorship and will only be listed in the author list.

Example: John Smith and Barbara Smith on behalf of The Collaborative Working Group.

Abstract:

The abstract serves the primary purpose of making the general significance and conceptual advance of the work easily understandable to a broad readership. It should not exceed a single paragraph and should be structured following the IMRAD format or as specified by the requirements of the article type or journal. Authors are encouraged to minimize the use of abbreviations and should refrain from citing references, figures, or tables in the abstract.

For clinical trial articles, it is essential to include the unique identifier and the URL of the publicly-accessible website where the trial is registered.

Keywords

All article types require a minimum of five and a maximum of eight keywords.

Nomenclature Guidelines

. Minimize the use of abbreviations, and non-standard abbreviations should be avoided unless they appear at least four times. Define non-standard abbreviations upon first use in the main text. Consider providing a list of non-standard abbreviations at the end, just before the acknowledgments.

. Equations should be inserted in an editable format from the equation editor.

. Italicize gene symbols and utilize approved gene nomenclature, particularly referring to the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) for human genes. New symbols for human genes should be submitted to HGNC. Common alternative gene aliases may be reported but should not replace the HGNC symbol. Nomenclature committees for other species are available.

. Protein products are not italicized.

. Standard International Units are encouraged in all manuscripts.

. Chemical compounds and biomolecules should be referred to using systematic nomenclature, preferably following the recommendations by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).

. Astronomical objects should be referred to using the nomenclature provided by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

. Life Science Identifiers (LSIDs) for ZOOBANK registered names or nomenclatural acts should be listed in the manuscript before the keywords. The LSID format is urn:lsid:::[:].

. For more detailed information on LSIDs, refer to the 'Code' section of our policies and publication ethics.

Sections

The manuscript should be structured with headings and subheadings, allowing for up to five levels (e.g., 3.2.2.1.2 Heading Title). For Original Research articles, it is recommended to organize the manuscript as follows:

Introduction:

Succinct, with no subheadings.

Materials and Methods:

This section may be divided by subheadings and should provide sufficient detail for the reproducibility of procedures. Include an ethics approval statement for experiments involving animal or human subjects (refer to the 'Bioethics' section in our policies and publication ethics for further details).

Results:

This section may be divided by subheadings. Avoid using footnotes; instead, transfer relevant information to the main text.

Discussion:

This section may be divided by subheadings and should cover key findings. Discuss prior research related to the subject, placing the novelty of the discovery in context. Address potential limitations, integrate findings into the current understanding of the problem, speculate on future research directions, and propose testable theories.

Please refer to the journal's 'Article types' page and the 'For authors' menu on each journal page for specific requirements and descriptions.

Acknowledgments

This section is a brief expression of gratitude acknowledging the contributions of specific colleagues, institutions, or agencies that supported the authors in their efforts. If the manuscript's content has previously appeared online, such as in a thesis or preprint, this should be disclosed in the acknowledgments. Additionally, ensure to include the source within the reference list.

Scope Statement

Upon manuscript submission, a concise 200-word summary of your manuscript's scope and its relevance to the selected journal and/or specialty section is required. The purpose is to inform editors and reviewers about how your manuscript aligns with the chosen journal's scope. This statement will not be published if your article is accepted; rather, it aids in the initial validation and review processes to assess suitability for the selected journal and specialty. Careful consideration of the appropriate journal or specialty is encouraged to avoid delays and potential rejection. If submitting to a Research Topic, please specify how your submission aligns with the specific topic.Topic, please also clarify how your submission is suited to the specific topic.

Figure and table guidelines

CC-BY license

All figures, tables, and images submitted will be published under a Creative Commons CC-BY license. Authors are obligated to obtain permission for the use of copyrighted material from other sources, including re-published, adapted, modified, or partial figures and images from the internet. Authors must secure the necessary licenses, adhere to any citation instructions provided by third-party rights holders, and cover any additional charges related to image use.

For more details, please refer to the 'Image manipulation' section in our policies and publication ethics.

Figure Requirements and Style Guidelines:

1. Submit figures individually in the order of their mention in the manuscript; they will be automatically embedded at the end of the submitted manuscript.

2. Ensure each figure is referenced in the text and listed in numerical order.

3. For figures with multiple panels, clearly label them as (A), (B), (C), (D), etc. Avoid embedding part labels over any part of the image; these will be replaced during typesetting according to Rscope journal style.

4. Graphs should have self-explanatory labels (including units) along each axis.

5. In LaTeX files, include figures in the provided PDF. Upon acceptance, the production office may require high-resolution files in EPS, JPEG, or TIF/TIFF format.

6. To upload multiple figures, save them in a zip file labeled in the order of appearance and upload as 'Supplementary Material Presentation.'

7. Figures not complying with guidelines may cause delays in the production process.

Captions

. Begin captions with the appropriate label (e.g., 'Figure 1.').

. Place captions at the end of the manuscript.

. Refer to figure panels using bold capital letters in brackets: (A), (B), (C), (D), etc.

Table Requirements and Style Guidelines

1. Insert tables at the end of the manuscript in an editable format.

. For word processors, build tables in Word.

. For LaTeX processors, build tables in LaTeX.

. Leave an empty line before and after the table.

1. Place table captions immediately before the table.

. Begin captions with the appropriate label (e.g., 'Table 1.').

. Use a single paragraph for the caption.

1. Ensure each table is mentioned in the text and in numerical order.

2. Large tables covering several pages cannot be included in the final PDF due to formatting constraints. Such tables will be published as supplementary material.

3. Tables not following these guidelines may cause significant delays during the production process.

Supplementary Material Guidelines

Data that are not of primary importance to the text or cannot be included due to size or format constraints (e.g., videos, raw data traces, PowerPoint presentations) can be uploaded as supplementary material during submission. Supplementary files are stored on Figshare and receive a DOI.

. Supplementary material is not typeset, so ensure clarity without tracked changes/highlighted text/line numbers, and include an appropriate caption.

. Do not add the title, author list, affiliations, or correspondence in supplementary files to avoid discrepancies with the published article.

Upload Supplementary Material as:

. Data sheet (Word, Excel, CSV, CDX, FASTA, PDF, or Zip files)

. Presentation (PowerPoint, PDF, or Zip files)

. Image (CDX, EPS, JPEG, PDF, PNG, or TIF/TIFF)

. Table (Word, Excel, CSV, or PDF)

. Audio (MP3, WAV, or WMA)

. Video (AVI, DIVX, FLV, MOV, MP4, MPEG, MPG, or WMV)

Technical Requirements for Supplementary Images:

. 300 DPIs

. RGB color mode

For supplementary material templates (LaTeX and Word), refer to our supplementary material templates.

Reference Guidelines:

. Rscope journals use either Harvard (author-date) or Vancouver (numbered) reference styles. Check the correct style for the journal you are submitting to in the help center.

. Ensure consistency between citations in the text, figures, tables, and the reference list.

. Include the names of the first six authors followed by et al. and the DOI (when available).

. Abbreviate given names to initials (e.g., Smith, J., Lewis, C.S., etc.).

. The reference list should only include published or accepted articles.

. Unpublished data, submitted manuscripts, or personal communications should be cited within the text only, for article types allowing such inclusions.

. For accepted but unpublished works, use 'in press' instead of page numbers.

. Include data sets deposited in an online repository in the reference list, with the version and unique identifier when available.

. Personal communications require documentation via a letter of permission.

. Include website URLs as footnotes.

. Any inclusion of verbatim text must be in quotation marks, clearly referencing the original source.

. Preprints can be cited with a DOI or archive URL, specifying that it is a preprint. If a peer-reviewed journal publication exists, prefer that source.

Harvard reference style (author-date)

Many Rscope journals use the Harvard referencing system; to find the correct reference style and resources for the journal you are submitting to, please visit our help center. Reference examples are found below, for more examples of citing other documents and general questions regarding the Harvard reference style, please refer to the Chicago Manual of Style.

In-text Citations:

. For a single author: include the surname, followed by the year. (e.g., Johnson and Anderson 2000).

. For two authors: include both surnames, followed by the year. (e.g., Rodriguez, Wang, and Smith 2013).

. For more than two authors: include the surname of the first author followed by et al., followed by the year. (e.g., Brown et al. 2010).

. For humanities and social sciences articles, include page numbers.

Reference Examples:

1. Article in a Print Journal:

Johnson, A., and Anderson, S. (2000). Rnq1: an epigenetic modifier of protein function in yeast. Mol. Cell. 5, 163-172.

2. Article in an Online Journal:

Rodriguez, C.G.T., Wang, Y., Smith, J.D. (2013). Anabolic effects of IGF-1 signaling on the skeleton. aust. Endocrinol. 4:6. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2013.00006

3. Article or Chapter in a Book:

Brown, P. W., and Carter, J. C. (1998). "Chemoreception," in The Physiology of Fishes, ed. D. H. Evans (Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press), 375-405.

4. Book:

Miller, M. R., Turner, T. M., and Harris, L. S. (1997). Molecular and Cellular Approaches to Neural Development. New York: Oxford University Press.

5. Abstract:

Brown, J., White, R., and Davis, K. (2010). A world apart? Bridging the gap between theory and applied social gerontology. Gerontologist 50, 284-293. Abstract retrieved from Abstracts in Social Gerontology database. (Accession No. 50360869)

6. Website:

World Health Organization. (2018). E. coli. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/e-coli [Accessed March 15, 2018].

7. Patent:

Smith, A. S. (2000). Method and apparatus for eye tracking and monitoring pupil dilation to evaluate cognitive activity. U.S. Patent No 6,090,051. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

8. Data:

Perez, P., Ventura, M., Martinez, T., Garcia, L., Collada, C. Data from: Massive sequencing of Ulms minor's transcriptome provides new molecular tools for a genus under the constant threat of Dutch elm disease. Dryad Digital Repository. (2015) http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.ps837

9. Theses and Dissertations:

Smith, J. (2008) Post-structuralist discourse relative to phenomenological pursuits in the deconstructivist arena. [dissertation/master’s thesis]. [Chicago (IL)]: University of Chicago.

10. Preprint:

Smith, J. (2008). Title of the document. Preprint repository name [Preprint]. Available at: https://persistent-url (Accessed March 15, 2018).

Vancouver Reference Style (Numbered):

In-text Citations:

Apply the Vancouver system for in-text citations.

Number in-text citations consecutively in order of appearance, identified by Arabic numerals in parentheses (use square brackets for physics and mathematics articles).

Reference Examples:

1. Article in a Print Journal:

Smith A, Johnson B. Rnq1: an epigenetic modifier of protein function in yeast. Mol Cell (2000) 5:163-72.

2. Article in an Online Journal:

Brown C, White D, Davis K. Anabolic effects of IGF-1 signaling on the skeleton. Aust Endocrinol (2013) 4:6. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2013.00006

3. Article or Chapter in a Book:

Miller P, Turner T. "Chemoreception". In: Evans DH, editor. The Physiology of Fishes. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press (1998). p. 375-405.

4. Book:

Harris M, Turner J, Lewis L. Molecular and Cellular Approaches to Neural Development. New York: Oxford University Press (1997). 345 p.

5. Abstract:

Garcia S, White R, Taylor J. An analysis of Koza's computational effort statistic for genetic programming. In: Foster JA, editor. Genetic Programming. EuroGP 2002: Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Genetic Programming; 2002 Apr 3–5; Kinsdale, Ireland. Berlin: Springer (2002). p. 182–91.

6. Website:

Smith J. E. coli (2018). https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/e-coli [Accessed March 15, 2018].

7. Patent:

Adams L, inventor; Biotech Innovations Inc., assignee. Flexible Endoscopic Grasping and Cutting Device and Positioning Tool Assembly. United States patent US 20020103498 (2002).

8. Data:

Taylor P, Martinez T, Carter J, Clark M. Data from: Massive sequencing of Ulms minor's transcriptome provides new molecular tools for a genus under the constant threat of Dutch elm disease. Dryad Digital Repository. (2015) http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.ps837