Preparing Your Manuscript

This guide explains how to prepare each part of your manuscript so that it can be reviewed and published efficiently. It follows practice recommended by leading open-access publishers and by the reporting and integrity standards recognised across the agricultural and food sciences. Following it closely improves the clarity of your work, speeds up review and reduces the chance of your manuscript being returned before assessment.

Before you start

Confirm that your manuscript fits the journal’s Aims & Scope; that it is original and neither published nor under consideration elsewhere; that all authors have approved it; and that you can provide the declarations described in Ethics and Disclosures. Prepare your manuscript with the DAFS template and the required citation style. Assemble your files as a single editable manuscript (text, references, tables and figure captions), with figures supplied either in the manuscript for review or as separate high-resolution files, plus any supplementary material.

Language and writing style

Write in clear, correct and concise English, using either British or American spelling consistently throughout. Prefer plain, direct sentences; use the active voice where it aids clarity; and keep paragraphs focused on a single idea. Define every abbreviation at first use and use it consistently thereafter. Avoid unnecessary jargon, and use accurate, respectful and inclusive language when describing people, communities, farming systems and study populations. If English is not your first language, consider professional language editing before submission; language quality does not affect the editorial decision, which is based on the scientific merit of the work.

File format and general layout

Prepare the manuscript in an editable word-processing format:

Manuscript structure at a glance

Assemble the manuscript in the following order. Each element is described in detail below.

Title page

The title page should contain:

Because review is single-blind, you do not need to prepare an anonymised manuscript; author details remain in the manuscript.

Abstract

Provide a self-contained abstract of about 150–250 words that can be read and understood on its own. It should briefly state the purpose or research question, the materials and methods, the principal results (with key quantitative findings where possible) and the main conclusion and its significance. Do not include citations, undefined abbreviations, or figures and tables. Some article types may use a structured abstract with labelled sections (for example Background, Methods, Results and Conclusions); use this format where it suits your study.

Keywords

Supply 4–6 keywords that describe the content for indexing and discovery. Choose established terms from your field, avoid simply repeating words already in the title, and separate the keywords with commas.

Main text

Empirical papers should normally follow the IMRaD structure. Use numbered headings (for example 1, 1.1, 1.1.1) to a maximum of three levels. Reviews, methodological papers and other article types may adapt this structure to suit their content.

Introduction

Set out the background and rationale, drawing on the relevant literature without attempting an exhaustive review. Identify the gap, problem or question the study addresses, state the aim, objectives or hypotheses, and make clear the contribution and significance of the work to agricultural or food science.

Materials and Methods

Describe what you did in enough detail for a competent researcher to evaluate and, where relevant, reproduce the work. Report the study site and period; the experimental or sampling design (for example a randomised complete block or factorial design), with the number of replicates and the experimental unit; the plant materials, cultivars, animal breeds, organisms, soils, samples or datasets used, with sources; the treatments and procedures; and the equipment, reagents and analytical methods, with suppliers and models where relevant. Specify the software used, with versions. Where an ethics, safety or biosecurity approval applies, state the approving body and reference number, and cross-refer to Ethics and Disclosures.

Statistics and data analysis

Report the statistical methods clearly: the design and model, the tests used and why they are appropriate, any assumptions checked, the significance threshold, and the method of means separation where relevant. Give exact p-values where possible, report effect sizes and measures of variability or uncertainty (such as standard errors or confidence intervals), and state the number of replicates or sample size and, where relevant, how it was determined. Describe how missing data and outliers were handled, and name the statistical software and version.

Results

Present the findings in a logical order, using text supported by tables and figures. Do not duplicate the same data in both a table and a figure, and do not repeat extensively in the text what is already clear from a display item. Report results objectively, including negative or unexpected findings, and reserve interpretation for the Discussion.

Discussion

Interpret the results in the context of the research question and the existing literature, without restating the results in full. Explain what the findings mean, how they relate to and extend previous work, and their agronomic, technological, environmental, nutritional, economic or policy implications. State the limitations of the study honestly, and avoid claims that the data do not support.

Conclusions

Provide a concise conclusion that captures the main message of the work and, where appropriate, its practical implications and directions for future research. Conclusions may form the final part of the Discussion or a separate short section.

Abbreviations, units, nomenclature and equations

Consistent, standard notation helps readers and indexers:

Reporting standards and study registration

Where an established reporting guideline applies to your design, follow it and cite it in the Methods — for example PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and ARRIVE for research involving animals. Describe field and laboratory experiments in enough detail (design, replication, randomisation and environmental conditions) to allow evaluation and replication.

Tables

Prepare tables so that they are clear and editable:

Figures and image integrity

Well-prepared figures are essential to a clear article:

Supplementary and multimedia material

You may provide supplementary files that support but are not essential to understanding the main article — for example additional tables and figures, protocols, questionnaires, datasets, code, or video and audio. Cite each item in the text (for example “Supplementary Table S1”), give each a short title and caption, and supply it in a widely supported format. Research data should be shared in a repository as described in Ethics and Disclosures wherever possible.

References and citations

Cite the literature accurately and completely:

Declarations and back matter

Place the following declarations after the main text and before the references, stating “None” or “Not applicable” where appropriate but omitting none. Full guidance is given on the Ethics and Disclosures page.

Author biographies and ORCID

Provide an ORCID iD for the corresponding author and, ideally, for all authors.

Final checks before submission

Before you submit, run through the Submission Checklist to confirm that your manuscript is complete, correctly formatted and accompanied by all declarations, and that every table, figure and reference is cited and consistent.