This journal is published in cooperation with the Society for Biology and Biotechnology. The journal welcomes full-length papers, short communications, and rapid communications presenting original research data or methodology from scientists throughout the world. The editors also welcome research papers relating new scientific technology or concepts, equipments and hypothesis in the above fields. In addition, the journal publishes reviews and mini reviews, book reviews. Enquires as to the suitability of any paper are welcomed.

The editors must be informed if any of the material submitted has been published elsewhere. If a paper is accepted, it must not be published elsewhere in the same form. Papers published or under consideration elsewhere will not be accepted; but publication elsewhere of an abstract or extended summary does not preclude publication in full in this journal. In this context, restricted circulation of annual reports or thesis/dissertation does not constitute publication. There are no page charges. The manuscripts will be accepted for publication from the members as well as non-members of the Association. However, non-members will have to bear page charges per page. The editors will consider papers for publication based on novelty, then immediate or future impact on biological research and their contributions to the advancement of biological sciences. Submission of papers dealing with routine work and descriptions; applications of established methodologies are discouraged.

Submission of Manuscripts

All manuscripts for submission and correspondence concerning manuscripts under review should be sent to the Executive Editor or one of the Editors. Three copies (original and two copies) of the manuscript (including all figures and tables) and the copyright agreement should be submitted. Manuscripts and illustrations will not be returned following publication unless a request for return is made when the manuscript is originally submitted. Authors are encouraged to submit their papers via e-mail for fast review but at the same time a hard copy must be submitted for our record. Photos must be submitted in hard copy only.

Reviewing Policy

The Executive Editor or Editor sends the manuscript to more than two referee’s familiar with the research for constructive confidential appraisal, designed to maintain a high standard of publication. Papers submitted in poor confirmity with the editorial requirements given below may be returned without review. This review process generally takes 8 to 12 weeks. The corresponding author then receives a letter of acceptance or rejection from the editor. In order to assist and expedite the review process, the authors are requested to submit the names and complete addresses of five possible independent reviewers out side their own institution. The authors may request that certain reviewers be excluded from reviewing their paper if they feel that these reviewers may be unfavourably biased. The choice of the reviewers will however remain with the editorial board. The Executive Editor will make the final decision on acceptance. Manuscripts are published in the chronological order in which they are accepted for publication, generally 2-4 months after the date of acceptance.

Revised Manuscripts

When an editor requests revisions, submit two complete copies of the revised paper and one copy of the original version. These copies should be accompanied by a transmittal letter and a detailed response to the issues raised by the reviewers and editor, as well as a concise outline of the manuscript revisions. Revised manuscript should be returned within 2 months after notification. Otherwise they will be considered withdrawn and subsequently treated as new submissions. After a manuscript is accepted, it is returned, if necessary, to the corresponding author for any changes and final, pre-publication editing. The author then returns the manuscript to the Executive Editor for final processing. The final revised manuscript plus one copy should be sent with 3.5 inches floppy disc or CD ROM and photos and figures must be submitted as hard copy only.

Types of Manuscripts

Full-length papers should not generally exceed 25 double-spaced pages of text (including references) and should contain no longer than 15 figures/tables.

Short Communications are usually short papers. They should not exceed 10 double-spaced pages of text and should contain no longer than 5 figures/tables.

Rapid communications should present new and novel findings with high urgency for publication.

Reviews and mini reviews should be concise and critical assessment of the recent literature on a fast-moving area of reader’s interest. Reviews should be of the same length as full papers. Mini reviews should be of the same length as short communications. Authors must contact the editor before submitting a review for publication. Exceptions to the lengths of the various types of manuscripts will be considered on an individual basis upon request by the authors. As a rule, the order of publication corresponds to the time of reception. Maximum two papers by the same author will be published in one issue.

Preparation of Manuscript Organization of the Text

Manuscript should be clear, concise and written in Standard English. They must fully confirm to the organization and style of the journal, with correct spelling, good sentence structure, presentation of text, references and illustrations. Correct English is the responsibility of the author. Manuscripts should be submitted typed, double spaced throughout the text including tables, references and list of figures on one side only on paper as close as possible to standard A4 size paper with 2.5 cm margins. All pages of the manuscript (including tables and figures) should be numbered. All manuscripts should have a separate (title) page with the title of the paper, the names and affiliations of all authors, the name, address, phone number (and fax and e-mail numbers if available) of the corresponding authors and a short running title of no more than 50 characters.

Full length papers should be organized in the following order: Abstract normally no more than 350 words, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, conclusions, acknowledgements and references.

Short and rapid communications should contain an abstract of not exceeding 150 words, a brief introduction, materials and methods, results and discussion, acknowledgements and references.

Reviews and mini reviews should contain an abstract (of not exceeding 350 words for reviews and no more than 150 words for mini reviews), a brief introduction, appropriate subheadings for various topics, conclusions, future directions, acknowledgements and references.

For all types of manuscripts, the abstract must be accompanied by about 6 key words as an aid to abstracting journal and retrieval. Key words should supplement the title and not duplicate title words. For all types of manuscripts, the Tables and the list of figures with their legends should follow the list of references. Acknowledgements of individuals or financial support should be made in a separate paragraph following the conclusion section.

The title should be short, accurate and informative. An abstract should be informative, not just indicative, intelligible when divorced from the paper. It is particularly important to give the main results and to name any new techniques, new concepts and hypothesis, new taxonomic entities and new conclusions. If there is a direct application, it should be indicated. The introduction should indicate the reasons why the study was carried out. Any previous work relating to your study should be summarized by relevant references. Materials and methods should include the source and nature of the material, experimental design, statistics and the techniques employed. Results should contain your own data in the form of tables and figures, which are important for drawing main conclusion from the study. The discussion should deal with the interpretation of the results with the support of evidence or suitable references. Anomalous or unexpected results should be explained. The conclusions should be written as a single paragraph or points presenting the salient findings of the paper.

References

The reference list should be arranged in alphabetical order by first author and should be cited in the text by author(s) and date(s). For more than two authors in the text, only the first authors should be named, followed by et al. The listed references should include only published journal papers, books, book chapters and Ph.D. theses and dissertations. Manuscripts in preparation or submitted, abstracts, meeting presentations and all other published materials that has not been edited or refereed, should not be listed in the references. Papers cited as `In Press' must have been accepted for publication and a copy of the letter of acceptance from the journal must be provided. For reference citations, examples of the most common forms of citation follow.

Tables

Each table should be typed on a separate page together with a clear descriptive caption and footnotes. All tables must be cited in the text. Duplication of information contained in tables and figures should be avoided as much as possible. Avoid horizontal and vertical rules (lines) in tables. Tables should be self-explanatory as for as possible without the reader having to refer to the text.

Figures

All illustrations, line drawings as well as photographs, should be considered as figures. Figures should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numbers. These should be provided as clear, sharp line drawings or prints. No additional artwork, redrawing or typesetting will be done. Faint shading or stippling will be lost upon reproduction and should be avoided. Heavy shading or stippling may appear black on reproduction. Figures, which do not meet these requirements, may not be considered. Photographs for plates must be of high quality, printed on glazed paper. Mount photographs on illustration or copy paper, leaving 1-inch margins for editorial notations. Trim photographs for composite figures and should be mounted neatly on a white card base, leaving a narrow gap between each print. Failure to comply with there specifications will result in the figures being returned for redrafting or rearrangement. Computer generated figures produced for examples on a laser printer are acceptable if they are of good contrast. Drawings should be made in black ink or Indian ink on translucent drafting film or Bristol board. Bar scales on photographs are preferable to stated magnifications. Special attention is given to the reproduction of high-quality plates. Figure legends should be typed on separate sheets of the manuscript. The illustrations should be approximately reduced or enlarged by the publishers to suit the measures of the journal.

Colour photos will be accepted for publication and the cost of their reproduction will be borne by the author. Cover illustrations will be taken from, or be associated with, an article which appears in the journal. Authors wishing to submit a potential cover illustration should send a photograph, together with a short explanation, to the editor at the time of submission.

Abbreviations and Units

PCBMB will follow the system of SI units

Books for Review

Books should be sent to the Executive Editor.

Proof Reading

Page proofs will be sent to the author for proof reading. They should be read immediately and returned to the journal's editorial office within 3 days by express mail. If their return is delayed, the proofs will be read at the editorial office. The printer's mistake should be marked with a blue pen and any possible changes made by the author against the manuscript in red. The second proof will be checked at the editorial office.

Offprints

The corresponding author will receive page proof and a form for reprint charges. Authors must have to purchase minimum 50 reprints at nominal cost. Extra reprints can be ordered at cost price when the page proofs are returned.