Submissions

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Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

  • As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions that do not adhere to these guidelines would be summarily rejected.

    Before starting your submission, ensure that your manuscript is formatted according to the author guidelines available at https://ethnobotanyjournal.org/index.php/era/about/submissions#authorGuidelines

    Figures and tables:

    Figures and tables are included in the main text but not embedded. Each figure and each table are uploaded also as separate supplementary file, and numbered consecutively: Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3....table 1, Table 2, Table 3..... Figures have at least 300dpi native resolution.

    Tables: Tables are typed in "Table Grid" Design in MS word. All tables are single spaced, and contain horizontal cells only. Tables do not contain merged cells.

    Figure and table captions:

    All figures and tables carry appropriate captions/ legends.

  • Originality: The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor). This document is not similar in content or details to any other articles the author(s) has already published or have under consideration. This document is not a review article but represents original creative thought.

  • Conflict of Interests: Ethnobotany Research & Applications policy requires you to state whether you or any of your co-authors have financial or other conflicts of interest that might be construed as influencing the results or interpretation of your study. One author may acknowledge on behalf of all co-authors acting as the duly authorized agent of the co-authors (having been appointed either orally or in writing by each of the authors of the paper.) By checking this box, the author declares to have no conflicts of interest, and if there are coauthors, they too have no conflicts of interest.

  • Author's Warranty: By checking this box the author(s) represents that he/she is the sole proprietor of the materials in the manuscript; that it does not infringe upon any existing copyright; that it has not heretofore been published; and that to the best of his/her knowledge it contains no libelous or other unlawful matter. The author(s) will hold harmless the publisher against any claim, demand, or recovery finally sustained in any proceedings brought against the publisher by reason of any violation of any proprietary right or copyright, or any unlawful matter contained in the manuscript. If previously copyrighted material is included in the manuscript, the author(s) hereby confirms that unrestricted permission for its reuse has been received from the original copyright holder. A copy of each permission should be emailed directly to the Editor

  • Ethics: By checking this box, the author(s) confirms that:

  • The submission file is in Open Office, Microsoft Word, or RTF document file format.

  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.

  • Potential reviewers:

    Please include the names and emails of at least three colleagues who might be contacted as potential reviewers of the manuscript in the author comments when you prepare your submission. Note: ensure that you have contacted them and taken their consent before suggesting their names.

    Please also include the name of one member of the editorial board that you suggest as handling editor of the manuscript.

Author Guidelines

Publication in Ethnobotany Research & Applications is open to anyone.

Ethnobotany Research & Applications is open access, and does not charge publication fees.

While we encourage manuscripts in the language of the country research has been conducted in, and also in indigenous languages, in order to comply with indexing requirements, regular manuscripts must be in English. 

When a paper has two or more authors, the author submitting the manuscript is expected to be the primary author. A cover letter accompanying an electronic manuscript submission should state which author is responsible for revision and for reading digital proofs and that the manuscript is not under consideration by any other publication. Please also include all required data from the submission form including the number of text pages, the number of tables, figures, and appendices.

Please INCLUDE ALL AUTHORS IN THE METADATA when you submit your manuscript. All authors must be added using the "Add contributor" link. The Corresponding Author needs to ensure that all co-authors register in the ERA system. If authors want to include their ORCID in the final article, the ORCID must be included in the submission / registration process and the respective link must be sent to all co-authors. If you do not register your account, or do not activate the ORCID link o when submitting your paper, iot might not be possioble to add the link later.

Please make sure that all authors are registered in ERA. If one of the athors does not have an ERA account, please have them establish one!

Ethnobotany Research and Applications publishes peer-reviewed scientific articles on interactions between people and plants.

Please include the names and emails of at least three potential reviewers in the author comments when you prepare your submission.

Primarily agronomic or horticultural papers and those concerned mainly with analytical data on the chemical constituents of plants, or bioassays are out of scope and should be submitted elsewhere.

Articles are considered in the following categories as long as the focus is upon ethnobotany:

  • Research (applied or theoretical based on hypotheses or questions, case studies, implementation of ethnobotanical knowledge) 
  • Databases and Inventories (articles presenting databases and ethnobiological inventories)
  • Education (research, curriculum development, and photo essays)
  • Ethnobotanical Notes (small articles related to specific uses, e.g. plants used for baskets etc., including photo essays)
  • Methodology reviews
  • Theoretical discussions
  • Reviews
  • Repatriation of ethnobotanical studies and Ethnobotanical Guides (guides and articles translated into the language of the country of origin to repatriate research as stipulated by the Protocol of Nagoya on Access and Benefit Sharing), and articles in indigenous languages. Please note that this section cannot be indexed in Scopus.
  • Book Reviews

If particular plants are cited as part of primary field data/results, then the identification of species must be supported by voucher specimens that have been deposited in a herbarium. If interviews were conducted then it is also expected that the specific voucher specimen materials will have been positively identified by people who provided the information being discussed. 

Please follow these instructions when submitting a manuscript for review:

  • Format: The primary manuscript should be submitted as Word (*.doc or *.docx) file using A4 size size with 2,5 cm margins and single spacing throughout the document. Submit additional materials such as figures as separate files in their original, non-compressed format. Please DO NOT embed images / figures / tables within Word files or pdf documents. Please DO NOT USE Letter format, Inches etc.
  • Font: Any modern font may be used, but articles will be formatted in Calibri for publication, so use of Gisha is best. Use Font size 10 or 12. Final copy-edited version of the article would make use of Gisha, font size 9 for text.
  • Line numbers: manuscripts should carry line numbers, numbered consecutively from the first to the last page.
  • Length: Manuscripts of any length will be considered. Longer manuscripts may require more time for review and editing. Concise documents using references to summarize lengthy discussions are highly recommended.
  • Style: The Council of Science Editors Scientific Style and Format Manual, 7th Edition, is the primary reference used in setting the standards for the preparation of the manuscripts. The format style of manuscripts (especially Literature Cited entries), further, must conform to the practices followed in the most recent online publication of Ethnobotany Research and Applications. The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition, may be consulted for additional guidance.
  • Numbers: In the text, spell out one-digit numbers unless they are used with units of measure (e.g., four oranges vs. 4 cm) and use numerals for larger numbers. Do not use commas to denote thousands with numbers  . Do not begin sentences with an abbreviation or numeral. Do not use footnotes except for title and within tables.
  • Units: Use the International system of units (SI) See e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_System_of_Units. Do not use  Imperial or US units, i.e., DO NO USE miles, inches, feet etc.
  • Vernacular names: Vernacular names such local names of plants/ animals, artefacts, etc should be written in simple bold. e.g. kinuwa (Chenopodium quinoa). Vernacular names are written in lower cases, except when they appear as first word of a sentence. In such cases, the first letter is in uppercase. 
  • Scientific names: All scientific names must be written in italics. Either at the first mention in the text, or in a species table the scientific name must include the authority name. Authority names must not be in italics. Family names also must not be in italics. Example: Chenopodium quinoa Willd. (Amaranthaceae). Chenopodium quinoa is the scientific name, Willd. is the authority (the scientist who described the species), and Amaranthaceae is the family name. Scientific names must be written in itaklics throughout INCLUDING IN THE LITERATURE CITED!

Some general guidelines:

- Please do not use tabulators or indents in your manuscript

- Please do not use Hyperlinks, and do not use any automatic reference engines like Endnote or similar!

- Please do not wrap or anchor figures or tables in the text. Use "in line with text".

Title: Please capitalize only the first letter of the first word - Do not capitalize the whole title. Latin names must be given in italics. For papers in languages other than English, an English title must be provided. Example: Correct: Medicinal plants of Georgia. Wrong: MEDICINAL PLANTS OF GEORGIA

Authors: Names should be typed with the first letter in capital. Do not capitalize all letters of author names. Please include full names and address of all authors on the first page of your manuscript, and indicate the email of the corresponding author. Make sure that all authors are included in the Metadata of your manuscript.

Example:

Correct: Rainer W. Bussmann and Merlin Franco

Wrong: RAINER W: BUSSMANN AND MERLIN FRANCO

Headings: Do not number headings. Please do not capitalize the whole heading!

Correct: Background.

Wrong: 1. BACKGROUND

Abstract: A structured abstract must be submitted for each manuscript, independent from the submission category. The abstract should not exceed 250 words. Additional translations of the abstract in the language of the region / country where the research has been conducted may also be included and are encouraged. 

The Abstract must include the following separate sections:

Background: the context and purpose of the study

Methods: how the study was performed and statistical tests used

Results: the main findings

Conclusions: brief summary and potential implications

Keywords: Three to ten keywords representing the main content of the article.

MAIN MANUSCRIPT SECTIONS

Background: The Background section should explain the background to the work, its aims, a summary of the existing literature, and your hypothesis. ERA does not use "Introduction"!

Materials and Methods: The methods section should include:

  • the aim, design and setting of the work
  • the characteristics of participants or description of materials
  • a clear description of all processes, interventions and comparisons.
  • the type of statistical analysis used, including a power calculation if appropriate

Results: This section should include the findings of the work including, if appropriate, results of statistical analysis which must be included either in the text or as tables and figures.

Discussion: This section should discuss the implications of the findings in context of existing research and highlight limitations of the study.

Results and Discussion may be combined.

Conclusions: This should state clearly the main conclusions and provide an explanation of the importance and relevance of the work.

Declarations: ALL DECLARATIONS MUST BE INCLUDED

List of abbreviations: If abbreviations are used in the text they should be defined in the text at first use, and a list of abbreviations should be provided.

Ethics approval and consent to participate: All manuscripts must include a statement on ethics approval and consent (even where the need for approval was waived), including the name of the ethics committee that approved the study and the committee’s reference number if appropriate. Studies involving animals must include a statement on ethics approval. Any manuscript must include a statement referring to its compliance with the Protocol of Nagoya on Access and Benefit Sharing if appropriate. 

Consent for publication: If a manuscript contains any individual person’s data in any form (including individual details, images or videos), consent to publish must be obtained from that person, or in the case of children, their parent or legal guardian. If a manuscript does not contain any individual person´s data, please state “Not applicable” in this section.

Availability of data and materials: Please indicate if any datasets have been deposited in public repositories.

Competing interests: All financial and non-financial competing interests must be declared in this section.

Funding: All sources of funding for the research reported should be declared. The role of the funding body in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript should be declared.

Authors' contributions: The individual contributions of authors to the manuscript should be specified in this section.

Acknowledgements: 

Please acknowledge anyone who contributed towards the article who does not meet the criteria for authorship including anyone who provided professional writing services or materials. Authors need to obtain permission to acknowledge from all those mentioned in the Acknowledgements section. 

Literature Cited:

ERA uses "Literature Cited", NOT "References"

This journal has its own citation style, and this section should be carefully edited so that citation formatting follows journal standards. Please do not use Endnote or similar engines for reference formatting.

Journal titles MUST BE SPELLED OUT and nouns must start with a capital letter! Correct: Journal of Ethnopharmacology. Wrong: J. Ethnopharm / J Ethnopharm / Journal of ethnopharmacology

PLEASE FOLLOW THE EXAMPLES BELOW

Formatted Literature Cited sections (and in-text citations) can cause delays in the acceptance and copyediting process, so it is in the interest of authors to carefully edit all entries. Authors should refer to recent articles for detailed examples, but a brief formatting overview is below:

  • Journal article citation: Mourão JS, Araujo HFP, Almeida FS. 2006. Ethnotaxonomy of mastofauna as practiced by hunters of the municipality of Paulista, state of Paraíba-Brazil. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2:19-21.
  • Books : Martin GJ. 1995. Ethnobotany: A methods manual. Chapman & Hall, London, U.K. (Be sure to list the country of publication, even if the city is well-known. No mention of page number is required.)
  • Book chapters: Taylor RSL, Shahi S, Chaudhary RP. 2002. Ethnobotanical research in the proposed Tinjure-Milke-Jaljale Rhododendron conservation area, Nepal. In: Chaudhary RP, Subedi BP, Vetaas OR, Aase TH. (eds). Vegetation and Society: Their interaction in Himalayas. Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal, and University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway, Pp. 26-37. (Notice order of page range, book title, editors, publisher, and place of publication.)
  • Internet sources: Uganda Bureau of Statistics. National Population and Housing census. 2014. Main Report. https://uganda.unfpa.org/en/publications/national-population-and-housing-census-2014-0 (Accessed 30/11/2018).
  • Thesis or dissertation: Rutz CL. 2013. King Lear and its folktale analogues. PhD dissertation, University of Chicago.
  • The authors cannot be listed as "Author et al."; all the authors need to be fully listed in this section.
  • Entries are listed in alphabetical order. If the last name of the first author is the same for multiple entries, alphabetize by the first author's first initial. If initials are the same, alphabetize by the last name of the second author, third author, etc.
  • There should be no spaces between the first and second initials of an author's name. See the examples above.
  • First Authors: The last name/surname of the Author1 (or the sole author) is listed first, followed by the initial(s) of the given name/forename(s). See the examples above.
  • Non-first authors: All subsequent authors for a citation are listed with initials of given name coming after the surname. See examples above.
  • Insert a period after the final author's name.
  • Publication year of the document is listed after the author(s). Insert a period after the publication year. Do not place the publication year in brackets.

In-text citations:

When citations are mentioned within the body of the text, please use the following guidelines:

  • The general in-text citation format is (AuthorSurname Year) with no punctuation between the name and year. Example: (Guralnick 1998)
  • If the citation has 2 authors, list both surnames separated by "&". Example: (Guralnick & Neill 1996)
  • If the citation has more than two authors, list the surname of the first author followed by "et al." and the publication year. Example: (Guralnick et al. 1997)
  • Note that “et al.” is always in italics, has a period after "al" and does NOT have a comma after the period
  • Use “&” to separate 2 author names when the citation is in parentheses but “and” when the citation is within the body of the sentence – “Prior work reported similar results (Bass & Smith 1980).” or “Prior work by Bass and Smith (1980) reported similar results.”
  • If citing more than one source at a time, list sources in alphabetical order, separate sources with a single comma after the year, and do not include “and” before the last source listed. Example: (Anderson 1997, Bass & Smith 1980, Bautista 1964)
  • Check all the references in the document and match them with those listed in "Literature Cited" section. Make sure that every reference is cited with the same date, name, etc. Check both ways (from the references and from the text). There should be no entries in the Literature Cited section that are not referenced within the main text, and there should be no in-text citations that are not listed in the Literature Cited section.
 
Figures and tables:

Figures and tables should be included in the main text, but as "in line with text" and NOT EMBEDDED or ANCHORED. Each figure and each table must be numbered consecutively: Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3....Table 1, Table 2, Table 3..... Figures must be provided with at least 300dpi native resolution.

Tables: All tables should be single spaced, and contain horizontal cells only. Please do not merge cells in your tables.
 
Figure and table captions: Please include a list of captions for all figures and tales.

All manuscripts are requested to be submitted electronically using the Online Manuscript Submission System. Figures and Tables should also be submitted as separate files using original formats (e.g., images should be in image files not embedded within Word or pdf documents). This system is intended to be user friendly as a streamlined approach to submitting manuscripts electronically. It permits a subsequent process of peer-review process that is usually rapid. However, in order for this process to be effective, you must provide a valid email address for communication.

 

Workflow for submission and management of manuscripts

The corresponding author or the designated author will make the submission using the journal platform attaching the following documents:

  1. Manuscript in Word format.
  2. All declarations included in the manuscript
  3. Similarity report using any anti-plagiarism software, as close to zero as possible (without considering bibliographic references, titles of methods, names of institutions, etc., which by their nature cannot be called otherwise).
  4. Supplementary files (Optional).

To facilitate review, the authors must send a list of three (3) possible reviewers, specialists in the subject of the article, with their respective email addresses. This does not necessarily imply that the suggested specialists will be the reviewers of the manuscript, this decision being at the discretion of the editor.

NOTE: It is possible that the response messages that leave the platform to the registration emails end up in the spam folder; therefore, we ask that the authors frequently check their spam.

The Editor verifies if the material sent complies with the editorial line and conditions requested in this instruction guide. If there is compliance, the article is submitted to a peer review system, resorting to a minimum of two (2) external reviewers or evaluators, so that within a maximum period of thirty days they express their opinions (according to the "Opinion Sheet"), recommending the acceptance or rejection of the article. The name of the reviewers remains anonymous to the author(s) throughout the process. The average time of this process is 2 to 4 months. The journal has an important condition that the total time between receipt and publication of the article is not greater than 6 months.

If the article does not comply with the editorial policy or conditions requested in this Guide, the Editor reserves the right to send a report to the author to change or revise the manuscript and submitting it as new submission. A first response is normally given within a maximum of 15 days. During this period the Editor (or an associate editor), in addition to verifying compliance with the editorial policy of the journal, carries out a prior review of the manuscript, the result of which is (a) rejection or (b) start of the peer review process. This allows the journal to avoid an overload of the peer review system, and authors can quickly decide to send their article to another journal.

Please also include the name of one member of the editorial board that you suggest as handling editor of the manuscript.

Copyright Notice

All articles are copyrighted by the first author and are published online by license from the first author. Articles are intended for free public distribution and discussion without charge. Accuracy of the content is the responsibility of the authors.

Privacy Statement

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