Guide for Authors
Industrial Crops and Products is an International Journal publishing research on cultivated plants (crops) of industrial interest (non-food, non-feed). Papers concern both crop-oriented and bio-based materials research. It should be of interest to an international audience, hypothesis driven, and repeatable. Crops and products of interest include: fiber, forest, and energy crops, industrial oilseeds, rubber and resins, and cultivated medicinal and aromatic plants. The plant(s) in the manuscript must fit our definition of industrial crops, before it is classified further in research topics as indicated below.
Research on food, phytochemistry, ethnobotany, and medicine are not in the scope of the journal.
Authors should make clear in the cover letter how the research fits our scope following the detailed scope description below.
The following are examples of research that fits within the scope of the journal:
Industrial crop management practices to increase productivity and specific chemical components. Including cultural practices (sowing, plant density, fertilization, pruning, shading, management of wild stands for sustainable harvest, pests and weed management, harvest, post-harvest, etc.)
Breeding and genetics of cultivated industrial crops. The research must be of international interest and hypothesis driven. The research must be of value to other breeders and the germplasm developed must be available to other researchers for further genetic improvement
Response of cultivated industrial crops to abiotic (temperature, water, salinity, pH, heavy metals, etc.) and biotic stresses (insects, diseases, weeds).
Sustainable cropping systems including an industrial crop to reduce negative environmental impacts of conventional cropping systems. For example, cultivation in marginal lands, intercropping, double or relay cropping, cover cropping or other systems intended to minimize soil erosion, eutrophication, greenhouse gases emissions, loss of biodiversity, etc.
New techniques for the propagation of industrial crops or production of metabolites in vitro (root and tissue culture, micropropagation).
Discovery or development of new industrial crops is in the scope, but must include an evaluation of the real potential to make a plant an industrial crop, not just information on plants gathered in natural habitats (many plants make products, but they will not become a crop). An economic analysis may be included as appropriate.
Extraction methods of metabolites from industrial crops and waste streams of industrial crops processing (non-food related).
Biochemical and thermochemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass.
Bio-based materials:
Fiber and fiber compounds: cellulose-, hemicelluloses-and lignin-based products, textiles, nanofibers, composites, films, etc.
Other crop-polysaccharides based materials such as carbohydrates and proteins-based products not intended for the food industry (adhesives, varnishes, paints, etc.)
Rubber, waxes, resins, gums from crops
Polymers from crops
Crop and forestry biorefinery:
Energy crops: fuel (bioethanol, biogas, syngas), biochar, chemicals, etc.
Oils, fatty acids, biofuels (biodiesel, jet fuel, drop-in fuels), and chemicals derived from oilseed crops
Biologically active compounds:
Insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and pharmaceuticals (the species has to fit our definition of industrial crop; cultivated plants or plants with demonstrated potential to be cultivated with non-food purposes)
Essential oils: inks, dyes, lubricants, perfumes, cosmetics, plastics, and other industrial applications
Bio-based products must be tied to specific crops/plants, and their modification to meet new industrial uses. For instance, for nanoparticles, a direct link is required with an industrial crop or with the respective value-chain
In the manuscript, all species must include the Latin name and Authority, the first time the species is mentioned in the abstract or text
Research not in the scope of the journal:
Field or horticultural crops and products which main use is food, functional food, or nutraceutical. Some crops might have both an industrial and food use. For example rapeseed (Brassica napus L.), if the work is directed to industrial rapeseed (biodiesel, jet fuel) fits the scope; but if it is a canola type with main use as food; then is not in the scope, same for other oilseeds (sunflower, safflower), sugar crops( sugarcane, sugarbeet), and others
Non-plant research or non-plant derived products, for instance animal, algae, fungi, microorganisms, and minerals. For example: honey, propolis, chitosan, graphene, etc. are not in the scope
Genetic, phytochemical, molecular characterization or screening of plant species collected in their natural habitat or a local set of genotypes of a species with or without potential to become a cultivated industrial crop
In vitro antioxidant activity characterization with indirect methods (DPPH, ABTS, FRAP or ORAC) of plants or plant parts without proof of biological activity. Antioxidant activity is present in all plants and thus is meaningless without additional data
Edible films and food/feed related antioxidant activity
Ethnobotany, ethnopharmacology, pharmacology, and phytochemistry
Development of analytical methods of metabolites
Valorization and metabolite extraction of waste streams from food industry (peels, seeds, pomace, coffee grounds, vegetables processing, etc.)
Types of paper
Original research papers (regular papers)
Review articles
Short Communications
Book Reviews
Original research papers should report the results of original research. The material should not have been previously published elsewhere, except in a preliminary form.
Review articles that fit in the scope of the journal can be submitted online without previous clearance from editors-in-chief but with the following additional information:
Review articles should be novel critical appraisals of the subject. We welcome reviews but authors should submit the review article together with a cover letter to outline the novelty of the review, why is this review timely and necessary should be mentioned, and the corresponding author's list of publications related on this topic (Web of Science Indexed). The review should include table of contents of the article. Editors-in-chief will assess if the review meets the requirements before proceeding to invite reviewers
A Short Communication is a concise but complete description of a limited investigation, which will not be included in a later paper. Short Communications should be as completely documented, both by reference to the literature and description of the experimental procedures employed, as a regular paper. They should not occupy more than 4 printed pages (about 8 manuscript pages, including figures, tables and references).
Submission checklist
You can use this list to carry out a final check of your submission before you send it to the journal for review. Please check the relevant section in this Guide for Authors for more details.
Ensure that the following items are present:
One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:
• E-mail address
• Full postal address
All necessary files have been uploaded:
Manuscript:
• Include keywords
• All figures (include relevant captions)
• All tables (including titles, description, footnotes)
• Ensure all figure and table citations in the text match the files provided
• Indicate clearly if color should be used for any figures in print
Graphical Abstracts / Highlights files (where applicable)
Supplemental files (where applicable)
Further considerations
• Manuscript has been 'spell checked' and 'grammar checked'
• All references mentioned in the Reference List are cited in the text, and vice versa
• Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Internet)
• A competing interests statement is provided, even if the authors have no competing interests to declare
• Journal policies detailed in this guide have been reviewed
• Referee suggestions and contact details provided, based on journal requirements
Ethics in publishing
Please see our information on Ethics in publishing.
Declaration of competing interest
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Authors should create a declaration of competing interest statement using this tool and upload to the submission system at the Attach Files step. Note: Please do not convert the .docx template to another file type. Author signatures are not required.
Submission declaration and verification
Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract, a published lecture or academic thesis, see 'Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication' for more information), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder. To verify originality, your article may be checked by the originality detection service Crossref Similarity Check.
Preprints
Please note that preprints can be shared anywhere at any time, in line with Elsevier's sharing policy. Sharing your preprints e.g. on a preprint server will not count as prior publication (see 'Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication' for more information).
Use of inclusive language
Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities. Content should make no assumptions about the beliefs or commitments of any reader; contain nothing which might imply that one individual is superior to another on the grounds of age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition; and use inclusive language throughout. Authors should ensure that writing is free from bias, stereotypes, slang, reference to dominant culture and/or cultural assumptions. We advise to seek gender neutrality by using plural nouns ("clinicians, patients/clients") as default/wherever possible to avoid using "he, she," or "he/she." We recommend avoiding the use of descriptors that refer to personal attributes such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition unless they are relevant and valid. These guidelines are meant as a point of reference to help identify appropriate language but are by no means exhaustive or definitive.
Author contributions
For transparency, we encourage authors to submit an author statement file outlining their individual contributions to the paper using the relevant CRediT roles: Conceptualization; Data curation; Formal analysis; Funding acquisition; Investigation; Methodology; Project administration; Resources; Software; Supervision; Validation; Visualization; Roles/Writing - original draft; Writing - review & editing. Authorship statements should be formatted with the names of authors first and CRediT role(s) following. More details and an example
Changes to authorship
Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. To request such a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason for the change in author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed.
Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publication of the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue, any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.
Article transfer service
This journal is part of our Article Transfer Service. This means that if the Editor feels your article is more suitable in one of our other participating journals, then you may be asked to consider transferring the article to one of those. If you agree, your article will be transferred automatically on your behalf with no need to reformat. Please note that your article will be reviewed again by the new journal. More information.
Copyright
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (see more information on this). An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this agreement.
Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution and for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article. Elsevier has preprinted forms for use by authors in these cases.
For gold open access articles: Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'License Agreement' (more information). Permitted third party reuse of gold open access articles is determined by the author's choice of user license.
Author rights
As an author you (or your employer or institution) have certain rights to reuse your work. More information.
Elsevier supports responsible sharing
Find out how you can share your research published in Elsevier journals.
Role of the funding source
You are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement then this should be stated.
Open access
Please visit our Open Access page for more information.
Elsevier Researcher Academy
Researcher Academy is a free e-learning platform designed to support early and mid-career researchers throughout their research journey. The "Learn" environment at Researcher Academy offers several interactive modules, webinars, downloadable guides and resources to guide you through the process of writing for research and going through peer review. Feel free to use these free resources to improve your submission and navigate the publication process with ease.
Language (usage and editing services)
Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). Authors who feel their English language manuscript may require editing to eliminate possible grammatical or spelling errors and to conform to correct scientific English may wish to use the English Language Editing service available from Elsevier's Author Services.
Submission
Our online submission system guides you stepwise through the process of entering your article details and uploading your files. The system converts your article files to a single PDF file used in the peer-review process. Editable files (e.g., Word, LaTeX) are required to typeset your article for final publication. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, is sent by e-mail.
Submit your article
Please submit your article via https://www.editorialmanager.com/INDCRO/default.aspx
Peer review
This journal operates a single anonymized review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor's decision is final. Editors are not involved in decisions about papers which they have written themselves or have been written by family members or colleagues or which relate to products or services in which the editor has an interest. Any such submission is subject to all of the journal's usual procedures, with peer review handled independently of the relevant editor and their research groups. More information on types of peer review.
Use of wordprocessing software
It is important that the file be saved in the native format of the wordprocessor used. The text should be in single-column format. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. In particular, do not use the wordprocessor's options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc. Do not embed "graphically designed" equations or tables, but prepare these using the wordprocessor's facility. When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each individual table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs, not spaces, to align columns. The electronic text should be prepared in a way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts (see also the Guide to Publishing with Elsevier: https://www.elsevier.com/guidepublication). Do not import the figures into the text file but, instead, indicate their approximate locations directly in the electronic text and on the manuscript. See also the section on Electronic illustrations. Lines should be double-spaced and every line and page should be numbered.
To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the "spell-check" and "grammar-check" functions of your wordprocessor.
Article structure
Subdivision - numbered sections
Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ...), 1.2, etc. (the abstract is not included in section numbering). Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to 'the text'. Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line.
Introduction
State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.
Material and methods
Provide sufficient details to allow the work to be reproduced by an independent researcher. Methods that are already published should be summarized, and indicated by a reference. If quoting directly from a previously published method, use quotation marks and also cite the source. Any modifications to existing methods should also be described.
Results
Results should be clear and concise.
Discussion
This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.
Conclusions
The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.
Appendices
If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc. Formulae and equations in appendices should be given separate numbering: Eq. (A.1), Eq. (A.2), etc.; in a subsequent appendix, Eq. (B.1) and so on. Similarly for tables and figures: Table A.1; Fig. A.1, etc.
Essential title page information
• Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
• Author names and affiliations. Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled. You can add your name between parentheses in your own script behind the English transliteration. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.
• Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. This responsibility includes answering any future queries about Methodology and Materials. Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author.
• Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.
Highlights
Highlights are mandatory for this journal as they help increase the discoverability of your article via search engines. They consist of a short collection of bullet points that capture the novel results of your research as well as new methods that were used during the study (if any). Please have a look at the examples here: example Highlights.
Highlights should be submitted in a separate editable file in the online submission system. Please use 'Highlights' in the file name and include 3 to 5 bullet points (maximum 85 characters, including spaces, per bullet point).
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