Author Guidelines

The Journal of Fisheries is an open access peer reviewed journal published by BdFISH that provides rapid publication of articles in all areas of fisheries science. The journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts that meet the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence. Papers will be published shortly after acceptance. Manuscript should be submitted online. A free registration is needed for submitting manuscript for the first time to BdFISH Journals (No need to register separately for different journals). However, author who will fail to submit online should contact for technical support.

1| Article Types

The following types of manuscripts may be submitted: Regular Article, Short Communication, Reviews and Special Article.

Regular Article: These should describe new and carefully confirmed findings, and experimental procedures should be given in sufficient detail for others to verify the work. The length of a full paper should be the minimum required to describe and interpret the work clearly. However, mandatory overlength page charge will be applied to every paper of more than 10 published pages (i.e. first 10 published pages are free; please see section 11 below for details).

Short Communication: A Short Communication is suitable for recording the results of complete small investigations or giving details of new models or hypotheses, innovative methods, techniques, or apparatus. Short communications are 2 to 4 printed pages in length.

Review: Submissions of reviews and perspectives covering topics of current interest are welcome and encouraged. Reviews should be concise, but there is no page limitation. Reviews are also peer-reviewed. The journal welcomes metadata or bibliometric analysis but discourages authors from submitting a wiki-type descriptive review. Mandatory overlength page charge will be applied to every paper of more than 10 published pages (i.e. first 10 published pages are free; please see section 11 below for details).

Special Article: Peer-reviewed papers on any special topics of fishery science such as country and organisation profiles. Mandatory overlength page charge will be applied to every paper of more than 10 published pages (i.e. first 10 published pages are free; please see section 11 below for details).

In addition, the journal also publishes Opinions which should present a brief commentary on a topical or emerging issue in fisheries that has broad readership appeal.

2| Review Process

After submission, Editorial Assistant will checks the paper’s composition and arrangement against the JFish’s Author Guidelines to make sure it includes the required sections and stylizations. The quality of the paper is not assessed at this point. If a manuscript passes this stage it will be forwarded to the EIC checks that the paper is appropriate for the journal and is sufficiently original and interesting. If not, the paper may be rejected without being reviewed any further. If the manuscript is accepted at this level, it would be sent to two reviewers for in depth review. Based on their reports, final decision will be made by the EIC / Handling Editor. An additional review by a third reviewer may be carried out if it becomes difficult to reach a decision from the comments made by initial reviewers (1st and 2nd reviewers).  Four types of decisions can be yielded this time after in depth review-

• Accepted (with no change of manuscript)
• Accepted after minor correction
• Accepted after major correction
• Rejected

Decisions on the submitted manuscript will be made as rapidly as possible, and the journal strives to return reviewers’ comments to authors promptly. If the manuscript is accepted with minor/major correction, it would be returned to corresponding author to perform necessary correction according to the reviewer’s comment. Author will get 2 months to resubmit the manuscript. The Editorial board will re-review manuscripts that are accepted pending revision. Finally the manuscript will be reviewed by the Chief Editor at the last stage of publishing. It is the goal of the Journal of Fisheries to publish manuscripts shortly after submission.

3| Publishing paper

Accepted paper will normally be published online. Hardcopies should be ordered in advance, which requires charges to be paid by the authors. 

4| Manuscript preparation

Basic formatting style of the manuscript

• File type: MS Word document (.doc or .docx)
• Language: English (US or International but no mixing please)
• Paper size: A4 (8.27×11.69 inches or 210×297 mm)
• Page border: At least one (1) inch on all sides
• Font face: Any standard
• Page number: Should start from the title page

Title page

Tile page should contain following information-

1. Title (Should be a brief phrase describing the contents of the paper)
2. Running head / Short title (less than 50 characters including space between words)
3. Author name/s and affiliation/s (Full name/s of the author/s with their affiliation/s must be given with an asterisk* after the name of corresponding author; email addresses and ORCID ID of all the authors must be mentioned)
4. Corresponding information (Fax, Phone, and Email address of the corresponding author must be included)
5. Conflict of Interest declaration
6. Data availability statement
7. Acknowledgements (if any)
8. Authors' contribution

Abstract

The abstract should be placed on a separate page after the title page. It should be informative and self explanatory. It should briefly present the topic with background, objectives, methodologies, major findings and conclusion. Please note that abstract of a submission without covering these points will not be considered for further processing.  Abstract should be 100-250 words in length and written in past tense; complete sentences, active verbs, and the third person should be used. Any citation of literature and abbreviations should be avoided. Standard nomenclature should be used.

Keywords

Following the abstract, 3-7 keywords in alphabetical order, separated by semi colons, should be listed.

Introduction

It should start from a new page. It should provide a clear statement of the problem, the relevant literature on the subject and the proposed approach. It should be understandable to wide range of academicians and researchers around the world.

Methodology

The methodology should be complete enough to allow experiments to be reproduced. Previously published procedure should be cited and any modification of the published produce should describe briefly. Only truly new procedure should be described in detail. Subheading should be used. Duration of study and location must be mentioned. Subheadings should be used. 

Results

The results should be presented with clarity and precision. It should be written in the past tense. Results should be explanted, but largely without referring to the literature. Discussion, speculation and detailed interpretation of data should not be placed here, put those into the discussion section. Subheadings can be used.

Discussion

Discussion, speculation and detailed interpretation of findings should be written here in a view of the results obtained in the present study and in past studies on the topic. At the end of the paper, a state of the conclusions should be given in a few sentences. However, Results and Discussion section can be used instead of separating these two sections.

Acknowledgement

If necessary, it should be mentioned briefly on the title page. For those who received grants/funding for the study please mention name of the donors/funding source and grant number.

Tables

The tables should minimum in number and it should be designed as simple as possible. Each table should be placed in the text where appropriate (appropriate position). Table should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals and with a heading and a legend. Same data should not be presented in both table and graph forms or in the text. Table must be prepared in MS Word. You must not apply any custom formatting (e.g. alignment changes, text wrapping, inserting table in a textbox, changing border thickness etc.) to the table.

Figures

The figures should be typed in numerical order and should be placed in the text where appropriate (appropriate position). separate sheet. Graphics should be prepared using application software (e.g. Adobe Photoshop) capable of generating high quality image files (JPEG or TIFF) before pasting in the manuscript file. Title and labeling of the figure should be indicated in such a way that the figure is understandable without reading the text of the manuscript. Information given in the legend should not be repeated in the text.

References

In the text of the manuscript, a reference should be cited by means of author’s name following date of the reference. Where 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 reference, 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. Digital object identifier (DOI) number must be mentioned where available.

Examples

• Single author: (Galib 2009) or Galib (2009)
• Two authors: (Galib and Mohsin 2010) or Galib and Mohsin (2010)
• Two+ authors: (Galib et al. 2018) or Galib et al. (2018)
• One+ references: (Galib 2009; Galib et al. 2010) or Galib (2009), Galib et al. (2009)

In the reference section, the elaborate reference should be written as follows-

Journal article

Single author: Mohsin ABM (2000) Present status of post-stocking management and maintenance of improved traditional carp culture at Rajshahi and Natore areas. University Journal of Zoology Rajshahi University 19: 17–20.

Two authors: Mohsin ABM, Haque ME (2009) Diversity of fishes of Mahananda River at Chapai Nawabganj district. Research Journal of Biological Sciences 4(7): 828–831.

Two+ authors: Galib SM, Lucas MC, Chaki N, Fahad FH, Mohsin ABM (2018) Is current floodplain management a cause for concern for fish and bird conservation in Bangladesh’s largest wetland? Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 28(1): 98–114. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2865

Article with DOI: Galib SM, Lucas MC, Chaki N, Fahad FH, Mohsin ABM (2018) Is current floodplain management a cause for concern for fish and bird conservation in Bangladesh’s largest wetland? Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2865

Books and chapter in a book

Lucas MC, Baras E (2001) Migration of freshwater fishes. Blackwell Science, Oxford, UK.
Lucas MC, Marmulla G (2000) An assessment of anthropogenic activities on and rehabilitation of river fisheries: current state and future direction. In: Cowx IG (ed) Management and Ecology of River Fisheries. Blackwell Science, Oxford.

Proceedings paper

Galib SM, Mohsin ABM (2012) Cultured and ornamental exotic fish diversity in Bangladesh. In: Book of Abstract. 5th Fisheries Conference and Research Fair 2012. BFRF, Dhaka, Bangladesh. p. 54.

Online article

Galib SM (2012) Brood banks in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Fisheries Information Share Home (BdFISH). www.bdfish.org, accessed on 25 January 2012.

5| Short Communications

Short Communications are limited to a maximum of three figures and two tables. 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 150 words; (2) comparatively short Methodology; (3) Results and Discussion should be combined into a single section.

6| Proof and reprints

Proof copy of the manuscript will be sent to corresponding author’s email address as a PDF file as an attachment. 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.

As an open access journal, Journal of Fisheries will be published article freely online to attract a wide audience. Authors will have free electronic access to the full text (in PDF) of the article. Authors can freely download the PDF file from which they can print unlimited copies of their articles. Hardcopies should be ordered in advance which requires charges to be paid by the authors.

 7| Authors contribution

Contribution of each author should be mentioned in brief on the basis of Data Collection, Data Analysis, Manuscript Preparation, Funding and Others (please specify). If two or more authors are responsible for a single task (e.g. Manuscript Preparation) please report them together. For example ABC & XYZ prepared the manuscript.

8| Data availability statement

Authors must provide a data availability statement with the submission. Following are few examples of such statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in [repository name] at [doi], reference number [reference number].

The data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article [and/or] its supplementary materials.

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, [initials].

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.

9| Suggesting reviewers

Corresponding author must submit names of at least five (5) potential reviewers with their academic titles (e.g. Professor, Dr etc.), affiliations and email addresses on the TITLE page of the manuscript. However, Managing Editor will select the reviewers finally and they may be selected outside suggested reviewers by the corresponding author.

10| Article cover photo

We welcome corresponding author to submit a high-resolution photograph / image (as JPEG/JPG, PNG or TIFF; as supplementary file) that better represent the study. This image will be used as 'Cover' for the article to be appeared in Table of Contents and on Abstract Page, if accepted for publication after peer review. However, if no image is supplied by the author Editorial Office will use a relevant image for the article. Please make sure that the image, if supplied by the author/s, is your own property to avoid copyright issue.

11 | Fees and Charges

There is no Article Processing Charge (APC) for articles undergone regular publication process. However, the Journal of Fisheries staff have been voluntarily dedicating an enormous amount of time since the establishment of the journal. Recently, the workload has significantly increased, prompting us to hire additional staff to ensure the smooth operation of the editorial office and production processes. To support these activities, we have implemented the following measures:

Mandatory page charges (only for the manuscript submitted on / after 1 July 2024) 
Any paper in excess of 10 published pages will be subject to mandatory overlength page charges. Exceptions to manuscript length requirements may, under extraordinary circumstances, be granted by the Editor-in-Chief or Executive Editors. The author(s) or his/her/their company or institution will be billed $150 / £120 / €135/ INR 3500 / BDT 5000 / per each page in excess of the first ten published pages. These are mandatory page charges and the author(s) will be held responsible for them.
The Publisher holds the right to withhold publication under any circumstance, as well as publication of the current or future submissions of authors who have outstanding mandatory page charge debt. No mandatory overlength page charges will be applied to invited papers.

Accelerated Publication
We offer “Accelerated Publication” option to our authors if time is critical for them. With Accelerated Publication option, authors can speed up the peer review process without sacrificing quality.

We offer two Accelerated Publication options:

1. Accelerated Publication option A: 25–35 days from submission to online publication*
2. Accelerated Publication option B: 45–50 days from submission to online publication*

*Timelines rely on authors making revisions and returning required paperwork on schedule.
However, following fees are applicable for manuscripts processed with Accelerated Publication option.

• Publish in 25–35 days from submission (Cost per article: $600 / €575 / £500 / INR 50000 / BDT 50000)
• Publish in 45–50 days from submission (Cost per article: $500 / €475 / £400 / INR 40000 / BDT 40000)

Please note that the acceptance of articles is driven entirely by editorial considerations and independent peer review, ensuring the highest standards are maintained.

Authors are only charged if their paper is accepted; there is no charge for using the service if the paper is rejected. We reserve the right to a partial charge if the author withdraws their paper.
If you decide to take advantages of Accelerated Publication option, submit your manuscript online following standard submission process and send an email to the editorial office (editor.jfish@gmail.com) with “accelerated publication [A] or [B]: Your manuscript title” in the subject line.

12 | Submitting the manuscript

Manuscript prepared according to the Author Guidelines of the journal should be submitted online.