Guideline for Authors

I. GENERAL
Ras Dejen Journal of Sciences (RDJSS)

invites high-quality submissions, whether by invitation or independently submitted, from various scientific disciplines. Manuscripts that align with the journal's objectives and demonstrate scientific value will be considered for publication following a peer review process. Each submission must be approved by at least two editors for acceptance. The Editor-in-Chief reserves the right to reject any submission, whether invited or not, and may provide suggestions or request modifications before the peer review process.

RDJSS publishes various types of content, including:

• Research articles: up to 20 pages.
• Review articles: up to 15pages.
• Short communications: up to 7 pages.
• Book reviews: up to 2 pages.
• Comments: up to 3 pages, addressing ongoing scientific discussions or previously published articles.

Unless specified otherwise, the page limits for each category will be maintained as outlined above. The journal is available in both electronic (E-journal) and print formats, each with a unique ISSN number.

Articles of all categories should strictly follow RDJSS format and the editorial board will have all rights to edit the manuscript for its clarity, space, and format; and also to decide on editorial matters. The results, content, statements, ideas and opinions expressed in the article/ published in the journal are those of the authors not the editorial board of the journal (RDJSS).

II. AUTHORSHIP POLICY
Ras Dejen Journal of Sciences (RDJSS) has a clear authorship policy for submitted manuscripts. Authorship credit is granted solely based on the fulfillment of the following criteria:

a. Significant contributions to the conception and design of the study, data acquisition, or data analysis and interpretation.
b. Involvement in drafting the manuscript or making substantial revisions that enhance its intellectual content.
c. Providing final approval of the version to be published.

Activities such as securing funding, data collection, or general supervision of the research team alone do not qualify for authorship.

For manuscripts with multiple authors, each contributor must provide written confirmation that they meet the journal’s authorship criteria before publication. A formal statement of authorship must be submitted to the RDJSS Editorial Office.

B. GUIDELINES AND INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

I. NATURE OF THE MANUSCRIPT
1. The manuscript should be written in English.
2. It should be as concise as possible, with less than 20 printed pages including the abstract. Longer
manuscripts can only be accepted in exceptional cases. Shorter manuscripts will be given priority when space is limited.

II. STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP BE SUBMITTED WITH THE MANUSCRIPT
Ras Dejen Journal of Sciences (RDJSS) requires a signed confirmation by all the Authors stating that:
i) the research work submitted for publication in RDJSS is original, not published or accepted for publication or being considered for publication elsewhere, either in whole or in part;
ii) the work conforms to the legal requirements of the country in which it was carried out, including those relating to conservation and welfare;
iii) all authors and relevant institutions have read the submitted version of the manuscript and approve its submission; and
iv) all the persons entitled to authorship have been included.

III. Submission of Manuscript

All the manuscripts should be submitted online using the following link   Submissions | Ras Dejen Journal of Sciences  together with duly signed authorship confirmation letter.

The manuscript should be in single file (inclusive of text, tables and figures) or text, figures, and tables separately preferably in Microsoft Word format or LaTex without any password control. Portable Document Format (PDF) or Postscript (PC) or Encapsulated Postscript (EPS) files can also be submitted along with the LaTex files but they alone are not eligible for submission. The manuscript must be submitted as per the journal format, Times New Roman 12 font size with 1.5 spacing, abstract in single spacing, A4 paper with margins of 1 inch on all sides and all the pages should be numbered.

Text marking

Italics should be used for all scientific names from the level of the genus downward. The manuscript presented as a paper in any proceeding or submitted to another journal for publication needs clearance before it is considered for publication in RDJSS.

IV. STANDARD FORMAT
The paper submitted to RDJSS should follow a standard format. It may be divided into ABSTRACT, INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY, RESULTS, DISCUSSION, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, and REFERENCE sections in the same order.

The paper should be submitted preferably as a single file including tables, figures, appendices etc.
1. Title page
This should include the title of the paper, name(s) of author(s), addresses (name of the institute or laboratory and postal address of the author(s)) and fax number, phone number, e-mail ID of corresponding author and other authors. It should also contain keywords, not more than six, which should be relevant for literature searching.
2. Abstract
It should be brief, concise and provide a statement of the scope of the work and its principal findings and be fully intelligible without reference to the main text (it must contain background, objective, methods, results and conclusion). It should be limited to 3% of the length of the text, and in any case, not more than 300 words.
3. Introduction
This should contain a clear statement of the reason for doing the work, outlining essential background information but should not include either the results or conclusions.
4. Methodology
This should be concise but provide sufficient details to allow the work to be repeated. Product and manufacturer names: Where materials/products with specific names mentioned in the text or specific equipment used (including software packages) in the work, should be identified by their manufacturer and manufacturer's details e.g. town, state, country etc., or a source reference should be given if a standard or replicated procedure is being followed or used.
5. Results
This should not include material appropriate to the discussion. Pertinent results should be reported using text, table and figures. Restrict tables and figures to those that are necessary. Do not duplicate data in tables and figures and, where possible, avoid repeating data presented in tables or figures in the text. All tables and figures should be referred in the text. In general, the emphasis should be on the size of effects rather than their statistical significance.
6. Discussion
This should highlight the significance of the results and place them in the context of other work. A combined results and discussion section is allowed. New and important findings should be emphasized but, as a rule, data previously presented in the method and result sections should not be repeated. Implications and limitations of the findings and their practical application should be discussed. The length of the discussion should be commensurate with the number of important findings. Usually the discussion can be less than 750 words in length. It is generally not necessary to restate the conclusion at the end of the discussion. Merging result and discussion is also possible.
7. Acknowledgments
8. References
All references in the text should be listed in the reference section. References should not appear in the reference list if they are not quoted in the text. References should be listed in alphabetical order and then further sorted chronologically if necessary. The following usage should be confirmed.
a) Reference to a Journal Publication:
Mergeay, J., Declerck, S., Verschuren, D & De Meester, L. 2006. Daphnia community analysis in shallow Kenyan lakes and ponds using dormant eggs in surface sediments. Freshwater Biology, 51: 399-411.
b) Reference to a Book:
Moss, B. 1998. Ecology of fresh waters, man and medium. Blackwell Scientific Publications, London, 557p.
Moss, B. 1998. Ecology of fresh waters, man and medium. Blackwell Scientific Publications, London, pp. 455-460.
c) Reference to a Chapter in an Edited Book or Articles of Monographs (Symposia etc):
Tudorancea, C., Zinabu Gebremariam & Dadebo, E. 1999. Limnology in Ethiopia. In: Wetzel, R. G. & Gopal, B. (eds.), Limnology in Developing Countries, 2: 63-118.
In the text, references should be cited chronologically, author’s surname should be followed by year of publication: (Finlay et al., 1988; Koschel, 1995; Koschel and Adams, 2003). If several contributions by the same author were published in the same year, a distinction of these should be made by adding a, b, or c, e.g. (Koschel, 1981a; Meyer and Huss, 1999a, b). Ethiopian names should be in direct order, that is, the full first name followed by the father’s name; Gebremariam Hailu et al. 2001, but not G. mariam, H. et al. 2001. Titles of journals should not be abbreviated. Unpublished material, except for Ph.D theses, should not be included among the references, but should be cited as (Kebede Tesema et al., 2005 unpubl. data) in the text.
9. Tables
Each table should be typed on a separate page and should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals and attached to the end of the text after the references. They should be supplied with headings and kept as simple as possible and should be referred to in the text as “table 1”, etc.
10. Figures
Figures should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals with proper legends. Legend for figures (incl. photographs) should be listed consecutively on a separate page after tables. A total number of figures and tables must not exceed 7.

V. OTHER COLUMNS
1. Review Article
These are aimed at giving an overview of a particular subject suitable for a wider audience that includes recent advances in any particular branch in which the author has been actively engaged.
2. Book Reviews
A critical evaluation of recently published books in any discipline of science can be published.
3. Short Communication
It must report completed work, not preliminary findings. They are alternative formats for describing smaller pieces of work. The report should not be more than five pages and should not contain more than two figures, tables, or combinations.

Article Processing Charges (APC)
Ras Dejen Journal of Sciences (RDJSS) publishes all articles free of cost. It will not charge any processing fee in any form.