Rural Extension and Innovation Systems Journal
Guidelines for authors
(12 pt Verdana)

NOTE: Authors, save this file to your computer. It is a Word template file formatted in the REIS journal style using Word styles. If you know how to use Word templates and styles you can save it as a template in the appropriate directory. The main styles are in the Quick Style Gallery. Please delete this paragraph from the final paper.

Author(s) name here in 10 pt font

Organisation and postal address or all authors in 8 pt font

Email: email address of contact author only in 8 pt font

Abstract. (Verdana 8 pt font) This paper contains the instructions for authors intending to submit an article to the Rural Extension and Innovation Systems Journal, a publication of the Australasia-Pacific Extension Network (APEN). It is written using the format and style of the Journal. It highlights the character of the papers to be submitted and their disciplinary scope. It also encompasses house style, formatting, structure of contents and copyright matters. Finally, it explains the process for submission of papers. Abstracts are not essential for Practice papers and should not exceed 150 words.

Keywords: (8 points font size, max. 6 words) authors instructions, formatting, structure.

Introduction (Level 1 heading, bold)

The REIS Journal is published in printed and electronic forms. It offers a free-of-charge publication venue for APEN Network members and others. Its purpose is to support innovation and practice change in primary industries and natural resource management by publishing high-quality articles on extension research and practice relevant to Australia, New Zealand and the broader Australasia-Pacific Region. It focuses on innovation systems and extension aspects of agribusiness and natural resource systems.

Use Body Text style for paragraphs.

Types of papers published

The journal reflects the multidisciplinary character of APEN, encompassing work relevant to academic researchers and extension practitioners in agriculture, agribusiness and natural resource management. The Editor will decide whether the paper is to be accepted, rejected or sent back to the author for improvements before sending to reviewers or publication.

Research papers (Level 2 heading, italics and bold)

Research papers contain research into agricultural and natural resource change management, extension, development and innovation systems issues that follow rigorous and recognised disciplinary research methodologies. Papers will be reviewed by the Editor and double-blind reviewed by two Editorial Board members or selected reviewers. Papers for this section target professional extension practitioners, researchers and educators. They should not exceed 7500 words.

Literature reviews

Literature reviews should be academic reviews in the fields of agricultural and natural resource change management, extension, development and innovation systems issues. The paper should follow a well-defined structure and will be reviewed by the Editor and double blind-reviewed by two Editorial Board members or selected reviewers. Maximum length is 5000 words.

Practice papers

Practice paper provide a forum for practitioners and academics to share their experiences and practical innovations with others in the fields of agricultural extension, farm management and natural resource management. They are informal, accessible articles that document successes, failures and lessons from extension professionals’ experiences. Papers will be reviewed by the Editor and an extension professional. Maximum length is 4000 words.

APEN conference Keynote papers

Presenters of Keynote conference papers at APEN conferences will be given an opportunity to publish a paper based on their conference presentation. The focus is also on informal, accessible articles rather than academic articles. The paper will be reviewed by the Editors. Papers should not exceed 5000 words.

Opinion or commentary articles

Those wishing to write opinion or commentary articles are encouraged to submit them to ExtensionNet, which is a regular newsletter style publication of APEN. The Editor of ExtensionNet may also approach authors to write a concise, informative article on the key findings of their paper for extension practitioners for publication in ExtensionNet.

Manuscript preparation

Authors should submit their manuscripts electronically as Word files, using the journal style and format described below. For advice on matters of formatting style, the editorial team recommends authors refer to the Style manual for authors, editors and printers 2002, 6th edn, rev. Snooks and Co., John Wiley and Sons, Australia Ltd.

House style

Spelling (Level 3, italics and underlined) The journal uses Australian or New Zealand spelling. The Macquarie dictionary (latest edition) is the Journal’s authority for Australian spelling, but Word also has an option for Australian or New Zealand English.

Punctuation The style to follow with punctuation follows that laid out by Snooks & Co. (2002). Note particularly their guidelines on use of apostrophes and hyphens.

Font Verdana font is used throughout the Journal.

Footnotes Footnotes are not recommended since the headers and footers of the Journal are used for specific editorial purposes.

Page dimensions

The manuscript should be formatted on A4 paper, with left, right, top and bottom margins set on 2.5 cm and a gutter of 0.5 cm. Headers and footers are set 1.5 cm from edges of page. Set the Multiple pages option to ‘Mirror margins’.

Title, authorship, contents list and abstract

Title Title is set in 12 pt Verdana typeface, bold, centred, with 6 pt spacing below; select Title in Quick styles. It is typed in lower case except for the first letter of the first word and of any other words that usually require a capital letter. As a rule of thumb, remember that you ‘capture’ the reader with your title. Make sure it is concise, plain, attractive and conveys your message.

Authorship Authors’ names are set in 10 pt Verdana, centred, with 6 pt spacing below; select Author in Quick styles. Connect the last author with ‘and’ rather than ‘&’. Authors’ initials or first names should precede their family names. Full stops are not used after the authors’ initials. Commas separate names of the authors. Use superscript numerals to refer to the authors’ institutions, when there is more than one author, and more than one institution.

Authors’ contact details Use 8 pt Verdana, centred, with 6 pt spacing below; select Authors contacts in Quick styles. Give the name of the institution, full postal address and the contact author’s email address.

Abstract Set the abstract in 8 pt Verdana, with 6 pt spacing below; select Abstract in Quick styles. It is indented by 1 cm on both left and right sides, and text is justified. The abstract should not exceed 150 words. Give the background, justification, methods, outline of results and limitations.

Main text

Format The main text is set in a single-column format using the ‘Body Text' style. Text is set in 9 pt Verdana. Justify the main text and allow 5 pt line spacing after all paragraphs, headings and captions. Headings are aligned left.

Structure Standard components of all papers normally follow an introduction, main body, conclusions and a reference list. However, you are encouraged to use an original structural organisation if you think it is more appropriate for your paper.

Length Maximum length for papers are given above in words, but also will be assessed for length when formatted according to these guidelines.

Heading styles Headings are set in Verdana. They are typed in lower case letters except for the first letter of the first word and any other words that usually require an initial capital letter.

First-level heading is 9 pt Verdana, bold, aligned left, with 5 pt spacing below.

Second-level heading is 9 pt Verdana, bold, italic, aligned left, with 5 pt spacing below.

Third-level heading is 9 pt Verdana, italic, underlined, aligned left, with the main text following the heading.

Bullet points and lists The procedure recommended in Snooks & Co. (2002) is to distinguish between full sentences and sentence fragments. In the case of full sentences, use the following format:

A colon is used to lead in to the list.

Capitals are used at the beginning because they are complete sentences.

Punctuation is the same as would be used in a normal sentence and there is a full stop at the end.

In the case of sentence fragments, the format is as follows:

bullet items part of sentence

no punctuation at end of points except last

use spacing instead

no colon for second-level indentation

no capitals for items

no need for and after second-last point.

A hierarchical list or a sequential list may use leading numbers (e.g. 1. or letters (a)). Use the same principle for punctuations as indicated above for sentences and sentence fragments. The Quick Style Gallery contains the ‘List bullet’ and ‘List Number’ styles in their appropriate formats.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations include the first letter of the word and usually some other letters but do not include the last letter. In this case, capitals are the same as the unabbreviated word and a full stop is used after the abbreviation as shown in the examples below:

para. fig. Mon. p. Jan. Mar. (May, June, July are not abbreviated)

Once an abbreviation has been defined, for example tricarboxylic acid (TCA), then only the abbreviated form is used.

Contractions include the first and last letters and usually some in between. Capitals are the same as the uncontracted word and there is no full stop as shown below:

Mr Mrs Ms Dr Dept Pty Ltd figs vols nos Qld.

Latin shortened forms Many Latin shortened forms are commonly used and are not italicised if they are in the Macquarie Dictionary. Note that all of these shortened forms contain at least one full stop:

e.g. (for example)

et al. (and others)

etc. (and so on)

i.e. (that is)

viz. (namely).

Plurals When plurals are made of shortened forms by adding an ‘s’, no apostrophe or full stop is used, e.g. LCDCs paras 1990s nos figs. In a few cases, the plural is formed by repeating a letter with a full stop at the end, for example pp. for pages.

Numbers, measurements and equations

Using words or numerals When opening a sentence, a number is always expressed in words:

Fifty per cent of respondents were greater than 50 years old.

Within the text, numbers less than 10 are expressed in words not text, and numerals are used for numbers over nine (10, 11, 12). Where a symbol accompanies a number, numerals are always used, e.g. 9 ml was recommended. Note that a space is always left between the numeral and the symbol, except where it is a currency symbol, a percentage sign or where a plus or minus sign is used to indicate a positive or negative number.

SI Units (International System of Units):

length	m (metre), mm (millimetre), [cm is generally not used]

mass	t (tonne), kg (kilogram), g (gram)

volume	L (litre), mL (millilitre)

time	d (day), h (hour), min (minute), s (second)

area	m2 (square metre), ha (hectare)

speed, velocity	m/s or m s-1 (metres per second)

bulk density	g/cm3.

Using per Per is only used with the spelt-out names of units while the forward slash is used with symbols, e.g. 75 kilometres per hour, or 75 km/h, or 75 km h-1.

Statistics Use italics for statistical symbols:

… result was statistically significant (p = 0.013); or … significance level (p < 0.05).

N = 250 for the number in total sample and n = for a portion of the sample.

Equations Snooks and Co. (2002) does not give information on formatting equations so we suggest the following. Word provides an equation editor that produces good quality mathematical symbols for equations. It can be accessed under the Insert menu, select ‘Object’ and then select ‘Microsoft Equation’. Equations should be indented, left aligned and numbered as shown below.

(1)

However, when using a sequence of equations then they should be aligned on the equal sign as shown below:

(2)

Tables and graphics

Place all the tables and graphics where you intend them to go. The editors may reposition tables and graphics at an appropriate location in the final version. Please construct figures or diagrams in another program (e.g. PowerPoint) and import as a picture as this makes it easier to reposition them. If you use coloured lines or boxes in graphs ensure the format is different so that they can be distinguished when printed in black and white. It would also be helpful to send the file with these figures in case minor reformats or corrections are required.

Captions Captions are set in 9 pt Verdana, with 5 pt spacing below, and centred above the table or graphic. Capital letters are used only for the first word and any words that usually require an initial capital letter. Each caption should have a consecutive number, followed by a full stop, and a summary description of the contents as per the examples inserted within this set of instructions.

Sources and explanatory information If the data or graphic is not original work from the author(s) the citation of the source is centred below the table or figure (8 pt Verdana, with 5 pt spacing before and after). See example Table 1. Place explanatory information here also. Full reference details should be given in the reference list.

Table 1, Figure 1 and Plate 1 are examples of preferred formatting for tables, figures and plates. They are centred on the page and below the caption. Figures shouldn’t have a border around them. The template has an ‘REIS table’ style, which you can use to speed up the formatting process. The principle is ‘Keep it simple’.

Table 1. The components (% dry matter) of the urea, lupin and canola meal diets, as percentage by weight of diet

Diet components	Urea	Lupins	Canola meal
Oaten grain	63	40	38
Lupin grain	-	19	8
Barley grain	30	11	15
Cereal chaff	-	25	23
Canola meal	-	-	12
Urea	1.5	-	-

Source: Wiese et al. 2003 (8 points font size).

Figure 1. Scattergram between fibre curvature and MFD (microns) for cashmere

Source: McGregor 2003.

Plate 1. Eight-day green fodder for a combination of selected cereals

Source: AAC 2003, personal file.

Referencing system

The Journal uses the Harvard referencing system, generally following the styles recommended in the Style manual for authors, editors and printers (2002). We provide guidelines to most common references below. An Endnote template for the Harvard style is available from the REIS web site.

In-text citations

Examples:

single-author: (Holt 1997) or Holt (1997) or Holt (n.d) if no date given

two: McCarthy & Pascale (1997)

more than two authors: (Bond et al. 1996) or Bond et al. (1996)

multiple citations: (Bond et al. 1996; Holt 1997; McCarthy & Pascale 1997). Note ordered chronologically and then alphabetically

multiple publications in the same year by same authors: (Bond 1991a; Bond 1991b). In the reference list, order alphabetically by title.

When authors have the same surname, include the authors initials: (H Holt 1967; D Holt 1967).

secondary citation: (O’Reilly 1995, cited in Byrne 2008). In the reference list, provide the reference you read, (Byrne).

personal communications: AE Jones (2011, pers. comm., 2 May) or (AE Jones 2011, pers. comm., 2 May).

Reference list

Reference list entries are set in 8 pt Verdana, with 5 pt spacing below, although none between references and a 0.5 cm hanging indent. They are ordered alphabetically and then chronologically. Do not use commas after the surnames of the authors.

Book titles require a capital letter only for the first word and for any other words that usually require a capital letter. The titles of chapters from books and papers from journals also take a capital letter only for the first word of the title. However, the titles of the journals take initial capital letters for all main words. The date for electronic references is the date accessed.

The main examples of format are given below.

Journal style

Liveris A 2011, ‘Ethics as a strategy’, Leadership Excellence, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 63-75. Available from: Proquest, [23 June 2011].

McGregor BA 2003, ‘Influence of nutrition, fibre diameter and fibre length on the fibre curvature of cashmere’, Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, vol. 43, pp. 1199–1209.

Wiese SC, White CL, Masters DG, Milton JTB & Davidson, RH 2003, ‘Growth and carcass characteristics of prime lamb fed diets containing urea, lupins or canola meal as a crude protein source’, Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, vol. 43, pp. 1193–1197.

If a journal article has a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) listed, include the DOI instead of the database or journal web site.

Murray-Prior R, Natsir A, Asja MA, Nasrullah, Murray PJ, Yusmasari & Nurhayu A 2013, 'Preliminary investigations indicate that the lack of growth in Indonesian goat consumption is linked to negative perceptions of goat meat', Animal Production Science, vol. 53, http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/AN12093.

Book style

Kahneman D 2011, Thinking fast and slow, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, Available from: <https://ebooksmobi.com/thinking-fast-slow-daniel-kahneman/> [24 January 2017].

Scott J 2017, Social network analysis, 4th edn, Sage Publications, London, UK.

Snooks & Co. (rev.) 2002, Style manual for authors, editors and printers, 6th edn, John Wiley, Milton, Qld.

Strahan, R (ed.) 1995, The mammals of Australia: the natural photography index of Australian wildlife, rev. edn, Australian Museum & Reed Books, Chatswood, NSW.

Chapter style

Christensen P 1995, ‘Brush-tailed bettong’, in The mammals of Australia: the natural photography index of Australian wildlife, rev. edn, ed. R Strahan, Australian Museum & Reed Books, Chatswood, NSW, pp. 292–293.

Print published conference proceedings

Kohn CW & Hinchcliff KW 1994, ‘Maximising performance of event horses in hot humid weather: a field trial’, in Proceedings of the fortieth annual convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, Dec. 4-7 1994, ed. R Bakhaus, American Association of Equine Practitioners, Vancouver, BC, Canada, pp. 77-78.

Electronic published conference proceedings

Murray-Prior R 2014, 'A participatory market-driven approach to development and extension', in Innovations in extension & advisory services: linking knowledge to policy & action for food & livelihoods: proceedings, 15-18 November 2011, CTA Wageningen, Nairobi, Kenya, pp. 1/11-11/11, Available from: <http://knowledge.cta.int/> [14 February 2014].

Unpublished presentation at conference

Cumming RJ & Parton KA 1990, 'An investigation of the relationship between business and financial risk using Target-Motad: a case study in the Victorian Mallee', Paper presented at the Australian Agricultural Economics Society Conference, University of Queensland, Brisbane, 13-15 February.

Electronic references

Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources 2006, Being prepared for an influenza pandemic: a kit for small businesses, Available from: <http://www.innnovation.gov.au> [28 February 2009].

Hazell P, Poulton C, Wiggins S & Dorward A 2006, 'The future of small farms: synthesis paper', Available from: <www.rimisp.org> [15 June 2012].

Kuehne G, Llewellyn R, Pannell D, Ouzman J, Wilkinson R, Brown P & Dolling P 2013, ADOPT: the adoption and diffusion outcome prediction tool – smallholder beta version, (Beta Version, June 2013), CSIRO, Adelaide, SA, Available from: <www.csiro.au/ADOPT> [21 October 2014].

Series

BenYishay, A & Mobarak, AM 2014, Social learning and communication, NBER Working Paper Series, Working Paper 20139, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, USA, Available from: <http://www.nber.org> [5th July 2018].

Report

Productivity Commission 2009, Government drought support, Productivity Commission, Melbourne.

Unpublished thesis

Gladwin CH 1977, A model of farmers' decisions to adopt the recommendations of Plan Puebla, PhD thesis, Stanford University, California.

Unpublished work

LEAP 2006, 'The role of government and other stakeholders in the development of agribusiness: some lessons from the literature', Unpublished manuscript, Laos Extension for Agriculture Project (LEAP) for the Sub-Working Group on Farmers and Agribusiness, Vientiane, Lao PDR.

Newspaper or magazine article

Manuk V 2007, 'PNG looks to co-ops', The National, 23rd October, Available from: <http://www.thenational.com.pg/> [20 February 2008].

Quotations and respondent comments

Put quotes of less than two lines in the body of the text but in single quotes not double quotes, e.g. ‘it was obvious from the first trials…’ (Lee 2003, p. 23) followed by ‘the second trials indicated that …’ (p. 29). If it is a quote from a respondent: ‘Maybe because everybody is trying to grow their business all the time and so they’re cutting prices to win business’ (Consultant). For quotations within quotations use double quotes.

Quotations longer than two lines should be put in the ‘Quotation style’, which is 8 pt font and indented 0.5 cm from the left and right margins. It is not in italics and does not require quotation marks. For example, Goodman (2011, p. 13) says:

Interaction is key, and one of the more distinctive characteristic of the focus group is the ability of group members to share their thoughts and ideas in a group setting [leading to a more] nuanced perspective on a topic than could have been discovered through individual interviews.

Some electronic sources don't include page numbers so unless they include paragraph numbers, cite the heading, e.g. Brown (2016, Conclusion).

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements are to be placed at the end of your main text, before the reference list. Use the Level 2 style for the heading.

Submission of the paper

Attach your paper for publication in the REIS Journal to an electronic message addressed to: reiseditor@apen.org.au. The Journal editor will acknowledge receipt of the document within one week. If you do not receive a reply within one week, please send your paper again.

Authorship, copyright and submission declaration

When submitting a manuscript corresponding author will be asked to submit an Authorship, copyright and submission declaration, which is available from the journal web site. It affirms that:

The authors are those who have been involved in preparation of a manuscript, agree with the order of authors on the manuscript and it does not exclude persons who have had a major role in the design, conduct or write-up of the material contained in the paper. Individuals who have had a significant but not major role in the writing of the paper, the project or the research are acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section.

The manuscript contains original work of the author(s) listed.

The work has not been published previously in a peer review journal (except as part of an academic thesis, report to funding body or working paper).

It is not under consideration for publication elsewhere or won't be while it is being considered by REIS and if it is accepted for publication by REIS.

Has the research received ethics approval or followed ethical processes as required by their employer, institution, funder or country laws, with details of the ethics approval provided if required.

If no ethics approval process is required our minimum ethical standard is that a person's participation should have been voluntary and based on sufficient information and adequate understanding of both the proposed research and the implications of participation in it. They have been provided an opportunity to consent and to withdraw at any time. All data should be kept private and confidential.

Identify who provided financial support for the research and briefly describe their role, if any, in the conduct of the research. If no role, state this. They can be acknowledged in the Acknowledgments section.

Disclose any conflicts of interest.

All clearances have been obtained from relevant authorities, including funder, for publication.

Permission has been obtained for reproduction from a copyrighted source and is acknowledged in the appropriate place in the manuscript.

Declaration of interest

A declaration of interest is a disclosure of a conflict of interest by an author or authors of a manuscript submitted for publication with the journal. A definition of conflict of interest can be found in the Guidelines on Good Publication Practice by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). A conflict of interest is some financial or personal relationship that may be perceived to have influenced or biased the work. Disclose any interests in the authorship, copyright and submission declaration form. Manuscripts will not necessarily be rejected when conflicts of interests are declared, but the statement will be published if the article is accepted. It there are none then state following Declarations of interest: None.

Copyright

All articles published by REIS can be copied, distributed, transmitted and adapted provided the original work and source is cited appropriately.

Ethics

All research articles that involve collecting data from or about people should have ethics approval if required by their employer, institution, funder or country laws. Research should be conducted according to the principles outlined in the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2007 (Updated May 2015) (www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines/publications/e72) or equivalent for the country where the research was conducted.

Refereeing process

When a paper is submitted, the Editor will organise the refereeing process. In the event of strong disagreement between two referees a third referee may be appointed.

Version

December 2018