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                                                      Manuscript Submission
Manuscripts should be submitted as e-mail attachment to the Editor at: editor.bioscientist@unizik.edu.ng following, which a manuscript number will be mailed to the corresponding author. All manuscripts will be peer reviewed and Reviewers’ comments and Editor’s decisions made known to the author(s). It is the goal of The Bioscientist Journal to publish accepted manuscripts within 8 weeks of paper submission. 
Manuscript Preparation
Manuscripts should be typed double-spaced, preferably on 12 point font size, Times New Roman in MS Word format. All pages of manuscript should be numbered starting from the title page. Full length papers should not exceed 20 typed pages on A4 paper with 1 inch margins. The paper should be laid out using the following format;

• Title Page should include: The name(s) of the author(s), a concise and informative title, the affiliation(s) and address (es) of the author(s) and the e-mail address, telephone and fax numbers of the corresponding author.
• The Abstract should be informative and completely self-explanatory. It should briefly present the topic, state the scope of the experiments, indicate significant data, and point out major findings and conclusions. The Abstract should not be more than 200 words in length. Following the abstract, about 4 to 6 key words that will provide indexing references to should be listed.
• The Introduction should provide a clear statement of the problem, the relevant literature on the subject, and the proposed approach or solution.  
• Materials and methods should be complete enough to allow experiments to be reproduced. However, only truly new procedures should be described in detail; previously published procedures should be cited, and important modifications of published procedures should be mentioned briefly. Capitalize trade names and include the manufacturer's name and address. Subheadings should be used. Methods in general use need not be described in detail. 
• Results should be presented with clarity and precision using text in the past perfect tense and or appropriate Tables and Figures. Appropriate subheadings, preferably following the same sequence as the materials and methods should be used. 

The Discussion should interpret the results obtained in present and in previous studies on the topic citing relevant literature. The Results and Discussion sections may be combined if convenient to the author.
Conclusions should be stated in a few sentences at the end of the paper.
Acknowledgments of people, grants, funds, etc should be brief. 
Abbreviations: Only recommended SI units and approved scientific abbreviations and symbols should be used. Authors may refer to the article “2-29 SCIENTIFIC ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS” on Google. Non-standard abbreviations should be used only when the full term is very long and used often.
Each abbreviation should be spelled out and introduced in parentheses the first time it is used in the text.  

• Tables should be prepared using the Microsoft Word “Table” function and the “Table Simple” format. Tables should be kept to a minimum and also typed double-spaced as the manuscript. A concise heading should be provided on the top of each Table and footnotes at the bottom. Each table should be on a separate page and numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals. For example, Table 1: Morphological characteristics of otoliths for selected fresh water fishes. Tables should always be cited in text in consecutive numerical order. Tables should be self-explanatory without reference to the text. The same data should not be presented in both table and graph form or repeated in the text. Previously published material should be identified by giving the original source in the form of a reference at the bottom of the table. 

Figures: Graphics should be prepared using the MS Excel Chart Wizard or similar software. Shading should be done preferably using patterns rather than colours. Photographs should be prepared using software capable of generating high resolution images such as GIF, TIFF, JPEG or PowerPoint. All figures must however, be submitted as Microsoft Word files and cited consecutively in the text. Each figure should be on a separate page. Figure legends should be given in a separate word file and consecutively numbered using Arabic numerals. For example, Fig. 2: Time course of electric fieldinduced membrane breakdown of lipid bilayers and cell membranes. Legends should include sufficient information such that the figure is understandable without reference to the text of the manuscript. Information given in legends should not be repeated in the text. 

• References: In the text, identify References by means of an author‘s name, followed by the date of the reference in parentheses. When there are more than two authors, only the first author‘s name should be mentioned, followed by ’et al‘. In the event that an author cited has had two or more works published during the same year, the references, both in the text and in the reference list, should be identified by a lower case letter like ’a‘ and ’b‘ after the date to distinguish the works. References should be listed at the end of the paper in alphabetical order. Articles in preparation or articles submitted for publication, unpublished observations, personal communications, etc. should not be included in the reference list but should only be mentioned in the article text (e.g., E.N. Maduagwu, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, personal communication). Journal names should appear in full and not abbreviated. Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy of the references. Examples: 

In the text
Eneanya (2000), Odibo et al. (2003), (Okigbo, 1983), (Ezeonu and Udedi, 1992), (Ogbo, 1998; Egboka, 1987a,b; Oli, 1993, 1995).    
Reference list: Journal article
Okafor, N., B. Ijioma, and C. Oyolu. (1984). Studies on the microbiology of cassava retting for foo-foo production. Journal of Applied Bacteriology, 56:1–13.
Goodluck, J., Robinson, M. and Thoma, J. A. (2012). The active site of porcine pancreatic -amylase: Factors contributing to catalysis.  Carbohydrate Research, 10 (4): 487-503.
Reference list: Book
Oyewole, J. and Blass, B. (2001). The future of modern genomics. Blackwell, London.
Reference list: Book chapter
Basino, B. and Malikwu, M. (2011). Emerging disease of catfish. In: Smith J. (ed.) Modern fish farming, 3rd edn. Wiley, New York, pp 230-257.
Reference list: Online document
Muktar, J. (2007). Medicinal plants of the savannah region of Nigeria. IOP Publishing Botany Web. http://botanyweb.org/articles/news/11/6/16/1. Accessed 26 June 2007.

• Short Communications are limited to a maximum of two figures and one table. They should present a complete study that is more limited in scope than is found in full-length papers. The items of manuscript preparation listed above apply to Short Communications with the following differences: (1) Abstracts are limited to 100 words; (2) instead of a separate Materials and Methods section, experimental procedures may be incorporated into Figure Legends and Table footnotes; (3) Results and Discussion should be combined into a single section. 
• Proofs and Reprints: Electronic proofs will be sent by e-mail attachment to the corresponding author as a PDF file.  Page proofs are considered to be the final version of the manuscript. With the exception of typographical or minor clerical errors, no changes will be made in the manuscript at the proof stage.  Because The Bioscientist Journal will be published online, authors will have free electronic access to the full text (in both HTML and PDF) of their articles as well as Journal cover and preliminary pages. Authors can freely download the PDF file from which they can print unlimited copies of these pages.   
• Copyright: Submission of a manuscript implies that the work described has not been published before (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, or thesis) that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that if and when the manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors agree to the terms of the open access policy of the journal.
• Plagiarism: The Bioscientist makes efforts to discourage plagiarism and may apply punishments as necessary
• Fees and Charges: There shall be a handling fee of N3, 000 (15 USD) for every article, evidence of payment of which, should be submitted along with the manuscript. If repeated reviews of an article are required before its publication, additional charges may be imposed. When articles are accepted, page charges of N7, 000 (60 USD) will be paid by the author(s). Extra charges for color photographs may be imposed. All payments should be made to: Zenith Bank PLC, Account name; Faculty of Biosciences Journal Unizik, Account No; 1013069523, and scan of tellers mailed by e-mail attachment to the Editor at editor.bioscientist@unizik.edu.ng. Publication of an article in the journal is not contingent upon the author's ability to pay the charges. Neither is acceptance to pay the handling fee a guarantee that the paper will be accepted for publication. Authors may still request (in advance) that the editorial office waive some of the handling fee under special circumstances. The editorial office is at liberty to accept or reject such request for a waiver.