AUTHOR GUIDELINES

 

Please read and follow these instructions carefully; doing so will ensure that the publication of your manuscript is as rapid and efficient as possible. The Publisher reserves the right to return manuscripts that are not prepared in accordance with these instructions.

Prior to submission, authors are requested to create an account and Register. Please be reminded that only the corresponding author is allowed to register for each submission.

Submission of manuscripts

Authors should submit Word files by the Online Manuscript Submission System. https://journals.kau.edu.sa/index.php/MEALAS

If you have any queries regarding your submission to this journal, please email aalqurashi@kau.edu.sa. Work submitted for publication must be original, previously unpublished, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere. If previously published figures, tables, or parts of text are to be included, the copyright-holder’s permission must have been obtained prior to submission.

Cover Letter

All submissions should be accompanied by a cover letter that includes a brief overview of the manuscript and the corresponding and contacting author contact information including full name, e-mail address, phone number, and mailing address (corresponding author and contacting author. 

Preparation of the manuscript

General

Papers must be clearly written in English. Article files should be provided in Microsoft Word format. The format of different types of articles is as under:

Page Setup and Fonts

Top, bottom, left, and right margins should be 1 inch. Use “Times New Roman” font throughout the manuscript, in the sizes and styles shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Recommended fonts and sizes.

Style name

Brief description

Article Title

16 pt, bold

Author Names

10 pt, bold

Author Affiliations

10 pt

Abstract

10 pt

Keywords

10 pt

Heading 1

12 Pt, bold

Heading 2

12 pt, italic

Heading 3

12 pt, italic

Body Text

11.5 pt

Figure caption

9 pt

Table caption

9 pt

Section headings

Headings must be concise, with a clear indication of the distinction between the hierarchy of headings. Also, Section headings should be left justified, with the first letter capitalized and numbered consecutively, starting with the Introduction. Sub-section headings should be in capital and lower-case italic letters, numbered 1.1, 1.2, etc, and left justified, with second and subsequent lines indented. You may need to insert a page break to keep a heading with its text. See the following examples:

 Subsection Headings (Heading 1)

 Subsection Headings (Heading 2)

Subsection headings should be numbered 1.1, 1.2, etc.

 Sub-subsection headings (Heading 3)

Sub-subsection headings should be numbered 1.1.1, 1.1.2, etc. Only the first word is capitalized.

Types of Paper

Format of Research Articles

Research articles present original research and address a clearly stated specific hypothesis or question. Papers should provide novel approaches and new insights into the problem addressed. A research article should divide into the following headings:

  • Title page
  • Author's information
  • Present address
  • Abstract
  • Keywords
  • Introduction
  • Materials and Methods
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
  • Tables
  • Figures

 

Manuscript Template

Title page

A title of not more than 12 words should be provided. Titles do not normally include numbers, acronyms, abbreviations or punctuation. They should include sufficient detail for indexing purposes but be general enough for readers outside the field to appreciate what the paper is about.

Author's information and present address

Author name: Author’s initials are used for their first name. If an author has more than one initial do not put any spaces between initials. Where a resource has multiple authors, all authors are listed by last name and then first initial separated by commas. All contributing authors’ names should be added to the journal submission, and their names arranged in the correct order for publication.

  • Correct email addresses should be supplied for each author in their separate author accounts
  • The full name of each author must be present in their author account in the exact format they should appear for publication, including or excluding any middle names or initials as required
  • The affiliation of each contributing author should be correct in their individual author account. The affiliation listed should be where they were based at the time that the research for the paper was conducted

Abstract

An Abstract is required for every paper; it should succinctly summarize the reason for the work, the main findings, and the conclusions of the study. The abstract should be no longer than 300 words. Do not include artwork, tables, elaborate equations or references to other parts of the paper or to the reference listing at the end. The reason is that the Abstract should be understandable in itself to be suitable for storage in textual information retrieval systems

Keywords

Supply at least 3–5 keywords, separated with semicolons. Authors should provide appropriate and short keywords in the article submission process that encapsulate the principal topics of the paper.

Introduction

This section should be succinct, with no subheadings. State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

Materials and Methods

This part should contain sufficient detail to reproduce reported data. It can be divided into subsections if several methods are described. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should be described.

Results and Discussion

This section may each be divided by subheadings or may be combined. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. This should explore the significance of the results of the work, don’t repeat them. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.

 Conclusions

This section should clearly explain the main conclusions of the work, highlighting its importance and relevance.

 Tables

All tables should be numbered with Arabic numerals. Headings should be placed above tables, left justified. Leave one line space between the heading and the table. All lines should be used within a table, to distinguish the column headings from the body of the table, and immediately above and below the table. Footnotes can be included below the table. Tables cannot duplicate data contained in the text. Tables must be sent in Microsoft Word and have no links to other documents. Tables prefer be embedded into the text than supplied separately. Ensure that any superscripts or asterisks are shown next to the relevant items and have corresponding explanations displayed as footnotes to the table, figure or plate. Below is an example which authors may find useful.

Figures 

All Figures should be of high quality, legible and numbered consecutively with arabic numerals. All photographs, schemas, graphs, charts, web pages/screenshots, line drawings and diagrams are to be referred to as figures. Line drawings should be good quality scans or true electronic output. Low-quality scans are not acceptable. Please ensure that the prepared electronic image files print at a legible size and are of a high quality for publication.

They should also be separated from the surrounding text by one space.

Acknowledgments

This unnumbered section is used to identify people who have aided the authors in accomplishing the work presented, to state conflicts of interest, and to acknowledge sources of funding. Acknowledgments should be inserted at the end of the paper, before the references, not as a footnote to the title. Use an unnumbered section heading for the Acknowledgments, similar to the References heading.

Research funding          

Authors must declare all sources of external research funding in their article and a statement to this effect should appear in the Acknowledgements section. Authors should describe the role of the funder or financial sponsor in the entire research process, from study design to submission.

References

Material Type

Reference List/Bibliography

Journal (article)

Ali A, 2018. Role of hydrogen peroxide in management of root rot and wilt disease of thyme plant. Journal of Phytopathology and Pest Management 5(3): 1–13.

Journal (online)

Gibbs MJ, Ziegler A, Robinson DJ, Waterhouse PM, Cooper JI, 1996. Carrot mottle mimic virus (CMoMV): a second umbravirus associated with carrot motley dwarf disease recognized by nucleic acid hybridization. Molecular Plant Pathology Online [http://www.bspp.org.uk/mppol] 1996/1111gibbs.

Book

Sutton BC, 1980. The Coelomycetes. Commonwealth Mycological Institute, Kew, UK.

Conference proceedings (published)

McIntosh RA, 1992. Catalogues of gene symbols for wheat. In: Miller TE, Koebner RM, eds. Proceedings of the Seventh International Wheat Genetics Symposium, IPSR, Cambridge, UK, pp. 1225–323.