General Publication Policies
The Canadian Journal of Plant Science is an international peer-reviewed journal published by the Agricultural Institute of Canada under the stewardship of the Canadian Society of Agronomy, the Canadian Society for Horticultural Science and the Canadian Weed Science Society.
Scope and Content
The journal reports original peer-reviewed research on aspects of plant science relevant to continental climate agriculture. Subject areas cover aspects of plant production and management including: agronomy (grain, forage, industrial, and alternative crops), horticulture (fruit, vegetable, ornamental, greenhouse, and alternative crops), and pest management (entomology, plant pathology, and weed science). Cross-disciplinary research in the application of technology, plant breeding, genetics, physiology, biotechnology, microbiology, soil management, economics, meteorology, post-harvest biology and plant production systems are also published. Research that makes a significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge of crop, horticulture and weed sciences (e.g., drought or stress resistance) but is not directly applicable to the environmental regions of Canadian agriculture may also be considered for publication. The journal also publishes invited reviews, letters to the editor, short communications, Canadian cultivar descriptions, The Biology of Canadian Weeds and The Biology of Invasive Alien Plants in Canada. Authors wishing to submit to either the Biology of Canadian Weeds or the Biology of Invasive Alien Plant series must first contact the Head of Journal Publications to ensure that the species has not already been assigned. Contributions to these series must strictly follow the format outlined in the Operations Manual. Reviews or mini-reviews must be approved by Editor prior to submission, and may require more time for review that regular papers or short communications. Full manuscripts developed from research presented at conferences or symposia can be published, subject to approval of the editor. Letters to the Editor may explain, amplify, or otherwise comment upon research published in the Journal. Manuscripts may be written in either English or French. Abstracts in both English and French are required for papers and Short Communications and, if not submitted by the author, will be prepared by the Journal at a nominal cost to the author or the institution. Membership in the Agricultural Institute of Canada or its affiliated societies is not a requirement for publishing in the journal. Submission of Manuscripts. Manuscripts must be submitted online via the Canadian Journal of Plant Science ScholarOne submission system. All correspondence concerning submitted manuscripts will be by e-mail with the person listed as the corresponding author during submission. When submitting manuscripts authors must supply the names and e-mail addresses of two potential reviewers. When reference is made to manuscripts that are "in press", an electronic copy of the file must be loaded to the appropriate section in ScholarOne. Manuscripts submitted to the journal must not have been concurrently submitted to other journals or posted on internet sites, either personal or institutional. Authors are required to complete a Manuscript Submission form, which must be signed by all the authors. The form may be returned by fax (613.594.5190), e-mail (journals@aic.ca) or mail. The form is available on the journal's website. Journal Production Office contacts:
Agricultural Institute of Canada, 9 Corvus Court, Ottawa, ON, Canada K2E 7Z4
Fax 613.594.5190
Page Charges. For submissions with at least one author who is a current member of one of the journals' sponsoring scientific societies (CSAS, CSA, CSHS, CWSS, CSSS), the page charge is $30.00 per page. For submissions from non-members the page charge is $90.00 per page. Reprints will be available at a nominal cost; quotations will be sent with proofs. Authors buying reprints may request a pdf file of the final version of their paper. Authors may be charged for excessive changes in proofs.
Animal Care. If applicable, authors must certify that animals were cared for under guidelines comparable to those of the Canadian Council on Animal Care (Guide to the care and use of experimental animals).
The Manuscript
Submitted papers must be in one-column format, with line spacing set to "double" and line numbering turned on. Tables and illustrations should not be embedded in the text. They should be placed at the end of the manuscript, each on a separate page, or they may be uploaded separately to ScholarOne. For style detail see the journal's Operations Manual available in PDF format on the journal's web page. For matters not covered by the Operations Manual refer to Scientific Style and Format, The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors and Publishers, 6th edition, available from the Council of Science Editors, 11250 Roger Bacon Drive, Suite 8, Reston, VA 20190-5202, USA. Samples of published papers are available on the journal's website.
Spelling. Webster's Third New International Dictionary, the Oxford English Dictionary or the Larousse Dictionary may be consulted for acceptable spelling. Consistency of spelling must be maintained throughout individual papers. Latin terms (et al., in vivo, in vitro, in situ, etc.) are not italicised. Authors are urged to have one or more colleagues read the manuscript critically prior to submission.
Title. Keep the title brief but include descriptive words and phrases to aid information retrieval. The title should reflect all the important aspects of the article.
Abstract. The abstract should not exceed 200 words for papers or 50 words for short communications. State your rationale, objectives, methods, results and impact of the study. See Scientific Style and Format for content.
Key Words and Short Title. Authors must include no more than six words or two- to three-word phrases chosen from the title, abstract and body of the paper, which should reflect its central topics, and a short title of no more than 55 characters.
Headings. The title of the paper is in sentence capitalization. Main headings are capitalized and centred on the page. Subheadings are as follows: first subheadings, flush left, separate line, capitalize main words, bold. Second subheadings, flush left, separate line, capitalize main words, italic. Third subheadings, flush left, same line as text, capitalize first word, italic, followed by a period (note: the "Introduction" and "References" sections do not have headings).
Organization of Text. The body of most papers should be divided into INTRODUCTION, MATERIALS AND METHODS, RESULTS, DISCUSSION, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS and REFERENCES (note: the "Introduction" and "References" sections do not have headings).
References. Cite only literature that is highly pertinent; avoid multiple citations. Check each reference with the original article and refer to it in the text by the author and date. List multiple references in the text in chronological order. Use "et al." when there are more than two authors, but give all authors in the references. Include in references articles that are "in press" (include journal name, anticipated date of publication, and doi) but incorporate in text "manuscript in preparation", "unpublished observations", and "personal communication". Refer to Instructions "Citing electronic publications in the Canadian Journal of Plant Science," Can. J. Plant Sci. 79: 473-474 and the journal's Operations Manual. Refer to BIOSIS List of Serials with Title Abbreviations (Thompson Scientific, 3501 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA) for accepted abbreviations for journals; only these may be used. Double check accuracy of all pages, volume numbers and dates.
Example references (note bolding, spacing of initials, capitalization, punctuation):
Journal article:
McKenney, D. W., Hutchinson, M. F., Kesteven, J. L. and Venier, L. A. 2001. Canada's plant hardiness zones revisited using modern climate interpolation techniques. Can. J. Plant Sci. 81: 129-143.Book chapter:
DePauw, R. and Hunt, T. 2001. Canadian wheat pool. Pages 479-515 in A. P. Bomjean and W. J. Angus, eds. The world wheat book: A history of wheat breeding. Lavoisier,Paris, France.Web site:
Environment Canada. 2002. Climate archives. [Online] Available: http://www.climate.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/climateData/canada_e.html [2005 Oct. 06].
Enumeration and Measurement. Use numerals whenever a number is followed by a standard unit of measurement: e.g., 1 g, 9 d; otherwise, use words through nine and numerals for larger numbers. The denominators of units derived by division should be written with negative indices. Do not use a solidus (/) unless the units are written in full, e.g., kg ha-1 yr-1, W m-2, but metre/second. See Scientific Style and Format for exceptions when describing a series of numbers. Report data in SI units (see table of acceptable SI units).Digits in long numbers should be separated into groups of three counted from the decimal marker to the left and right. The separator should be a space, not a comma or period, for example, 16 532 100, not 16,532,100.
Abbreviations. Abbreviations should be defined on first use in the abstract and the text. A list of abbreviations used must be included, which will be printed on the first page of the article.
Names and Terms. Italicize scientific names of organisms and include authorities only for organisms actually used in the investigation. Use cultivars for agronomic or horticultural varieties. Single quotes are used to enclose the name of the cultivar only when it follows the botanical name. Plant and animal species should be referred to by common name. The complete scientific name and authority should be given when the plant species is first mentioned in the text or in the abstract for those plant species used in the investigation, but is not required for common species of domestic animals. Pesticides should be referred to by their approved common name throughout the text; where no common name is available the full chemical name should be given at first mention in the text. Authors are required to provide trade mark notation for proprietary products.
Statistics. The statistical design should be described briefly and clearly. Data should be analyzed and summarized by appropriate statistical methods; authors should examine closely their use of multiple comparison procedures. A measure of variability, e.g., standard deviation or standard error, must be provided when reporting quantitative data (see Letter to the Editor, Can. J. Plant Sci. 60: 325-327). Consult Scientific Style and Format.
Tables. Study carefully the appropriate section in Scientific Style and Format. Suitable statistical statements on estimates of reliability should be included when quantitative data are shown. Denote footnotes using bold superscript letters in reverse order starting with z: z, y, x, w, v, u, etc. Tables must be numbered, have a brief title, and be referred to in the text. Vertical rules are not accepted.
Illustrations. Illustrations should be planned to fit one-column, two-column or full-page formats. Lines must be sufficiently thick (minimum 0.5 points) to reproduce clearly, and lettering and symbols must be in proportion to the illustration and large enough to allow for reduction without loss of clarity. If different grey-scale patterns are used, ensure they are varied enough to distinguish between them; otherwise use different patterns. Illustrations must be submitted as high resolution digital files (photographs must be at least 300 pixels per inch and line drawings at least 1200 pixels per inch). PowerPoint files are not accepted. Abbreviations, units, etc., should follow journal style. Photographs are best submitted close to final size and should show good tonal contrast. Use uppercase letters to mark subdivisions. Colour photographs are accepted but authors are expected to pay the full cost of reproduction ($750.00 per page).
Special Punctuation. Period after et al. (not italic); no comma between author's(s') name(s) and year in text; no period after title of table.
Short communications
Short communications of usually not more than 2000 words are open to short preliminary reports of important findings. They might contain research results that are complete but characterized by a rather limited area or scope of investigation, descriptions of new or improved techniques or equipment, including data on performance. Short communications should contain only a few (usually not more than nine) references. Consult a recent issue of the journal for format. Illustrative material should be kept to a minimum, usually not more than one table or figure. Abstracts are obligatory and shall be no longer than 50 words.
Cultivar Descriptions
For cultivar descriptions of agricultural crops, the cultivar must first be registered
in Canada with the Variety Registration Office of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) where this requirement exists for Canadian release. The CFIA registration number must be mentioned in the description. The description of the cultivar (germplasm) must not have been published previously in a peer-reviewed journal. Cultivar descriptions will only be considered for crops intended for Canadian production. See the Operations Manual for the standard format for the description of new cultivars.
SI Units. See table below for examples of acceptable SI units.