Manuscript Checklist Before Submitting to an Agriculture Journal

Before submitting to an agriculture journal, check three files, eight format rules, the manuscript structure and the four items reviewers ask for most. Working through this takes about an hour and prevents the rejections that never reach a reviewer — the ones that cost months and teach you nothing.

Most agriculture journal desk rejections are not judgements on the science. They are the consequence of something on this page being missed.

Part 1: The three files

Send all three together. This is the commonest incomplete-submission failure and the easiest to avoid — a manuscript arriving alone does not start a review, and nobody chases you for the missing files.

Part 2: Format — eight rules

Each takes under a minute to verify, and each one missed can send the manuscript back before review. Two that catch people repeatedly:

• Figure resolution. A figure pasted from a slide deck is typically 72 dpi. It looks correct on screen and cannot be printed. Export from the original software at the required width.
• Reference order. Vancouver numbers references by first appearance in the text, not alphabetically. A manager set to the wrong style produces a list that looks tidy and is wrong.

Part 3: What must be in the manuscript

The first page carries the title, all authors, affiliations, all author e-mails, and the corresponding author’s complete address with e-mail and phone number. After that:

1. Abstract — under 300 words, no abbreviations, no references, no taxonomic authorities. See writing an abstract.
2. Keywords — 3 to 6, none repeating the title.
3. Introduction — the problem, relevant earlier literature, and your proposed method, with references.
4. Materials and Methods — protocols, instruments, software and the study area, with references.
5. Results — clear and concise, past tense, no references.
6. Discussion — significance set against earlier work.
7. Conclusion — the important outcomes.
8. Acknowledgments — funding body, institutional head, co-workers, field assistants, and a conflict of interest declaration.

Results, Discussion and Conclusion may be combined where that reads better.

Part 4: The four things reviewers ask for most

Not agriculture journal format rules — the sentences whose absence generates most first-round comments:

All four are single sentences describing work you have already done. They are the cheapest points in the process and the ones most often lost.

Part 5: The last read before you send

• Have a colleague who did not do the work read your Methods and describe the trial back to you. Every difference is a sentence to rewrite.
• Read the Results alone. If it argues or interprets anywhere, move that to the Discussion.
• Check every reference resolves. Paste each DOI after https://doi.org/ and confirm it opens the paper you meant.
• Search your own text for anything reused from an earlier paper of yours. Cite it rather than repeat it — self-plagiarism registers the same as any other overlap.
• Open the file properties. Word stores the author name in metadata, which defeats double-blind review before a reviewer opens page one.

Choosing the right article type first

The checklist changes with what you are submitting to an agriculture journal, and picking the wrong category means reformatting at the worst moment:

Two checks that are not on most checklists

Does every figure survive being printed?

Print the manuscript on ordinary paper at actual size and look at the figures. Axis labels readable on a 27-inch monitor frequently vanish at 75 mm width. Two minutes, and it catches what no on-screen check will.

Does the paper make sense to someone in an adjacent field?

Reviewers come from your field but not always your exact sub-field. If a colleague working on a different crop cannot follow your introduction, a reviewer may not either — and confusion resolves against the author.

Units and symbols

These are checked, and they are broken most often in table headings and axis labels because the software wrote them and nobody re-read them:

• SI units throughout
• A space between number and symbol — 10 mg, not 10mg
• No plural on symbols, no full stop — kg, not kgs
• A zero before a decimal point — 0.01
• Negative indices — kg ha^-1, not kg/ha where the instructions call for it
• The multiplication sign ×, not the letter x
• En dash for ranges — 10–25
• Genus and species names in italics

What happens after you press submit

Knowing the sequence helps you judge whether silence means anything:

1. Acknowledgement with a reference number. Keep it — every later enquiry is faster if you quote it.
2. Editorial check against policy and a minimum quality level.
3. Two reviewers, double-blind.
4. Comments return anonymised.
5. One week to send the revision back.
6. Second review, then the Editorial Board decides.
7. Proof in ready-to-print format — read it properly, because no changes are made after publication.

The charge falls at the end, not the beginning: no submission fee, then 2,500 INR (Indian authors) or 55 USD (international) after acceptance.

The printable version

Twenty items, about an hour:

1. Scope checked against two recent issues
2. Article type chosen and its limit confirmed
3. Cover letter written in MS Word
4. Authorship responsibility form signed
5. Manuscript in .doc or .docx
6. Times New Roman 12, single spacing, one inch margins
7. Under 15 pages
8. Title page complete with all e-mails and corresponding author address
9. Abstract under 300 words
10. No abbreviations, references or taxonomic authorities in the abstract
11. 3 to 6 keywords, none repeating the title
12. Results in past tense with no citations
13. Replication count stated
14. Design named
15. Significance levels given
16. Site, season, soil and variety stated
17. References numbered in citation order, Vancouver
18. Every reference DOI tested
19. Figures at 300 dpi and 75 or 155 mm
20. Tables after the references, horizontal lines only

The one-hour version

If you only have an hour before submitting to this agriculture journal, do these six in order — they catch the largest share of what actually stops papers:

1. Confirm scope fit against the two most recent issues
2. Count the abstract
3. Check figure resolution
4. Confirm reference numbering is by citation order
5. Add the replication count, design and significance levels
6. Assemble all three files before you open the submission page

Frequently Asked Questions

What do I need to submit besides the manuscript?

A cover letter in MS Word and a signed authorship responsibility form. All three go together — a submission missing any one cannot start, and the file simply sits.

What should the cover letter say?

That the work is original, has not been published before, and is not under consideration elsewhere. You may optionally name two potential reviewers with their affiliations and contact details.

What format must the manuscript be in?

MS Word (.doc or .docx), English, Times New Roman size 12, single line spacing, one column, with one inch (2.5 cm) margins on all sides, and not more than 15 pages.

Where do tables go?

After the references. Each is numbered in Arabic numerals with a self-descriptive heading, built with Word's table tools, using horizontal lines only — no vertical lines.

How do I check my references are in Vancouver style?

Numbered in the order they are first cited in the text, not alphabetically. Up to six authors are listed in full; with seven or more, list six then et al.

What is the single most missed item?

The number of replications. Reviewers ask for it constantly, and it is one sentence in Materials and Methods.

Related Guides

The individual sections, explained:

• How to Write the Materials and Methods Section of an Agriculture Paper
• Vancouver Referencing for Agriculture Papers: A Practical Guide
• How to Prepare Figures and Tables for an Agriculture Journal