The Nigerian Journal of Nutritional Sciences (NJNS) welcomes contributions relating to food and nutrition in the developing world, especially in Nigeria.
The following types of manuscripts are considered: original research articles, review articles, issues and opinions, letters to the Editor, and book reviews. Field and programme report from development partners, civil society, and industry are also welcome. Manuscripts must be original, in whole, or in part must not have been, nor is currently considered for publication elsewhere. However, submission of an article does not guarantee publication; acceptance depends on the judgment of the reviewers and editorial team as to its relevance, scientific merit, and quality.
PROCEDURE FOR SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPTS
All manuscripts must be written in clear and grammatically correct English. The text of the manuscript must be provided in Microsoft Word format. Authors are also requested to send an electronic copy of their manuscript as an email attachment to editornjns@gmail.com OR njns2013@gmail.com Hard copy submissions are not accepted. Each manuscript must be accompanied by a letter stating that the author(s) wish to have it evaluated for publication in the Nigerian Journal of Nutritional Sciences. Authors may suggest the names and addresses of at least 3 appropriate reviewers, the Editor-in-Chief however reserves the right to determine the final reviewers.
ORGANISATION AND STYLE OF MANUSCRIPTS
Manuscripts must be written in concise and correct English. They should be corrected for errors of typing, spelling, and grammar before being submitted. The manuscript should be arranged in the following order: title page, abstracts and keywords, text and acknowledgments, and references. Use separate sheets for each of these items. Figures, tables, and illustrations should be embedded within the manuscript after the prose of the first mention. All pages should be numbered starting with abstract as page 1.
Title Page
It should include: (a) title of the paper, (b) an abbreviated version of the title not exceeding 40 letters and space; (c) name of authors include first name(s); (d) name of Department(s), institution(s) or organizations in which the work was done, including full postal address; (e) a list of 3 – 5 keywords for indexing purpose and (f) name and email address of the corresponding author to whom the galley proofs and requests for reprints should be sent.
Abstract
An abstract of not more than 250 words should be included in the following format:
- Background: Relevant background information and the context of the problem that was
- Objective: A one-or two-sentence description of the purpose of the study
- Methods: Outline of study design, study population, subject/participant selection, analytical methods, and data
- Results: What was found based on the data Give specific data and their statistical significance if possible.
- Conclusion: Provide a one-or two-sentence description of the conclusions, based on the
- Keywords: Authors should provide a maximum of five key words for the
Text
Original articles should conform to the following format.
Introduction
This should start on a fresh page and should provide a brief review of the literature related to the objective of the paper. A short statement on the aim of the work should be presented.
Materials and Methods
This should be sufficiently detailed (with references where possible) to permit other researchers to replicate the study. Sources of materials used must be given and statistical methods must be specified by reference unless non-standard ones are used. For investigations of human subjects, authors should state in the Methods section the manner in which informed consent was obtained from the study participants, and describe how the study investigators protected the right of participants as described in the Declaration of Helsinki. Also, the IRB and/or institution(s) that gave the ethical approval form must be mentioned.
Results
These must be clearly and concisely provided, with the help of appropriate illustrative material Tables and/or figures. Do not use Tables and figures to present the same data.
Discussion
This section should relate the findings with existing relevant studies. It should cover the implication of the findings and limitations of the study. Recommendations may be given, but unjustified speculation should be avoided.
Acknowledgment
This should be brief and presented on a separate page. Financial support, technical assistance, and advice may be acknowledged.
Conflicts of interest and other disclosures.
Authors must confirm upon submission that the manuscript is an original work, and has not been submitted for publication elsewhere. Additionally, authors must explicitly state any potential financial or other conflicts of interest in a cover letter accompanying the submission of their manuscript. Finally, the corresponding author will need to verify that each author listed has seen and approved the form and content of the submitted manuscript.
PUBLICATION ETHICS
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Manuscripts reporting studies involving human participants, human data, or human tissue must: include a statement on ethics approval and consent (even where the need for approval
was waived), include the name of the ethics committee that approved the study and the committee’s reference number if appropriate.
In addition, studies involving animals must include a statement on ethics approval. If your manuscript does not report on or involve the use of any animal or human data or tissue, please state “Not applicable” in this section.
Conflicts of interest
Authors must declare all sources of support for the research and any association with a product or subject that may constitute a conflict of interest.
Consent for publication
If your manuscript contains any individual person’s data in any form (including individual details, images, or videos), consent for publication must be obtained from that person, or in the case of children, their parent, or legal guardian. All presentations of case reports must have consent for publication.
You can use your institutional consent form if you prefer. You should not send the form to us on submission, but we may request to see a copy at any stage (including after publication).
Availability of data and materials
All manuscripts must include an ‘Availability of data and materials statement. Data availability statements should include information on where data supporting the results reported in the article can be found including, where applicable, hyperlinks to publicly archived datasets analyzed or generated during the study. By data, we mean the minimal dataset that would be necessary to interpret, replicate and build upon the findings reported in the article. We recognize it is not always possible to share research data publicly, for instance when individual privacy could be compromised, and in such instances, data availability should still be stated in the manuscript along with any conditions for access.
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 the 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.
Authorship Criteria
Authorship of an article should be based only on substantial contributions to each of the three components mentioned below:
- Concept and design of study or acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation of data;
- Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content and Final approval of the version to be published.
- Each contributor should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content of the
- The order of naming the contributors should be based on the relative contribution of the contributor towards the study and writing the manuscript and/or as agreed by the
Archiving
NJNS publications is indexed African Journal Online database. NJNS will be archived on the journal websites as well as a backup kept in the editorial office computer to ensure its availability. The journal provides immediate free access to the full text of articles in PDF format to authors through the corresponding author’s email. Printed complimentary copies will be made available to corresponding authors but they will pay for postage services to their location on demand.
Plagiarism Policy
Nigerian Journal of Nutritional Sciences (NJNS) strictly frowns at Plagiarism. Submission of manuscripts to NJNS entails that authors automatically attest that, none of the parts of manuscripts is plagiarized from any other source. However, similarity index software could be utilized to check for plagiarism in some cases. Proper citation and reference should be provided once anything is extracted from a source. If any article is proved to be plagiarized, journal editors will take immediate and strict actions against the authors ranging from rejection of the manuscript to preclusion of the authors from any future publication in the journal. However, for severe plagiarism, NSNS Editorial Board may also report the author(s) to their affiliating institutions.
References
Each reference should be cited in numerical order (in parenthesis) in the text and listed in the same numerical order at the end of the paper. Articles in press (accepted for publication), may be included and cited appropriately indicating name, volume, and year in which journal would appear. References to unpublished material may be cited in parenthesis in the texts, but not in the bibliography, Avoid the use of abstracts as a reference when possible, but if you have to use them; identify them as “(abstract)” in the citation at the end of the reference.
- Journal: Reference to articles in journals should be listed as follows: authors name and initials, year, title of article, name of journal, volume and page (see examples).
Nnam, N.M. (1995). Evaluation of nutritional quality of fermented cowpea (Vignaunguiculata) flours. Ecology of Food and Nutrition, 33:273-279.
- Books: Reference to articles or chapters in books should be listed as follows: author name and initials, year, title of article or chapter, title of book, name and initials of editor(s), edition (other than the first), publisher, city of publication
Olusanya E. O. and Omololu, A. (1972). Dietary Practices and Nutrition in Nigeria. Lagos, Macmillian, pp 126 -29
Yuwa S. D, Babasola, F. A and Brai, C.O (2012). Food security in hard-to-reach populations in Nigeria In Ukegbu W. K and AkinremiZ.O (eds) Food Security: Level and Trends in Nigeria. Ibadan: Rex Charles Books.
- Other considerations: Citing an Article that has more than four authors, you may use et al (in Italics) after the fourth author. For multiple citation in one year from the same authors use a, b, c, etc after the year g. 2014a, 2014b, 2014c
- Citing abstracts: Atinmo, T., Egun-Elemo, G.N, year, title of the abstract. Journal volume, number and page (abs).
- Thesis: Umoh, I. B. 1973, Title of the Thesis, Doctoral Thesis, University of Ibadan Nigeria
- In Press articles: Abubakar, K. C and Mohammed, R. A. Title of the article Journal (in press 1999).
Foot Notes
All footnotes to the title, author’s names, or text should be indicated by Arabic numerical superscripts, not by letters or other symbols. The footnotes should be typed at the bottom of the page in which they appear.
Tables and Figures
Tables and figures should be placed within the text after the prose where the figure or text is first mentioned in the manuscripts. Each table should include a title and be comprehensible without reference to the text. Tables adapted or reproduced verbatim from another source, source must be acknowledged in a footnote. Each table, figure, and illustration must be of high resolution/quality: 300 dpi or more, and should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals. JPEG AND PNG formats are preferable
