Author Guidelines

1. Scope of the Journal

The Journal of Contemporary Studies in Science and Innovation is a Peer-Reviewed, Open-access, Bi-annual electronic International Journal published by Debra Thana Sahid Kshudiram Smriti Mahavidyalaya (Autonomous). It is committed to promoting original unpublished work in the fields of for Natural and Applied Sciences. The journal publishes original research papers, review articles, and short communications in all major areas of applied and natural sciences, including but not limited to:

1. Biological Sciences and Biotechnology
2. Environmental and Earth Sciences
3. Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
4. Physics and Materials Science
5. Agriculture and Food Technology
6. Computer and Data Sciences
7. Mathematical Science

Manuscripts must be written in clear, grammatically correct English and present novel findings, methodologies, or applications relevant to these domains.

2. Types of Papers Accepted

1. Review Articles – critical overviews of recent advances in specific fields.
2. Original research Articles – concise but complete papers reporting important preliminary findings.
3. Technical Notes / Methods Papers – new techniques or analytical tools.

Editorial procedure

1. This journal follows a double-blind reviewing procedure. The author will remain anonymous to the reviewers throughout peer review. It is the responsibility of the author to anonymize the manuscript and any associated materials.
2. Author names, affiliations and any other potentially identifying information should be removed from the manuscript text.
3. A separate Title Page should be submitted, containing title, author names, affiliations, and the contact information of the corresponding author. Any acknowledgements, disclosures, or funding information should also be included on this page.

3. Authorship and Contributor Roles

All listed authors must have made a significant scientific contribution and agree to be accountable for the content. Each author must provide a valid institutional mail id. One corresponding author must be designated for communication during review and publication.

4. Ethical Responsibilities

Authors must:

1. Confirm that the work is original, unpublished, and not under review elsewhere.
2. Obtain appropriate ethical approval and informed consent for studies involving humans or animals.
3. Disclose any conflicts of interest or funding support.
4. Adhere to accepted data integrity and reproducibility standards.

All manuscripts will be screened for plagiarism using similarity detection software. Suspected ethical issues will be addressed following exiting guidelines. Papers with less than 10% match will be processed further for review by peers.

5. Manuscript Preparation

General Format

Prepare two files: (A) a Title Page (separate Word file) containing authors’ names, affiliations, ORCIDs, corresponding author contact, funding and acknowledgements; (B) an anonymized manuscript file for peer review with no author names, affiliations or identifying information.

Language: English (UK or US, consistently).
File Type: Editable format, using the extension .doc/.docx for Word files and .tex for LaTeX files. A PDF is not an acceptable source file. Format Word files in a single-column layout. Double-column formatting is only permitted for LaTeX submissions.
Font and Layout: Times New Roman, 12 pt, 1.5 spacing, standard margins (2.5 cm).
Page numbering: Bottom-middle.

Structure of Original Research Papers

1. Title Page:

1. Title of the paper (≤20 words) should be concise and informative.
2. Full names, affiliations of all authors. If available, the 16-digit ORCID of the author(s)
3. Corresponding author’s contact (email, phone, mailing address)

Important points: All first names should be abbreviated and shall have ONLY ONE corresponding author. Normally, the author who submits the manuscript is defined as the corresponding author in the system and, thereby, ONLY he/she shall be specified as the corresponding author in the title page.

2. Abstract:

1. Abstract must be within 150-250 words
2. Abstracts must be able to stand alone as abstracts are often presented separately from the article.
3. Avoid references. If any are essential to include, ensure that you cite the author(s) and year(s).
4. Avoid non-standard or uncommon abbreviations. If any are essential to include, ensure they are defined within your abstract at first mention.

3. Keywords:

1. You are required to provide 3 to 6 keywords for indexing purposes.
2. Keywords should be written in English.
3. Please try to avoid keywords consisting of multiple words (using "and" or "of").
4. We recommend that you only use abbreviations in keywords if they are firmly established in the field.

4. Main Text:

1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
3. Methods
4. Results and Discussion
5. Conclusion

5. Text Formatting:

Manuscripts should be submitted in Word

1. Use a normal, plain font (e.g., 12-point Times New Roman) for text.
2. Use italics for emphasis.
3. Use the automatic page numbering function to number the pages.
4. Do not use field functions.
5. Use tab stops or other commands for indents, not the space bar.
6. Use the table function, not spreadsheets, to make tables.
7. Use the equation editor or MathType for equations.
8. Save your file in docx format (Word 2010 or higher) or doc format (older Word versions).
9. Please use no more than three levels of displayed headings.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations should be defined at first mention and used consistently thereafter.

Footnotes

Footnotes can be used to give additional information, which may include the citation of a reference included in the reference list. They should not consist solely of a reference citation, and they should never include the bibliographic details of a reference. They should also not contain any figures or tables.

Tables

1. Place tables next to the relevant text or on a separate page(s) at the end of your article.
2. Cite all tables in the manuscript text.
3. Number tables consecutively according to their appearance in the text.
4. Please provide captions along with the tables.
5. Place any table notes below the table body.

Figure

1. Cite all images in the manuscript text.
2. Number images according to the sequence they appear within your article.
3. Submit each image as a separate file using a logical naming convention for your files (for example, Figure_1, Figure_2 etc).
4. Please provide captions for all figures, images, and artwork.
5. Text graphics may be embedded in the text at the appropriate position. If you are working with LaTeX, text graphics may also be embedded in the file.

6. Acknowledgements (if applicable)

7. Conflict of Interest Statement

8. Funding Statement

9. Ethical Approval Statement

(Include ethics committee name, approval code, and date, if applicable.)

10. References

All references must follow the APA 7th edition format.

Citations in the text must correspond exactly to the entries in the reference list. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of all references.

In-text Citations

1. Use author–date format for all citations.
   Example:
   1. Single author: (Smith, 2023)
   2. Two authors: (Smith & Patel, 2022)
   3. Three or more authors: (Kumar et al., 2021)
2. For direct quotations, include page numbers: (Brown, 2019, p. 45).
3. Multiple sources: list chronologically and separate by semicolons: (Ghosh, 2019; Sarkar & Pal, 2020; Zhang et al., 2022).

Reference List Formatting

1. Start the reference list on a new page after the main text.
2. Title the section “References.”
3. Use hanging indentation (0.5 inch) for all entries.
4. Arrange references alphabetically by the surname of the first author.
5. List all authors up to 20; for more than 20 authors, include the first 19 followed by an ellipsis (…) and then the final author’s name.
6. Use italic for journal titles and book titles.
7. Include DOIs or URLs when available.
8. Use sentence case for article and chapter titles, and title case for journal names.

Examples of Common Reference Types

Journal Article

Sarkar, B., & Hota, S. K. (2024). Optimization models for sustainable supply chain systems. Journal of Contemporary Studies in Science and Innovation, 2(1), 35–48.
https://doi.org/10.1234/jcssi.2024.02104

Book

Brown, P. (2018). Principles of biochemistry (3rd ed.). Academic Press.

Book Chapter

Kumar, S., & Rao, D. (2019). Modern analytical methods in environmental science. In A. Green (Ed.), Advances in analytical chemistry (pp. 45–67). Springer.

Edited Book

Pal, M. M. (Ed.). (2022). Recent developments in mathematical sciences. Springer.

Conference Paper

Ghosh, K., & Maity, R. (2023). Climate modeling and adaptive aquaculture systems. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Environmental Innovation (pp. 88–95). Vidyasagar University Press.

6. Manuscript Submission

Submit two files: (A) a Title Page (separate Word file) containing authors’ names, affiliations, ORCIDs, corresponding author contact, funding and acknowledgements; (B) an anonymized manuscript file for peer review with no author names, affiliations or identifying information. Manuscript Submission must be done through email. Email Id: jcssi@debracollege.ac.in

7. Peer Review Process:

The journal follows a double-blind peer review system.
Each manuscript is evaluated for:

1. Originality and scientific merit
2. Methodological soundness
3. Clarity of presentation
4. Relevance to the journal’s scope

The editorial team may request revisions before acceptance.

8. Post-Acceptance and Proofs

Accepted manuscripts undergo professional copyediting and layout formatting.

Proofs are sent to the corresponding author for correction of minor typographical errors only.

Substantial changes at the proof stage are not allowed.

9. Copyright and Open Access

Authors retain copyright to their work.

10. Author Checklist (Before Submission)

1. ✅ Manuscript fits within the journal’s scope
2. ✅ Original, unpublished work
3. ✅ Ethics approval obtained (if applicable)
4. ✅ Conflict of interest and funding disclosed
5. ✅ References follow APA style
6. ✅ Figures and tables in correct format
7. ✅ Data availability statement included

11. Contact

E mail: jcssi@debracollege.ac.in

Website: www.debracollege.ac.in