Submissions

Author Guidelines

Aim and Scope

Sahel Journal of Life Sciences publishes peer-reviewed scientific papers of significance in all areas of life sciences. Scope of the journal includes: Cell biology, Developmental Biology, Structural Biology, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Genetic Engineering, Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Biodiversity, Ecology, Malacology, Marine Biology, Ornithology, Animal Biology, Bacteriology, Virology, Plant Biology (Botany), Ethnobiology, Ichthyology, Fisheries and Hydrobiology, Biostatistics, Conservation, Wildlife, Taxonomy, Bioinformatics, Toxicology, Entomology, Cell and Tissue Engineering or Biomaterials.

Editorial Evaluation Timeline

Academic Editors read and evaluate every submission, and we try our best to get back to you quickly and try to complete the initial evaluation in 3-7 working days. We are mindful of how long it can take to publish a paper, so we work with authors and reviewers to minimize that time, with 2 – 4 weeks for reviews and feedback to authors on the status of their manuscript. We also desire to have four issues each year, with an issue published quarterly.

Submission Checklist

Before submitting your manuscript, thoroughly check its quality one more time. Evaluate it critically - could anything be done better?

Be sure that:

• The manuscript follows the Instructions for Authors
• At least one author should be designated as the 'corresponding author' with contact details (E-mail address or Full postal address).
• The manuscript file is saved in MSWord. docs (or .doc)
• All images (include relevant captions), figures, and tables (with proper titles, details, and footnotes) are embedded in the manuscript file
• Title page with financial disclosure statement and conflicts of interest statement
• Permission grants for previously published materials to avoid redundant publication.
• Submission declaration for previously unpublished work.
• The spelling and grammar are correct
• You have mentioned contact information and author contribution for all authors
• You have read the Aims & Scopecarefully and ensure that your manuscript falls within the scope of this journal
• Use the Microsoft Word templateto prepare your manuscript
• Issues about publication ethics(including informed consent/patient details), research ethics, copyright, authorship, figure formats, data, and reference format have been considered appropriate.

Language Editing Services

American Journal Experts , Bioscience Editing Solutions , Editage , and Enago  to improve the language of your research-related documents.

It is recommended for Non-English authors to get language editing services before submission of their manuscripts to the Sahel Journal of Life Sciences to minimize the chances of rejection due to poor English.

Note: Use of an English language editing service from American Journal Experts, Bioscience Editing Solutions, Editage, or Enago is not mandatory and will not guarantee acceptance or preference for publication in the Sahel Journal of Life Sciences.

What to Submit in Sahel Journal of Life Sciences?

If you are planning to submit your article to the Sahel Journal of Life Sciences, please choose one of the suitable categories for your article and summarize it within the proposed word limit before submission.

• Research Articles(Word Limit - 5000) that contributes to the base of scientific knowledge, including interdisciplinary, replication studies, and negative or null results. Download the Manuscript Template 

• Review Articlesare an attempt by one or more authors, to sum up, the current research on a particular topic. Ideally, the author searches for everything relevant to the topic and then sorts it all out into a coherent view of the "state of the art" as it now stands. Download Detailed Guidelines 

• Systematic Reviews(Word Limit - 5000) whose methods ensure the comprehensive and unbiased sampling of existing literature. Download Detailed Guidelines 

• Executive Summary(Word Limit – not more than 800) includes a thorough overview of a research problem that provides key points for its readers, saving their time and preparing them to understand the scientific approach. It must be written in such a summarized way that readers can rapidly become acquainted with a large set of data without needing the explanatory procedures. Download Detailed Guidelines  to prepare your executive summary.

• Short Communications(Word Limit 1000-1500) are short papers that present original and significant material for rapid dissemination. For example, Short Communication may focus on a particular aspect of a problem or a new finding that is expected to have a significant impact. Short Communication should be submitted in the same way as a full-length paper. A maximum of 1500 words in the main text plus approximately ten references and normally no more than two illustrations (tables or figures or one of each). Short Communications should follow the same layout  as the research articles.

• Editorials(Word Limit 1000) are short, invited opinion pieces that discuss an issue of immediate importance to the research community. Editorials should have fewer than 1000 words total, no abstract, a minimal number of references (definitely no more than 5), and no figures or tables (although they do have a photograph of the author as an illustration).

• Focus(Word Limit 2500) articles are short, timely pieces that spotlight either recent research findings or policy issues related to research (for example, regulatory, funding, educational, or legislative discussions). Focus articles should not exceed 2500 words total (including abstract, main text, references and figure legend). They should have a short pithy title, a one-sentence abstract, no more than 10 references, and one figure (with figure legend) or a table.

• Perspectives(Word Limit 2000 - 4000) discuss one or a cluster of recently published papers or a current research topic of high interest in which an author's perspective sheds an incisive light on key findings in the research. These articles typically have one or two authors whose task is to inform our interdisciplinary readership about exciting scientific developments in the author's area of expertise. Other appropriate topics include discussions of methods, books, or meeting highlights. Perspectives are usually between 2000 and 4000 words total (including abstract, main text, references, and figure legends). They should have a short pithy title, an abstract of 50 words or less, no more than 35 references, and 1 or 2 figures (with figure legends) or tables.

• Commentaries(Word Limit 3000) present an in-depth analysis of current issues such as policy, funding, regulatory, educational, and legislative issues, new institutes, careers, etc. Commentaries should not exceed 3000 words total (including abstract, main text, references, and figure legends). They should have a short pithy title, an abstract of 50 words or less, no more than 35 references, and one or two figures (with figure legends) or tables.

• Industry News(Word Limit 250 - 400) short pieces that present new information about initiatives, products, services, and developments in the field. These must not be promotional pieces about a product or service and should make suitable reference to alternative systems, services, products, or initiatives to place the update in context.

Fees and Charges

Sahel Journal of Life Sciences charges a submission fee of Five Thousand Naira (N5, 000.00) and article processing charges (APC) of Twenty Thousand Naira (N20, 000.00) or One Hundred USD ($100) for foreign authors.

Submitting your manuscript

Authors and reviewers must have an account to sign-in to our manuscript submission system at https://saheljls.fudutsinma.edu.ng or directly to the Editor by e-mail: editor_sajols@fudutsinma.edu.ng. If you do not have an account, you will need to create  one, but then can use this account for any future submissions to the Sahel Journal of Life Sciences. At the manuscript submission portal, you will first accept terms regarding the submission of a manuscript to this journal. For details on our policies, see Peer Review Process and Policies.

The main submission form is a series of tabbed windows, which you can move among by clicking the tabs at the bottom right corner of the form (The form may be filled out in any order.) You will move between the following tabs:

Manuscript Information

• The title of your manuscript (22 words maximum for Research Articles and Reports)
• Your Abstract should be no longer than 250 words in total
• Suggest the most suitable keywords for your article
• The Article type you are submitting (see a description of manuscript types)

Submission Checklist

• Before continuing, please make sure you have read and agreed on all the points mentioned under the submission checklist.

Authors Information

• Names, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses for all authors, including the designation of at least one as a corresponding author.

Upload Manuscript

• All files should be in MS Word .docx or .doc format.
• Manuscript (including figures, tables, and supplementary material) to be used during the evaluation process

Preparing your manuscript

Sahel Journal of Life Sciences accepts submissions only via the online submission system at https://saheljls.fudutsinma.edu.ng . Preparing a manuscript according to the guidelines concerning length, style, and acceptable file formats will facilitate the evaluation process and also help us to minimize the time frame from submission to publication.

Manuscript Components

The following items are part of the typical article manuscript.

Title:

• Should be concise, informative, specific, and relevant
• It should identify if the study reports (human or animal) trial data, or is a systematic review, meta-analysis, or replication study.
• When a gene or protein name is included, the abbreviated name rather than the full name should be used.
• Avoid abbreviations and formulae.
• The usual limit for titles is 10 to 12 words (not counting "and," "of," and similar conjunctions and prepositions).
• Avoid Redundant Phrases if possible (e.g A Study of, A review of, A Survey of, etc)

Author List and Affiliations:

• The authors' full first and last name must be provided. The initials of any middle names can be added.
• The PubMed/MEDLINE standard format is used for affiliations: complete address information, including city, zip code, state/province, country, and email address.
• At least one author should be designated as the 'corresponding author', and his or her email address and other details should be included at the end of the affiliation section. Ensure that the e-mail address and other contact details are kept up-to-date by the corresponding author. Please read the criteria to qualify for authorship.
• A 'present' or 'permanent address must be given in the footnotes to the author's name if the author has moved since the work described in the article was done or was visiting at the time. It can be added using Superscript Arabic numerals for footnotes.

Digital Identifier

We encourage authors to provide digital identifier (ORCID ) at the time of manuscript submission. Otherwise, corresponding author is responsible to provide digital identifier before the final publication of the manuscript.

Abstract:

• The abstract should be a total of about 250 words maximum.
• As the abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone.
• The abstract should be a single paragraph and should follow the style of structured abstracts with concise and factual information.
  • Background & Objective:Place the question addressed in a broad context and highlight the purpose of the study
  • Materials & Methods:Describe briefly the main methods or treatments applied. Include any relevant pre-registration numbers, species OR strains of any animals used
  • Results:Summarize the article's main findings; and
  • Conclusion:Indicate the main conclusions or interpretations.

• Do not cite figures, tables, websites or references.
• Avoid equations.
• Non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided.
• Must not contain results that are not presented and substantiated in the main text.
• Should not exaggerate the main conclusions.

Keywords:

• Provide a maximum of 7 keywords
• Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible.
• Avoid general and plural terms and multiple concepts (for example, "and", "of")

Conflicts of Interest: Authors must identify and declare any personal circumstances or interests that may be perceived as inappropriately influencing the representation or interpretation of reported research results. If there is no conflict of interest, please state "The authors declare no conflict of interest." Any role of the funding sponsors in the choice of the research project; design of the study; collection, analysis, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results must be declared in this section. Sahel Journal of Life Sciences does not publish studies funded by the tobacco industry. Any projects funded by pharmaceutical or food industries must pay special attention to the full declaration of funder involvement. If there is no role, please state "The sponsors had no role in the design, execution, interpretation, or writing of the study".

Funding for the project

The author must disclose funding sources and state clearly who has provided the financial support for the experimentation and/or preparation of the manuscript. Also, it is advised to briefly explain the role of the sponsor(s) if any, in study design; material collection, data analysis, and interpretation; drafting/reviewing the report; and in the decision to submit the paper for publication.

If no funding has been provided for the research, please include the following statement:

The research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or non-profit sectors.

Footnotes
Footnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article. Please indicate the position of footnotes in the text and list the footnotes themselves separately at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list.

Research Manuscript Sections

Introduction: The introduction should briefly place the study in a broad context and highlight why it is important. It should define the purpose of the work and its significance, including specific hypotheses being tested. The current state of the research field should be reviewed and cited key publications carefully. Please highlight controversial and diverging hypotheses when necessary. Finally, briefly mention the main aim of the work and highlight the main conclusions. Author should keep the introduction comprehensible to scientists working outside the topic of the paper.

Materials and Methods: In this section, the authors should mention when and where the study was conducted. They should be described in sufficient detail to allow others to replicate and build on published results. New methods and protocols should be described in detail while well-established methods can be briefly described and appropriately cited. Identify the equipment or materials used by specifying their sources. Give precise measurements. Give the name and version of any software used and make clear whether the computer code used is available. Include pre-registration codes if any.

If the research involves human, animals, stem cells, or other biohazard materials, please include ethical statement, committee approvals, permission to publish, and Clinical Trial Registry Number along with the criteria for selecting participants.

Results: Provide a concise, precise, and objective description of the experimental results, their interpretation as well as the experimental conclusions that can be drawn. You can also narrate how the results contribute to the scientific knowledge.

Discussion: Authors should discuss the results and how they can be interpreted from the perspective of previous studies and the working hypotheses. The findings and their implications should be discussed in the broadest context possible and limitations of the work highlighted. Future research directions may also be mentioned. This section may be combined with Results.

In short, make sure that:

• The results directly support your conclusions
• The quantitative descriptions and specific expressions are used
• Only discuss what has already been defined in the paper, and do no bring a whole new concept or vocabulary.
• All interpretations are based on facts rather than imaginations.

Conclusions: This section is not mandatory, but can be added to the manuscript if the discussion is unusually long or complex.

Patents: This section is not mandatory, but may be added if patents are resulting from the work reported in this manuscript.

Acknowledgments: All sources of funding for the study should be disclosed. Indicate grants that you have received in support of your research work and if you received funds to cover publication costs. Note that some funders will not refund article processing charges (APC) if the funder and grant number are not clearly and correctly identified in the paper.

Supplementary Materials: Described any supplementary material published online alongside the manuscript (figure, tables, video, spreadsheets, etc.). Please indicate the name and title of each element as follows Figure S1: title, Table S1: title, etc.

Author Contributions: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. Transparency about the contributions of authors is encouraged, for example in the form of a CRediT author statement.

References: Make sure that the references provided are correct.

• References must be numbered in order of appearance in the text (including table captions and figure legends) and listed individually at the end of the manuscript.
• We recommend preparing the references with a bibliography software package, such as EndNote or Zotero  to avoid typing mistakes and duplicate references.
• Use of the DOI is highly encouraged as they are guaranteed never to change and are a permanent link to the electronic article.
• We encourage citations to data, computer code, and other citable research material. If available online.
• Data references from relevant datasets can be cited in the text and should include being included in Reference List. It should have these elements; author name(s), dataset title, data repository, version (where available), year, and global persistent identifier.
• Citations and References in Supplementary files are permitted provided that they also appear in the main text and the reference list.
• A superscript number should be assigned in numerical order to each reference as it is cited in the text (in consecutive order). A number must be used even if the author is given in the text (e.g. Jones⁵reported that...).
• The original number assigned to a reference should be used each time the reference is cited in the text.
• When multiple references are cited together, use a hyphen to join the first and last numbers that are inclusive (e.g. ...was reported^5-8) and commas (without spaces) to separate non-inclusive numbers (e.g. ...was reported^5-8,12) and two consecutive numbers (e.g. was reported^5,6).

All sequence names and the accession numbers provided by the databases should be provided in the Materials and Methods section of the article.

Preparing Figures, Schemes, and Tables

• File for figures and schemes must be provided during submission in a single zip archive and at a sufficiently high resolution (minimum 1000 pixels width/height, or proportionally more). The image should be readable at and must have at least resolution of 300 dpi or higher. Common formats are accepted; however, TIFF, JPEG, EPS, and PDF are preferred.
• Sahel Journal of Life Sciences can publish multimedia files in the articles or as supplementary materials. Please contact the editorial office for further information.
• All figures, schemes, and tables should be inserted into the main text close to their first citation and must be numbered following their number of appearances (Figure 1, Scheme I, Figure 2, Scheme II, Table 1, etc.).
• All figures, schemes, and tables should have a short self-explanatory title and caption.
  All table columns should have an explanatory heading. To facilitate the copy-editing of the larger tables, smaller fonts may be used, but no less than 8 pt. in size. Authors should use the table option of Microsoft Word to create tables.
• Authors are encouraged to prepare figures and schemes in color (RGB at 8-bit per channel). There is no additional cost for publishing full-color graphics.
• Electronic artwork: If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then please provide 'as is in the native document format.
  • Regardless of the application used other than Microsoft Office, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please 'Save as' or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):
  • EPS (or PDF): Vector drawings, embed all used fonts.
  • TIFF (or JPEG): Color or grayscale photographs (halftones), keep to a minimum of 300 dpi.
  • TIFF (or JPEG): Bitmapped (pure black & white pixels) line drawings, keep to a minimum of 1000 dpi.
  • TIFF (or JPEG): Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale), keep to a minimum of 500 dpi.

Please do not:

• Supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); these typically have a low number of pixels and limited set of colours;
• Supply files that are too low in resolution;
• Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content

Data Availability

To maintain the integrity, transparency, and reproducibility of research records, the authors must make their experimental and research data openly available either by depositing into data repositories or by publishing the data and files as supplementary information in this journal.

Computer Code and Software

For work where novel computer code was developed, authors should release the code either by depositing it in a recognized, public repository or uploading it as supplementary information to the publication. The name and version of all software used should be indicated.

Supplementary Material

Additional data and files can be uploaded as "Supplementary Files" during the manuscript submission process. The supplementary files will also be available to the referees as part of the peer-review process. Any file format is acceptable, however, we recommend that common, non-proprietary formats are used where possible.

Unpublished Data

Restrictions on data availability should be noted during submission and in the manuscript. "Data not shown" should be avoided: authors are encouraged to publish all observations related to the submitted manuscript as supplementary material. "Unpublished data" intended for publication in a manuscript that is either planned, "in preparation" or "submitted" but not yet accepted, should be cited in the text and a reference should be added in the References section. "Personal Communication" should also be cited in the text and reference added in the References section.

Remote Hosting and Large Data Sets
Data may be deposited with specialized service providers or institutional/subject repositories, preferably those that use the DataCite mechanism. Large data sets and files greater than 60 MB must be deposited in this way. For a list of other repositories specialized in scientific and experimental data, please consult databib.org or re3data.org. The data repository name, link to the data set (URL), and accession number, DOI, or handle a number of the data set must be provided in the paper. The journal also accepts submissions of data set papers.

Deposition of Sequences and Expression Data
New sequence information must be deposited to the appropriate database before submission of the manuscript. Accession numbers provided by the database should be included in the submitted manuscript. Manuscripts will not be published until the accession number is provided.

• New nucleic acid sequences must be deposited in one of the following databases: GenBank, EMBL, or DDBJ. Sequences should be submitted to only one database.
• New high throughput sequencing (HTS) data sets (RNA-seq, ChIP-Seq, degradome analysis, ...) must be deposited either in the GEO database or in the NCBI's Sequence Read Archive.
• New microarray data must be deposited either in the GEO or the ArrayExpress databases. The "Minimal Information About a Microarray Experiment" (MIAME) guidelines published by the Microarray Gene Expression Data Society must be followed.
• New protein sequences obtained by protein sequencing must be submitted to UniProt (submission tool SPIN).

SUBMISSION OF REVISED MANUSCRIPTS:
If you are submitting a revised manuscript, please upload it using the online submission system of Sahel Journal of Life Sciences and it must include the following:
Response to reviewers

This section should address the specific points raised by each reviewer. And should contain:

• Answer to all the comments of reviewers and editors.
• List of changes that have been made in the manuscript
• Upload this document as a "response to reviewers" file.

Revised manuscript (Marked-up Copy)
This copy should be made to show the changes that have been made since the original submission. We encourage you to use the 'Track Changes' option in Microsoft Word and upload the 'Revised Article' with changes highlighted in the file.
Revised manuscript (Clean copy)

Upload a clean copy of your revised document that does not show your changes. Upload this as your "Manuscript" file.