For comprehensive information regarding the journal's policies on submission, peer-review, publication, and ethical standards, kindly visit the Policies page. Similarly, for detailed information about the journal, please visit the About page.

It is strongly advised to review the journal's policies before submitting any manuscripts to ensure compliance with the journal's guidelines.

If you would like to conduct an eligibility check before uploading your article to the journal, you can use the Pre-Submission Check tool. This tool helps you identify and correct any deficiencies in your article.

Manuscripts submitted for evaluation should be original and not previously presented or published in any electronic or print medium. If a manuscript was previously presented at a conference or meeting, authors should provide detailed information about the event, including the name, date, and location of the organization.

Authors are required to prepare manuscripts in accordance with the relevant guideline listed below:

•    Observational original research studies: STROBE guidelines 
•    Systematic reviews and meta-analysis: PRISMA guidelines (for protocols, please see the PRISMA-P guidelines)
•    Nonrandomized evaluations of behavioral and public health interventions: TREND guidelines
•    Qualitative research: SRQR guidelines

To find the right guideline for your research, please complete the questionnaire by Equator Network here.

FORESTIST encourages authors to follow the ‘Sex and Gender Equity in Research – SAGER – guidelines’ when preparing their manuscripts to promote the inclusion of sex and gender considerations in research. Before submission, authors can consult EASE Guidelines for Authors and Translators to produce clear, concise and accurate manuscripts that are easy to understand and free of common errors and pitfalls.

The style of manuscripts should follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), Seventh Edition (2020).

Manuscripts can only be submitted through the journal’s online manuscript submission and evaluation system. Manuscripts submitted via any other medium and submissions by anyone other than one of the authors will not be evaluated.

In addition to the manuscript files, authors are required to submit the following during the initial submission:

· Copyright Agreement and Acknowledgement of Authorship Form

Preparation of the Manuscript
Title page: A separate title page should be submitted with all submissions and this page should include:
•    The full title of the manuscript as well as a short title (running head) of no more than 50 characters,
•    Name(s), affiliations, highest academic degree(s), and ORCID IDs of the author(s),
•    Grant information and detailed information on the other sources of support,
•    Name, address, telephone (including the mobile phone number), and email address of the corresponding author,
•    Acknowledgment of the individuals who contributed to the preparation of the manuscript but who do not fulfill the authorship criteria.
•    If the author(s) is a member of the journal’s Editorial Board, this should be specified in the title page.

Abstract: An abstract is required for all submissions. The abstract style should be succinct and should not include any references. The abstract should provide an unstructured summary of the following components:

•    Aim of the Study: Clearly state the study's goal or specific objectives and emphasize the study's significance.
•    Study Area: Specify the geographical location where the study was conducted.
•    Materials and Methods: Provide a brief description of the materials and methods used. Identify the crops or organisms involved, as well as any pertinent details such as soil type, chemicals used, or other factors crucial for result interpretation.
•    Main Results: Enumerate and discuss pertinent results, including numerical values from experimental outcomes.
•    Research Highlights: Conclude with one or two sentences highlighting the most relevant findings and their implications.

Keywords: Each submission must be accompanied by a minimum of three to a maximum of five keywords for subject indexing at the end of the abstract. The keywords should be listed in full without abbreviations.

"What is already known on this topic?" and "What this study adds on this topic?": All submissions should include 1 to 3 points to address the questions of "What is already known on this topic?" and "What does this study add on this topic?". In addition to emphasizing the most important results and main message of the manuscript, these main points can also provide answers to the questions of the study. This is important to help ensure that the most important findings and messages of a study are conveyed clearly to the reader. These points should not only emphasize the most important results and main message of the manuscript but also be structured as a list and written in plain language that is easy to understand for experts and specialists in the field.

Manuscript Types
Research Articles
Research articles provide new information based on original research. The acceptance of research articles is typically based on the originality and importance of the research. The main text of a Research Article should be structured with subheadings, including Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, and Discussion. 

Please check Table 1 for the limitations for Research Articles.

Reporting Statistical Analysis 
Information on statistical analyses should be provided with a separate subheading under the Materials and Methods section and the statistical software that was used during the process must be specified.

When reporting statistical data in a research paper, it is important to present the values in a clear and consistent manner. p values, confidence intervals (CIs), and other statistical measures should be rounded appropriately and expressed according to the guidelines provided. For example, p values should be expressed to two digits to the right of the decimal point unless the first two digits are zeros, in which case three digits should be provided (eg, instead of p < .01, report as p = .002). However, values close to .05 may be reported to three decimal places because .05 is an arbitrary cut-off point for statistical significance (eg,  p = .053). p values less than .001 should be designated as p < .001 rather than providing the exact value (eg, p = .000006). 

Units should be prepared in accordance with the International System of Units (SI).

Review Articles
Review articles that are written by authors with extensive knowledge and expertise in a particular field and a strong track record of publication are welcomed. These authors may even be invited to contribute a review article to the journal. Review articles should provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge on a topic in the journal’s topic, and should include discussions and evaluations of relevant research. The subheadings of the review articles can be planned by the authors. However, each review article should include an “Introduction” and a “Conclusion” section. 

Please check Table 1 for the limitations for Review Articles.

Short Note
This type of manuscript present significant findings from tangential investigations that are offshoots from larger studies or from early results that will have to be confirmed through further study. The main text should be structured with Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, and Conclusion subheadings. 
Please check Table 1 for the limitations for Short Note.

Table 1. Limitations for each manuscript type

*Word limit should not include the abstract, references, tables, and figure legends.

Tables
Tables should be included in the main document, after the reference list, and they should be numbered consecutively in the order they are referred to within the text. Each table should have a descriptive title placed above it, and any abbreviations used in the table should be defined below the table by footnotes (even if they are defined in the main text). Tables should be created using the "insert table" command of the Word processing software, and they should be arranged clearly to make the data easy to read and understand. The data presented in the tables should not be a repetition of the data presented in the main text, but should support and enhance the main text.

Figures and Figure Legends
Figures can be submitted as separate files in TIFF or JPEG format, or they can be embedded in the Word document or the main manuscript file. If a figure has subunits, each subunit should be submitted as a separate file, and the subunits should not be merged into a single image. The figures should not be labeled (a, b, c, etc.) to indicate subunits. Instead, the figure legend should be used to describe the different parts of the figure. Thick and thin arrows, arrowheads, stars, asterisks, and similar marks can be used on the images to support figure legends.Images should be anonymized to remove any information that may identify individuals or institutions. The minimum resolution of each figure should be 300 DPI, and the figures should be clear and easy to read. Figure legends should be listed at the end of the main document. Figures should be referred to within the main text, and they should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are mentioned. 

Abbreviations
All acronyms and abbreviations used in the manuscript should be defined at first use, both in the abstract and in the main text. The abbreviation should be provided in parentheses following the definition, and it should be used consistently throughout the paper.

Identifying products
When mentioning a drug, product, hardware, or software program in a manuscript, it is important to provide detailed information about the product in parentheses. This should include the name of the product, the producer of the product, and the city and country of the company. For example, if mentioning a Discovery St PET/CT scanner produced by General Electric in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, the information should be presented in the following format: "Discovery St PET/CT scanner (General Electric, Milwaukee, WI, USA)." Providing this information helps to ensure that the product is properly identified and credited.

Supplementary Materials
Supplementary materials, including audio files, videos, datasets, and additional documents (e.g., appendices, additional figures, tables), are intended to complement the main text of the manuscript. These supplementary materials should be submitted as a separate section after the references list. Concise descriptions of each supplementary material should be included to explain their relevance to the manuscript. Page numbers are not required for supplementary materials.

References
Both in-text citations and the references must be prepared according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), Seventh Edition (2020).

When citing publications, preference should be given to the latest, most up-to-date sources. Citing the latest sources can help to ensure that the paper is relevant and timely, and that it reflects the latest developments in the field.

It is the responsibility of the authors to ensure the accuracy of the references in their article. All sources must be properly cited, and the citations must be formatted correctly.

To avoid plagiarism, it is necessary to acknowledge other sources in your paper through in-text citations. For every in-text citation, a corresponding reference list entry must be provided.

The APA in-text citation style includes the author's last name and the year of publication, such as (Field, 2005). If quoting directly from a source, the page number should also be added, such as (Field, 2005, p. 14).

If an ahead-of-print publication is cited, the DOI number should be provided in the reference list.

The reference styles for different types of publications are presented in the following examples.

Journal Article: Edwards, A. A., Steacy, L. M., Siegelman, N., Rigobon, V. M., Kearns, D. M., Rueckl, J. G., & Compton, D. L. (2022). Unpacking the unique relationship between set for variability and word reading development: Examining word- and child-level predictors of performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 114(6), 1242–1256. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000696 

Book Section: Zeleke, W. A., Hughes, T. L., & Drozda, N. (2020). Home–school collaboration to promote mindbody health. In C. Maykel & M. A. Bray (Eds.), Promoting mind–body health in schools: Interventions for mental health professionals (pp. 11–26). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000157-002

Books with a Single Author: Haslwanter, T. (2022). An introduction to statistics with Python. New York, NY: Springer International Publishing.

Editor(s) as Author: Rhodewalt, F. (Ed.). (2008). Personality and social behavior. Psychology Press. 

Thesis: Valentin, E. R. (2019, Summer). Narcissism predicted by Snapchat selfie sharing, filter usage, and editing [Master's thesis, California State University Dominguez Hills]. CSU ScholarWorks. https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/concern/theses/3197xm925?locale=en

Websites: Chandler, N. (2020, April 9). What’s the difference between Sasquatch and Bigfoot? howstuffworks. https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/strange-creatures/sasquatch-bigfootdifference.htm 

Epub Ahead of Print Articles: Muldoon, K., Towse, J., Simms, V., Perra, O., & Menzies, V. (2012). A longitudinal analysis of estimation, counting skills, and mathematical ability across the first school year. Developmental Psychology. Epub ahead of print. doi:10.1037/a0028240.

In the seventh edition, up to 20 authors should now be included in a reference list entry. For sources with more than 20 authors, after the 19th listed author, any additional authors' names are replaced with an ellipsis (…) followed by the final listed author's name: 

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., Author, C. C., Author, D. D., Author, E. E., Author, F. F., Author, G. G., Author, H. H., Author, I. I., Author, J. J., Author, K. K., Author, L. L., Author, M. M., Author, N. N., Author, O. O., Author, P. P., Author, Q. Q., Author, R. R., Author, S. S., . . . Author, Z. Z.

Production Processes

Language Editing
Once a manuscript has been accepted for publication, the language editing service of FORESTIST is provided by AVES to ensure that it is clear and well-written. This process may involve correcting grammar, punctuation, and formatting errors, as well as making changes to improve the overall clarity and readability of the manuscript.

Proof Production
When the PDF of the article is generated, the corresponding author will receive an email with a link to our online proofing system. With that email, the author can make corrections to the article.

The corresponding author is asked to review the proof and approve it for publication within a specified time period, typically two days. 

Web-based proofing provides a faster and more accurate process by allowing you to type your corrections directly, eliminating the potential introduction of errors. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness, and correctness of the text, tables, and figures. Since the article is in the pre-publication process, significant changes will only be implemented with the editorial decision.