Author Guidelines
Accepted File Formats & Languages
Main sections of the manuscript
Original Research Paper Specific Sections
Review Article Specific Sections
Letters to Editor and Editorial Article Specific Sections
Preparing Figures, Schemes, and Tables
Article Types
The Biological Journal of Armenia publishes various types of articles, including:
Original Research Articles: These articles present findings from original research studies that add to the body of knowledge on the topic. They provide detailed descriptions of research methods, data analysis, and interpretation of results, contributing to the advancement of knowledge in the field of biology. Original research articles typically follow the traditional structure, including sections such as Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion.
Review Articles: Review articles provide comprehensive and critical evaluations of existing literature on a specific topic within the field of biology. They offer a synthesis of current knowledge, identify gaps in understanding, and propose future directions for research. Review articles often provide a valuable resource for researchers and serve as a reference for those seeking a comprehensive overview of a particular subject area.
Letters to the Editor: Letters to the editor allow readers to provide brief comments, clarifications, or responses to previously published articles in the Biological Journal of Armenia within the past 4 issues. These letters provide an opportunity for scholarly exchange and encourage open dialogue within the scientific community.
Editorials: Editorials are articles written by the journal's editors or invited experts that provide insightful commentary, analysis, or perspectives on current issues, trends, or developments in the field of biology.
Submission Process
Manuscripts for the BJOA should be submitted online submission system. The author responsible for the submission, typically the corresponding author, holds the responsibility for the manuscript throughout the submission and peer-review process. It is his duty to ensure the inclusion of all eligible co-authors in the author list (please refer to the authorship criteria) and to ensure that all co-authors have thoroughly reviewed and provided their approval for the submitted version of the manuscript. To initiate the manuscript submission, authors need to register and access the submission website by logging in with their credentials.
Accepted File Formats & Languages
BJOA accepts submissions in English. Authors should also provide Author names, Affiliations, Abstract, and Keywords in Armenian. BJOA accepts in Microsoft Word format (DOC or DOCX). Authors are encouraged to use the BJOA Microsoft Word template file. Graphics (schemes, figures, etc.) and tables should be inserted in the main text after the paragraph of its first citation.
Free Format Submission
Recognizing the time-consuming nature of formatting papers according to strict typesetting requirements, we understand the additional burden it places on researchers. In an effort to minimize these challenges and streamline the submission process, the Biological Journal of Armenia has adopted a policy of accepting free format submissions. Authors are granted the flexibility to choose the format of their manuscript submission, as long as it includes all the necessary information for an objective and rigorous peer review.
By allowing free format submissions, we aim to reduce the burden on authors during the initial submission stage, enabling them to focus on presenting their research in a clear and concise manner. Once a decision regarding the acceptance of a manuscript is made, authors will be requested to format their paper according to the journal's guidelines. This formatting step ensures consistency and enhances the readability of accepted manuscripts.
Cover Letter
A cover letter is a required component for every submission to the Biological Journal of Armenia. It serves as an opportunity for authors to explain how their article aligns with the journal's Aims and Scope. Additionally, the cover letter should include statements regarding the authors' compliance with the Research Ethics and Publishing Policies of the Journal.
General Format
Manuscripts should be prepared in .doc or .docx format). Manuscripts should be 1.5-spaced for text and single-spaced for tables, legends, and references.
Main sections of the manuscript
Title: The title should represent the research and its content. It should differ from the title of the articles published before. It should not exceed 50 words. The title is required for all article types.
Author List and Affiliations: Provide the full first and last names of all authors. Middle names can be abbreviated to initials if desired. Include complete address information, including city, zip code, state/province, and country. At least one author should as a corresponding author that will be the main point of contact for communication regarding the manuscript. The corresponding author is responsible for obtaining consent from all authors regarding the display of their email addresses. If authors have contributed equally to the work, use a superscript symbol († or similar) to mark their names below the affiliations. Additionally, include the following statement: "These authors contributed equally to this work." The equal roles of authors should also be clearly disclosed in the author contributions statement.
Abstract: The abstract should be an objective representation of the article. For original research articles, the abstract should include Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusion sections. For review articles, the abstract can be unstructured. The abstract should not exceed 300 words (for English version). The abstract is required for original research articles and reviews.
Keywords: It is necessary to include three to ten relevant keywords. We suggest that these keywords are both specific to your article and commonly used within the subject discipline. Keywords are required for all article types.
Introduction: The introduction section of the manuscript should present a succinct contextual framework for the study, emphasizing its significance and relevance. It is crucial to carefully review the current state-of-the-art in the field. Clearly indicate the main objective of the study and, when appropriate, provide a summary of the main conclusions. It is essential to maintain accessibility and comprehensibility in the introduction, making it understandable to a broad scientific audience.
Original Research Paper Specific Sections
Materials and Methods: Sufficient detail should be provided in describing methods and protocols (including data analysis and statistics) to enable the replication by others. For newly developed methods and protocols, a thorough description is necessary, while well-established methods can be briefly outlined and appropriately cited. The name and version of any software used should be specified, and it should be indicated whether the used computer code is accessible.
Results: Provide a concise and precise description of the experimental results, their interpretation as well as the experimental conclusions that can be drawn.
Discussion: Authors are expected to engage in a comprehensive discussion of the results and their interpretation, considering their relationship to prior studies and the working hypotheses. The significance and implications of the findings should be explored within a broad context, while also addressing any limitations of the study. Furthermore, the authors may outline potential avenues for future research. This section can be combined with Results (in this case section should be entitled Results and Discussion).
Conclusions: This section is optional and can be added at the author's discretion.
Supplementary Materials: Please provide a description of any additional material that accompanies the manuscript and is published online. This may include supplementary figures, tables, videos, spreadsheets, or any other relevant content that enhances the understanding of the manuscript. All supplementary materials should be properly cited in the main article.
Funding: Authors should disclose all funding sources associated with the article.
Acknowledgments: The purpose of this section is to acknowledge any form of support that does not fall under the author's contribution or funding categories.
Author’s Contributions: Each author is required to have made significant contributions to the research, which may include involvement in the conception or design of the study, data acquisition, analysis or interpretation, development of new software utilized in the research, drafting or substantive revision of the manuscript. Additionally, each author must have approved the submitted version of the manuscript, including any substantial edits made by the journal staff that incorporate the author's contributions. Furthermore, authors are expected to take personal responsibility for their own contributions and ensure that any concerns regarding the accuracy or integrity of the work, even those in which they were not directly involved, are appropriately addressed, resolved, and documented in the scientific literature. The author's contribution should be defined according to CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) roles (https://credit.niso.org/).
Institutional Review Board Statement:
Informed Consent Statement:
Data and Code Availability Statement: At BJOA, we strongly encourage authors to openly share their research data and software codes. Authors have the freedom to select the most suitable repositories, such as Zotero, GitHub, GeneBank, and others, for depositing and sharing their data and codes.
Conflicts of Interest: BJOA follows ICMJE recommendations for more guidance on how to state conflict of interest.
References: BJOA follows citations and references lists styles used by the American Chemical
Society. We recommend that references be prepared with free bibliography software packages such as Zotero or Mendeley.
Review Article Specific Sections
Review articles should consist of Title, Author List and Affiliations, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Literature Review and Analysis, Discussion, Conclusions, References, and Conflicts of Interest sections. The Literature Review and Analysis section should contain a detailed examination of previous research on a topic; no new results should be presented in the article.
Letters to Editor and Editorial Article Specific Sections
These article types should contain Title, Author List and Affiliations, Keywords, Main Text, References, and Conflicts of Interest sections. The Main Text does not have to follow a strict structure.
Preparing Figures, Schemes, and Tables
Please provide the Figures and Schemes in a single zip archive file. Ensure that the figures and schemes are of high resolution, with a minimum requirement of 1000 pixels width/height or a resolution of 300 dpi (dots per inch) or higher. Accepted file formats include common image formats such as JPEG, PNG, TIFF, or PDF.
All figures, schemes, and tables should be inserted into the main text near their first citation and must be sequentially numbered based on their order of appearance. All Figures, Schemes, and Tables should have a short explanatory title and caption.
