Instructions for authors

Aims and scope

The Moroccan Journal of Biology is published by the Moroccan Society of Biology in Morocco. The Moroccan Journal of Biology is devoted to the publication of outstanding original research reports of general interest to biologists. Manuscripts are welcomed across the spectrum of modern biology including works that address fundamental issues in developmental biology, biotechnology, physiology, cell biology, pharmacology, ecology and related fields. Three types of manuscript will be accepted: full length papers, short communication, and technical advances covering innovative new methodology. Review papers are invited or may be accepted after formal review. The authors are encouraged to submit outline ideas to the Editorial office.

1- Submission of manuscripts:

Three hard copies of the manuscript must be submitted for reviewing purposes to the Editorial

office (Pr. N. ELMTILI- Département de Biologie -Faculté des Sciences-TETOUANMAROC).

The manuscripts should be accompanied by a signed letter stating on the originality of the work and that it not being simultaneously considered for publication elsewhere. They will be reviewed at least by two referees. When accepted, authors will be asked to send their article in a floppy diskette or by e-mail as attached document to: assomcb@yahoo.fr . If figures can not be sent by e-mail, then the authors should mail them to the Editor. Disk or attached files should be clearly labeled with author’s names, short title, word processing package used and file name.

2- Presentation of manuscripts:

Manuscripts should be written in English to be accepted for publication. They should not exceed 6 printed pages (equivalent to 20 typewritten manuscript pages) including tables and figures. Submitted manuscripts should include a Cover page, Abstract, Key words, Body text, References, Tables and illustrations. All sections should be typed at a size of 12 and 1.5 spaced one side of the A4 paper with margins of at least 2.5 cm all round. The pages should be numbered consecutively.

• Cover page:

This page provides the title of the article describing the whole work undertaken, the first name(s) and surname of all authors, their affiliations, any footnotes referring to the title and the address, telephone, fax numbers and e-mail address of the corresponding author.

• Abstract

The summary, which must not exceed 20 typed lines, should cover concisely the research question that was asked, the methods used, the results of the research, the answer to the question, and a conclusion if possible. The summary may begin with one or two sentences to help reader to understand the problem to be discussed in the paper.

• Key words

Up to 6 key words should be appended to the summary and should express the main themes covered by the paper.

• Body text

The contents of this section should be set out under the main headings: introduction, material and methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. If convenient, results and discussion sections can be regrouped into one section.

- The introduction should state very briefly the background and the purpose of the work.

- Material and methods should be detailed enough to allow researchers to reproduce the experiments.

- The results section should describe only the data obtained from the experimental work. Any comparison to other results may be documented in the discussion.

- The discussion should be restricted to essential results and should not repeat what has already been mentioned.

• References

Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the references. Citations in the text should be identified by the first author’s name and year of publication in parenthesis (Grases et al., 1995), and the list of references at the end of the paper should be alphabetized. All author names should be mentioned. References to the same author or team of authors should be listed in chronological order. Only works referred to in the text and already accepted for publication can be included. Here are a few examples for the style of references:

1. Articles from journals: name(s) and initials of all authors(s) (Year) Full title. Journal name as abbreviated in Index Medicus in italic. Volume in bold followed by a colon, first and last page numbers:

Grases F, Ramis M, Costa-Bauza A, March JG (1995) Effect of Herniaria hirsuta and Agropyron repens on calcium oxalate urolithiasis risk in rats. J. Ethnopharmacol. 45: 211- 214.

2. Book chapters: name(s) and initials of all author(s) (Year) Title. Editors, Edition, Publisher, Place of publication, first and last page numbers: Belakhdar J (1997) Chapitre 6 : Psychologie de la médicine au Maroc. In : Pharmacopée marocaine traditionnelle. Belakhdar J, Edition Ibis Press, Paris : 77-88

• Tables and illustrations

Both numbered in Arabic numerals, should be of high quality to be reproduced and should be prepared in separate sheet with their legends.

• Units and abbreviations

Système International (SI) should be used. Abbreviations are restricted and must be written out in full at first mention.