Author Guidelines

Agricultural Science Horizons (ASH), published by the Gondars Institute of Research and Skill Development (GIRSD), welcomes submissions from researchers, scholars, professionals, practitioners, policymakers, and industry experts from around the world. The journal is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access multidisciplinary publication dedicated to advancing knowledge and innovation across agriculture, environmental sciences, biological sciences, food sciences, veterinary sciences, engineering, technology, health sciences, economics, education, sustainability studies, and other related disciplines.

The journal seeks to publish original, high-quality, and ethically conducted research that contributes to scientific advancement, evidence-based decision-making, sustainable development, and interdisciplinary collaboration. ASH provides immediate open access to all published content, ensuring maximum visibility, accessibility, and impact for authors and their work.

Manuscript Submission

All manuscripts must be submitted electronically through the journal's online submission system. Submissions sent by email or by individuals who are not listed as authors will not be considered for review. Manuscripts should be prepared in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx) and uploaded through the journal platform.

The corresponding author is responsible for the entire submission process and serves as the primary contact between the journal and all co-authors. By submitting a manuscript, the corresponding author confirms that all listed authors have contributed substantially to the work, have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript, and agree to its submission to Agricultural Science Horizons.

Authors must ensure that the manuscript is original, has not been published previously, and is not under consideration by another journal. Any related manuscripts, preprints, conference papers, or prior publications must be disclosed at the time of submission.

Types of Manuscripts Accepted

Agricultural Science Horizons considers several categories of scholarly contributions. These include original research articles presenting novel findings, review articles synthesizing current knowledge, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, short communications reporting significant preliminary findings, technical notes describing innovative methods or technologies, case studies addressing practical challenges, perspectives and opinion papers, methodological papers, and interdisciplinary studies that integrate multiple scientific fields.

The Editorial Board reserves the right to determine the most appropriate article category for submitted manuscripts.

Peer Review and Editorial Process

All submissions undergo an initial editorial screening to assess suitability, originality, scientific quality, ethical compliance, and alignment with the journal's aims and scope. Manuscripts that pass the preliminary evaluation are subjected to a double-blind peer-review process.

Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two independent experts in the relevant field. Reviewers evaluate the scientific merit, methodological rigor, originality, significance, validity of results, interpretation of findings, quality of presentation, and adherence to ethical standards. Based on reviewer recommendations, the editor may decide to accept the manuscript, request minor revisions, request major revisions, or reject the manuscript.

The final publication decision rests solely with the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board. Authors are expected to respond thoroughly and respectfully to reviewer comments and provide a detailed point-by-point response during revision.

Authorship and Author Responsibilities

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions to the conception, design, execution, analysis, interpretation, or writing of the study. All authors share responsibility and accountability for the content of the manuscript.

The corresponding author must ensure that all co-authors have approved the final manuscript and completed any required authorship declarations. Individuals who contributed to the research but do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately.

Changes in authorship after submission, including additions, removals, or changes in author order, require written approval from all authors and editorial approval.

Manuscript Preparation

Manuscripts should be written in clear, professional, and grammatically correct English. Authors should ensure logical organization, consistency, scientific accuracy, and clarity throughout the manuscript. The writing should be accessible to an international and multidisciplinary readership while maintaining technical precision appropriate for the subject matter.

Manuscripts should be formatted using a standard font such as Times New Roman, 12-point size, with double-line spacing and continuous page numbering. All pages should be numbered consecutively.

Title Page

The title page should contain the manuscript title, full names of all authors, institutional affiliations, ORCID identifiers (where available), email addresses, and complete contact information for the corresponding author.

The title should be concise, informative, and accurately reflect the content of the study. Abbreviations, symbols, and overly general expressions should be avoided whenever possible.

Abstract

Each manuscript must include an abstract of approximately 200–300 words. The abstract should clearly summarize the purpose of the study, methodology, principal findings, and major conclusions. It should provide sufficient information for readers to understand the significance of the work without consulting the full article.

References, tables, figures, citations, and unexplained abbreviations should not be included in the abstract.

Keywords

Authors should provide between five and eight keywords immediately following the abstract. Keywords should accurately represent the subject matter of the manuscript and facilitate indexing, retrieval, and discoverability in academic databases and search engines.

Manuscript Structure

Original research articles should generally follow the structure of Introduction, Literature Review (where appropriate), Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Acknowledgements, Funding Information, Conflict of Interest Statement, Data Availability Statement, and References.

The Introduction should clearly establish the research problem, significance, objectives, and research questions or hypotheses. The Literature Review should critically evaluate relevant scholarship and identify existing knowledge gaps. The Materials and Methods section must provide sufficient detail to allow replication of the study, including descriptions of study design, participants or samples, data collection procedures, instruments, analytical methods, and software used.

The Results section should present findings objectively and systematically without interpretation. The Discussion should interpret findings in relation to existing literature, explain implications, acknowledge limitations, and identify directions for future research. The Conclusions section should summarize the major findings and contributions of the study.

Tables, Figures, and Illustrations

Tables and figures should be placed as close as possible to their first citation in the text. Each table and figure must be numbered consecutively and accompanied by a descriptive title or caption.

Figures should be submitted in high-resolution format and remain legible when reproduced. Graphs, photographs, maps, diagrams, and other visual materials must be of publication quality. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission for any copyrighted material used in their manuscripts.

Statistical Reporting

Authors should provide sufficient information regarding statistical procedures to allow readers to verify findings. Statistical methods, software packages, significance levels, confidence intervals, effect sizes, and model assumptions should be reported where applicable.

Researchers are encouraged to report measures that improve transparency and reproducibility, including validation procedures, sensitivity analyses, and robustness checks.

Ethical Considerations

Research involving human participants, animals, biological materials, or sensitive data must comply with recognized ethical standards and applicable regulations.

Authors must include a statement specifying the name of the ethics committee or institutional review board that approved the study, together with approval numbers where available. Studies involving human participants must confirm that informed consent was obtained. Research involving animals must demonstrate compliance with institutional and international animal welfare guidelines.

Authors must disclose any potential ethical concerns and provide supporting documentation upon request.

Research Integrity and Transparency

Agricultural Science Horizons is committed to maintaining the highest standards of research integrity. Fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, duplicate publication, inappropriate image manipulation, citation manipulation, and other forms of scientific misconduct are strictly prohibited.

The journal may use plagiarism-detection software and additional integrity checks during the review process. Suspected cases of misconduct will be investigated in accordance with internationally recognized publishing ethics guidelines.

Authors are encouraged to share datasets, code, protocols, and supplementary materials whenever possible to promote transparency, reproducibility, and scientific collaboration.

References

All references must be accurate, complete, and relevant to the research presented. Authors are responsible for verifying all citations and ensuring consistency between in-text citations and the reference list.

Agricultural Science Horizons requires authors to follow the APA 7th Edition referencing style unless otherwise specified by the Editorial Board. References should include complete bibliographic information, including DOI numbers where available.

The journal encourages citation of current, peer-reviewed literature while maintaining an appropriate balance between foundational and recent sources.

Funding Statement

Authors must disclose all sources of financial support related to the research, including grant numbers and funding agencies. If no funding was received, authors should state: "The authors received no external funding for this research."

Conflict of Interest Declaration

Authors must declare any financial, professional, institutional, or personal relationships that could influence the interpretation of the research. If no conflicts exist, authors should state: "The authors declare no conflict of interest."

Data Availability Statement

Authors are encouraged to make research data publicly available whenever possible. The manuscript should include a Data Availability Statement describing where supporting data can be accessed or explaining any restrictions on data sharing.

Acknowledgements

The Acknowledgements section should recognize individuals, institutions, organizations, or funding bodies that contributed to the research but do not meet authorship criteria. Acknowledgements should be professional, relevant, and directly related to the research project.

Search Engine Optimization and Discoverability

To maximize visibility and citation potential, authors should use clear and descriptive titles, meaningful keywords, informative abstracts, and consistent terminology throughout the manuscript. Strategic use of relevant keywords within titles, abstracts, headings, and main text improves indexing and discoverability across scholarly databases, search engines, and citation platforms.

Copyright and Open Access

Authors retain copyright of their published work. All articles published in Agricultural Science Horizons are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, adaptation, and reproduction provided appropriate attribution is given to the original authors and source.

Contact Information

Questions regarding manuscript preparation, submission procedures, editorial policies, or publication requirements should be directed to the Editorial Office of Agricultural Science Horizons through the official journal contact channels provided on the journal website.