Instructions for Authors

Plant Health Archives (PHA) is an Open Access Scientific Journal and aims to publish the most complete and reliable source of information on the advanced and on frontier areas of research in plant protection.

It covers all practical aspects of plant health management, crop improvement and related branches of biological sciences including applied zoology, post harvest losses, effect of plant growth rhizobacteria, biotic and abiotic stresses, cultural management, assessment of pest and diseases, molecular methods for detection and diagnosis, biological management for plant diseases and insect pests, biorational pesticides, invertebrate pest management, management of plant diseases, plant biosecurity and biosafety, management of weeds and integrated approaches, environmental benefits of reduced pesticide use and effects of pesticides, epidemiology of pests and diseases in relation to their control, GM Crops, and genetic engineering applications, management of postharvest crop diseases, invasive species, pesticide application methods, pest management, role of microbiome and phytobiome for pest and disease management, management of resistance, Sampling and monitoring schemes for diseases, nematodes, pests and biotechnological and nanotechnological approaches for plant disease management.

Manuscripts of all categories are published through open journal system for global reach. Authors are encouraged to submit the MS via online mode https://sberindia.org/ojs/index.php/planthealth or through email editorplanthealth@gmail.com.

CATEGORIES OF MANUSCRIPTS

Research Articles (not exceeding 6000 words, cited references to be limited to about 60 in number) are articles intended to be personalized reviews of research from the author(s)’ laboratory, based on a body of published work. The articles must provide appropriate background to the area in a concise introduction, which should also serve to place the author(s) work in a proper perspective.

Review Articles (not exceeding 6000 words, cited references to be limited to about 100 in number) are expected to survey and discuss current developments in a field. Review article should be well focused and organized, and avoid a general ‘textbook’ style.

Short Communications (less than 1000 words and one table, and one figure) should present brief observations which do not warrant the length of a full paper. However, they must present completed studies and follow the same scientific standards as original articles. It should contain the following sections: Title, Abstract (max. 250 words), Keywords (4-6 max.), Text body, Conclusion, Acknowledgements, References (if any).

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

Manuscripts should be typed 12 size Times New Roman font and 1.5-spaced and ordered as follows: Title page, Abstract, Keywords, Text (Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, and Conclusion), Acknowledgements, References, Tables, Figure legends (on separate page), Figures (one figure per page and should be labelled).

‘Per’ (/) in text or table to be typed as superscript, e.g., yield/plant must be yield plant^-1.

‘Percent’ or ‘percentage’ in the text and table are to be corrected as ‘%’.

‘et al.’, ‘e.g.’, ‘etc.’ ‘via’, ‘viz.’ should be presented in italics.

Title page: It should contain Title, Authors, Affiliations, and Corresponding author and Address. The title should be brief, specific and amenable for indexing. Not less than 4 (four) and not more than 6 (six) keywords should be indicated separately and alphabetically; these should be chosen carefully and must not be phrases of several words.

Abstract: The abstract should indicate the main findings of the papers and typed in bold, single space, data oriented reflecting the major findings with a line of conclusion. It should be limited to 250 words and should not be structured and theoretical/ textual material should be avoided.

Keywords: should be 4-6, in alphabetical order, indicators of the work, helpful in indexing the article.

Text: All papers should have a brief introduction. The text should be intelligible to readers in different disciplines and technical terms should be defined. Tables and figures should be referred to in numerical order. All symbols and abbreviations must be defined, and used only when necessary. Superscripts, subscripts and ambiguous characters should be clearly indicated. Units of measurement should be metric or, preferably, SI.

Introduction should include specific aim of the research work undertaken, a review of literature leading to the identification of gaps in knowledge. It should justify the work carried out avoiding elementary details and repetition of well-known facts.

Materials and Methods should be concise but provide enough detail to permit proper interpretation of the results as well as to allow repetition by others. Technical description of method is needed only when the method is new. If the method followed has been already described elsewhere, just give the reference. If any alteration is made, describe the alteration along with reason.

Results and Discussion should be presented in clear and concise form. Data must be analysed adopting suitable statistical methods. Tables should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numeral and should be self-explanatory. Repetition of the data should be avoided in the text but for highlighting specific findings. Do not include graphs duplicating the data presented in the tables. Material appropriate for discussion should not be included in results.

Conclusion should be precise and focused to the objective (100-150 words).

Funding details: Acknowledgement of the funding institute for the support of conducting the research may be included.

Acknowledgments of financial grants, technical assistance, identification of specimens and supply of essential literature may be included.

Conflict of Interests: A manuscript must be accompanied by a no "Conflict of interest statement" from author(s).

References

The journal advocates the citation of new papers; old references are better replaced with updated ones. The authors are responsible for the correctness of references. References should be kept to a minimum and listed in alphabetical order. Personal communication and unpublished data should not be included in reference list. The list of reference at the end of the text should be in the following format. The authors are responsible for the correctness of references.

In the text, references should be cited as follows: two authors (Mohali and Bhowmik, 2019), three or more authors (Mullar et al., 2017). Listing of references in the text should be chronological separated by semicolon, e.g., (Smith, 1987; John, 1999; Moriss et al., 2000).

Reference at the End

Borah, D., Bora, S.S., 2020. In-Situ Nutrient Recycling and Management. Research Biotica 2(3), 91-96. DOI: 10.54083/ResBio/2.3.2020.91-96.

Nanda, B.K., Sahoo, N., Panigrahi, B., 2021. Soil Erosion from Farming Lands in Tropical Islands of India. Research Biotica 3(3), 170-175. DOI: 10.54083/ResBio.3.3.2021.170-175.

No Author Given

Anonymous, 2005. The slide germination method of evaluating protectant fungicides. Phythopathology 33(2), 627-632.

Weblink

Chakraborty, A., 2003. General Approaches to Insect Control. IPM in India. Available at: https://biospub.com. Retrieved on: 01.01.2010.

Books

Personal Author(s)

Atwal, A.S., 1976. Agricultural pest of India and South East Asia. Kalyani Publishers, Ludhiana, Punjab, India, pp. 256-257.

Chapter in a Book

Chang, G.C., Kareiva, P., 1999. The case for indigenous generalists in biological control. In: Theoretical Approaches to Biological Control, (Eds.) Hawkins, B.A. and H.V. Cornell. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, pp. 103-115.

Published Proceedings Paper

Chundawat, G.S., Sharma, U.S., 2003. Bioefficacy of some newer acaricides against red spider mite on brinjal. In: Proceedings of the National Symposium on Frontier Areas of Entomological Research, New Delhi, November 5-7, pp. 287-288.

Dissertation or Thesis

Manjulatha, M., 1999. Bioefficacy of certain newer insecticides against spider mite, Tetranychus neocaledonicus Andre (Acari: Tetranychidae) on vegetables. M.Sc. (Agri.,) Thesis, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India, p. 92.

Tables and Figures: Table should be descriptive with or without references with heading in bold letters. Tables, figures, drawings should be placed outside (As a separate attachment) of the text as they shall be correctly arranged by the publisher. Figures whether line drawing or graph should be of good quality. Legends to figures should be given on a separate sheet. Tables and figures should be numbered consequently in Arabic numerals (Table 1, Table 2 and Figure 1, Figure 2).

For each table, please provide a table title explaining the content of the table. Source of Tables from a previously published material should be mentioned at the footnote.

Footnotes to tables should be indicated by superscript lower-case letters (or asterisks for significance values and other statistical data) and included beneath the table body

Photographs: The photographs should be of good quality (not less than 300 dpi resolution, so if they should occupy text column width (8 cm) they must have at least 1000 pixels width.) and in the JPG/ JPEG/ PNG/ TIFF format. Please send original (not resized) photograph(s), straight from a digital camera, without any text descriptions on the photo.

Acknowledgements: All benefits in any form from a commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of the submitted manuscript or any of the authors must be acknowledged. For each source of funds, both the name of the funding agency and the grant number should be given. This should be included in the acknowledgement. If no conflict exists, authors should state: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest within themselves and others including the funding agency and the agency where the research was carried out.

Publication Policy/ Norms

All manuscripts, after a preliminary scrutiny by the editorial team, will be subjected to peer review by at least two referees who are experts in the area of the submitted paper. Publication will be based on priority with effect from the date of acceptance. Papers adjudged demanding immediate attention of beneficiaries will be fast-tracked for publication.

All authors must suggest three potential reviewers for their paper upon submission (please include institutional email addresses ONLY for all reviewers).
The suggested referees should:
a) not be close collaborators of the authors(s),
b) not be located in the same institution as the author(s), and
c) not all be from the home country.

To avoid potential conflict of interest, do not suggest colleagues of your own institute or you have published with previously. Do not suggest any Editor of this journal.

It may be noted that papers once rejected cannot be resubmitted. Illustrations and other materials to be reproduced from other publications must be properly credited; it is the authors’ responsibility to obtain permission for reproduction of figures, tables, etc. from published sources.

Submission of a manuscript automatically implies that the submitted work has not been published or submitted anywhere by any means for publication or under consideration for publication anywhere else; that its publication has been approved by all co-authors, if any, as well as by the appropriate authorities at the institute/ organization where the work has been carried out. The publisher will not be responsible for any conflict of interest, violation of rules or norms or any compensation claim.

Conflict of Interest :A conflict of interest statement must be submitted along with the manuscript.

Data Availability Statement :

The authenticity of the data availability statement must be confirmed by the authors in case of research articles. General statement is given below.

Legal restrictions are imposed on the public sharing of raw data. However, authors have full right to transfer or share the data in raw form upon request subject to either meeting the conditions of the original consents and the original research study. Further, access of data needs to meet whether the user complies with the ethical and legal obligations as data controllers to allow for secondary use of the data outside of the original study.

Authorship :

All authors should have made substantial contributions to all of the following: (1) the conception and design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, (2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, (3) final approval of the version to be submitted.

Copyright Transfer

Submission of a manuscript implies that when the manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors agree to automatic transfer of the copyright to the publisher (or grant the Publisher exclusive publication and dissemination rights). The SBER, as the publisher, has the right to enter into any agreement with any organization in India or abroad engaged in reprography, photocopying, storage and dissemination of information contained in this journal. Plant Health Archives (PHA) has no objection in using the material, provided the information is being utilized for academic purpose but not for commercial use. Due credit line should be given to Plant Health Archives where information will be utilized.

Proofs and Reprints

Galley proofs (PDF) will be sent by email to the corresponding author. The corrected proofs should be returned to the Managing Editor within 7 days of receipt. The delay in sending the proofs may shift the paper to the next issue. Page proofs are considered to be the final version of the manuscript. With the exception of typographical or minor clerical errors, no changes will be made in the manuscript at the proof stage. In order to minimize the corrections and alterations in the proof stage, authors are requested to prepare the manuscript carefully according to magazine format before submitting it for publication. PDF of the published papers will be provided to the author via email. Authors can freely download the PDF file from which they can print unlimited copies of their articles. It is mandatory for the author to mention his/her email ID.

Online First

The article will be published online after receipt of the corrected proofs. This is the official first publication. After release of the volume (electronic), the paper can also be cited by issue and page numbers.

Correspondence

Any correspondence regarding publication of papers should be sent to- The Editor-in-Chief, Plant Health Archives (PHA) along with the manuscript ID, E-mail: editorplanthealth@gmail.com

Disclaimer

The contents of published articles represent solely the ideas of authors. Editors as well as Board of Editors of RB are not responsible for the views expressed by authors. However, the Editorial Board of RB takes responsibility for making publication decisions for submitted manuscripts based on the reviewer’s evaluation of the manuscript, policies of the Editorial Board and legal restrain acting against plagiarism, libel and copyright infringement.

Click here to download the Guidelines of PHA.

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