Instructions for Authors

 

The Academic Science Journal (ASJ) welcomes high-quality manuscripts in the fields of pure and applied sciences. Authors are required to prepare and submit their manuscripts according to the following instructions. Manuscripts that do not comply with the journal’s scope, formatting requirements, ethical standards, or submission guidelines may be returned to the authors before peer review.

Types of Manuscripts

ASJ accepts the following types of manuscripts:

• Original Research Articles
• Review Articles
• Short Communications
• Editorials
• Letters to the Editor

All submitted manuscripts must be original, scientifically sound, clearly written, and relevant to the scope of the journal.

Editorial and Peer Review Procedure

All submitted manuscripts are initially screened by the editorial office to ensure compliance with the journal’s scope, formatting requirements, ethical standards, and basic scientific quality.

Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are sent for double-blind peer review, in which the identities of both authors and reviewers are kept confidential. The journal normally seeks reports from at least two qualified reviewers with expertise in the relevant field.

Based on the reviewers’ comments and the editorial assessment, the manuscript may be accepted, accepted with minor revisions, returned for major revisions, invited for resubmission after substantial improvement, or rejected.

The final decision on publication is made by the Editor-in-Chief or the assigned editor according to the scientific merit of the manuscript, reviewers’ recommendations, ethical compliance, and the journal’s editorial standards.

Manuscript Submission

Manuscripts should be submitted through the journal’s online submission system whenever available. If technical difficulties occur, authors may contact the editorial office at:

acad.sci.j@uodiyala.edu.iq

The corresponding author is responsible for submitting the manuscript and for communicating with the journal during the editorial and publication process.

Cover Letter

The corresponding author must submit a cover letter confirming the following:

1. The manuscript has not been published previously.
2. The manuscript is not under consideration by another journal.
3. All authors have approved the submitted version of the manuscript.
4. The manuscript has been approved by the responsible institution or authority where the work was carried out, where applicable.
5. The manuscript is original and does not contain plagiarism, fabricated data, falsified results, or any form of academic misconduct.
6. Any potential conflicts of interest have been disclosed.
7. The authors briefly explain the novelty, significance, and main contribution of the manuscript.

The cover letter should be concise and should clearly state why the manuscript is suitable for publication in ASJ.

Authorship Statement and Copyright/Licensing Forms

All authors must approve the final version of the manuscript before submission. The corresponding author must ensure that all eligible authors are included and that no inappropriate authors are listed.

Authors may be required to submit an authorship statement and any publication forms requested by the journal. Since ASJ publishes articles under an open-access license, copyright and licensing information must be consistent with the journal’s Open Access and Copyright Policy.

Manuscript Organization

Manuscripts should be prepared using Microsoft Word 2016 or a later version and submitted in .docx format.

The manuscript should be arranged in the following order:

1. Title Page
2. Abstract
3. Keywords
4. Introduction
5. Materials and Methods / Methodology
6. Results
7. Discussion
8. Conclusion
9. Funding Statement
10. Conflict of Interest Statement
11. Ethics Approval Statement, where applicable
12. Data Availability Statement, where applicable
13. Acknowledgments, where applicable
14. Abbreviations, where applicable
15. References

Depending on the nature of the study, the Results and Discussion sections may be combined if this improves clarity.

Title Page

The title page should include:

1. A concise and informative title.
2. Full names of all authors.
3. Affiliations and addresses of all authors.
4. E-mail address of the corresponding author.
5. Telephone number of the corresponding author, where required.
6. ORCID iD of each author, where available.
7. The name of the corresponding author clearly indicated.

Abstract

The abstract should be between 150 and 250 words. It should briefly describe the background, objective, methods, main results, and conclusion of the study.

The abstract should be written as a single paragraph and should not contain undefined abbreviations, citations, tables, figures, or equations.

Keywords

Authors should provide 4 to 6 keywords that accurately reflect the content of the manuscript and support indexing and discoverability.

Text Formatting

Authors should follow these formatting requirements:

1. Use Microsoft Word format.
2. Use Times New Roman font.
3. Use 14-point bold font for main headings.
4. Use 12-point bold font for subheadings.
5. Use 12-point regular font for the main text.
6. Use automatic page numbering.
7. Do not use field functions.
8. Use tab stops or paragraph settings for indentation; do not use repeated spaces.
9. Use the table function to prepare tables; do not insert tables as images unless necessary.
10. Use Microsoft Word Equation Editor or MathType for equations.
11. Save the file in .docx format.

Headings and subheadings should be clear, consistent, and numbered according to the journal template if required.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations should be defined at first mention and used consistently throughout the manuscript. Authors should avoid unnecessary abbreviations.

Scientific Style and Units

Authors should use internationally accepted scientific terminology, symbols, and units. SI units should be used wherever applicable.

Mathematical symbols, formulae, and technical terms must be clearly defined. Equations should be numbered consecutively and cited in the text where appropriate.

Tables

Tables should be prepared according to the following guidelines:

1. Tables must be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals.
2. Each table must be cited in the text in numerical order.
3. Each table should have a clear and concise caption.
4. Tables should be editable and should not be submitted as images.
5. Footnotes to tables should be placed below the table body.
6. Previously published material must be properly cited in the table caption, and permission must be obtained where required.
7. Table formatting should be clear, consistent, and readable.

Figures

Figures should be prepared according to the following guidelines:

1. Figures must be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals.
2. Each figure must be cited in the text in numerical order.
3. Figure parts should be labelled using lowercase letters, such as (a), (b), and (c).
4. Each figure should have a clear and accurate caption.
5. All symbols, abbreviations, and graphical elements should be explained in the caption or within the figure.
6. Figures should be of high resolution and suitable for publication.
7. Previously published figures or images must be properly cited, and permission must be obtained where required.

References and Citations

References must be cited in the text using numbers in square brackets, for example:

• This method has been widely used in previous studies [1].
• Similar findings were reported by Ali and Salman [5].
• Several studies have investigated this issue [1–3, 7].

The reference list should include only works cited in the manuscript. References should be numbered consecutively according to their first appearance in the text.

Authors are responsible for ensuring the accuracy and completeness of all references, including author names, article titles, journal titles, volume, issue, page numbers, year, DOI, and URLs where applicable.

Authors should use the standard abbreviation of journal names according to the ISSN List of Title Word Abbreviations where applicable.

Where available, DOI links should be provided for references.

Examples of Reference Style

Journal Article

Initials. Surname, Initials. Surname, Article title, Journal Title Abbreviation, Volume number, Page range, Year. DOI

Book

Initials. Surname, Initials. Surname, Book Title, Edition, Publisher, City, Year, Page range.

Book Chapter

Initials. Surname, Chapter title, in Book Title, edited by Initials. Surname, Publisher, City, Year, Page range.

Thesis

Initials. Surname, Title of Thesis, Ph.D. Thesis or M.Sc. Thesis, University, City, Country, Year.

Conference Paper

Initials. Surname, Title of paper, in Conference Name, Date, Location, Page range, Year.

Online Source

Initials. Surname or Organization Name, Title of document, Website or Publisher, Year. Available at: URL. Accessed: Day Month Year.

English Language

Manuscripts must be written in clear and understandable English. Authors are responsible for ensuring that the manuscript is linguistically suitable for peer review.

Authors may seek assistance from a qualified colleague, a professional editing service, or another reliable language-editing source. The use of a language-editing service does not guarantee acceptance or peer review.

Accepted manuscripts may be subject to copyediting to improve clarity, consistency, and formal presentation.

Similarity Check and Plagiarism

All submitted manuscripts are screened for similarity using recognized similarity-checking software, such as iThenticate/Crossref Similarity Check or other approved tools.

The similarity report is used as an editorial screening tool. A similarity index should normally not exceed the journal’s accepted threshold; however, the editorial board evaluates each case according to the nature, source, and distribution of similarity.

Manuscripts containing plagiarism, duplicate publication, inappropriate text recycling, fabricated data, falsified results, or any form of academic misconduct may be rejected at any stage. If misconduct is discovered after publication, the journal may issue a correction, expression of concern, or retraction, depending on the severity of the case.

Ethical Approval

Studies involving human participants, animals, biological materials, clinical data, personal data, or any sensitive information must include an appropriate ethics approval statement, where applicable.

Authors must confirm that the study was conducted in accordance with relevant institutional, national, and international ethical standards.

If ethical approval is not required, authors should state this clearly and provide the reason where appropriate.

Conflict of Interest

Authors must disclose any financial, institutional, personal, or professional conflicts of interest that could influence, or appear to influence, the submitted work.

If there are no conflicts of interest, authors should include the following statement:

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Funding Statement

Authors must disclose all sources of funding that supported the research. If no funding was received, authors should include the following statement:

This research received no external funding.

Data Availability

Authors should provide a data availability statement where applicable. The statement should clarify whether the data supporting the findings of the study are available, restricted, or not applicable.

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments should be included in a separate section before the references. Authors may acknowledge individuals, institutions, laboratories, or organizations that contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship.

Funding organizations should be written in full.

Disclaimer

The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in published articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Academic Science Journal, the College of Science, or the University of Diyala. The journal and publisher are not responsible for the use or misuse of information published in the journal.

Correspondence

Academic Science Journal
College of Science
University of Diyala
Baqubah, Diyala, Iraq

E-mail: acad.sci.j@uodiyala.edu.iq