Tanzania Veterinary Journal
Journal / Tanzania Veterinary Journal / Submissions

Interested in submitting to this journal? We recommend that you review the About the Journal page for the journal's section policies, as well as the Author Guidelines. Authors need to register with the journal prior to submitting or, if already registered, can simply log in and begin the five-step process.

Preparation of manuscripts

Manuscripts should be in grammatically correct and consistent using either United Kingdom (UK) or United States (US) English. Manuscripts submission must be in MS word format. All pages of the manuscript should be numbered, double-spaced with font 12 of Times New Romans and line numbered. Table pages and figure captions should also be double-spaced. All acronyms (abbreviations) used must be spelled out in the first instance followed immediately by the acronym in parenthesis. Subsequent references to the relevant subject may be satisfied by use of the acronym alone.

Regular article

Assemble the manuscript in the following order: Title Page, Summary, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgements, References, Tables and Figure Legends. Subtitles may be used within sections but not in the summary. The total number of words in the whole manuscript should be between 2500 and 5000 excluding Tables, Figures, and References.

Title page

The Title Page should include the authors' initials of first and any other names followed by surnames, and affiliations, a running title of fewer than 60 characters and spaces, the name of the corresponding author along with email information. Emails of co-uthors should not be included in the title page but must be supplied during online submission

International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) defines an author as those who have substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content;  final approval of the version to be published, agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. Read more

Summary (Abstract)

Summary should be unstructured, one paragraph in length and include background and aim or hypothesis tested, experimental approaches used, main findings and major conclusions. Literature is not cited, and figures and tables are not called out or presented. It should not exceed 250 words. It must be factual and comprehensive. General statements (e.g. "the significance of the results is discussed") should be avoided. List five to seven key words.

Introduction

Introduction should provide sufficient background information to make the paper understandable to colleagues from a broad range of biological disciplines. It should provide adequate literature with relevant citations.

Material and Methods

Material and Methods should include a detailed description of the experimental or analytical design, methodologies and techniques including clear statements of both dependent and independent variables. The section should be complete enough to allow experiments to be reproduced. References to previously published methods should be used where possible. Methods in general use need not be described in detail.

Results

Results should carefully describe the data and any experimental limitations. Wherever possible, data should be presented in form of Tables and Figures and these should abide to Tables and Figures format described elsewhere in this document. Detailed interpretation of data should not be included in the Results but should be put into the Discussion section. The number of Tables and Figures should not be more than 5. Additional data or figures can be presented as supplementary information the author consider the figures are important and increase clarity of what is presented in the main figures or tables.

Discussion

In Discussion section, results should be discussed concisely and adequate literature citation relevant to the subject of discussion should be provided. A conclusion of the study should be provided at the end of the discussion without a separate sub-title.

Acknowledgment

The Acknowledgment should include all sources of financial support for the research reported. Remove # or No. before grant numbers. The word "acknowledgment" should be made singular or plural depending on how many entities are thanked. Incluse other contributors who did not met the criteria for authorship.

Conflict of interest

Authors should include a declaration statement regarding conflict of interest during submission process. In case there is no conflict of interest, authors can include a statement: "Authors do not have any conflict of interest" Read here examples of conflict of interests

Reviews

Reviews must be invited by the Editor prior to preparation and submission.

Short communications

Short communications like case reports are limited to a maximum of three Figures and one Table. They should present a complete study that is more limited in scope than is found in full-length papers. They are not designed for presentation of fragmentary data. The items of manuscript preparation listed above apply to Short Communications with the following differences: (1) Summary is limited to 200 words; (2) instead of a separate Materials and Methods section, experimental procedures should be incorporated into Figure Legends and Table footnotes; (3) Results and Discussion are combined into a single section.

References

References should be cited in the text by author’s name and date. Use the first author and et al if there are more than two authors. Arrange multiple references appearing in the same in- text citation from earliest to most recent. To distinguish more than one reference by the same author(s) in one year, use letters such as 2007a, 2007b. The final reference list should be alphabetized and contain only articles published or accepted for publication. An author alone precedes an author with coauthors. When there are more than 8 authors, use et al after listing the first three names. Journal title abbreviations should follow those used in Index Medicus or Serial Sources for the Biosis Data Base. An example of the correct form of intext citations using two references is; Mbassa et al., 2003; Shirima and Kambarage, 2005

The listings in the References would be:

Journal article, up to 8 authors

Mdegela RH, Tiringa P, Ngowi HA, Kazwala RR, Mtambo MMA. Prevalence of ectoparasites in domestic and feral cats in Morogoro municipality and Serengeti district in Tanzania. Tanz Vet J 22: 125-131, 2005.

Journal article, more than 8 authors

Mbassa GK, Singine EK, Pereka AE, et al. Differential features of erythrocytes of African free ranging chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) and the greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber roseus) of Lake Manyara National Park. Tanz Vet J 22: 102-111, 2005.

Article in a book

Mwakitumbi SM, Ramadhan Y, Makale JJ. Interactions Maasai cattle and wildebeests of Ngorongoro. In: The Epidemiology of Malignant Catarrhal Fever in Tanzania, ed Shoo AJ, Mushi KL, Aloo HJ. Mzumbe Book Project, Morogoro, 2001.

Books

Shoo AJ, Mushi KL, Aloo HJ. The Epidemiology of Malignant Catarrhal Fever in Tanzania. Mzumbe Book Project, Morogoro, 2001.

Total number of references for original article should not exceed 50

Download Reference formatting sample paper

EndNote users can download the TVJ reference output style here. Follow instructions to add new style in your endnote output styles folder or elsewhere.  However authors will be required to customize journal abbreviations/term lists by following instructions available at endnote support page

Users of Mendeley desktop can download Tanzania Veterinary Journal reference output styles inside the application. Download and read the guide describing how to install the style. Optionally, you can also download and install custom  Journal Abbreviations list (text file) by following the guide above

Tables

Tables should be put on separate pages. A Table in the text should not exceed the printed area of one page. A Table should be understandable without reading the text of the manuscript. Double-space Tables on separate sheets. Do not use vertical lines and label each Table on the top with an Arabic numeral and bold (e.g. Table 1) full stop and followed by a title (not bolded). Place units of measurement at the heads of the columns and place explanatory material and footnotes below the table.

 Figures and figure legends

A Figure in the text should not exceed the printed area of one page. Use Arabic numerals (bolded) to designate Figures and upper case letters for their parts (e.g. Figure 1A). Begin each legend with a title (not bolded) and include sufficient description so that the Figure is understandable without the need to go back to the main text of the manuscript.

 Electronic artworks

We accept line art, halftones and colour Figures electronically. You should consult the Editor on Figure-sizing specifications prior to electronic file submission. The digital Figures should be the final size desired, and all mounting should be done electronically. The editorial office may also require proofs of the images to approve prior to submitting the files for printing. Halftone and colour images should be scanned at a minimum of 300 pixels per inch (ppi). Line art should be scanned at 1200 ppi. We accept TIFF, JPEG, EPS and Illustrator (.ai) formats. Total file size for each figure should be 2MB or lower.

Digital photography

If you will be using a digital camera to capture images for print production, you must use the highest resolution setting option with the least amount of compression. Digital camera manufacturers use many different terms and file formats when capturing high- resolution images, so please refer to your camera's manual for more information.

 Compression

LLarge files should be compressed and sent as one file if possible. Compressed file should retain original information and quality and that can be decompressed if needed. Please contact the editorial office to discuss what elements they will need for the review process and for manuscript submission.

Submission of manuscript with complete data sets

By submitting manuscript to Tanzania Veterinary Journal, authors attest that all the data that were acquired for their research are included and they understand that splitting their research data into multiple articles without sufficient justification is not acceptable. If authors have sufficient reasons to split data set should inform the editor during or immediately after submission of the manuscript

Ethical approval

Manuscripts reporting data from research conducted on humans, animals, organs or tissues collected from human and animals must include a statement in the methods section of the manuscript reading that a written approval was obtained from the institution where the research was conducted and where applicable the editor may request approval reference number. Authors are encouraged to consult ARRIVE guidlines when preparing their research and manuscript. Information on ethical related issues should be included at appropriate section of materials and methods describing animals and or human subject and not as a separate section.

Submission of Manuscripts

Submit your manuscript online and the submitted manuscript must be accompanied with submission form. If the manuscript contains reproduced materials from other publishers, a written permission to reproduce borrowed material must be obtained from the original publishers and authors and submitted together with the manuscript. In the manuscript, borrowed material should be acknowledged in the captions in this style ‘Reproduced by the kind permission of (publishers) from (reference).

If you get file size submission errors it means that your file size exceeds 2MB.  You can embbed the figures within the text but if the file exceeds 2MB limit you can upload each figure separately provided that combined total uploads for a single article does not exceeds 10MB.

Peer Review Process

Submitted papers are read by Editors and decision is made whether they qualify for further review. As part of screening process, the manuscripts will be subjected to anti-plagiarism software. Manuscripts not qualifying are rejected right away and authors are informed of the decision. Qualifying manuscripts are sent to at least two independent reviewers whose comments are expected to be returned within two weeks. In some cases review process may take longer than expected. Usually reviewers are invited to discuss and agree the time frame where necessary. After receiving comments from reviewers, the editorial office prepares the summary and sends to the corresponding authors for revision of the manuscripts.

Subsequently, the revised manuscripts are returned to the Editor. The manuscript is then sent to reviewers for cross checking as to whether the suggested corrections and concerns have been addressed. The comments of reviewers usually include recommendations on the suitability of the manuscript. The final revised manuscript is then sent to a member of editorial board specialized in the respective subject of the study for final review. The decision to accept or reject the manuscript will base on the comments received throughout the review process. The final decision is usually sent to the authors within two weeks after completion of the review process. Rejected manuscripts after completion of the review process will not be considered for re-submission to TVJ.

Accepted Manuscripts and copy right transfer

All submissions will be subjected to peer review after passing preliminary editorial review. After completion of peer review, accepted manuscripts will be sent to the authors for minor corrections and proof reading and should be returned within 3 days of receipt. If the manuscript is accepted, the copyright of the material is explicitly transferred from author(s) to the Journal. However, no limitation will be put on the authors' personal freedom to use material contained in the paper without requesting permission, provided acknowledgement is made to the Journal as the original source of publication and that the manuscript is not deposited in public domain (see self-archiving policy for details), distributed to the public or used for commercial gain.  By submitting the manuscripts and copyright transfer, authors also grant irrevocable permission to publish and distribute the manuscripts.

Once accepted for publication and or published, it is prohibited to reproduce, distribute and/or adapt any part of the published contents/manuscript without permission of Tanzania Veterinary Journal. Some exceptions are described under the section describing self-archiving policy. You can also read more on permissions in the manuscript submission page

Access to published articles

Published articles are available through subscription and can be downloaded online through the respective links at Tanzania Veterinary Journal Home page or through partner websites/Libraries.

Readers from low income countries may be eligible to get a limited number of articles per month through AJOL  Register here  or visit AJOL home page for details. Full issue containing all articles can be requested from the Editor or aquired via authorised TVJ partners. Receive instant update of new content publication through RSS feed. Download instruction how to use RSS feed here

Authors interested in publishing their manuscript as open access

Authors can publish their article as open access by paying opne access publication fee of TZS 360,000 or equivalent in USD. This fee is payable to Tanzania Veterinary Association.  Authors wishing their articles published as open access can contact the Editor to receive their invoice containing payment details.

Self-archiving policy

This journal does not permit authors to post items submitted to Tanzania Veterinary Journal on personal websites or institutional repositories both prior to and after publication without written permission from Tanzania Veterinary Journal.  Authors can deposit full text manuscript in their institutional repositories only if public access is restricted to the abstract only and readers are re-directed to Tanzania Veterinary Journal or authorized partners for full text content.  Personal use is allowed but bibliographic details that credit publication in this journal must be clearly displayed. Using data for non-commercial purposes such as teaching does not requires permission but acknowledgement of the sources as Tanzania Veterinary Journal is required.

 Fees

Until otherwise indicated, Tanzania Veterinary Journal (The Tropical Veterinarian) does not charge article processing fee or publication fee for all articles accessed through subscription. However, if an author wishes her/his article be available free of charge immediately after online publication, then a small per article open access fee of TZS 360,000 or equivalent in USD will be charged to offset production costs. The fee is payable to Tanzania Veterinary Association after the manuscript is accepted.  Invoice will be sent to authors who requested open access publication.

Sponsored issues or volume for open access publications

Organizations or individuals wishing to sponsor full issue or volume to be published as an open access can contact the editor. Cost for sponsoring whole volume as open access is TZS 2,400,000. Cost for sponsoring single issue is TZS 1,200,000. If an issue contains less than 4 articles the total cost will be determined by using single article basis (TZS 360,000 per article).

Re-prints

Request for re-print(s) can be sent to the Editor or Circulation Manager. The cost will include basic production costs and postage therefore will vary depending on the region.

Publication Ethics and Misconducts

Tanzania Veterinary Association (TVA) (Publisher) and the editors on behalf of Tanzania Veterinary Journal (TVJ) shall take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of articles/manuscripts where research misconduct has occurred. In no case shall a publisher or editors encourage such misconduct, or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place.  In the event of any allegations or potential research misconduct, the chief editor shall initiate the investigation and make final decisions according to TVJ policy.  It is expected that authors and where applicable the institution(s) where the research was conducted will cooperate with the editor when the efforts to resolve the identified concerns are initiated.

Article withdrawal

Articles can be withdrawn if there is violation of any of Tanzania Veterinary Journal Policies, including policy on plagiarism, authorship, multiple submissions, or the article contain fraudulent data. Withdrawal request shall be sent to the editor with reasons why the article should be withdrawn.

Withdrawal request shall only be considered if the article is not formally published online, in print or both. All request received after publication will not be accepted for withdrawal. Depending on the reasons, the published article will be considered for errata or retraction.

Withdrawn articles will remain in the Journal archive for records but will not be available to the public. Complete removal shall only be considered only in cases of legal or regulatory compliances. The editor may require compensation from authors if the editor determines that the reasons for withdrawal are not sufficient and if there is significant time investment including completion of review process. Articles may be withdrawn without attracting penalties anytime within 7 days after submission.

Errata

Errata may be accepted and published to correct author names, correct main text or remove text that appears in the original version of the article provided that the new changes are necessary and do not significantly change the manuscript. Addition of authors or new data will not be accepted. In case the errata is accepted and published, the published article will be labelled as Erratum and will appear in the same or subsequent issue and in all publication media and the original published article will be retained.    

Article retraction

Retraction applies when the respective manuscript is already published. The reasons of retraction include redundant publications, conclusion based on fraudulent data, infringement of copyrights, false claims of authorship, legal requirements or serious violation of Journal policy.

With exception of legal requirements, expression of concerns and request for retraction must be submitted to the editor. Any one including whistleblowers can contact the editor if there is enough reason to suspect violation of basic publication ethics for scholarly work.

After receiving complaints or concerns, the editor will initiate the investigation. The editor will notify all the respective authors on the raised issues with their manuscript. After notifications, authors must respond to all concerns raised. The Editor may engage the institution where the research was conducted if necessary.

The editor may retract the respective article with or without author consent if the editor is satisfied that there is genuine concerns and that cannot be corrected or there is copyright infringement.

If the raised concerns involves minor errors, does not invalidate the published data, and there is no involvement of copyright infringement or duplicate publication, the concerns will be handled in accordance with policy on errata.

For all retracted articles, there will be a separate and citable published RETRACTION NOTE both online and in print versions. In case the print version is already published, the retraction note will be published in the subsequent issue. In addition, the online version of original article will be preceded with a retraction note in the first page, followed by full article watermarked with: “RETRACTED MANUSCRIPT” in capital letters.

The retraction notice will contain the title of the article and authors as well as brief description of the history and reasons of retraction. Complete removal of the article from online database shall only be done in cases of legal compliance or in case where retention of the manuscript will cause harm to the public.

Detection of potential cases of Plagiarism

Detection of potential cases of plagiarism shall be done using software and assessed based on similarity index.  Serious cases of plagiarism will lead to outright rejection.

The use of Animals and human subjects   

All research that includes the use of animals or human subjects, the articles must include a statement in materials and methods indicating whether the research was approved by the relevant institution where the research was conducted. Additional information is available under author guidelines

Author responsibilities

Although editors, reviewers and readers may try their level best to identify and where applicable prevent publication malpractices but there is no guarantee that such cases may go unnoticed.

It is therefore the responsibility of all authors to avoid any kind of publication malpractices.

These include but not limited to the use of fraudulent or manipulated data, unjustified splitting of data in order to gain multiple publications on limited data sets,  manipulating the review process, including fake authors, excluding deserved authors, multiple submission of the same manuscripts to different journals, using published data without proper acknowledgement of the original publisher or obtaining permission, failure to declare conflict of interest, failure to acknowledge other people who contributed to the work but could not qualify to become authors, and plagiarism.

The corresponding author is responsible to make sure that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version before publication.

If the editor becomes aware that the corresponding author provided false information in order to gain acceptance of the manuscript for publication, the respective manuscript will be retracted.

Authorship conflicts

The editor welcomes any complaints related to authorship and will try to cooperate as much as possible, but neither the Journal nor the publisher will take responsibility for any problem related to authorships. Authors are encouraged to discuss and agree about authourship before submission of the manuscript. Additional resource is available for guidance.

During the review stage new authors may be added provided that they have contributed significantly to qualify as authors see details on who should be included as an author.

Authors are required to provide details of contribution for all authors although currently the journal do not publish such details unless when needed. The journal reserve the right to change this policy without notice.

All requests for addition, change order or removal of authors after the publication of the manuscripts will not be accepted.

You are also encouraged to read more about best publication practices and issues that may be considered as publication malpractices