Instructions to Authors

GENERAL GUIDELINES

The Journal of Plantation Crops accepts original research papers, short communications, reviews, mini-reviews, perspective articles, commentary/spotlight, book reviews and letters to the editor covering all aspects of plantation crops (coconut, arecanut, cocoa, palmyrah, spices, cashew, oil palm, coffee, tea, rubber, and plantation-based cropping systems) and spices (black pepper, cardamom, ginger, turmeric, and tree spices).  All authors must be members of the Indian Society for Plantation Crops (ISPC) to publish in the journal. Editorial correspondence should be addressed to:

The Editor-in-Chief

 Journal of Plantation Crops

ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute                                     

Kasaragod – 671 124, Kerala, India

[email protected]

ARTICLE TYPES & SPECIFICATIONS

Article Types

 

Scope

 

Word Limit / Specifications

Original Research Paper

 

Full-length scientific reports presenting novel, robust research findings on plantation crops or spices.

 

Up to 4,000 words, including text, tables, illustrations, and references

Short Communication

 

Concise reports of preliminary, high-impact research results or significant technical observations.

 

Maximum 1,300 words

Review

 

Invited, comprehensive syntheses of recent developments, current knowledge, and strategic future directions in plantation crops and cropping systems.

 

Typically, 5,000–8,000 words, subject to editorial discretion

Minireview

 

Focused, timely overviews of targeted advances or emerging niche topics in plantation crops.

 

2,500–4,000 words

Perspective

 

Expert commentary or critical insights on scientific, socioeconomic, policy, or administrative developments impacting the plantation sector.

 

1,500–3,000 words; 1–2 schematic figures

Commentary / Spotlight

 

Short critical essays offering perspectives on recently published articles in the journal or highlighting major sectoral breakthroughs.

 

1,000–1,500 words; 0–1 display items

Book Review

 

Critical analysis and evaluation of recent authoritative books, scientific monographs, or proceedings relevant to plantation crops and spices.

 

800–1,200 words; 0–1 image of book cover

Letters to the Editor

 

Reader correspondence offering constructive feedback, re-interpretations, or additions regarding papers published in JPC.

 

800–1,000 words; 0–1 display items

Editorial

 

Invited pieces by the journal leadership addressing publication policy, field-wide ethics, or special thematic issues.

 

500–1,500 words

Articles published or submitted elsewhere for publication should not be submitted for publication in the Journal. An undertaking to this extent needs to be taken by the corresponding author before accepting an article for publication in the Journal. Manuscripts should conform to the Journal format. It must be typed in double-space on one side of A4 size paper with a margin of 4 cm each on the left-hand side and top, and 3 cm each on right- hand side and bottom and numbered serially. Authors are requested to submit the manuscripts through designated online system [https://updatepublishing.com/journal/index.php/JPC/login].

Authors may also send a soft copy (prepared in MS WORD) as e- mail attachment to [email protected].

The manuscript is to be arranged in the following order:

Title page: Provide a separate Title page with the following items. Title of the paper should be informative and concise.

By-line should contain the name(s) of author(s) and footnote symbols to indicate corresponding author and address, including e-mail.

From-line should contain the name and address of the institution where the research work was carried out.

Keywords: A maximum of six keywords suitable for indexing may be given in alphabetical order. A short Running Title not exceeding 30 characters should be provided

Abstract: This should contain a brief (not exceeding 250 words) and accurate summary of the objectives, contents and conclusions of the paper. It should be intelligible without reference to the full paper. Abbreviations should be avoided in the Abstract.

Introduction: It may explain the scope of research work. Only the most relevant and recent references of literature may be included.

Material and Methods: It should be brief, but sufficiently informative enough to be able to repeat the work. The data should be subjected to statistical analysis.

Results and Discussion: These may be combined. The significance of the results obtained is to be highlighted in relation to other relevant published works. In the case Short Communication, the above section headings may be avoided.

Acknowledgements: This may be provided wherever needed and be specific.

References: This should include only publications cited in the text. References to unpublished data, private communications and documents with limited circulation may be avoided to the possible extent. An article should not be referred to as “in press” unless it has been accepted for publication. The name of the Journal in which such an article has been accepted should be given in the cited reference. The references may be cited in alphabetical order of the first authors name followed by the co-authors. 

References in the text should be cited by name followed by the year of publication and the reference list entries should be alphabetized at the end of the manuscript.  Two or more works by the same author in the same year must be differentiated by the addition of ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’ etc., after the year of publication

Citations in Text

In-text citations include the author and year, either both inside parentheses or with the author names in running text and the year in parentheses.

The use of “&” when both author and year are inside parentheses

Example: Some Sida species were studied for their trichome diversity (Ashwathy & Krishnakumar, 2020).

Whereas “and” should be used when only the year is in parentheses.

Example: Ashwathy and Krishnakumar (2020) reported the trichome diversity of some Sida species.

Use et al., if a study was reported by more than two authors. Also, the groups of references should be listed chronologically (order by year of publication, the earlier one first) and separated by semicolons.

Example: (Chamle et al., 2011; Kumar et al., 2013; Lone et al., 2018).

Reference list

  • Journal Article

Josephrajkumar, A., Saha, S., Singh, L. S., Chaithra, M., Logeshkumar, P., Sajan, J. V., Anes, K. M., & Babu, M. (2026). New distribution record of Acacia whitefly, Tetraleurodes acaciae (Quaintance) on Gliricidia sepium (Fabaceae) in coconut system from Kahikuchi, Assam. Journal of Plantation Crops, 54(1), 25–29. https://doi.org/10.25081/jpc.2026.v54.i1.10059

  • Article by DOI

Panchal, P., Miller, A. J., Giri, J. (2021). Organic acids: Versatile stress response roles in plants. Journal of Experimental Botany. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erab019

  • Book

Simon, T. L., Snyder, E. L., Solheim, B. G., Stowell, P. C., Strauss, R. G., & Petrides, M. (2009). Rossi’s principles of transfusion medicine. (4th ed.). West Sussex, UK: Blackwell Publishing.

  • Chapter in an edited book

Kojima, S., Ishiyama, K., Beier, M. P., & Hayakawa, T. (2020). Ammonium assimilation and metabolism in rice. In F.M. Cánovas, U. Lüttge, M. C. Risueñ & H. Pretzsch (Eds.), Progress in Botany (Vol. 82, pp. 211-231): Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/124_2020_40

  • Conference paper

Lin, C. H., Liu, J. C., Huang, H. C., Yang, T. C. (2008, April 2). Using adaptive bandwidth allocation approach to defend DDos attacks. International Conference on Multimedia and Ubiquitous Engineering (pp. 176-181). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/MUE.2008.23

  • Dissertation

Trent, J. W. (1975). Experimental acute renal failure. Doctoral Dissertation, University of California.

  • Report

National Cancer Institute. (2016). Taking part in cancer treatment research studies (Publication/Report No. 16-6249). Retrieved from https://www.cancer.gov/publications/patient-education/CRS.pdf

  • Guidelines

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (2013). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (NICE Quality Standard No. 39). Retrieved from https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs39

DOI

The DOI numbers should be used in reference lists when they are available. Includes https and the prefix doi.org (https://doi.org/) before each DOI number and no full stop should be used at the end of a DOI.

Example: https://doi.org/10.25081/cb.2020.v11.6303

Tables: The tables may be typed on separate pages, numbered serially in Arabic numerals and carry appropriate titles in bold type. The preferred position of the Table may be indicated in the manuscript. Presenting Tables that are too long to print across the page should be avoided. Vertical rules should not be marked within the table.

Illustrations: Figures may be serially numbered in the order of their first citation in the text. Send only sharp, glossy, black and white/colour photographic prints, not larger than 20 x 25 cm. High-quality laser prints and graphs are also accepted. Letters, numbers and symbols should be clear and even, throughout and of sufficient size so that all the items will still be legible when reduced for publication. Titles and detailed explanation should be given separately in the legends for figures. Every figure should have a label on its back indicating the number of the figure and author’s name. The preferred position of the figure may be indicated in the manuscript. Presentation of same data in both table and figures/graphs should be avoided.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools

The Journal of Plantation Crops recognizes the growing application of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in research and manuscript preparation. However, AI tools do not satisfy the criteria for authorship or accountability. Therefore, generative AI tools must not be included as authors of submitted manuscripts or other scholarly content.

Declaration, Credit and Citation

The use of AI-generated content must adhere to the journal’s plagiarism policy and established principles of appropriate citation and acknowledgement.

Authors are required to disclose and briefly describe the use of AI tools when such tools have been employed to generate or substantially modify text or images, including the translation of published sources or the authors’ own work. Disclosure is also required when AI tools are used to analyse data, extract information, or derive insights from datasets or other research materials.

However, routine and non-generative applications of AI tools during manuscript preparation do not require disclosure. These include basic spelling and grammar checks, minor language corrections, the insertion of individual words or short phrases, and simple formatting adjustments, such as converting section headings to bold type etc.,

Peer review: All articles submitted to JPC will be subjected to double blind peer reviewing. They will be sent back to the corresponding author along with the Referee’s comments for revision, if necessary. The revised article should be returned in electronic form (MS WORD), along with the original and the Referee’s comments.

Article Proof: The proof in PDF will be sent to the corresponding author for correction, if found necessary. They should be returned to the Editor within a period of two days. Alterations in proof other than printing errors may be avoided. Excessive corrections are chargeable to the Author.