Instructions for authors
About the Journal
Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section A - Animal Science is an international, peer-reviewed journal publishing high-quality, original research. Please see the journal's Aims & Scope for information about its focus and peer-review policy.
Please note that this journal only publishes manuscripts in English.
Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section A - Animal Science accepts the following types of article:
Original articles
Book review
Editorial
Review articles: can be accepted and will follow the same review policy as manuscripts presenting original research.
Short communication: not more than 2,200 words or the equivalent space in print and without a summary can be published.
Letter to the editor: these are reserved for comments on articles recently published in the journal and are not edited except for necessary language corrections. They should not exceed 600 words.
Supplements: longer articles or proceedings can be published in a series of consecutively numbere supplements according to special agreement with the editorial office. (The purchaser bears all costs for supplements.) These are distributed to subscribers without additional charges.
Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section A - Animal Sciences considers all manuscripts on the strict condition that
the manuscript is your own original work, and does not duplicate any other previously published work, including your own previously published work.
the manuscript has been submitted only to Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section A - Animal Sciences; it is not under consideration or peer review or accepted for publication or in press or published elsewhere.
the manuscript contains nothing that is abusive, defamatory, libellous, obscene, fraudulent, or illegal.
Please note that Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section A - Animal Sciences uses CrossCheck™ software to screen manuscripts for unoriginal material. By submitting your manuscript to Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section A - Animal Sciences you are agreeing to any necessary originality checks your manuscript may have to undergo during the peer-review and production processes. Any author who fails to adhere to the above conditions will be charged with costs which Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section A - Animal Sciences incurs for their manuscript at the discretion of Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section A - Animal Science’s Editors and Taylor & Francis, and their manuscript will be rejected.
Open Access
You have the option to publish open access in this journal via our Open Select publishing program. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership and impact of your research. Articles published Open Select with Taylor & Francis typically receive 32% more citations* and over 6 times as many downloads** compared to those that are not published Open Select.
Your research funder or your institution may require you to publish your article open access. Visit our Author Services website to find out more about open access policies and how you can comply with these.
You will be asked to pay an article publishing charge (APC) to make your article open access and this cost can often be covered by your institution or funder. Use our APC finder to view the APC for this journal.
Please visit our Author Services website or contact openaccess@tandf.co.uk if you would like more information about our Open Select Program.
*Citations received up to Jan 31st 2020 for articles published in 2015-2019 in journals listed in Web of Science®.
**Usage in 2017-2019 for articles published in 2015-2019.
Peer Review and Ethics
Taylor & Francis is committed to peer-review integrity and upholding the highest standards of review. Once your paper has been assessed for suitability by the editor, it will then be single blind peer reviewed by independent, anonymous expert referees. Find out more about what to expect during peer review and read our guidance on publishing ethics.
Preparing Your Paper
Structure
Your paper should be compiled in the following order: title page; abstract; keywords; main text introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion; acknowledgments; declaration of interest statement; references; appendices (as appropriate); table(s) with caption(s) (on individual pages); figures; figure captions (as a list).
The Introduction should provide a general orientation of the subject and present reasons for and aims of the study. Concisely written. Text references should be written: Smith & Jones (2008) or Hansson et al. (2009) if more than two authors are used (Smith & Jones, 2008; Hansson et al. 2009). References should be cited chronologically. Materials and methods must provide sufficient information to permit exact replication of experimental work or statistical analysis. Results should be clear, concise, and as objective as possible. No discussion of the results is permitted in this section. Indicate in the left-hand margin the approximate position of figures and tables. Discussion should not repeat results, but in a logical way interprete the main results with reference to relevant figures, tables and references. The discussion should be concisely written and as brief as possible. In some cases Results and Discussion may be combined in one section.
Word Limits
A typical manuscript will not exceed 6000 words including tables, references, captions, footnotes and endnotes. Manuscripts that greatly exceed this will be critically reviewed with respect to length. Authors should include a word count with their manuscript.
Style Guidelines
Please refer to these quick style guidelines when preparing your paper, rather than any published articles or a sample copy.
Please use British (-ize) spelling style consistently throughout your manuscript.
Please use single quotation marks, except where ‘a quotation is “within” a quotation’. Please note that long quotations should be indented without quotation marks.
Formatting and Templates
Papers may be submitted in Word format. Figures should be saved separately from the text. To assist you in preparing your paper, we provide formatting template(s).
Word templates are available for this journal. Please save the template to your hard drive, ready for use.
If you are not able to use the template via the links (or if you have any other template queries) please contact us here.
Author names: Always use initials for author names (e.g. A. G. Chacko 1, G. Chacko 2 and M. S. Seshadri 3)
References
Please follow the examples below when preparing your paper:
Standard journal article:
Turner, R. J. & Lloyd, D. A. (1995) Lifetime traumas and mental health: The significance of cumulative adversity. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 36, 360–376.
Lebret, B. (2008). Effects of feeding and rearing systems on growth, carcass composition and meat quality traits in pigs. Animal, 2, 1548-1558.
Book:
Bernard, H. R. (1988) Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology (London: Sage Publications).
Alaszewski, A., Harrison, L. & Manthorpe, J. (eds.) (1998) Risk, Health and Welfare (Buckingham: Open University Press).
Book chapter:
Slovic, P., Fischoff, B. & Lichtenstein, S. (1980) Facts and fears: Understanding perceived risk. In R. Schwine & W. Albers (eds.) Societal Risk Assessment (New York: Plenum Press), pp. 181–214.
Rekdal, Y., Garmo, T.H. & Steinheim, G. (2000). Vurdering av beitekapasitet i utmark (Evaluation of grazing capacity in natural pastures). In E. Kaurstad (ed.) Husdyrforsøksmøtet 2000 (Ås: Agricultural University of Norway), pp. 281-284. ISBN: 82-7479-008-1. (in Norwegian).
Online article:
International Clinical Epidemiology Network (2001) Adolescent health. Accessed 1 August 2003, available at: http://www.inclen.org/research/ah.html
Newspaper article:
Schwartz, J. (1993). Obesity affects economic, social status. The Washington Post, September 30, pp. A1, A4, A6–A9.
Conference paper:
Lanktree, C. & Briere, J. (1991). Early data on the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSC-C). Paper presented at the meeting of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, January 17–19, San Diego, CA.
Report:
Broadhurst, R. G. & Maller, R. A. (1991). Sex offending and recidivism. Technical Report No. 3. Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia, Crime Research Centre.
Thesis:
Bower, D. L. (1990). Employee assistant programs supervisory referrals: Characteristics of referring and nonreferring supervisors. Doctoral dissertation, Cornell University, 1990.
Taylor & Francis Editing Services
To help you improve your manuscript and prepare it for submission, Taylor & Francis provides a range of editing services. Choose from options such as English Language Editing, which will ensure that your article is free of spelling and grammar errors, Translation, and Artwork Preparation. For more information, including pricing, visit this website.
Checklist: What to Include
Author details. All authors of a manuscript should include their full name and affiliation on the cover page of the manuscript. Where available, please also include ORCiDs and social media handles (Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn). One author will need to be identified as the corresponding author, with their email address normally displayed in the article PDF (depending on the journal) and the online article. Authors’ affiliations are the affiliations where the research was conducted. If any of the named co-authors moves affiliation during the peer-review process, the new affiliation can be given as a footnote. Please note that no changes to affiliation can be made after your paper is accepted. Read more on authorship.
Should contain an unstructured abstract of 150 words.
You can opt to include a video abstract with your article. Find out how these can help your work reach a wider audience, and what to think about when filming.
Between 3 and 10 keywords. Read making your article more discoverable, including information on choosing a title and search engine optimization.
Funding details. Please supply all details required by your funding and grant-awarding bodies as follows:
For single agency grants
This work was supported by the [Funding Agency] under Grant [number xxxx].
For multiple agency grants
This work was supported by the [Funding Agency #1] under Grant [number xxxx]; [Funding Agency #2] under Grant [number xxxx]; and [Funding Agency #3] under Grant [number xxxx].
Disclosure statement. This is to acknowledge any financial interest or benefit that has arisen from the direct applications of your research. Further guidance on what is a conflict of interest and how to disclose it.
Data availability statement. If there is a data set associated with the paper, please provide information about where the data supporting the results or analyses presented in the paper can be found. Where applicable, this should include the hyperlink, DOI or other persistent identifier associated with the data set(s). Templates are also available to support authors.
Data deposition. If you choose to share or make the data underlying the study open, please deposit your data in a recognized data repository prior to or at the time of submission. You will be asked to provide the DOI, pre-reserved DOI, or other persistent identifier for the data set.
Supplemental online material. Supplemental material can be a video, dataset, fileset, sound file or anything which supports (and is pertinent to) your paper. We publish supplemental material online via Figshare. Find out more about supplemental material and how to submit it with your article.
Figures. Figures should be high quality (1200 dpi for line art, 600 dpi for grayscale and 300 dpi for colour, at the correct size). Figures should be supplied in one of our preferred file formats: EPS, PS, JPEG, TIFF, or Microsoft Word (DOC or DOCX) files are acceptable for figures that have been drawn in Word. For information relating to other file types, please consult our Submission of electronic artwork document.
Tables. Tables should present new information rather than duplicating what is in the text. Readers should be able to interpret the table without reference to the text. Please supply editable files.
Equations. If you are submitting your manuscript as a Word document, please ensure that equations are editable. More information about mathematical symbols and equations.
Units. Please use SI units (non-italicized).
Using Third-Party Material in your Paper
You must obtain the necessary permission to reuse third-party material in your article. The use of short extracts of text and some other types of material is usually permitted, on a limited basis, for the purposes of criticism and review without securing formal permission. If you wish to include any material in your paper for which you do not hold copyright, and which is not covered by this informal agreement, you will need to obtain written permission from the copyright owner prior to submission. More information on requesting permission to reproduce work(s) under copyright.
Submitting Your Paper
This journal uses ScholarOne Manuscripts to manage the peer-review process. If you haven't submitted a paper to this journal before, you will need to create an account in ScholarOne. Please read the guidelines above and then submit your paper in the relevant Author Centre, where you will find user guides and a helpdesk.
Please note that Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section A ? Animal Science uses Crossref™ to screen papers for unoriginal material. By submitting your paper to Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section A ? Animal Science you are agreeing to originality checks during the peer-review and production processes.
On acceptance, we recommend that you keep a copy of your Accepted Manuscript. Find out more about sharing your work.
Data Sharing Policy
This journal applies the Taylor & Francis Basic Data Sharing Policy. Authors are encouraged to share or make open the data supporting the results or analyses presented in their paper where this does not violate the protection of human subjects or other valid privacy or security concerns.
Authors are encouraged to deposit the dataset(s) in a recognized data repository that can mint a persistent digital identifier, preferably a digital object identifier (DOI) and recognizes a long-term preservation plan. If you are uncertain about where to deposit your data, please see this information regarding repositories.
Authors are further encouraged to cite any data sets referenced in the article and provide a Data Availability Statement.
At the point of submission, you will be asked if there is a data set associated with the paper. If you reply yes, you will be asked to provide the DOI, pre-registered DOI, hyperlink, or other persistent identifier associated with the data set(s). If you have selected to provide a pre-registered DOI, please be prepared to share the reviewer URL associated with your data deposit, upon request by reviewers.
Where one or multiple data sets are associated with a manuscript, these are not formally peer reviewed as a part of the journal submission process. It is the author’s responsibility to ensure the soundness of data. Any errors in the data rest solely with the producers of the data set(s).
Publication Charges
Authors are charged $95 US Dollars per printed page (If an author is unable to meet these charges in full, a request for a reduction must be made in the submission letter at the same time as the manuscript is submitted). Page charge forms should be included in the submission of files.
Colour figures will be reproduced in colour in your online article free of charge. If it is necessary for the figures to be reproduced in colour in the print version, a charge will apply.
Charges for colour figures in print are £300 per figure ($400 US Dollars; $500 Australian Dollars; €350). For more than 4 colour figures, figures 5 and above will be charged at £50 per figure ($75 US Dollars; $100 Australian Dollars; €65). Depending on your location, these charges may be subject to local taxes.
Copyright Options
Copyright allows you to protect your original material, and stop others from using your work without your permission. Taylor & Francis offers a number of different license and reuse options, including Creative Commons licenses when publishing open access. Read more on publishing agreements.
Complying with Funding Agencies
We will deposit all National Institutes of Health or Wellcome Trust-funded papers into PubMedCentral on behalf of authors, meeting the requirements of their respective open access policies. If this applies to you, please tell our production team when you receive your article proofs, so we can do this for you. Check funders’ open access policy mandates here. Find out more about sharing your work.
My Authored Works
On publication, you will be able to view, download and check your article’s metrics (downloads, citations and Altmetric data) via My Authored Works on Taylor & Francis Online. This is where you can access every article you have published with us, as well as your free eprints link, so you can quickly and easily share your work with friends and colleagues.
We are committed to promoting and increasing the visibility of your article. Here are some tips and ideas on how you can work with us to promote your research.
Article Reprints
You will be sent a link to order article reprints via your account in our production system. For enquiries about reprints, please contact the Taylor & Francis Author Services team at reprints@tandf.co.uk. You can also order print copies of the journal issue in which your article appears.
Queries
Should you have any queries, please visit our Author Services website or contact us here.
Updated 25-04-2020
