Author Guidelines

Overview of the Publication and Peer Review Process

Manuscripts that comply with the style guide and have appropriate content shall be sent for double-blind peer review. The TPS invites two to three experts to evaluate each manuscript on the contents, the methodology of the experiment, results, scientific merit, novelty, originality, organization, and clarity of language. Reviewers are selected by the editors. Anonymous copies of the reviews will be sent to the authors to facilitate the revision of their manuscript. Reviewers
recommend revisions to the manuscript and suggest whether a manuscript should be accepted, revised or rejected for publication. Authors should provide a response to each point mentioned by the reviewers. If you did not incorporate a comment suggested by a reviewer, please explain why. The editor may seek additional reviews of a resubmitted revised manuscript. The review process will be closed right away if none of the reviewers are recommending either the acceptance or further revision of the manuscript. However, the decision to accept or reject a manuscript for publication is the responsibility of the editor, not the reviewer. Peer review process may take up to six months.

To follow-up on the status of a submitted manuscript, please double check the submission link. Correspondence should be directed to the Associate Editor at editorphilsci@usc.edu.ph or at telephone +63 32 230 100 loc. 290.

Authors of accepted manuscript must submit a signed Transfer of Copyright agreement prior to the publication of their paper.

Submission of Manuscripts

Submission to TPS is free and open to everyone. The Corresponding Author should register on this site, and enroll as Author, before they can be author of a submission. As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission’s compliance with all the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

Submissions are to be sent via email to editorphilsci@usc.edu.ph and to be addressed to:
The Editor, The Philippine Scientist
University of San Carlos Publishing House
University of San Carlos Talamban Campus
Nasipit, Cebu city 6000 Philippines
Email: editorphilsci@usc.edu.ph

All submissions shall include the Submission Preparation Checklist. Please read the details of the following before submission:

1) Cover Letter (pdf format) from the corresponding author must contain the following:

a) why your manuscript satisfies the scope and nature of the TPS,
b) email addresses of all contributing authors, and
c) statement that your manuscript is currently not under consideration in other journals or
elsewhere for publication.

2) List of four possible reviewers (pdf format) from other institutions (i.e., the reviewers must not come from the same affiliation of the authors) and must contain the following: full name, affiliation, address, and email address.

3) Authors’ Contributions (pdf format) stating the specific contributions of each author in the work from conceptualization of the topic, research design, field and/or laboratory works, data analyses, drafting of the manuscript, revision of the manuscript, overall supervision of the work, and acquisition of research grant.

4) Ethics Approval must be provided as a requirement for peer review processing depending on what applies to your manuscript. This may include:

a) Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or equivalent committee, pursuant to the Philippine Republic Act 10631, in the care and use of live animals in research and teaching activities of the institution where the corresponding author is affiliated,
b) Gratuitous permit (or equivalent elsewhere) issued to any individual or entity engaged in non-commercial scientific or educational undertaking to collect wildlife pursuant to the Philippine Republic Act Number 9147 (Conservation and Protection of Wildlife Resources and their Habitats) or any equivalent permit, if outside of the Philippines, and
c) Research Ethics Committee (or equivalent elsewhere) clearance is issued for research involving human participants pursuant to the Philippine Republic Act Number 10532, otherwise known as the Philippine National Health Research System Act of 2013.

5) Full Manuscript (word.doc and pdf format)

The journal can have three types of journal manuscripts:

a) Research Article

Manuscripts with novel and relevant results in response to research questions should be written in English using Times New Roman 12 point font (except those using specialized symbols) and double spaced with 3 cm margins on all sides. References should not exceed 60. Every page of the manuscript including the title page, references, tables, etc. should be numbered at the upper right hand of the page. Continuous line numbering should be used throughout the manuscript text.

b) Reviews
These are summaries of developments in areas related to the scope of the journal, which are of broad interest to the target audience. These are submitted on the invitation of a member of the Editorial Board with a maximum of 80 references as a suggested best practice. Unsolicited proposals for review (< 1,000 words) should be sent to the Editor for evaluation and approval to proceed. Authors are advised to contact the Editorial Office before writing to ensure that a similar topic has not already been commissioned to another reviewer.

c) Research Notes
These are shorter manuscripts than research articles. The following standard format will be the most appropriate: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Conclusions or Discussion. Its total number of words is 2,000 with four combined figures and tables, and require due approval from the Editor.

Manuscripts in general should be organized in the following order:

First page – Title (should be clear, descriptive and not more than 30 words, including symbols and formulae), Name(s) of author(s) with complete postal address(es) of affiliations, full telephone and e-mail of the corresponding author present address(es) of author(s) if applicable, and complete correspondence address to which the proofs should be sent.

Second page – Abstract (double spaced and not to exceed 300 words) and Key Words (indexing terms, normally 3–6 key words in alphabetical order and should  characterize the scope of the paper).

Third and succeeding pages – Introduction, followed by Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion and Conclusion. After the body of the manuscript, continue with Acknowledgments, Literature Cited, Tables, Figures, and their respective Captions, if any.

Tables

1. Tables should be numbered with Arabic numerals according to their sequence in the text. The text should include references to all tables.
2. Each table should be written on a separate page of the manuscript and should not be included in the text. Authors may recommend in the text where a particular table should be inserted.
3. Each table should have a brief and self-explanatory caption at the top, including any additional explanation essential to the understanding of the table.
4. Column headings should be brief, but sufficiently satisfactory with standard abbreviations in SI units added between parentheses.

Figures
1. All figures should be submitted separately from the body of the text. Each figure should be printed on a separate page. Authors may recommend in the text where a particular figure should be inserted.
2. Illustrations (line drawings, molecular structures, and photographs) should be submitted as jpeg files of sufficient quality (~300 dpi) suitable for printing. Charts and graphs should be constructed in Microsoft Excel (or equivalent Open Source software) and may be submitted separately or embedded in a Word document.
3. Figures should be numbered with Arabic numerals according to their sequence in the text. References to each figure should be made in the text.
4. If a scale should be given, use bar scales on all illustrations instead of numerical scales that must be changed upon resizing.
5. Each figure should have a caption. Captions to all figures should be printed on a separatesheet of the manuscript.

References
1. All publications cited in the text should be presented in a list of references (Literature Cited) following the text of the manuscript. The manuscript should be carefully checked to ensure that the spelling of the author’s names and dates are exactly the same in the text as in the reference list.
2. In the text refer to the author’s name (without initials and comma) and year of publication. For example: “Results obtained by Malinao (2017) suggest….”
“This is in agreement with results obtained later (Bernil 2022) which….”
3. If reference is made in the text to a publication written by more than two authors the name of the first author should be used followed by “et al.” However, this indication should never be used in the list of references. In the list of references, names of the first author and all co-authors should be mentioned.
4. References cited together in the text should be arranged chronologically.
5. The list of references should be arranged alphabetically based on authors’ last names, and chronologically per author. If an author’s name in the list is also mentioned with co- authors the following order should be used: publications of the single author arranged according to publication dates, publications of the author with more than one co-author. Publications by the same author(s) in the same year should be listed as 2023a, 2023b, etc
6. Use the following system for listing literature cited:

a) For periodicals

Li X. 2023. Analysis of economic forecasting in the post-epidemic era: evidence from China. Sci Rep 13: 2696. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-19011-z.
Form of citation: Li (2023)

Harris A. 2021. Human molecular genetics and the long road to treating cystic fibrosis. Hum Mol Genet 30(R2): R264–R273. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddab191.
Form of citation: Harris (2021)

Berba CMP, Matias AMA. 2022. State of biodiversity documentation in the Philippines: Metadata gaps, taxonomic biases, and spatial biases in the DNA barcode data of animal and plant taxa in the context of species occurrence data. PeerJ 10: 313146. doi:10.7717/peerj.13146.
Form of citation: Berba & Matias (2022)

Tarrayo VN, Potestades RR, Ulla MB. 2021. Exploring the gender perspective in English Language Teaching (ELT): Voices from ELT practitioners in Philippine Higher Education Institutions. Sex Cult 25(5): 1634–1652. doi: 10.1007/s12119-021- 09840-x.
Form of citation: Steiner et al. (1992)

b) For edited symposia and special issues
Douglas SE. 1994. Chloroplast origins and evolution. In: Bryant DA, editor. The molecular biology of cyanobacteria. Kluwer, Dordrecht. 91–118.

Brown-Borg HM, Borg KE. 2020. A summary of the Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Symposium on the Neurobiology and Neuroendocrinology of Aging, Bregenz, Austria July 15-20, 2018. GeroScience 42(5): 1195–1198. doi: 10.1007/s11357- 020-00234-.

c) For books
Iwasa J, Marshall W. Karp’s cell and molecular biology. 9 th ed. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., USA.

Holmgren PK, Holmgren NH, Barnett LC. 1990. Index herbariorum, Pt. I: The herbaria of the world. 8 th ed. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY, USA.

d) For a chapter in an edited book
Gavito ME. 2007. Mycorrhizae and crop production in a world of rapid climate change: a warning call. In: Hamel C, Plenchette C, editors.  Mycorrhizae in crop production. Binghamton (NY): Haworth Food & Agricultural Products Press. 293-310.

e) For webpage
Pappas S. 2024. How strong can hurricanes get? Livescience. [accessed 2024 October 9]. https://www.livescience.com/32179-how-strong-can-a-hurricane-get.html.

f) Unpublished communications
Personal communications and abstracts or articles, which have been submitted but not yet accepted for publication, should not be listed in the references because they are not recoverable data. Personal communications include letters, emails, memos, messages from discussion lists, and electronic bulletin boards. Cite “personal communication” to the citation within the text to indicate the kind of information under discussion. Provide the initials and the surname of the scientist or expert and an exact date as possible.

Abbreviations
1. Abbreviate units of measurement when used only with numerals such as: h, min, s, wk, mo, yr, mm, cm, m, km, mg, g, kg, mL, µL, etcetera without periods.
2. Use % instead of percent. Designate temperature as 37 °C.
4. For names of months, use the first three letters without a period at the end such as Jan, Feb, and Mar.
5. Acronyms should be defined when they are used first.

Numbers: Spell out numbers one to ten unless a measurement (e.g., two birds, 3 m, 4 mo).

Dates: Day, month, and year are written as “8 Sep 2024”.

Formulae
1. Formulae should be written using Microsoft Word, if possible. Leave ample space around the formulae for clarity.
2. Subscripts and superscripts should be distinct.
3. Greek letters and other non-Latin symbols should be explained in the margin where they are first used. Take special care to show clearly the difference between zero (0) and the letter O, and between one (1) and the letter l.
4. Give the meaning of all symbols immediately after the equation in which they are first used.
5. For simple fractions use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line, e.g., I p /2 m . For complex fractions, a horizontal line may be used.
6. Levels of statistical significance which can be mentioned without further explanation are *p<0.5, **p< 0.01,and ***p < 0.001
7. In chemical formulae, valence of ions should be given, for example, as Ca²⁺ and CO₃^2– not as Ca⁺⁺or CO₃^{– –}.
8. Isotope numbers should precede the symbols, e.g., ¹⁸O.

Nomenclature
1. All animals, fungi, plants, protists, and microbes should be identified by their scientific names when the English term is first used, with the exception of common domestic animals.

2. For chemical nomenclature, the conventions of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the official recommendations of the IUPAC-IUB Combined Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature should be followed.

3. The authorities of scientific names should be given in accordance with the relevant code of nomenclature (i.e., for plants the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature [ICBN], for animals the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), and for bacteria the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria [ICNB]), when first used in the paper.

Proofs and Offprints

One set of proofs will be emailed to the corresponding author as given on the title page of manuscript. Only typesetter’s errors may be corrected; no significant changes in, or additions to, the edited manuscript will be allowed. The author will be allowed one week after receipt thereof to return the corrected proof to the editorial office. On failure to do so, the Editors reserve the right to correct the proofs and to edit the material for publication.

Some offprints of each article are supplied, free of charge, to the corresponding author, who is responsible for distributing them among the co-authors, if any.