Author Guidelines

Iraqi Journal of Agricultural Research

Welcome to the Author Guidelines for the Iraqi Journal of Agricultural Research (IJAR). To ensure a smooth peer-review and publication process, all authors must strictly adhere to the guidelines below before submission. Manuscripts that do not comply with these instructions will be returned to the authors for corrections before technical evaluation.

1.     Plagiarism Policy & Similarity Limits

In alignment with our COPE-compliant Publication Ethics policy, IJAR strictly prohibits all forms of plagiarism, including self-plagiarism and redundant publication.

·      Screening Process: All submitted manuscripts undergo rigorous testing using Turnitin plagiarism detection software prior to peer review.

·      Maximum Allowed Limit: The total similarity index must not exceed 20%.

·      Individual Source Limit: The similarity from any single source must not exceed 5%.

·      Action on Violations: If the manuscript exceeds these limits, it will be automatically sent back to the corresponding author for revision or rejected immediately, depending on the severity of the plagiarism.

2. Authorship & Copyright Declaration

To prevent authorship disputes (such as "ghost" or "gift" authorship), IJAR requires a mandatory legal document to be signed and uploaded alongside the manuscript:

·      The Copyright & Authorship Form: Authors must download, fill, sign, and upload the official IJAR Copyright Transfer and Conflict of Interest Agreement.

·      Authorship Criteria: All listed authors must have made a significant intellectual contribution to the research (design, execution, or analysis).

·      Changes to Authorship: Any addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list can be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and must be approved by the Journal Editor.

3. Ethical Declarations & Approvals

In accordance with international ethical standards for agricultural and life sciences:

·      Animal and Human Subjects: If the research involves vertebrate animals, livestock, or human participants, authors must include a statement in the "Materials and Methods" section confirming that the study was approved by their Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) and state the approval project/protocol number.

·      Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs): Studies involving GMOs or biohazards must explicitly declare adherence to national and international biosafety regulations.

4. Manuscript Structure & Formatting

Manuscripts must be submitted in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx) and structured as follows:

1.   Title: Concise and informative (in both English and Arabic).

2.   Author Names and Affiliations: Must include full names, institutional affiliations, and ORCID iDs for all authors.

3.   Abstract: A single paragraph (max 250 words) outlining the objective, methods, key results, and main conclusion. An English abstract is mandatory for all Arabic papers.

4.   Keywords: 4 to 6 keywords, avoiding general or plural terms.

5.   Main Body: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, Conclusions.

6.   Acknowledgments: Disclose any financial support or institutional help.

5. References and Romanization

To ensure citations are tracked globally by Scopus indices, referencing must strictly follow these rules:

·      Style: The journal adopts the APA (American Psychological Association) 7th Edition citation style.

·      DOIs: Authors must provide the active Digital Object Identifier (DOI) URL link for every reference where available.

·      Romanization of Arabic References: If a reference is published in Arabic, the author must translate/transliterate (Romanize) the reference metadata into English in the final reference list (e.g., translating the title and journal name to English, with a note at the end: [In Arabic]).