Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology (JCSB) is an open access international journal devoted to research, production, and management of field crops and resource plants. Papers on a wide range of sciences will be accepted as long as they are related to agricultural crops.

JCSB is owned and published by the Korean Society of Crop Science in collaboration with the Korean Society of Breeding Science. Four issues of a yearly volume will be published at the end of March, June, September, and December in a printed and an electronic version.

JCSB publishes original research papers that are judged after peer editorial review. The JOURNAL also publishes a couple of reviews that are invited by editorial boards to show broad and in-depth interest in crop science. We recommend that paper is less than 12 printed pages even though there is no page limitation.

JCSB propose “Open Access” to the full text of research articles for the best interests of the scientific community. Basically, there is no charge for publication. However, we may ask some additional charge for English polishing based on communication between authors and editorial board.

As a condition of publication, all authors must transfer copyright to the Korean Society of Crop Science. Manuscripts prepared by multiple authors should be submitted based on approvals by all


A. How to Submit

Authors are strongly encouraged to submit manuscripts electronically using the Online electronic Manuscript Tracking System (MTS) at http://www.cropbio.org.

1. Initial Submission as PDF
Step 1. Prepare the text in Microsoft Word 6.0 or a later version.

Step 2. Prepare graphics at publication quality resolution, using applications capable of generating high resolution TIFF or EPS files. Number each figure. You will be required to submit your manuscript graphics in one of these formats if it is accepted.

Step 3. Using Adobe Acrobat, save your manuscript text and graphics in a single file in PDF format. The PDF file should be printed and carefully reviewed before final submission. It is this version that is circulated on the Web for review.

Step 4. Submit the necessary information using the submission template at the web site http://www.cropbio.org. You will need:

Contact information for the submitting author Information about the authors and the manuscript A covering letter The text and graphics PDF file of your manuscript

2. Initial Electronic Submission not in PDF Format
If you cannot submit your manuscript as a PDF file, you may submit separate text and graphics files online. We will only accept the text of your manuscript as a Microsoft Word file created with MS Word 6.0 or a later version. Other word processing programs will not permit review. Do not embed figures in the text, and ensure that the number of each figure is visible in the figure.
We will accept only graphics saved as TIFF or JPG files. For graphics, we cannot accept certain application programs such as Microsoft Office (PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Access), Corel Perfect Office (WordPerfect, Quattro Pro, Presentations), Lotus SmartSuite (Freelance Graphics, 1-2-3, Approach, WordPro) and SigmaPlot.

3. Revisions
Step 1. Revise text in Microsoft Word 6.0 or a later version.

Step 2. Revise graphics at publication quality resolution, using applications capable of generating high resolution TIFF or EPS files. The number of each figure should be visible in the figure. It is necessary to have your manuscript graphics in one of these formats if it is accepted. You are encouraged to submit source files for revised manuscripts.

Step 3. Check sizes of individual text and graphic files. Each file should be about 10 MB or less.

Step 4. Go to http://www.cropbio.org and commence submission of your revised manuscript. You will need:

Manuscript number A covering letter with information for the Editor and responses to concerns raised Individual text and graphics files for your manuscript

If the manuscript is accepted for publication, the individual text and graphics files will be automatically transmitted to the publisher. The PDF file with the text and graphics is not suitable for publication.


B. Organization of the Manuscript

1. General organization:
The most desirable plan for the organization of a paper is as follows: (a) Abstract, in less than 250 words, (b) Introduction, in less than two typed pages, (c) Materials and Methods, (d) Results, (e) Discussion, (f) Acknowledgments, (g) References, (h) Tables, (I) Figure legends. In some cases the presentation might be more effective if you combined some sections, e.g. Results and Discussion. This is particularly true in short papers. The Journal imposes no lower limit on the size of regular papers.

2. The title should be short and clear, and usually cover less than two printed lines. It should not include chemical formulas or arbitrary abbreviations, but chemical symbols may be used to indicate the structures of isotopically labeled compounds. Bear in mind the increasing use of titles in the construction of certain types of indexes, e.g. Chemical Titles, Biological Abstracts.
Each manuscript should present the results of an independent, coherent study. Thus, numbered series are not allowed except when a group of papers, starting with I, are to be published together.
On the title page, include the title, running title (not to exceed 60 characters and spaces), full name of each author, address(es) of the institution(s) at which the work was performed, and each author’s affiliation, with a footnote indicating the present address of any author no longer at the institution where the work was performed. Where there is more than one affiliation, match authors and their appropriate affiliations with superscript symbols (avoid asterisks). Use a superscript asterisk to mark the author to whom correspondence should be directed, and include a footnote with the words “To whom correspondence should be addressed”. To clarify identities, spell out all names in full. For example, use Kil Dong Hong instead of K. D. Hong in the listing of authors on each submitted manuscript.
A list of keywords may also be included on the title page. These will be considered during compilation of the subject index.

3. Every paper must begin with a brief Abstract (no longer than 250 words) presenting succinctly and clearly the plan, procedures, and significant results of the investigation. Avoid specialized terms, abbreviations, diagrams, and references. When it is essential to include a reference, put the literature citation within square brackets, e.g. [Lee and Kang (1990)].

4. The Introduction states the purpose of the investigation and its relation to other works in the same field, but should not present an extensive review of the literature.

5. The descriptions in Materials and Methods should be brief, but sufficiently detailed to permit repetition of the work by a qualified operator. When centrifugation conditions are critical, give details to enable another investigator to repeat the procedure: make of centrifuge, model of rotor, temperature, time at maximum speed, and centrifugal force (´ g rather than revolutions per minutes.)
Refer to published procedures by citing both the original description and pertinent published modifications. Do not include extensive details unless they constitute a significant new modification. A simple reference is sufficient for commonly used materials and methods (e.g. media and protein determination). If several alternative methodologies are commonly employed, it is useful to identify the method briefly, as well as to cite the reference. For example, “cells were broken by ultrasonic treatment as previously described (Kim 1983)”, rather than “cells were broken as previously described (Kim 1983)”.
Describe new methods completely and give sources of unusual chemicals, equipment, or microbial strains. When large numbers of microbial strains or mutants are used in a study, include strain tables identifying the sources and properties of the strains, mutants, bacteriophages, plasmids, etc. A method, strain, etc. used in only one of several experiments reported in the paper may be described in the Results section, or very briefly (in one or two sentences) in a table footnote or figure legend.

6. The Results section should describe the results of the experiments. Reserve extensive interpretation for the Discussion section. Present the results as concisely as possible in one of the following: text, table(s), or figure(s). Avoid presenting essentially similar data in both table and figure form. Also avoid extensive use of graphs to present data that might be more concisely presented in the text or tables. For example, except in unusual cases, double-reciprocal plots used to determine apparent Km values should not be presented as graphs; instead, the values should be stated in the text. Limit photographs (particularly photomicrographs, electron micrographs, and photographs of gel patterns) to those that are absolutely necessary for presenting the experimental findings. Number figures and tables according to the order of citation in the text.

7. The Discussion should be concise and provide an interpretation of the results in relation to previously published work and to the experimental system at hand. It should not contain extensive repetition of the Results section or reiteration of the Introduction. The Discussion can be combined with Results as Results and Discussion.

8. Acknowledge personal assistance and financial assistance in the same paragraphs. The usual format for grant support is as follows: “This work was supported by Basic Research grant 000-0000-000-00 from Korea Science and Engineering Foundation.”

9. Citations of relevant published work in the text, from Introduction to Discussion, including tables and figures, should read Kim and Kang (1987) or (Kim and Kang 1987). When a paper cited has three or more authors, use the style Chung et al. (1989) or (Chung et al. 1989). Use (Park 1983a) and (Park 1983b) when citing more than one paper by the same author(s) published in the same year. For example, “This is observed both in vivo and in vitro (Choi et al. 1980; Lee 1989a, 1989b; Smith and Jones 1984).”

10. The References section must be in alphabetical order by first author. Use the following style:

Journal articles
Author AB, Author CD. 2000. Title of article. J Crop Sci. and Biotech. 38: 15-22
Author AB, Author CD, Author EF, Author GH, Author IJ, Author KL. 2000. Title of article. J Crop Sci. and Biotech. 38: 15-22
Author AB, Author CD, Author EF, Author GH, Author IJ et al. 2000. Title of article. J Crop Sci. and Biotech. 38: 15-22 (In case or more than 11 authors)

Book articles
Author AB, Author CD, Author EF. 1990. Title of article, In A Smith, B Jones, eds, Title of Book, Ed 2, Vol 3. Publisher, City, pp 14-19

Theses
Author AB. 2000. Title of thesis. Ph. D. thesis. University, City

No authors or eds
Title of Booklet, Pamphlet, etc. 2000. Publisher (or Company), City

If authors are 11 or more, list the first 5 names followed by “et al.”. Cite as references papers already accepted for publication; the abbreviated name of the journal should be preceded by the estimated date (year) of publication and followed by the words “in press”. Submit copies of such papers to the Editors if they have any bearing on the manuscript under consideration.
Abbreviate journal names as in Chemical Abstracts or Biological Abstracts List of Serials (Biosis). Include first and last page numbers. Note usage and positions of commas, periods, spaces, and italic and bold fonts.
Responsibility for the accuracy of bibliographic references rests entirely with the author(s).

11. Do not list the following in the References section: unpublished data, personal communications, manuscripts in preparation, manuscripts submitted, pamphlets, abstracts, and materials that have not been subjected to peer review. Refer to such sources parenthetically in the text. Do not cite abstracts of papers presented at scientific meetings as references unless they appear in publications included in the Biological Abstracts List of Serials.
If a submitted paper is one of a series, include in the References the paper immediately preceding it in the series, and identify it as such as in the text.

12. Keep the number of footnotes to a minimum. Use superscript Arabic numerals to identify the footnotes.

13. Figure legends should provide enough information for the figure to be understandable without frequent reference to the text. However, describe detailed experimental methods in the Materials and Methods sections, not in the figure legend. A method that is unique to one of several experiments may be reported in a legend if it can be described very briefly (in one or two sentences). Define all symbols and abbreviations used in the figure that have not been defined elsewhere.


C. Form and Style of Manuscript

1. Preparation of Manuscript Type manuscripts with double spacing throughout, including references, tables, footnotes, and figure legends, on one side of A4 size paper with a margin of 2.5 cm all round. Arrange the parts of the manuscript in the order indicated below and number all sheets in succession, the title page being page 1. Indicate by marginal notes the appropriate location of the tables and figures in the text. Start each of the following on a separate sheet: (a) title page as described above, (b) abstract, (c) text from introduction to acknowledgments, (d) references, (e) footnotes, (f) legends for figures (more than one legend may be on the same page), (g) tables, and (h) figures. Be sure to include at least two original matt prints of all halftone figures.
It is important that manuscripts be written in clear, grammatically correct English. Manuscripts that do not meet minimum standards of English grammar and syntax will be rejected. Authors should avoid excessively long sentences and are also encouraged to have shorter paragraphs, for easy reading.

2. Notes Added in Proof Where the desirability or necessity of a “Note Added in Proof” can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Editors, the manuscript of the note may be attached to the proof. This addition must then receive the approval of the Editors, and may delay publication. Data obtained after acceptance of the manuscript cannot be inserted in the text, nor should there be any substantial change in the conclusions based on new data of the authors or others.

3. Corrections will be published as required. They provide a means of correcting errors (e.g. typographical) in published articles. Changes in data and the addition of new material are not permitted. Send errata directly to the Executive Editor.


D. Preparation of Tables

1. Tabulate only essential data or data needed to illustrate or prove a point. Every table should have an explanatory title and sufficient experimental detail, usually in a paragraph immediately following the title, to be intelligible without reference to the text.

2. Each column should carry an appropriate heading. When headings must be abbreviated, follow the recommendations in the Abbreviations and Symbols section below. The units in which the data are expressed should be given at the top of each column and not repeated on each line. Words or numerals should be repeated on successive lines; do not use ditto marks.

3. Always indicate units of measure clearly. If an experimental condition, such as the number of animals, dosage, concentration of a compound, etc is the same for all of the tabulated experiments, provide this information in a statement accompanying the table, and not in a column of identical figures in the table.

4. Avoid the presentation of large masses of essentially similar data. Whenever space can be saved thereby, replace extended tabulations by reporting mean values with some accepted measure of dispersion (standard deviation, range) and an indication of the numbers of individual observations contributing to these statistics. Statements about the significance of measures, e.g. differences between means or other statistics, should be accompanied by probability values derived from appropriate statistical tests. Define all statistical measures clearly and unambiguously.

5. Do not include more significant figures in the data than are justified by the accuracy of the determinations.

6. Limit the number of horizontal rules and do not use vertical rules. Footnotes in the tables should be identified with superscript lower case italic letters: a, b, etc. and placed at the bottom of the table.

7. In exceptional cases, very complex or large tables may be submitted in “camera-ready” form. Type such tables in single spacing with a black ribbon.


E. Preparation of Illustrations

1. General Information A complete set of figures, as prints (or on sheets) approximately the same size as the manuscript pages, should accompany each copy of the manuscript for the convenience of the reviewers. Original drawings or clear prints may be submitted. Only one set, of top quality, is needed for the printer; the others may be prints or photocopies, except in the case of electron micrographs or halftone figures where good quality prints should be supplied with each copy of the manuscript.
The Journal will charge authors for the publication of colour plates and other special illustrations, such as electron micrographs, which call for special high quality reproduction using coated (more expensive) paperstock.
Amino acid or nucleotide sequences, or flow diagrams, should always be prepared for direct photographic reproduction.
It is essential that the photographs submitted be of the highest quality to permit the best reproduction.
Provide a title and explanatory legend for each figure, but do not letter the title or legend on the figure itself.
Identify all figures with figure number, and indicate the TOP side.
Do not mount on heavy cardboard. Do not submit fragile or oversized original drawings. These may be sent at the time of acceptance, if they are absolutely essential.

2. Special Instructions All figures will be reproduced in a single column width (8.4 cm) or smaller, unless there is a compelling reason to have them larger. All letters, numbers, and symbols must be drawn to be at least 1.5 mm and not more than 3.0 mm high after reduction. Simple figures (e.g. with a single curve) can usually be reduced to a smaller size than more complex figures or those that are intended to convey numerical information. Therefore, the lettering on a simple figure should be proportionately larger. Rather than labeling every index line, space the numbers to avoid crowding.
All lines and lettering should be evenly and heavily drawn in black ink. Use only standard symbols, such as circles, crosses, rectangles, and triangles (filled or open). The symbols and curves can be identified in the legend or in the figure itself, whichever is clearer.


F. Abbreviations and Symbols

All abbreviations used in the text should be defined in a single footnote. Abbreviations used only in a table or figure may be defined in the table footnote or figure legend.
A limited use of abbreviations and symbols of specified meaning is therefore accepted. However, clarity and unambiguity are more important than brevity.
For some of the most important biochemical reagents, coenzymes, etc., short abbreviations are universally employed, e.g. ATP, NAD+, RNA. Creation of new abbreviations of this kind is strongly discouraged.


G. Units

All measurements should be in the metric system and SI units are preferred. Do not use a slash for combination of units, such as m/s, g/m2/s, etc. They should be described as m s-1, g m-2 s-1, etc. and one space should be inserted before unit and between units for multi-unit values. To avoid possible confusion between gravimetric and volumetric concentrations of substances, describe them as g g-1, g L-1 and mL L-1 rather than “%”.