Notes for contributors

The Indian Journal of Plant Physiology is a quarterly publication which publishes records of original research in te fields of plant physiology, biochemistry, agronomy, soil science, horticulture, genetics, molecular biology and other cognate sciences that are of primary interest to plant physiology. The Journal also accepts critical review articles from the authors having substantial experience of research in that particular area of the subject. Review articles should indicate fruitful areas of further research. One review article in each issue may be published. The Journal is published quarterly, i.e. in March, June, September and December. However, the Society reserves the right to publish the Journal as a whole or in parts depending upon the material and the finances available.

Manuscripts including illustrations should be sent in duplicate to the Editor-in-Chief, Indian Journal of Plant Physiology. Division of Plant Physiology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, India. The papers forwarded to the Editor-in-Chief for publication are understood to be offered to THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGY exclusively. It is also understood that the authors have obtained an approval of the Head of their Department, Faculty or Institute in cases were such as approval is necessary. Submission of a paper is taken to mean that the results reported have not been published and are not being considered for publication elsewhere. The responsibility for statements, whether fact or opinion, rests entirely with the authors thereof.

On receipt of an article, an acknowledgement giving the registration number of the paper is sent to the author who submits the manuscript. This number should invariably be quoted while making further enquiries about its publication. All papers are refereed. The author is informed of the article's acceptance/rejection, as well as the comments of the referees, should a revision be thought necessary. The Editor-in-Chief decides on the final acceptance of the manuscript. He also decides in which issue of the Journal and in what position the paper is to be published.

Free reprints are not provided. Authors may however, order for the reprints while returning the proofs, which will be charged.

Guidelines for the Preparation of Manuscripts

Manuscripts should be written in English. It should be as concise as possible and must not exceed 4 printed pages including tables and illustrations, extra pages will be charged. Short communications should not exceed 2 printed pages including figures and tables. Manuscripts should be typed double spaced and throughout on one side of the bond paper (21 x 29 cm), leaving 4 cm wide left hand margin. All pages (including the references, tables, figures and legends should be numbered consecutively.

Title should be short, specific and informative. It should identify the contents of the article. A short version of the title (running title) should also be given.

The names of authors should be written on the next line after the title of the paper followed by address of the institution where the work was done. Change of address be given as footnote.

The contents may be organized under : summary, key words, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, acknowledgements, if any and references. In short communication, separate titles for summary, introduction, materials and methods, results and discussion are not given. Please refer to recent issue of IJPP to note details of headings, tables, illustrations, style and layout. Manuscript not in the patter of IJPP is returned to the author immediately. Please also give telephone number/e-mail address of corresponding author in a separate sheet.

Summary should be brief and informative not to exceed 125 words. It should state the scope of work and the principal findings and should be complete enough for use by abstracting services.

Key words maximum of 6 in alphabetical order, suitable for indexing should be given.

Introduction should be brief and limited to the statement of the problem or the aim of the experiment. The review of literature should be pertinent to the type of work.

Materials and Methods should include relevant details on the nature of material, experimental design, the techniques employed and the statistical methods used. For well known methods citation of reference will suffice. The Results and Discussion should preferably be combined to avoid repetition.

References should be arranged alphabetically, typed double-spaced. Make sure that all references in the text are listed and vice versa. Titles of periodicals should be abbreviated according to the world list of scientific periodicals (1952). Refer to the latest issues of IJPP for the style used in references. Examples of common references are:

Journal article
Chinoy, J.J., Nanda, K.K., Sirohi, G.S. and Sawhney, K.L. (1959). Growth and phasic development of wheat. I. Vegetative period and photothermic requirement. Indian J. Plant Physiol. 2 : 29-45.

Whole book
Asana, R.D. (1976). Physiological Approaches to Breeding of Drought Resistant Crops. ICAR Publication, New Delhi.

Chapter in a book
Sirohi, G.S. (1965). Studies on growth and development of crop plants in relation to their genetic constitution. In: R.D. Asana and K.K. Nanda (eds.), Growth and Development of Plants, pp. 121-137. Today & Tomorrow's Book Agency, New Delhi.

In the text, the references should be cited by giving name(s) of the author(s) and year of publication. Do not use comma between the authors name and year of publication. Two or more references at one place in the text should be cited chronologically and are separated by comma. Use ‘and’ to link the name of two authors in the text and use et al. where there are more than two. Citation of ‘personal communication’ and ‘unpublished data’ should be avoided, unless absolutely necessary. Such citations should in text appear only as: (G.S. Sirohi, personal communication) and not in the reference list.

Botanical genus and species names should be set in italics or underlined. Abbreviations of international standard should be used in the text. Abbreviations other tan the standard should be explained within brackets when first used in the test. All units and measurements must conform to the international standared system (SI-system). However, non-SI units such as day and year are acceptable. In complex groupings of units, use the negative index system, eg. µmol m^-2s^-1.

Tables should be typed on separate sheets. Each table should be numbered with arabic numbers followed by a heading stating its contents clearly and concisely. Each table should be mentioned in the text and the places where tables are to be inserted, should be indicated.

Illustrations which are of good quality and are essential to a clear understanding of the paper can be accepted. Ensure that table and illustrations do not repeat data. Each illustration must be specifically referred to in the text. Text-figures should be used in preference to plates. Colour photographs are accepted if they are essential but the cost of production must be borne by the author.

Line drawings should be clearly drawn in black Indian ink on good tracing paper and should be of the size width 12 cm x height (preferably, 9 cm to a maximum of 18 cm). Figures meant for reduction should have multiple dimension of the above size. Letters, numbers, dots, lines etc. in the drawing should be large enough to permit thus intended for reproduction as illustration must be of high contrast and sharp definition (original drawings, no photostats). Text-figures should be numbered in arabic numbers, in order of their reference. Captions and legends to illustrations should be typed on a separate sheet of paper and attached at the end of the paper.

Photographs for publications should be of high contrast on glossy paper and should not be folded or creased. Photograph number and title of article with authors name should be given on the back of the photograph.

Proofs should be checked and returned as promptly as possible to the Editorial Office preferably with in a week. No editing or material changes at the proof stage will be permitted unless the extra cost involved is paid by the authors. Although very effort is made by the editors to correct proofs of the all the paper, they assume no responsibility for any errors that may remain in the final printing.