Author Guidelines

📄 Manuscript Preparation Requirements

• Manuscripts must follow the official JAFTCI article template.
• The article title must contain no more than 12 words.
• The abstract must contain 200–250 words.
• Each manuscript must provide four relevant keywords.
• In-text citations and references must follow APA 7th edition.
• The reference list must contain at least 30 sources.
• At least 80% of references must be scholarly journal articles.
• Tables, figures, and empirical evidence must be presented accurately and accompanied by appropriate source information.

A. Article Title

The article title must be clear, concise, informative, and directly representative of the research content. The maximum length is 12 words. The title should accurately reflect the main scientific problem, research subject, or technological contribution without making unsupported claims.

B. Author Names and Affiliations

The manuscript must include the full names of all contributing authors in the appropriate authorship order. Institutional affiliations must be provided for each author, including the institution, city, and country. Where authors have different affiliations, the corresponding numerical superscripts should clearly identify the relevant institutions.

The corresponding author must be clearly identified and accompanied by a valid email address for communication during manuscript evaluation, revision, and publication.

C. Editorial Metadata

The manuscript template contains fields for the received, revised, and accepted dates, together with the article's Digital Object Identifier (DOI). These publication metadata fields are managed by the JAFTCI editorial office. Authors should not invent editorial processing dates or DOI numbers.

1. Research Background: Identify the specific scientific problem, research context, and relevance of the study to the investigated field.
2. Research Gap and Objective: Explain the principal gap in existing knowledge and clearly state the research objective or central research question.
3. Research Methods: Describe the research approach, study design, research setting, data sources, sampling or selection procedures where applicable, and principal analytical techniques.
4. Research Findings: Present the most important results as concrete scientific findings supported by the completed investigation.
5. Conclusion: State the principal conclusion and explain the scientific, technological, or practical contribution of the research.

Important: The abstract must not contain citations, quotations, unexplained abbreviations, or references to tables and figures. The reported findings must reflect the actual research evidence. Review articles should identify the literature selection approach, principal synthesis, and knowledge gap addressed.

Keywords

Each manuscript must include four keywords representing the main scientific concepts, research variables, methodological orientation, or subject matter. Keywords should accurately reflect the article's content and facilitate scholarly discovery and indexing.

4.1. INTRODUCTION

The introduction must establish the research background, scientific problem, and empirical or technological context. Authors should explain why the problem requires systematic scientific investigation and provide reliable evidence demonstrating its significance.

Relevant contextual information may include geographical characteristics, production conditions, experimental observations, documented trends, scientific measurements, or institutional factors, depending on the nature of the research. Research conducted in maritime, coastal, island, or border communities should explain the relevance of those settings where applicable.

The introduction should critically synthesize relevant previous studies, compare existing findings, explain key theoretical or scientific concepts, and identify an empirical, theoretical, geographical, or methodological research gap.

The final paragraphs must demonstrate the originality and scientific contribution of the proposed study and explicitly state the research question, research objectives, and intended contribution. All literature-based claims must be supported by verifiable sources using APA 7 author–date citations.

4.2. RESEARCH METHODS

The research methods section must clearly describe the methodological approach, research design, study context, units of analysis, and procedures used to obtain and analyze evidence. The chosen methods must be justified in relation to the research objectives.

Authors should identify the research location or experimental setting, study period, population or research materials where relevant, selection criteria, sampling procedures, instruments, and primary or secondary data sources.

Data collection procedures must be explained in sufficient detail, including laboratory experiments, field observations, cultivation trials, questionnaires, interviews, documentary analysis, or other techniques appropriate to the study.

When sampling is involved, authors should justify sample selection, sample-size determination, and any limitations affecting representativeness. Qualitative studies should describe the criteria for selecting participants or informants and the procedures used to ensure the adequacy of collected evidence, where relevant.

The analytical procedure must be described transparently, including statistical methods, experimental validation, reliability procedures, triangulation, ethical safeguards, informed consent, or confidentiality arrangements as applicable. Methodological explanations should enable readers to assess the scientific rigor and reproducibility of the study.

4.3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The results and discussion section must systematically present the principal research findings in an order corresponding to the research objectives, analytical framework, or experimental design.

Results must be supported by appropriate scientific evidence, including verified experimental measurements, field observations, statistical analyses, laboratory findings, relevant documents, tables, figures, or other valid research records.

Authors should interpret the relationships, patterns, and scientific implications of their findings rather than merely describing results. The discussion must connect the evidence to relevant theories, scientific concepts, and previous peer-reviewed research.

Where applicable, authors should compare findings across samples, treatments, research locations, groups, experimental conditions, or observation periods. Alternative explanations, contradictory evidence, methodological limitations, and the boundaries of causal interpretation must be considered.

The JAFTCI template illustrates the organization of major findings through numbered analytical themes. Authors should adapt these subsections according to the actual structure and quantity of their research findings.

The number of analytical themes, tables, and figures should reflect the actual findings. Authors must not fabricate data or create artificial findings merely to reproduce the examples in the manuscript template.

4.4. CONCLUSION

The conclusion must provide a clear and substantive answer to the research objectives based on the findings presented in the manuscript. Authors should summarize the principal results, explain their scientific significance, and identify contributions to knowledge, technological development, or relevant practical applications.

Where appropriate, the conclusion may describe evidence-based recommendations, research limitations, and directions for future investigation. It must not introduce new findings, unsupported interpretations, or additional references that have not been discussed in the main text.

4.5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The acknowledgement section should identify verified research funding, grant numbers, institutional assistance, technical support, and contributions that do not qualify for authorship. Funding statements must accurately reflect the sources of financial support. If no acknowledgement is required, authors may remove this section in accordance with the manuscript template.

Data Presentation Requirements

• Refer to each table and figure appropriately in the manuscript text.
• Present numerical findings accurately and consistently with the research records.
• Report appropriate sample sizes, frequencies, percentages, measurements, and units where applicable.
• Ensure that statistical percentages and totals are mathematically consistent.
• Explain important patterns and relationships in the accompanying discussion.
• Do not merely reproduce the contents of tables and figures as descriptive sentences.

Minimum Reference Requirements

Minimum references: 30 scholarly sources.

Journal article proportion: At least 80% of the reference list must consist of scholarly journal articles.

Reference consistency: Every in-text citation must correspond to an entry in the reference list, and every reference must be accurately identified.

APA 7 Reference Format

Journal article:

Surname, A. A., & Surname, B. B. (Year). Title of cited article. Journal Title, Volume(Issue), page–page. https://doi.org/xxxxx

In-text citation:

(Surname & Surname, Year)

• Clearly distinguish observed findings from theoretical interpretations, assumptions, and conclusions.
• Report data, statistical results, measurements, and research observations accurately.
• Describe the limitations of the research design and avoid unsupported causal interpretations.
• Provide appropriate methodological validation, reliability assessments, or triangulation where relevant.
• Protect participant confidentiality and report informed consent or ethical safeguards where applicable.
• Ensure the accuracy of quotations, source attributions, and research documentation.
• Avoid fabricated findings, unverified numerical claims, unsupported generalizations, and misleading representations of scientific evidence.

Template Formatting

• Manuscript preparation format: Microsoft Word (.docx).
• Page format: A4 (21.0 × 29.7 cm).
• Page margins: 2.54 cm on all four sides, as configured in the supplied template.
• The template uses Lora typeface in its manuscript formatting.
• Preserve the font sizes, paragraph arrangement, section formatting, and page layout prescribed by the official Word template.
• Replace all instructional text and placeholders with the final manuscript content.
• Apply the template's prescribed headings and caption placement.
• Do not replace editorial publication metadata with invented information.

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

Articles published in JAFTCI are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0). This license permits users to share, redistribute, adapt, and build upon published materials, including for commercial purposes, provided that appropriate attribution is given and adaptations are distributed under the same license.

License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

1. The manuscript is prepared using the official JAFTCI article template.
2. The title is clear, informative, and contains no more than 12 words.
3. Author names, institutional affiliations, and corresponding author information are complete.
4. The abstract contains 200–250 words and accurately represents the study.
5. Four relevant keywords are included.
6. The manuscript follows the required section structure.
7. The research objectives, methods, results, and conclusions are logically consistent.
8. Tables and figures are numbered, explained, and accompanied by appropriate source information.
9. All citations and references follow APA 7th edition.
10. The reference list contains at least 30 sources, with a minimum of 80% scholarly journal articles.
11. All empirical findings and numerical statements have been verified against the research records.
12. All template instructions and placeholders have been removed or replaced appropriately.
13. The manuscript has been checked for language accuracy, scientific terminology, formatting consistency, and completeness.