Submission Preparation Checklist
As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
- The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration.
- All persons indicated as authors have significantly contributed to the research
- All authors are familiar with the manuscript, agree with its content and are obliged to provide retractions or corrections of mistakes, in case of detection
- The manuscript text is original, all borrowed text (from own or others' works) has clear indication of quotation borders and respective references
- Mandatory files are attached containing: (a) complete manuscript text; (b) anonymous manuscript text (devoid of information of authors and their affiliations in the title pages) for reviewing purposes; (c) author information (full names, affiliations and e-mails of all authors, contact phone number of the corresponding author); (d) list of 3-5 potential reviewers from different organizations with no conflict of interests (such as the same affiliation as the authors'): full names, affiliations and e-mail
- Illustrative material is inserted in text (to show position) and attached as separate TIFF or JPEG files (versions for both color online publication and grayscale print). Diagrams and graphs are built in MS Office-compatible applications and initial files with data and diagrams are provided
- Manuscript and summary size corresponds to the recommendations (Appendix 1, Table 2)
- The body of modern references of global sсale is sufficient to substantiate goal and scientific novelty and to compare obtained data with previous research; the list of bibliographic records fully reproduces the references given in the text
- Methods, approaches and experimental schemes are detailed, clear and reproducible
- Statistical analysis is adequate
- Results are adequate to the Methods while Discussion corresponds to the Results
- Tables and Figures are informative and correspond to the content while titles, legends and indications are adequate
- Information on financial support is explicitly provided
- The manuscript is either properly formatted or "Free format" option is chosen which is indicated in the "Comments for the Editor" field
Author Guidelines
*** Article processing and publication charges are not incurred to the authors***
General Information
“Plant Protection News” publishes results of original research as full-text articles and short reports, reviews as full-text and mini-reviews, discussion notes (comments to published articles and responses to comments) and chronicles related to plant protection (i.e. announcements of forthcoming and reports on past events, in memoriam, obituaries etc.).
The Journal promotes modern methods of plant protection, including development of resistant plant varieties and biological means of pest control; phytosanitary monitoring of agroecosystems; innovative approaches, technologies, economics and ecological safety of plant protection applications.
Four issues are published per year. Electronic versions of papers are openly published as PDF files at the Journal’s website. Papers are issued in Russian or English. The Editorial Office preserves the right to translate Russian papers into English (upon discussion of the final version with the authors). Instructions for manuscript organization in English are given below. Instructions for manuscripts in Russian can be found in the Russian version of the Guides for Authors.
The manuscript size depends upon the article type (Table 1). Short communication, as well as other types or articles, is a complete work and nor a preliminary data of an unaccomplished study.
Table 1. Recommended size limitations for different article types
Article type |
Maximal number of pages of text* |
Maximal number of illustrative units (tables & figures)** |
Abstract volume (word count) |
Full-text review |
40 |
20 |
150-250 |
Mini-review |
20 |
10 |
100-150 |
Full-text article |
20 |
10 |
150-250 |
Short communication |
6 |
2 |
100-150 |
Discussion note |
4 |
1 |
No |
Chronicle |
10 |
2 |
No |
*pages of MS WORD-compatible document formatted according to the Instructions
**One unit occupies 0.5 page
Manuscript Submission
Manuscript submission is performed online via personal account of the corresponding author. Access to the Electronic Submission System is open at the official website of the Journal: https://www.plantprotect.ru. The manuscript is submitted as an electronic document (file) in the format, compatible with MS Office (Word). The preferable formats are DOC or Rich Text Format (RTF), however, we also accept other formats if their content is not distorted. Other documents submitted as separate files are as following:
- anonymous manuscript version (devoid of information on authors and their affiliations);
- files with figures (see below);
- information about the authors (including affiliation with address, e-mail addresses of all authors and the contact phone number of the corresponding author) and the potential reviewers (name, affiliation, e-mail). If needed, oppose reviewers may be listed (name, affiliation, reasons for avoiding reviewing with this particular expert).
The further work (review, the notifications on the Editor board decisions, the scientific and technical edits, layout adjustments by the editors and authors etc) is conducted through the Electronic Submission System.
Manuscripts violating these guides may be declined.
The authors can provide the preliminary version of the paper without special formatting, requested by the journal ("Free format" option), and this should be mentioned in the “Comments for the Editor” field. In this case, the authors will be allowed to format the title page and the bibliography after the paper is accepted for publication.
Charges for article processing and publication are not incurred to the authors. All publication expenses are covered by the Publisher.
For any requests, please feel free to inquire at: vestnik@vizr.spb.ru; ytokarev@vizr.spb.ru
Title page organization
The manuscript starts with the title page. At the end of the manuscript, the Russian version of the title page of the English manuscript or the English version of the title page of the Russian manuscript should be provided. Special formatting is not needed.
First paragraph is the paper category according to the OECD+Web of Science classifier (Table 2), such as «4.01+MU (Horticulture)».
Second paragraph bears the type of the paper (Table 1).
Third paragraph includes lower case title of the paper. Upper case is used to begin sentence, names, in abbrevations etc. Latin names are given without authors unless this is needed to avoid confusion.
Fourth paragraphs contains initials and surnames of authors separated by comma. If several authors are listed, the corresponding author is labeled by the asterisk.
Fifth paragraph indicates authors’ affiliation, city and country. Several affiliations are indicated by superscript Arabic numbers.
Seventh paragraph gives the corresponding author’s e-mail, preceded by the asterisk.
Sixth paragraph provides plain text Abstract without title, paragraphs, citations, special symbols and formatting. This is to deliver the main content of the article in a short form to be understood without reading the main text. Abstract size depends upon the article type (Table 1). Numerals are given as numbers (if not the first word of the sentence). Abbreviations need to be deciphered upon first mentioning, with the exception of those widely accepted (WTO, DNA, PCR, RNA, FAO etc.) Latin taxon names are given in full yet devoid of the authors’ names.
Eight paragraph lists 4 to 8 keywords, separated by comma, without prepositions and conjunctions. Keywords should reflect the article content but not repeat its title.
Table 2. OECD+Web of Science Disciplines suitable for the manuscripts submitted to Plant Protection News.
1.06+IY (Entomology) |
1.06+RQ (Mycology) |
4.01+AM (Agronomy) |
4.01+MU (Horticulture) |
4.01+XE (Soil Science) |
Main text organization
Main text follows with titles of chapters in bold on separate lines. Structure of full-text article includes the following necessary chapters: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion. Short communication has the same structure but one chapter unites Results and Discussion. Reviews contain chapters according to the text content, or no chapters. Upon agreement with the Editorial Office, full-text article structure can be modified in accordance with the logical arrangement of the material presentation.
The Introduction should provide up-to-date information on the topic under consideration and justify the purpose (tasks) of the study, it is desirable to formulate a working hypothesis that requires verification within the framework of this work. In the Materials and Methods one consistently indicate all the stages of the study, experimental schemes and specific methods, set out in sufficient detail to make it able to reproduce them independently, with references to all necessary sources. In the Results it is necessary to describe the specific data obtained during the experiments and adequate statistical processing of quantitative indicators. The Discussion is to summarize the main essence of the results obtained (without duplicating the data from the previous section!) and compare them with the information known from the literature sources. Lengthy discussions that are not relevant to the topic of the work should be avoided. An additional section of the Conclusion is allowed, where the main outcomes of the work can be briefly outlined. The bulk of the cited literature should be represented by modern scientific publications in central domestic and foreign journals that have worldwide recognition (indexed in international databases).
Free format
A free format is allowed for initial submission. The manuscript can be prepared in accordance with the basic requirements for content and structure, but without conforming with the requirements of organization of the title page, figure captions, table headings, bibliography, etc. When submitting a manuscript in free format, one should report this in the "Comment for the editor" section.
Text formatting
Text formatting is as following: the font is Times New Roman for main text, tables and figure legends, Arial for figures, Symbol for Greek symbols. Font size is 12 in main text, table titles and references, 9 within tables. The main text of the article is aligned to the width of the page, paragraph indent is 1 cm. The line space is single, page orientation is vertical (portrait), all page margins are 2 cm, no styles for symbol formatting are applied. Decimal part is separated by dot, the percent sign "%" and the degree sign "°" are separated from the numerical value by space, for example, "24 °C". Numeric range boundaries are separated by en dashes without spaces ("34–51"). After abbreviations of units of time ("h", "min", "sec") dots are not used (unless they end the sentence).
Equations are designed in a standard equation editor of MS Office Word or provided as black and white raster images with resolution of 600 dpi or higher.
Latin taxa names
Taxonomic names are given in accordance with modern nomenclature (if necessary, synonyms are given). The indication of the authorship of taxa of species rank is obligatory for works on taxonomy, nomenclature and regional diversity of biological objects and is given in accordance with the relevant codes of botanical and zoological nomenclature at the first mention of the object in the main text. The name of each species is given in full at the first mention in the abstract and in the main text, in tables and figure captions. When mentioned again, the generic epithet is abbreviated, including when another species of the same genus is mentioned (Alternaria solani, A. tenuissima). If the generic epithet begins with a diphthong (Aedes, Eurygaster) or a digraph (Chenopodium, Phaseolus), these combinations should be used for abbreviation (Ae. aegypti, Eu. integriceps, Ch. alba, Ph. vulgaris).
When different taxa with the same beginning of generic and identical specific epithets (Pseudomonas syringae, Pseudococcus syringae) are mentioned, the generic epithet should be given in full or abbreviated to the first differing letter inclusive (Pseudom. syringae, Pseudoc. syringae), except when they are part of the name of the disease, for example, Septoria leaf spot, etc. When using trivial names of cultivated plants (rye, wheat, oats, barley), the use of Latin names of taxa is not necessary.
Illustrative materials
Illustrative materials are provided within the text after paragraph containing first mentioning of the unit. Figure and table sizes are 8.7 or 18.1 см. Diagrams and graphs are built without color elements using standard means compatible with MS Office Word or preferable Excel. In the latter case XLS files are provided. Raster images are supplied as separate TIFF or maximal quality JPEG files with resolution of 300 dpi or higher. Figures and tables should not copy each other’s content. Table titles and figure captions are given in Russian and English. Wherever possible, tables and figures are provided in both languages. The tables are given then as separate sheets and the figures may use bilingual neutral (numbers, symbols, arrows) indexes (though complex wordy schemes may as be given as separate pieces in two languages). Alternatively, tables should bear column headings in both languages. The manuscripts from authors not familiar with Russian are processed by the Editorial Office.
References
References are given in round parenthesis: “The research has shown that ….. (Whitlock, Johnston, 1990)”; “According to Weiser (1972), ….”. References to conference abstracts and proceedings should be omitted, with the exception of essential pieces presented at remarkable international events.
Examples of original references in English
Beznoussenko GV, Dolgikh VV, Seliverstova EV, Semenov PB et al (2007) Analogs of the Golgi complex in microsporidia: structure and avesicular mechanisms of function. J Cell Sci 120(7):1288–1298. http://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.03402
Agrios GN (2005) Plant pathology. Fifth Edition. San Diego: Elsevier. 952 p.
Palomares LA, Ramirez OT (1998) Insect cell culture: recent advances, bioengineering challenges and implication in protein production. In: Galindo E, Ramirez OT (eds) Advances in bio-process engineering II. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic. 25–52
Townsend R, Marshall S, Leclerque A, Kleespies R et al (2010) Appearance of pathogens within outbreak populations of native insect populations in New Zealand. Abstr. 43th Ann Meeting Soc. Invertebr. Pathol. 58
Hao J (2014) Genomic studies of abiotic stresses in grasses. PhD Thesis. Iowa. 155 p.
Stamets PE (2002) Mycoattractants and mycopesticides. Invention patent US7122176B2
Index Fungorum (2018) http://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/Names (14.05.2020)
Examples of Translated Russian References
Vasyukova NI, Ozeretskovskaya OL, Chalenko GI, Gerasimova NG et al (2010) [Immunizing activity of chitosan derivatives with salicylic acid and its fragments]. Prikl Biokhim Mikrobiol 46(3):379–384 (In Russian)
Babich NV, Yakovlev AA (2018) [Laboratory methods of estimation of biological efficiency of plant protection rodenticides from voles of genus Microtus]. Vestnik zashchity rasteniy 4(98):58–62 (In Russian) http://www.doi.org/10.31993/2308-6459-2018-4(98)-58-62
Chenkin AF, Zakharenko VA (1979) [Handbook of agronomist in plant protection]. Moscow: Rosselkhozizdat. 352 p. (In Russian)
Dedkov VP, Volodina AA, Gubareva IYu (2006) [Review of fungi of the Kaliningrad region]. In: Dedkov VP, Gubareva IYu (eds) [Biodiversity of the Kaliningrad region. Part 1. Fungi, lichens, mosses, horsetails and ferns in Kaliningrad region]. Kaliningrad: Baltiyskiy federalnyy universitet imeni Immanuila Kanta. 6–78 (In Russian)
Dolzhenko VI, ed (2009) [Guides for registration trials of insecticides, acaricides, molluscicides and rodenticides in agriculture]. St. Petersburg: VIZR. 322 p. (In Russian)
Mikhailova LA (1996) [Variability patterns of the brown rust agent and genetic control of wheat resistance to the disease]. Abstr. Dr. Biol. Thesis. St. Petersburg. 63 p. (In Russian)
List of pesticides and agrochemicals approved for usage on the territory of Russian Federation (2018) Appendix to the journal «Zashchita i karantin rasteniy» 5:720–725 (In Russian)
GOST 21507-2013. Plant Protection. Terms and definitions (2014) Moscow: Standartinform (In Russian)
Stepanova ND (2013) [Seed potato protection system against diseases and pests in the North-West region]. Phytosanitary optimization of agroekosystems. Proc. 3rd All-Russ. Congr. Plant Protection. 1:183–185 (In Russian)
Electronic Editing System of the Journal “Plant Protection News”
The Editorial Office of the Journal “Plant Protection News” notifies that since 2020, manuscript submission, reviewing and editing is carried out through the electronic editing system available at the journal's new webs
To handle the system, the corresponding author should create a personal account using the "REGISTER" option. If the personal account has already been created, the "LOGIN" option on the top right panel should be used.The Journal website is presented in English and in Russian, the English version is set by default. To switch the language, use the language selection icons (flags) on the top right panel.
To register, one has to fill in all the required fields, give consent to process and store personal data, and pass the "I’m not a robot" check. The readiness to act as a reviewer and consent to receive news may also be indicated.
In the personal account, the option to view the profile with the possibility of editing is available (the link appears when the cursor is hovered over the account name in the upper right corner), submitted articles are displayed, the "submit article" button is active.
In the profile, one should indicate all the necessary information; for the convenience of working in the bilingual interface, it is desirable to indicate the basic data both in Russian and English.
The minimal data set for the "Contacts" section is filled in automatically when creating an account, and the user may add additional information, change the available roles, set up notifications etc.
When submitting a manuscript, one has to select the Journal’s section according to the article type, confirm that the manuscript is in good agreement with the Submission Preparation Checklist (see below), and upload all required files. The minimal required metadata should also be filled in including the title and annotation of the manuscript in two languages. The author responsible for the correspondence is added by default, other authors may also be indicated at this stage. A more comprehensive filling of the specified metadata (see below) will be required after the manuscript is accepted for publication and approved by the editorial board, since the title, abstract, keywords, etc. may change in the course of editorial processing.
Handling Metadata of Accepted Papers
It is recommended to fill in the specified metadata of the manuscript after receiving a notification that the paper is accepted and approved by the Editorial Board Council, using the latest version of the manuscript after final proofreading.
Similarly to the main document, the manuscript title in the metadata should be given in lower case (Upper case is used to begin sentence, names, in abbrevations etc). The keywords may be pasted from the final version of the manuscript, as the algorithm recognizes comma-separated phrases and converts them to the corresponding keywords. All the authors should be listed in the same order as in the manuscript; while the initials are filled in automatically. The affiliation should be indicated in strict accordance with the printed version of the article. The correct indication of the current e-mail address of the corresponding author is mandatory. For other authors, any type of e-mail can be used, and if there’s no e-mail for an author, the corresponding author’s e-mail may be used (as this field is mandatory).
Handling of Non-Original Data
Correct presentation of non-original material in manuscripts submitted to the journal “Plant Protection News” suggests strict adherence to the following rules:
- The original text of the manuscript should not coincide with previously published texts (regardless of authorship). If it is necessary to borrow from previously published scientific works and other open sources, ideas, information and specific results should be formulated anew (which doesn’t mean simple rewriting where sentence parts are changes, certain terms are replaced with synonyms, etc.) and accompanied with appropriate references.
- Whenever cited, verbatim phrases should be labeled with quotation marks and the reference is to be clearly indicated.
- Verbatim reproduction of larger fragments (paragraphs) of a previously published text, requires its separation from the original manuscript text with clear indication of the quotation boundaries and the corresponding reference. The need for such citation can be a subject of discussion with members of the Editorial Board and Editorial Office.
- Previously published ideas and data, including those belonging to the authors of the manuscript considered, may be used in order to justify goals and objectives, relevance and novelty, comparative analysis and discussion of new research results, etc., but cannot serve as the basis for the results of the original manuscript. Exceptions are allowed in relation to the authored content of successfully defended dissertations as well as materials presented during scientific events.
- Incorrect borrowing, the presence of significant fragments of the manuscript that coincide with previously published texts, duplication of previously published information under the guise of original research, copyright infringement and similar issues serve as a ground to decline the manuscript by the editors.
Copyright policy
In case of the manuscript acceptance, the authors and the publisher sign License agreement to conform with Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. By signing agreement, authors guarantee that the manuscript or its parts were not previously published, plagiarism and other forms of unrighteous usage of data are absent and all the permissions for data and image usage are present. Authors are fully responsible for accuracy of facts, citations, statistical data etc.
The full text is available for download from the Journal website as MS Word compatible file & PDF.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal
Please send all inquiries by e-mail to vestnik@vizr.spb.ru