Authors Guide and Manuscript Structure

Manuscripts must be written by MS Word software. A4 paper size and double-spaced format must be used at the main text. All pages and lines should be numbered continuously. Times New Roman font type and 14 and 12 font sizes must be selected for title (in Bold) and the main text, respectively. The following list should be considered by authors.
 

• Title page
• Abstract
• Keywords
• Introduction 
• Materials and Methods
• Results and Discussion
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgment 
• References

Authors' name and affiliations must be presented below the title. The affiliation includes full postal and email address and should be referred to authors by superscript number after author's name. Corresponding author should be introduced as a person who not only take the responsibility of the paper, but also handle correspondence at all different stages of reviewing and publication.
 

Abstract: The importance of abstract is clear as it is the section that reader gets a general view at first. The paper should include abstract not exceeding 150 words.The abstract should state the main purpose, methodology and findings of the study. It must be prepared in a way that it is able to stand alone.
 

Keywords: Following the abstract, a maximum of 5 keywords must be added with alphabetical order.
 

Introduction: It is essential to present adequate background of the field of research.The main reasons and objectives of the research paper must be explained in this section.
 

Materials and Methods: An overview of the research design should be clearly reported. The previous published procedures would be cited and methods used in the paper should be described in detail. Types of analysis should be also mentioned in this section.

Results and Discussion: A logical sequence should be considered to present results (tables and figures). Authors have to avoid use and describe the same data in different forms repeatedly. In discussion part, the importance and significance of the results should be explored in detail. The results would be considered in relation to hypotheses mentioned in the introduction section. There is no problem to combine results and discussion by authors.

Conclusion: All concluding remarks and important findings should be integrated in conclusion section.

Acknowledgment: Information related to research grant, assistance of colleagues and notes of appreciation should be written in acknowledgement section.
 

• References: Authors should follow the below citation and reference list styles.

Single author:  (Loghavi, 2008)

Two authors: (Aghkhani and Abbaspour-Fard, 2009)

Three authors and more: (Abbaspour-Fard et al., 2008)

Multiple citations: (Smith, 1999; Samuel et al., 2008; Smith and Samuel, 2009)

Journal Article:

Biabani A., Carpenter Boggs Coyne C., Taylor L., Jeffrey L.S., Higgins S. 2011. Nitrogen fixation potential in global chickpea minicore collection. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 47: 679-685.

Books:

Lindsay W.L. 1979. Chemical Equilibria in Soils. John Wiley & Sons, NewYork, 607 p.
Mesdaghi M. 2003. Management of Iranian Rangelands, 4^th Ed. Astan-e-Ghods Press, Mashhad, 333 p. (In Persian).

Reference to a Chapter in a Book:

Nelson D.W., Sommers L.E. 1982. Total carbon, organic carbon, and organic matter. In: Page A.L., Miller R.H., Keeney D.R.  Eds. Methods of Soil Analysis. American Society of Agronomy Inc., Soil Science Society of America Inc.: Madison, WI. Pp: 539-579.

Reference to Thesis/Dissertation:

Richardson F.D. 2004. Simulation models of rangelands production systems (simple and complex). Ph.D. Thesis in Applied Mathematics, University of Cape Town, South Africa, 320 p.

Reference to Report:
Arzani H., Motamedi J., Zare Chahoki M.A. 2010. Report of National Project Forage Quality of Range Species in Iran, Organization of Forests Rangelands and Watershed Management of Iran, 230 p.

Conference Proceeding:

Hemmat A., Adamchuk V.I., Jasa P. 2007. On-the-go soil strength sensing using an instrumented disc coulter. International Agricultural Engineering Conference (IAEC). Asian Association for Agricultural Engineering, Bangkok, Thailand.

Web References:

Ramakrishnappa K. 2002. Impact of cultivation and gathering of medicinal plants on biodiversity: case studies from India, Inter- Departmental Working Group on Biological Diversity for Food and Agriculture. Rome. [cited 19 February, 2010], Available from: http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/AA021E/AA021e00.htm#TopOfPage