Paper Submission

Papers in MS Word compatible format should be submitted electronically to burdj@bicol-u.edu.ph along with a cover letter addressed to the editor-in-chief. Certifications, if any, are likewise sent together with the manuscript.

The article shall have the following parts: Title Page, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Methodology, Results and Discussion, Summary/Conclusions/ Recommendations, Acknowledgment, and References. Tables are inserted within the text. Figures are sent separately in jpeg format.

a) The title page, a detachable cover sheet, should contain the title, name and institutional affiliation of author/s, and email address of the corresponding author. The author/s should identify themselves only in the title page. It should state whether the research is a portion of a thesis or dissertation and the sources of the fund of the research.

b) The abstract should not exceed 250 words. It should contain the objectives, methodology, and the summary of the findings and their significance in layman's language. The keywords following the Abstract must be alphabetically arranged and should not exceed eight words. Keywords should not contain those which are already mentioned in the title.

c) The methodology should include the statistical procedures, including methods of analysis, the number of replicates, transformations, and statistical tests. Data not subjected to analysis of variance or other tests of significance must at least show the standard error of the mean or standard deviation.

The mechanics for the papers to be submitted shall be the following:

a) The title in all capital letters should preferably not exceed 20 words.

b) The paper should not exceed 30 pages (double- spaced) including the tables and figures.

c) The manuscript should be written double- spaced in 12-point type Times New Roman font, including text, quotations, table titles, captions and notes on 21.6 cm by 27.9 cm (8.5 x 11 in) sheet with one-inch margin on all sides, upper right corner pagination and five spaces indention. A continuous line numbering should be placed at the left side to facilitate the review process.

d) The journal follows the Scientific Style and Format of the American Psychological Association (APA) for Social Science Researches.

e) The Systems International (SI) units should be used in accordance with the recommendations of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) specified in the British Standards Institution, London Publication Specification for SI Units and Recommendations for the Use of Their Multiples and of Certain Other Units, BS 5555:1993 ISO:1991. The author may choose to add corresponding non-metric units in parentheses. Maps and micrographs should have a scale.

f) Trade names should be used sparingly and only in the Methodology. Include the symbol where appropriate. State the Latin binomial or trinomial and authority at the first mention of the organism (plants, animals, and microorganisms) in the abstract or main text. Cultivars should be enclosed by single quotes. Provide the common name where appropriate.

g) Abbreviations and acronyms should be spelled out at first mention. Do not use abbreviations in the title and abstract, although they may be used in graphs, tables, figures and legends. Use abbreviations only for terms used at least three times.

h) The author-date system should be used in citing references. The accuracy of the entries in the notes shall be the responsibility of the author/s. Avoid citing grey literature, unpublished researches or references not accessible through indexes or obtainable via regular library channels unless the literature is an integral part of the discussion.

i) Tables, figures, maps and illustrations, numbered sequentially with an arabic number, should be typed individually on a separate paper with the necessary notes and preferably not larger than 11.43 x 17.78 cm (full page).

j) Pictures and illustrations in jpeg format should be of professional quality and ready for reproduction with captions and legends at the bottom. Microscopic illustration should include magnification and a bar denoting the scale of measure, for example, bar= 100 nm.

The Review Process

The BU R&D Journal follows a double-blind peer review process. Authors may suggest five potential reviewers for their submitted paper. The EditorialBoard reserves the right to select two from among the suggested reviewers or look for other reviewers not in the submitted list. Board reserves the right to select two from among the suggested reviewers or look for other reviewers not in the submitted list.

The refereeing process is criterion-based which offers fair assessment of the merits of the paper as well as constructive comments to the submitted paper. Papers will be refereed by at least two reviewers based on the following criteria: technical quality, significance to the discipline, creativity and originality, and clarity of presentation.

The refereeing process shall consider confidentiality, intellectual merit and copyright issues. Review shall be based on the intellectual merits of the articles and not on the personal criticisms or political and social views of the referees. Critical and negative reviews shall be fully explained by the referees.

In case the two reviewers have different recommendations, the paper will be submitted to a third reviewer. The recommendation which will be affirmed. by the third reviewer will be the final recommendation for the paper.

The decision to accept an article is based on the qualitative rating given by reviewers. Papers which are rated acceptable (or acceptable with minor or major revisions) are considered for publication provided that the paper is revised based on the suggestions and comments of the reviewers. Papers rated as unacceptable for publication by two reviewers will be returned to the authors for resubmission.

Authors shall revise the paper based on the comments of the reviewers preferably within a month. Revised paper shall be scrutinized by the Editorial Board based on the reviewers' comments. The editorial board may recommend further review when necessary. Papers which have been rejected will be given a maximum of one resubmission within a year.

Authors of accepted papers will be sent a galley proof of their manuscript for final checking prior to publication. No major revisions on the content of the paper will be allowed at this point. Submission of paper shall be free of charge for BU personnel while those from other agencies shall be charged a publication fee of Php200 per page to cover the cost for refereeing, editing and printing.