Author Guidelines

GENERAL INFORMATION

JDAN JOURNAL OF DIETITIANS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA

Journal of Dietitians Association of Nigeria, the official organ of Dietitians Association of Nigeria, is a peer-reviewed journal published biannually (two volumes per year).

The major objectives of the journal are to:

• publicize the Profession of Dietetics.
• disseminate information in the area of Nutrition and Dietetics and other related fields of study.
• maintain high journal standards.
• produce two-issue publications yearly.

Copyright notice

Manuscripts are accepted for publication with the understanding that no substantial part has been, or will be published elsewhere. By submitting a manuscript, the authors agree that the copyright is transferred to the publisher if and when the articles, including reprints, photographic reproduction and translation are accepted for publication. Copyright owner is the Dietitians Association of Nigeria. An abstract at the beginning of an article may be reproduced without specific permission provided the original citation is provided. Statements made and opinions expressed in letters to the Editor, Editorials, Presidential address, book reviews and other special articles appearing in this journal are views of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Journal or the Association.

 Open access policy:

All research articles published in the Journal of Dietitians Association of Nigeria are fully open access: immediately freely available to read, download and share. Articles are published under the terms of a Creative Commons license which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

 Aims and Scope of the Journal

The Journal of Dietitians Association of Nigeria (JDAN) is the official Journal of the Dietitians Association of Nigeria, is a peer-reviewed publication, and is published biannually, two volumes per year. The primary focus of the journal is the publication of basic and applied studies in dietetics, medical nutrition therapy, nutritional sciences, food sciences, diet-related diseases, and related fields. The following types of manuscripts are considered: original research articles, review articles, issues and opinions, special communications, letters to the Editor, book reviews, and proceedings of symposia. The journal is intended for a wide audience, including, dietitians, nutritionists, biochemists, health professionals, home economists, policymakers, students of dietetics/nutrition and related fields, health educators, and all those in the health sciences.

Disclaimer

Articles and any other material published in the Journal of Dietitians Association of Nigeria represent the opinions of the authors and should not be construed to reflect the opinions of the Editors or the publishers. Any data included in articles on commercial foods are reported solely as factual information and are limited to the samples analysed. No warranty or guarantee is made or implied that other samples of these products will have the same or similar composition. The inclusion of such articles or data does not imply endorsement of any product.

 JOURNAL OF DIETITIANS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA

GUIDE FOR AUTHORS

SCOPE

The Journal of Dietitians Association of Nigeria (JDAN) is the official Journal of the Dietitians Association of Nigeria, is a peer-reviewed publication and is published biannually, two volumes per year. The primary focus of the journal is the publication of basic and applied studies in dietetics, medical nutrition therapy, nutritional sciences, food sciences, diet related diseases and related fields. The following types of manuscripts are considered: original research articles, review articles, issues and opinions, special communications, letters to the Editor, book reviews, and proceedings of symposia. The journal is intended for a wide audience, including, dietitians, nutritionists, biochemists, health professionals, home economists, policy makers, students of dietetics/nutrition and related fields, health educators, and all those in the health sciences.

 MANUSCRIPTS

The following types of manuscripts are considered: original research articles, review articles issues and opinions, special communications, letters to the Editor, book reviews, and proceedings of symposia. Manuscripts must be original, in whole or in part has not been, nor is it being considered for publication elsewhere. However, only review articles sought by the editorial board shall be published.

SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPTS

Manuscripts must be typewritten on one side of the paper only, double spaced on numbered pages with adequate margins, 0.5cm on both sides.  All articles should conform to the requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. An electronic copy of all manuscripts should be sent to the Editorial Office, via e-mail address jdanscientific@gmail.com This should be typed using Microsoft Word Processing Package (running under Windows) or using Page Maker. Each manuscript must be accompanied by a letter stating that the authors wish to have it evaluated for publication in the Journal of Dietitians Association of Nigeria. Authors may suggest the names and addresses of at least 3 appropriate reviewers. The Editor-in-Chief reserves the right to determine the final reviewer.

 ORGANIZATION AND STYLE OF MANUSCRIPTS

Manuscripts must be written in concise and correct English, corrected for errors for typographical errors before being submitted. Manuscripts should be arranged in the following order: title page, abstracts and keywords, texts and acknowledgments, reference figures, legends, and table. Use separate sheets for each of these items. All pages should be numbered starting with abstract as page 1.

Page Title

This should include: (a) title of the paper, (b) an abbreviated version of the title not exceeding 40 letters and space; (c) name of authors including first name(s); (d) name of department(s) institution(s) where the work was done, including full postal address, email and ORCID of all the authors; (e) name and full postal address of the author to whom the galley proofs and request for reprints should be sent.

 Abstract

An original article must contain a structured abstract of not more than 300 words. The abstract should be divided into background, objective, subjects/materials, method, results, and conclusion.

Keywords

Authors may list a maximum of five keywords for subject classification at the bottom of the abstract in both reviews and original articles.

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 subject of the paper. A short statement on the aims of the work should be presented.

Materials and Methods

This should be sufficiently detailed with reference where possible to permit other workers to duplicate the study. Sources of materials used must be given and statistical methods must be specified by reference unless non-standard ones are used.

Results

This must be clearly and concisely reported with appropriate illustrative tables and or figures.

Discussion

This section should explain the reasons for the results obtained as well as their implication and consequences. Conclusions made should be based on findings of the study and evidence from the literature that supports conclusions. The discussion should also highlight conflicting evidence, the applicability of the study, limitations of the study, and implications for future research. Unjustified speculations should be avoided.

Acknowledgments

This should be brief and presented on a separate page. Technical assistance and advice may be acknowledged.

Reference

The number of references should be adequate and appropriate. Each reference should be cited in consecutive numerical order [in parenthesis] in the text and listed in the same numerical order at the end of the paper. References to materials on the Internet should include the author(s), the title of the article, and date of access including DOI of the article or book. Articles in press (i.e.) accepted for publication, may be included and cited appropriately indicating name, volume, and year in which journal would appear. Authors can use referencing software for their referencing their manuscripts. Choose Vancouver bracket in the event of using referring software.

1. Journal:
2. Maduforo AN, Ogbuabo DA, Ndiokwelu CI, Okoro CE, Okwara CC, Ngwu EK. Glycaemic response and sensory attributes of four banana varieties in Enugu state, Nigeria. Asian Journal of Plant Science, 2020;19(4):412–8. DOI: 3923/ajps.2020.412.418
3. Nelson M, Atkinson M, Darbyshire S. Food Photography II: use of food photographs for estimating portion size and the nutrient content of meals’. British Journal of Nutrition, 1996;76 (1):31–49. DOI: 1079/bjn19960007
4. Books:

Mahan LK, Escott-Stump S, Raymond JL. Krause’s Food and the Nutrition Care Process. 13th ed. Elsevier Saunders; 2012.

Nelms MN, Sucher K, Lacey K, Roth SL. Nutrition Therapy and Pathophysiology [Internet]. 2nd ed. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning; 2011.

3. Reports:

International Diabetes Federation. Diabetes Atlas, Seventh Edition [Internet]. Brussels; 2015. Available from: https://www.diabetesatlas.org/upload/resources/previous/files/7/IDF%20Diabetes%20Atlas%207th.pdf

TECHNICAL NOTES-SHORT PAPER/SHORT COMMUNICATIONS.

These are reports of small investigations and application/ preliminary investigations and should not exceed 2500 words, including tables, references, and figures

 PREVIEW (About 10, 000 words)

These are concise, critical but constructive, and conclusive topical accounts of current interest.

Foot Notes

All footnotes to the title, author’s names should be indicated by Arabic numerical superscripts, not by letters or other symbols. These footnotes should be typed at the bottom of the page in which they appear.

 Tables

Tables should be typewritten on separate sheets numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.). Each table should include a title and be comprehensible without reference to the text. Tables adapted or reproduced from another source must acknowledge that source in a footnote.

Figures

Illustrations should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals. Details of charts and graphs must be clearly legible when reduced to the size used in the journals. Each figure should have a label pasted on the back indicating the figure’s number and the names of the authors. Graphs should be submitted as glossy prints and labelled in soft pencil at the back. Colour illustrations will be published when approved by the editorial board. One transparency and three copies of colour prints should be provided.

 Publication Charges

Manuscripts are subjected to page charges at the current cost of publication, usually approved by the association. Authors will be asked to contribute to the cost of colour illustrations. There is a submission fee of five thousand Naira (N5000.00) and an article publication charge (APC) of twenty thousand Naira (N20,000.00) for Nigerian authors, while foreign authors pay APC of one hundred United States dollars ($100 USD).

 Proofs

Galley proofs will be sent to the first author unless otherwise corresponding is indicated not to be the first author. Proofs should be returned within two days of receipt. Other than printers’ errors, any correction may be charged to the authors.

Reprints

Reprints may be purchased at the prices indicated in the reprint order form accompanying the galley proofs.

Abbreviations and Units

Abbreviations are to be used sparingly and given at the first mention of the word. Metric units (SI units) should generally be used.

Informed Consent

All manuscripts reporting the results of experiments conducted using human subjects should include a statement confirming that informed consent was obtained from each subject or subject’s guardian, after approval of the experimental procedures or protocol by a local human ethics committee.

Declaration of 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. If there are no conflicts of interest, then please state this: 'There is no Conflicts of interest'.

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.

Peer-review process:

All submitted manuscripts are examined by Editorial Board and sent out to two referees. Authors are usually notified within 8 to 10 weeks as to the acceptability of their manuscripts. The corresponding or submitting author submits the paper to the journal email which is jdanscientific@gamil.com. The journal’s editorial office checks the content of the manuscript and arrangement in-line with the journal’s author guidelines to make sure it includes the required sections and style of the journal. The quality of the paper is not assessed at this point. The Editor-in-Chief (EIC) checks that the paper is appropriate for the journal and is sufficiently original and interesting. If not, the paper may be rejected without being reviewed any further. The handling editor sends invitations to 2 reviewers who will conduct a thorough review of the manuscripts double-blind (the authors name (s) and affiliation (s) is/are removed before sending out and the author (s) do not know the reviewer). An initial 21 days (subject to extension) is given to the reviewers to review the manuscripts and make recommendations using the journal reviewers’ guide. Based on the recommendation of the reviewers, the manuscript is sent to the corresponding author for revision. After the authors have revised the manuscript, a decision is taken by Editor-in-Chief whether the manuscript will be accepted/needs further revision/rejected based on the reviewers’ recommendation. The final decision is taken by the EIC. After which, authors are asked to pay an article-processing charge (APC) as determined by the editorial board if their manuscript was accepted for publication. Before the final prints, galley proofs are sent to authors to read and effect final minor corrections.

Archiving: The hard copy of the journal is archived in the editorial office while the online copy is archived in the journal website.

Ownership and management: The journal is owned and managed by the Dietitians Association of Nigeria. The editorial board including the editor-in-chief is changed periodically.

Duties of Editors

Decision on the Publication of Articles: 

The Editor-in-chief (EIC) of the Journal of Dietitians Association of Nigeria is responsible to make the decision regarding the publication of submitted articles. The EIC may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and subjected to such legal requirements. The Editor is authorized to carry out the decision in consultation with reviewers and editorial board members.

Fair play: 

The manuscripts should be evaluated solely on their intellectual merit without regard to authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.

Confidentiality: 

The Editor and editorial staff must not disclose any information about a manuscript which is submitted to the journal to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate. The editor must ensure the integrity of double-blind peer-review and should not disclose the identity of the reviewers to the authors of that manuscript, and vice versa.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest: 

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used by the editor or reviewer or anyone else who has a view of the manuscript while handling it in his or her own research without the express written consent of the author.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution of Peer Review: 

Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and editorial communications help the author to improve his paper.

Promptness: 

If a selected reviewer feels unqualified to review an article he/she should notify the Editor-in-Chief and should not take part in the review process. Reviews will be expected to be professional, honest, courteous, prompt, and constructive, their judgment should be objective.

Confidentiality: 

Manuscripts assigned to a reviewer must be treated as confidential documents. The manuscript(s) must not be shown to or discussed with, others except as authorized by the Editor in Chief.

Standards of Objectivity: 

Reviews should be conducted objectively. There shall be no personal criticism of the author. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Acknowledgment of Sources:

Reviewers should mark the uncited work that is published previously. Authors are expected to provide the proper citation for each statement that is quoted from a previously published work. A reviewer should inform the EIC of any substantial similarity between the manuscripts assigned him for review and the other previously published paper of which they have personal knowledge or they have found the similarity during the review process.

Confidentiality: Information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.

Conflict of Interest: Reviewers should not review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

Duties of Authors

Reporting standards: 

Authors of the original research article must present accurate data of work performed during their research. Authors are also expected to discuss the objective of their work and the significance of their results. An article should contain sufficient information and references to ensure the reproducibility of the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements are considered unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.

Data Access and Retention: 

Authors may be asked to provide the raw/supplementary data for a paper that is under editorial review. The authors should be prepared to provide the public access to these data (if practicable) and to retain such data for a reasonable time after the publication.

Originality and Plagiarism:

 Authors should ensure the originality of their content while preparing a manuscript draft. In case the authors have used the work and/or words of others this must be appropriately cited or quoted. Articles submitted to JDAN will be screened for plagiarism using plagiarism detection software. In case, the similarity index exceeds 20% excluding the references, during the review/editorial process, such manuscript(s) will be required to be revised/rejected if the revision did not meet up with less than 20% similarity index. If the plagiarism is proven after publication, such manuscript(s) will be retracted from the journal and an appropriate announcement will be placed in this regard.

We can also consider appropriate action against authors depending upon the seriousness of the case which includes;

Debarring the authors from publication in the future.

1. Such incidents shall be brought to the notice of the author's funding agencies, author's institutions (place of works), and to the original authors whose work has been plagiarized.
2. COPE flow charts will also be considered while dealing with plagiarism complaints.
3. Suspected plagiarism in a submitted manuscript
4. Suspected plagiarism in a published manuscript

Redundant or duplicate submission/publication

Duplicate or redundant submission is the same manuscript (or the same data) that is submitted to different journals at the same time. International copyright laws, ethical conduct, and cost-effective use of resources require that readers can be assured that what they are reading is original. An author should not publish manuscripts that describe the same concept or present similar data, in more than one journal. Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable and all such articles will be rejected immediately. In case the editor was not aware of the violation and the article has been published, a notice of the duplicate submission and the ethical violation will be published.

Authorship of the Paper and corresponding author: 

Authorship of an article should be based only on substantial contributions to each of the four components mentioned below:

1. Concept and design of study or acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation of data;
2. Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content and final approval of the version to be published.
3. Each contributor should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content of the manuscript.
4. 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 authors.

Corresponding Author

The corresponding author is the author responsible for communicating with the journal for publication. The corresponding author should ensure that no inappropriate contributors are listed as co-authors in the paper. All the co-authors should check the final draft of the manuscript before submitting it to the journal.

 Publishing Ethics

Monitoring: The EIC must ensure to establish the mechanism for monitoring and safeguarding of publishing ethics. All the complaints received from the reviewers or the authors or anybody else should be taken into proper consideration and appropriate action should be taken promptly for such complaints.

Retraction & Corrections: The published articles will be retracted if there is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable. The retraction can be a result of scientific misconduct or honest error. To maintain the integrity of the scientific record, the retracted article will not be removed from the journal's website, however, a notice of retraction will be posted and is made freely available to all readers. Retraction can be published by the authors or the editor or the publisher. In rare cases involving legal infringement, the Publisher may remove an article. Bibliographic information about the article will be retained to ensure the integrity of the scientific record. We follow the COPE guidelines in such cases. Sometimes it may be necessary to publish corrections/erratum in an article published in the Journal to maintain the integrity of the academic record. Appropriate notice regarding the correction will be placed and made freely available to the readers. We are always willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when needed.

Article withdrawal: 

We expect our authors to comply with best practices in publication ethics as well as in the quality of their articles. To avoid withdrawal of articles we sincerely request the corresponding author to undertake the issues related to authorship, publication ethics, and accurateness of data and results at the time of submission of the manuscript.

If an article is found to violate the ethical publishing guidelines of the journal such as duplicate submission, fraudulent data, plagiarism, false claim of authorship, etc. the article will be withdrawn by the journal. In case the article is under the ‘Online first’ stage the journal will remove the article from the website and an appropriate note for article withdrawal will be posted.

No response from the authors to journal communication after review and provisional acceptance is also considered as withdrawal of the article.

Preclude business needs from compromising intellectual and ethical standards: 

We believe that the funding agencies and sponsors should not be able to influence the author's findings or the decision-making. The editor should maintain the integrity of the academic record, preclude business needs from compromising intellectual and ethical standards, and always be willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when needed.

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 analysed 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.

Abstracting and Indexing

The Journal of Dietitians Association of Nigeria is indexed in:

1. Society of African Journal Editors
2. Academic Accelerator
3. African Journal Online (AJOL)
4. All papers published in JDAN from 2021 have digital object identifier (DOI)

The Journal of Dietitians Association of Nigeria is undergoing review to be indexed in SCOPUS. We are working hard to get the Journal Indexed in Clarivate Analyticus as soon as possible.

Thank you.
CORRESPONDENCE
All manuscripts and inquiries are to be directed to:
Dr. Aloysius Nwabugo Maduforo Ph.D., RDN
Editor-in-Chief,
E-mail: jdanscientific@gmail.com