The Journal of Agriculture and Food Science Applications (JAFSA) welcomes high-quality scholarly contributions addressing agriculture, food science, agricultural technology, food systems and related interdisciplinary fields.

Authors should ensure that their manuscript is consistent with the journal's aims and scope before submission. Manuscripts that fall outside the journal's scope may be declined without external peer review.

Authors should confirm that:

• The manuscript is original and has not been published elsewhere.
• The manuscript is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal.
• All listed authors have made a substantive contribution to the work.
• All authors have approved the submitted version.
• Appropriate permissions have been obtained for copyrighted material reproduced from other sources.
• All sources, datasets, software and intellectual contributions have been appropriately acknowledged.
• Funding sources and competing interests have been disclosed.
• Required ethical approvals are identified where human, animal or other regulated research is involved.
• The manuscript complies with JAFSA's plagiarism, publication ethics, copyright and open-access policies.
• The manuscript has been carefully checked for language, formatting, references, tables and figures before submission.

JAFSA considers several categories of scholarly contributions. Authors should select the article type that accurately represents the submitted work.

The corresponding author serves as the principal point of communication between JAFSA and the author group and should ensure that all authors understand and approve the submission.

• Obtain approval of the manuscript from all co-authors before submission.
• Ensure that author names, affiliations, email addresses and ORCID identifiers are accurate.
• Coordinate communications between the journal and all co-authors.
• Ensure that all required declarations are complete and accurate.
• Disclose related manuscripts, preprints, conference papers and overlapping publications.
• Ensure that permissions for third-party material have been obtained.
• Coordinate responses to reviewer comments during revision.
• Ensure that all authors approve the final version before publication.

Manuscripts should be submitted through the journal's designated online submission system. Authors should ensure that all required files and declarations are supplied before completing submission.

A cover letter should accompany the manuscript and should be concise, professional and specific to the submission.

The cover letter should include:

• Full title of the manuscript.
• Article type.
• Names and affiliations of all authors.
• Name and contact details of the corresponding author.
• A concise explanation of the scientific importance of the work.
• An explanation of why the manuscript fits the scope of JAFSA.
• Confirmation that the manuscript is not simultaneously under consideration elsewhere.
• Disclosure of related manuscripts, preprints, conference papers or previous publications.
• Disclosure of any potential conflict of interest.
• Confirmation that all authors have approved the submission.
• Any additional information the Editor should know when assessing the manuscript.

Manuscripts should be written clearly and professionally in English. Authors should minimize unnecessary jargon, define abbreviations at first use and communicate the significance of the study to readers beyond the immediate specialty where appropriate.

Recommended manuscript structure

Title

The title should be brief, specific and understandable. It should accurately communicate the subject of the research and include meaningful terms that facilitate discovery through scholarly search engines.

Avoid unnecessary abbreviations, overly technical expressions, unnecessary punctuation and claims that are not supported by the study.

Abstract

The abstract should normally not exceed 250 words and should provide a concise representation of the research.

Keywords

Provide approximately 5–7 keywords or key phrases. Keywords should be specific to the study and useful for indexing and online discovery.

The Methods section should contain sufficient information for qualified researchers to understand, evaluate and, where reasonably possible, reproduce the study.

• Describe the study design and research setting.
• Identify study populations, samples, experimental materials or datasets.
• Describe sampling methods and inclusion/exclusion criteria where applicable.
• Provide sufficient detail about experimental or analytical procedures.
• Identify equipment, software, models or analytical tools used where relevant.
• Describe statistical procedures and justify important methodological choices.
• Report missing data, exclusions and deviations from the original protocol where relevant.
• Provide references for established methods and describe meaningful modifications.
• Report ethical approval and consent requirements where applicable.

Statistical terminology should be used accurately. Report appropriate measures of uncertainty, effect sizes, confidence intervals, sample sizes and probability values where applicable rather than relying solely on statements such as "significant" or "not significant."

Authors are responsible for ensuring that research submitted to JAFSA complies with applicable ethical, legal and professional standards.

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial intellectual or practical contributions to the conception, design, execution, analysis or interpretation of the research and who participate in drafting or critically revising the manuscript and approving the final version.

Individuals who contributed to specific aspects of the work but do not meet authorship criteria should normally be recognized in the acknowledgements rather than listed as authors.

Author contribution statement

Authors should provide a transparent statement describing individual contributions. For example:

Changes to authorship after submission should be requested formally and must receive the agreement of all affected authors.

Authors may use appropriate artificial intelligence or AI-assisted tools to support limited activities such as language improvement, grammar checking, formatting assistance, coding support or literature organization, provided that the authors remain fully responsible for the submitted work.

• AI tools must not be listed as authors or co-authors.
• Authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity and legality of all submitted content.
• AI-generated factual claims must be independently verified.
• Authors should not submit fabricated references, data, citations or experimental findings generated by AI.
• Where AI has made a substantive contribution to content generation or analysis, its use should be transparently disclosed in the manuscript or appropriate declaration.
• Confidential manuscripts, unpublished data or sensitive information should not be uploaded to AI services where doing so would compromise confidentiality or intellectual property.

Manuscripts submitted to JAFSA must be original. Authors must not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to multiple journals or publish substantially overlapping work without transparent disclosure and appropriate justification.

JAFSA may conduct similarity or plagiarism screening before, during or after peer review. Similarity reports are evaluated by editors in context because legitimate overlap may occur in references, standard terminology, methods and technical expressions.

Potential plagiarism, fabricated or manipulated data, duplicate publication, inappropriate text recycling, image manipulation and other forms of research misconduct may result in rejection, correction, retraction or other appropriate editorial action.

Authors should consult the journal's dedicated Plagiarism Policy and Publication Ethics Policy for further information.

Figures

• Number figures consecutively using Arabic numerals.
• Refer to every figure in the main text.
• Provide a concise and informative figure legend.
• Ensure labels, units, symbols and scales are clear and readable.
• Use appropriate resolution and file formats.
• Identify reproduced or adapted material and provide appropriate permission and attribution.
• Do not manipulate images in a manner that misrepresents the underlying data.

Tables

• Give every table a clear and concise title.
• Number tables consecutively.
• Refer to each table in the text.
• Use editable, cell-based tables rather than screenshots.
• Define abbreviations and statistical symbols in table notes.
• Avoid unnecessary duplication between tables, figures and narrative text.

Supplementary Materials

Supplementary files may include datasets, extended methods, additional tables, figures, questionnaires, protocols, code or other material necessary to support the article. Supplementary material should be clearly labelled and referenced in the main manuscript.

Authors should use recognized scientific nomenclature and internationally accepted terminology appropriate to their discipline.

• Use SI units wherever appropriate.
• Give units consistently throughout the manuscript.
• Italicize scientific names of organisms where required.
• Write genus and species names in full at first mention.
• Use recognized gene, protein, chemical and taxonomic nomenclature.
• Provide accession numbers for sequence, genomic, protein or other relevant public datasets where applicable.
• Identify statistical symbols and abbreviations clearly.
• Report sufficient information to support reproducibility and interpretation.

References should be accurate, complete and directly relevant to the research. Authors should verify every reference before submission.

In-text citations

Reference quality

Authors should prioritize authoritative scholarly sources, including peer-reviewed journal articles, recognized academic books, authoritative reports, registered datasets, patents and reputable preprint repositories where appropriate.

Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) should be included whenever available. References should be checked for accuracy and should correspond exactly with citations appearing in the manuscript.

JAFSA uses a double-blind peer-review process, in which the identities of authors and reviewers are not ordinarily disclosed to one another during the review process.

Preparing an anonymous manuscript

• Remove author names and affiliations from the manuscript intended for review.
• Remove acknowledgements that could reveal author identity.
• Use neutral wording when referring to the authors' previous work where practical.
• Remove identifying file metadata where possible.
• Submit author-identifying information separately through the submission system.

Editorial decisions are based on scholarly quality, relevance, originality, methodological soundness, clarity, ethical compliance and the reviewers' assessments. Peer review does not guarantee acceptance.

JAFSA encourages responsible sharing of research data and materials where ethically, legally and practically possible.

Authors should provide an appropriate data-availability statement, such as:

Where data are publicly deposited, authors should provide the repository name, persistent identifier or DOI and any necessary access instructions.

Where data cannot be shared because of privacy, confidentiality, contractual, legal or ethical restrictions, authors should explain the restriction and, where possible, describe a controlled-access mechanism.

When revisions are requested, authors should submit the revised manuscript through the journal's submission system within the period specified in the editorial decision.

Response to reviewers

Authors should provide a structured response explaining how each substantive reviewer comment was addressed.

If an author disagrees with a reviewer recommendation, the response should explain the scientific or methodological basis for the disagreement respectfully and provide supporting evidence where appropriate.

JAFSA is an open-access scholarly journal. Where an Article Processing Charge (APC) applies, the applicable fee and payment conditions will be communicated through the journal's official publication and APC information.

Authors should review the journal's current APC information before submission and should not assume that a fee has been waived unless written confirmation has been provided by the journal.

Authors may request withdrawal of a manuscript while it is under consideration, provided that the request is made by the corresponding author and represents the position of the author group.

Authors should not submit a manuscript to another journal while it remains under consideration by JAFSA. If a manuscript is withdrawn, the corresponding author should obtain confirmation from the editorial office before submitting the work elsewhere.

Withdrawal requests made after acceptance or publication may be subject to additional editorial procedures because of the journal's responsibility to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.

JAFSA is committed to maintaining the integrity of the published scholarly record. Authors and readers are encouraged to notify the editorial office of substantive errors, suspected plagiarism, fabricated data, ethical concerns or other issues affecting a published article.

Depending on the nature and seriousness of an issue, the journal may publish a correction, erratum, corrigendum, editorial notice, expression of concern or retraction.

Authors remain responsible for promptly notifying the journal when they discover a significant error in their published article.

Authors may request reconsideration of an editorial decision where they believe that a significant factual, methodological or procedural issue was overlooked.

An appeal should be submitted by the corresponding author and should clearly explain the basis of the appeal. Appeals should not merely repeat arguments already considered during peer review.

Where appropriate, the Editor may seek additional editorial or independent expert advice before reaching a final decision.

Where a manuscript is considered unsuitable for JAFSA but may be appropriate for another journal within the publisher's journal portfolio, the editorial office may, where such an option is available, invite the authors to consider a manuscript transfer.

A transfer is optional. Authors retain the right to decide whether they wish to transfer their manuscript.

Where review reports are transferred with the manuscript, the receiving journal may consider those reports as part of its own independent editorial assessment. Transfer does not constitute acceptance by the receiving journal.

Before clicking the final submission button, authors should confirm the following:

• The manuscript falls within the aims and scope of JAFSA.
• The work is original and is not under consideration elsewhere.
• All authors have approved the manuscript and submission.
• The corresponding author's contact information is accurate.
• ORCID identifiers have been supplied where available.
• The anonymous manuscript has been prepared for double-blind review.
• The abstract complies with the journal's requirements.
• Five to seven appropriate keywords have been provided.
• All citations appear in the reference list and vice versa.
• DOIs have been included where available.
• Tables and figures are numbered and cited correctly.
• Permissions for third-party material have been obtained.
• Funding information has been declared.
• Competing interests have been declared.
• Author contributions have been stated.
• Ethical approval and consent information has been supplied where applicable.
• Data availability has been stated.
• AI-assisted tools have been disclosed where applicable.
• The manuscript has been checked for plagiarism and inappropriate text reuse.
• The manuscript has been carefully proofread before submission.