The Nigerian Journal of Nematology (NIJON) is an annual publication of the Nigerian Society of Nematology (NISON). It is a peer-reviewed journal that accepts original research papers, review articles and short communications and publishes high-quality articles, in English Language, in all fields of study of Nematology like Taxonomy, Control of plant-parasitic nematodes, animal parasitic nematodes, entomopathogenic nematodes, biocontrol, biotechnology and molecular biology, nematode community structure and pollution monitoring, etc.

Manuscript format and preparation

Manuscripts should be typed in A4 paper, 12 font sizes, Time New Roman, 1.5 line spacing, and all pages numbered starting from the title page. The should follow the IMRAD format : Title, Abstract (about 300 words), Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments (where necessary) and References. All articles published in NIJON will be peer-reviewed while papers will be published in the next issue of the journal after acceptance.

The Title should be a brief phrase describing the contents of the paper.  Where possible the title should not be longer than 18 words. Please do not type titles in upper case. The Title Page should include the authors’ full names and affiliations, the name of the corresponding author along with phone number, e-mail information and current address. Please do not include rank (or designation) of authors in the title page.

The Abstract should be concise, indicate the purpose and method of research, the results and the conclusion. The abstract should be written in the past tense. Standard nomenclature should be used and abbreviations should be avoided. No literature should be cited in the Abstract. Five to seven keywords arranged in alphabetical ordershould be provided on the next line below the Abstract. 

The Introduction should provide a clear statement of the problem, the relevant literature on the subject, and the proposed approach or solution. It should be easy for colleagues from a broad range of disciplines to understand. It should end with clearly stated objective(s) of the study. 

Materials and methods should be complete enough to allow experiments to be reproduced. However, only truly new procedures should be described in detail; previously published procedures should be cited, and important modifications of published procedures should be mentioned briefly. Methods in general use need not be described in detail. Subheadings should be used.

Results should be presented with clarity and precision, pointing out striking observations and not just merely repeating data presented on the tables or chats. Rather, it should summarize these information. The results should be written in the past tense when describing findings in the authors’ experiments.   Results should be explained, but largely without referring to the literature. Discussion, speculation and detailed interpretation of data should not be included in the Results but should be put in the Discussion section.

The Discussion should interpret the findings in view of the results obtained in this and in past studies on this topic. State the conclusions in a few sentences at the end of the paper. The Results and Discussion sections should not be combined but they can each include subheadings

Tables should be kept to a minimum and be designed to be as simple as possible. Tables are to be typed double-spaced throughout, including headings. Each table should be fixed in appropriate section within the text. Tables should be prepared in table format having a value per cell (without grid lines) in Microsoft Word.

Figures and Figure legends: Figures should be embedded in the appropriate section in the text. Figure legends shouldbe typed in numerical order on a separate sheet. Graphics should be prepared using applications capable of generating high resolution GIF, TIFF, JPEG or PowerPoint before posting in the Microsoft Word manuscript file. Figures should not repeat information already presented on tables. Use Arabic numerals to designate figures and upper case letters for their parts (e.g. Figure 1). Begin each legend with a title and include sufficient description so that the figure is understandable without reading the text of the manuscript. Information given in legends should not be repeated in the text.

Acknowledgement: those who have contributed to the success of or funded the work should be appropriately acknowledged in this section. If acknowledging a granting body, please supply the grant number of the project, you may or may not give the title of the project. You may also acknowledge the assistance of colleague who helped with the manuscript’s initial review before submission.

References: In the text, a reference identified by means of an author‘s name should be followed by the date of the reference in parentheses. When there are more than two authors, only the first author‘s name should be mentioned, followed by ‘et al’. For example when used within or at the beginning of a sentence: Rotimi et al. (2005) established that plantain growth reaction to plant parasitic nematodes is dependent on the inoculum level as low levels could be stimulatory on plant growth rather than repressive.

Or when author is quoted in parenthesis as: The feeding habit of a plant parasitic nematode species on a host plant is dependent on inter-specific competitions among concomitant populations (Olaniyi et al., 2011).

In the event that an author cited has had two or more works published during the same year, the reference, both in the text and in the reference list, should be identified by a lower case letter like ‘a’ and ‘b’ after the date to distinguish the works. For example Hopewell (2012a) or Hopewell (1988b) if citing within a sentence or (Fawole, 2012a; Stephen et al., 2013b) if citing at the end of a sentence.

Reference List: All references cited should be listed at the end of the document in the style below:

McSorley, R. 2011. Overview of Organic Amendments for Management of Plant-Parasitic Nematodes, with Case Studies from Florida. Journal of Nematology 43(2), 69–81. 2011.

Orisajo, S. B., Afolami, S. O. and Atungwu, J. J. 2008. Effects of poultry litter and carbofuran soil amendments on Meloidogyne incognita attacks on cacao. Journal of Applied Biosciences 7, 214 – 221

Riegel, C. and Noe, J. P. 2000. Chicken litter amendment.  Effect on soil-borne microbes and Meloidogyne incognitaon cotton. Plant Disease 84, 1275-1281.

Submission of manuscripts should be preferably by Electronic means, as e-mail attachment to the Editor-in-Chief at: nijonematology@gmail.com or may be submitted as hard copy together with a soft copy on CD to NIJON Secretarial address given on the editorial page. Manuscript should preferably be prepared as word document; ensure that the file version used is compatible across systems. NJON requires that you submit a confirmation letter that the work has not been earlier published in another journal or concurrently submitted to any other journal at the time of submission. When submitting a manuscript, make subject line “Submission of manuscript” and save your file as nijon_short title_author’s surname, e.g. njon_Nematodes of Nigerian Estuaries_Olorunlogbon

Three types of manuscripts may be submitted:

Research papers: These should describe new and carefully confirmed findings, and experimental procedures should be given in sufficient detail for others to verify the work. The length of a full paper should contain at least 10 pages; the minimum required to describe and interpret the work clearly (this excludes wording related to an abstract, a full set of references, tables and diagrams). Papers can either be theoretical or empirical based. 

Review articles: Submission of reviews and perspectives covering topics of current interest are welcome and encouraged. Reviews should be concise and about 7-8 printed pages. Reviews/opinion manuscripts are also peer-reviewed.

Short Communications: A Short Communication is suitable for recording the results of complete small investigations or giving details of new models or hypotheses, innovative methods, techniques or apparatus. The style of main sections need not conform to that of full-length papers. Short communications are 4 to 6 printed pages in length.

Handling / Publication Charges

The publication charges of N20,000.00 for members and N30,000 for non members should be paid after acceptance of each manuscript. International authors on the other hand should pay a total of US$150 or £85 BPD as the case may be. These charges are subject to review as may deem necessary, in which case, authors shall be appropriately notified.

Payments should be made into the bank account of The Nigerian Society of Nematologists. Authors shall receive necessary details at submission of manuscripts.

Review Process

All manuscripts are peer-reviewed by 2 reviewers. The reviewer’s comment determines whether a paper will be accepted or rejected.  Decisions will be made as rapidly as possible, and the journal strives to return reviewers’ comments to authors within the shortest possible time. It is the goal of the NIJON to publish manuscripts in the very next edition of the Journal after final submission. Authors are advised to quickly attend to reviewers’ comments and return promptly so as to avoid having to present the manuscript for consideration as a fresh submission.

Copyright: Submission of a manuscript implies:

• That the work described has not been published before (except in the form of an abstract or thesis);
• That it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere;
• That if and when the manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors agree to automatic transfer of the copyright to the publisher.

Consequently in the cover letter for submission, corresponding author should clearly affirm all three conditions above.

It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to secure consent of all co-authors before presenting manuscript for publication as NIJON shall not be held liable for any breach of trust among co-authors.