Submissions

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Author Guidelines

Focus and Scope

SAJAS publishes original scientific articles and reviews in animal science, with a focus on:

  • Farmed species, such as cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, poultry, and ostriches
  • Companion animals, such as horses and pet animal species
  • Aquatic and wildlife species

The journal covers disciplines including animal nutrition, genetics, physiology, production systems, product quality, behaviour, and welfare.

Submissions should represent original contributions to scientific knowledge, with clearly formulated hypotheses and relevance to the functioning of animals in their social or physical environments. A particular emphasis is placed on studies with a clear connection to Southern African data, contexts, or implications.

Detailed requirements for manuscript types and the peer-review process are outlined in the journal’s Policies and  Author Guidelines sections. Prospective authors are expected to adhere strictly to these policies and guidelines.

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Authors are invited to make a submission to this journal. Please read and apply the Author Guidelines before submitting a manuscript. More details on formatting requirements can also be found in the journal's Word research article template. Authors who are new to the online system can follow the step-by-step Guidelines for authors.

All submissions will be assessed by an editor to determine whether they meet the Focus and Scope of this journal. Those considered to be a good fit will be sent for peer-review before determining whether they will be accepted or rejected.

Before making a submission, authors are responsible for obtaining permission to publish any material included with the submission, such as photos, documents, and datasets. If figures, tables, or parts of other copyright material that are not owned by the authors are included in an article submitted for publication in the journal, it is the sole responsibility of the author(s) to obtain permission to republish such items.

All authors identified on the submission must consent to be identified as an author. Submission also implies that all authors have approved the submission and are in agreement with its content. The author list and affiliations will not be changed once the Publishing Agreement has been signed. All authors are requested to include their ORCiDs in the submitted manuscript, or with the Publishing Agreement.

Where appropriate, research should be approved by an appropriate ethics committee in accordance with the legal requirements of the study's country. All submissions must identify the ethics committee that approved their study protocol, and must provide the ethical approval reference number.

An editor may desk reject a submission if it does not meet the journal's minimum quality standards. Before submitting, please ensure that the study design and research argument are structured and articulated properly. The title should be concise and the abstract should be able to stand on its own. This will increase the likelihood of reviewers agreeing to review the paper. When you are satisfied that your submission meets these standards, please follow the checklist below to prepare your submission.

Submission Preparation Checklist

All submissions must meet the following requirements:

  • The submission meets the Focus and Scope of the South African Journal of Animal Science.
  • The submission meets the requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines.
  • All author(s) have been clearly identified, ORCIDs for all have been provided, and all author affiliations are correct.
  • All author(s) approve of the submission and are in agreement with its content.
  • The Publishing Agreement has been completed and signed by all author(s), and accompanies this submission.
  • If a member(s) of SASAS, the membership certificate of the main and/or corresponding author is included as part of this submission.
  • This submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration. If it has been uploaded as a preprint, this has been indicated in the comments to the editor.
  • All references have been checked for accuracy and completeness.
  • All tables and figures have been numbered and labeled.
  • Permission has been obtained to publish all photos, datasets, figures, tables, and parts of other copyright material provided with this submission.

Review Articles

Read and apply the Author Guidelines before submitting a Review.

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Reviews should have as their main aim the synthesis or application of new principles, hypotheses, or future research directions from the re-interpretation and scrutiny of existing, published scientific data. It is normal practice for authors to include some of their own new, but previously unpublished data, in support of the concept that is synthesised. Syntheses and applications from technical reports, surveys and other unpublished, but scientifically justifiable, sources of information can also be used in support. Reviews aimed at distilling existing published information into a form that will contribute to a clearer understanding or more widespread application of research findings by generalist extension officers and non-scientists are also welcomed. Reviews are normally solicited by the Editor-in-Chief, but suggestions for topics or authors are welcomed. Reviews are subjected to the same peer-review process as is applied to all other submissions.

Research Articles

Contributions should be based on original, unpublished experimental data that have been analysed using statistical methods.

Read and apply the Author Guidelines before submitting a manuscript.

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Article Structure

The organisational structure for a research article to be submitted to the South African Journal of Animal Science is as follows (view Word research article template):

Title: An informative and brief (maximum 120 characters, including spaces) topic statement that draws attention to the paper.

Authorship: The initials and surnames of the author(s), and the addresses of the institutions where the work was done must follow the title. Superscripts (1,2,3) should be used in cases where authors are from different institutions. A superscript (#) should be appended to the author to whom correspondence should be addressed, and this should be indicated as such, together with an email address, in the line immediately following the keywords. The present postal addresses of authors, if currently different from that of the institution, should also be superscripted appropriately and inserted in the lines following that of the corresponding author’s details. All authors are requested to submit their ORCiD with either the manuscript or the publication agreement. The ORCiD hyperlinks will immediately follow each authors name in the article that is published.

Abstract: The abstract should provide the following information: the purpose of the study, the experimental treatments, the results (preferably in quantitative data), the significance of the findings, and the conclusions. This should not exceed 250 words. Abbreviations and significance levels (e.g., P <0.05) should not be included in the abstract.

Keywords: Keywords should be listed in alphabetical order, and separated by commas, not semicolons. Words in the title of the article should not be listed as keywords.

Introduction: The introduction serves to motivate the reading of the article. It should include i) a statement of why the subject under investigation is considered to be of importance, ii) a concise indication of the status quo of published research in this field, and ii) why this article is considered to be an original contribution to current scientific knowledge of the principles, or the application of principles, governing the functioning of animals, production aspects of their products, and their relationship to the social or physical environment. Appropriate references supporting these arguments should be cited. The last sentence of the introduction should contain a declaration of the aims of the experiment, i.e., the hypothesis. The introduction should not exceed one page in length.

Materials and methods: Animal experimentation must be conducted within standard ethical norms. A statement indicating the review of the project by an appropriate institutional animal care and use committee or an equivalent ethical review must be included as the first paragraph in the Materials and methods section. Authors should include the ethical clearance number. The methodology and descriptions of the materials that were used should be concise but of sufficient detail to enable the experiment to be replicated by an outside party. Statistical methods used must be clearly stated (see details in the ‘Notes on statistics’ section).

Results and discussion: Integrity in reporting requires that no inconsistent data are omitted or fabricated data presented. Results presented in tables or figures should not simply be repeated in the text. The discussion should include references to relevant literature, to place the results of the study in the context of the pre-existing research, and to clearly indicate the practical relevance of the results. This section should end with a paragraph discussing the limitations of the study and avenues for future research.

Conclusions: This single, short paragraph should consist of an integration of results that refer directly to the stated aims of the experiment and a statement on the practical implications of the results. Do not summarise the discussion here.

Acknowledgements: Do not include titles of persons; use only initials and surnames.  Acknowledge all financial support. Include the National Research Foundation (NRF) project GUN number, as required by the NRF. State and acknowledge any additional sponsors, including private companies.

Authors’ contributions (this section is compulsory): All scientific publications to be published in the South African Journal of Animal Science must include appropriate attribution of authorship and disclosure of relevant affiliations of those involved in the work. Authorship should be limited to those individuals who have contributed in a meaningful and substantive way to the manuscript’s intellectual content. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for its content. All co-authors should have been directly involved in all three of the following: i) planning and contribution to some component (conception, design, conduct, analysis, or interpretation) of the work that led to the paper or interpreting at least a portion of the results; ii) writing a draft of the article or revising it for intellectual content; and iii) final approval of the version to be published. All authors should review and approve the manuscript before it is submitted for publication.

Conflict of interest declaration (this section is compulsory): A conflict of interest exists when financial or other personal considerations may compromise, or have the appearance of the potential to compromise, a researcher's professional judgment in conducting or reporting research. Such conflicts of interest do not preclude publication of the work; however, they must be disclosed. In the event that there are no conflicts of interest, this section must contain the following statement: ‘The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.’

References: The existing relevant literature must be cited appropriately and fairly (see examples in Author Guidelines). In this respect, ensure that reference is made to the original report of a finding rather than to a later elaboration. DOI (digital object identifier) addresses are required, if available, for ALL online references. This DOI should be indicated in full, e.g. https://doi.org/10.4314/sajas.v55i2.01.

Short Communications

Read and apply the Author Guidelines before submitting a manuscript.

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Results of limited investigation, work in progress, and new techniques can be submitted as Short Communications. Short Communications should not exceed five printed pages.

The organisational structure for a Short Communication to be submitted to the South African Journal of Animal Science is as follows:

- See the guidance relevant to a research article for information that pertains to the Title, Authorship, Abstract, and Keywords.
- Body of the paper: Text for the body of a short communication consists of a short introduction, materials and methods, results and discussion, and conclusion as a single section. This section is not divided by sub-headings. It is not more than five (5) pages in length, including the tables and figures.
- See the guidance relevant to a research article for information that pertains to the Acknowledgements, Author contributions, Conflict of interest declaration, and References. 

Copyright Notice

Copyright for articles published in the South African Journal of Animal Science remains with the author(s).

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