Manuscript Structure

All research manuscripts, including structured reviews, should include:

• Front matter: Title, Authors list and affiliations, Corresponding author, Abstract, Keywords
• Research manuscript sections: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions (optional).
• Back matter: Supplementary Materials, Funding, Acknowledgments, Author Contributions, Relevant Declarations/Statements, Conflicts of Interest, References.

Reviews, except for structured reviews, meta-analyses, and other non-research manuscripts like opinions, may replace research manuscript sections with relevant content, such as literature review sections defined by the author.

Front Matter

The sections included in the front matter are mandatory for all manuscript types.

• Title: A concise, relevant, and specific title that gives the reader a clear idea of the article. A title should identify whether the study reports trial data or is a systematic review, meta-analysis, or replication study.
• Authors List and Affiliations: The authors’ full first and last names must be provided. Middle names may be provided in whole or in the form of initials. Affiliations should include complete addresses, including city, zip code, state/province, and country.
• Corresponding Author: Authors must designate at least one author as the corresponding author and list the email address and other contact details of the corresponding author(s) at the end of the authors’ list and affiliations.
• Abstract: The abstract should be clear and informative, written in a single paragraph, and not exceed 300 words (200 words for opinions and comments). It should avoid using abbreviations and should not include references. The abstract should follow the structure of a structured abstract but without headings. It should include:
• Background: Briefly explain the context and purpose of the study. Methods: Describe the main methods, treatments, and statistical tests used, along with any relevant registration information, if applicable. Results: Summarize the key findings. Conclusion: State the main conclusions or interpretations. Keywords: Include three to ten keywords that represent the article’s main content.
• Research Manuscript Sections

The research manuscripts should include the following sections:

• Introduction: The introduction should explain the background of the study, its aims, a summary of the existing literature, and why this study was necessary or what its contribution to the field was. The final part of the introduction should include specific hypotheses/es and objectives.
• Materials and Methods: The materials and methods should be explained in enough detail for readers to replicate the study. This section should clearly describe the experimental design, materials or participants, procedures, and statistical methods used. New methods and protocols should be described, while standard procedures should be referenced, with any variations clearly explained.
• Results: This section includes a precise and concise description of the experimental results. Results should be presented in Text or as tables and figures; however, data should not be repeated across Text, tables, and figures.
• Discussion: This section should explain the meaning of the findings about existing research and mention the study’s limitations. It should not repeat the results in detail. Authors are encouraged to have a separate discussion section, but it is not required, and the discussion can be combined with the results section.
• Conclusions: A conclusions section is not encouraged; however, it can be added to the manuscript if the discussion is unusually long or complex.
• Patents: This section is not mandatory but may be added if patents result from the work reported in the manuscript.

All manuscripts should include back matter consisting of the following sections:

• Supplementary Materials: A statement should be included describing any supplementary materials provided with the manuscript (such as figures, tables, spreadsheets, videos, etc.). Each item should be named and titled as follows: Figure S1: title, Table S1: title, etc.
• Funding: All funding sources for the study must be disclosed. The funding information should be complete and accurate, including the full name of the funding agency and the correct grant numbers. If individuals need to be specified for certain funding sources, include the Text “to [author initials]” after the relevant agency or grant number. If no funding was received, state, “This work received no external funding.”
• Acknowledgments: In this section, authors can thank anyone who provided support not covered in the authorship or funding sections. This might include administrative or technical support or donation of experiment materials. Authors should get permission from everyone who has acknowledged this section.
• Author Contributions: For manuscripts with more than one author, the contributions of each author should be listed. Each coauthor should be assigned specific roles using the following 14 categories: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, and Writing – review & editing. These contributions should be provided at the initial submission but must be included in the revised submission. Since author contributions will be published with the accepted article and cannot be changed after acceptance, the corresponding author should ensure the information is accurate before final approval.
• Institutional Review Board Statement: For manuscripts involving studies with human subjects or animals, The Biol requires a statement from the authors with details about the ethics committee or institutional review board (IRB) that approved the study. This should include the project identification code and approval date, or confirmation that approval was not required or was waived, along with the reasons for the waiver. Alternatively, authors can state how the study follows recognized standards (e.g., the Declaration of Helsinki or US Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects). The editorial office may request additional information. For studies not involving humans or animals, authors can either exclude this statement or write ‘not applicable.’
• Informed Consent Statement: For studies involving human subjects, authors must confirm that informed consent was obtained from all participants, or if any consent was waived, they must provide the reasons. Written informed consent for publication must also be obtained from participants who can be identified (including patients). If applicable, authors should state, “Written informed consent has been obtained from the patient(s) to publish this paper.” Consent for publication is required for all case studies. Authors do not need to submit the consent form, but the editorial office may request it anytime, including after publication. For studies not involving humans, this statement can be excluded or marked as not applicable.
• Data Availability Statement: Authors are encouraged to include a statement about the Availability of research data generated or analyzed during the study. If no data is reported, authors can exclude this statement.
• Conflicts of Interest: Authors must include a statement identifying and explaining any conflicts of interest. If there are no conflicts, authors should explicitly state this. Any involvement of funding sponsors in the choice of the research project, study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript writing, or decision to publish must be declared in this section.
• References: The Biol uses APA style for citations and references. Citations should follow the author-year system (do not use numbered references). The reference list should be arranged alphabetically by the first author’s surname, followed by the second and third authors. Single-authored articles should appear before multi-authored articles. Multiple articles by the same author(s) should be listed chronologically; articles published in the same year should be marked with a, b, c, etc. Only literature accessible through libraries or other public sources can be cited. Material not meeting this standard should be cited as personal communication or unpublished data. The Biol encourages citing data and other research materials. References in supplementary files are allowed as long as they appear in the main text and the reference list.
• Preparing Tables, Figures, and Illustrations

At the time of initial submission, tables and figures (of review quality) with captions can be included in the text document at their first mention. If the manuscript is accepted for publication, the figures must also be submitted separately as high-resolution image files (300 dpi or higher) in one of the following formats: TIFF, JPEG, EPS, or PDF.

All tables, figures, and illustrations should be numbered in the Text and referenced accordingly. Each table, figure, and illustration should have a brief, explanatory title and caption. Any abbreviations in table, figure, and illustration titles/captions should be spelled out the first time they are mentioned, even if they have already been defined in the main text. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to use figures, tables, or illustrations from other publishers or individuals. This permission should be stated in the captions, and the original source should be cited in the reference list. Permission must also be obtained for open-access publications, and these permissions should be provided before the manuscript is sent to production.

Tables should be created using Microsoft Word’s table feature, not as figures or spreadsheet files. Tables should not be split into parts (e.g., Table 1a or 1b). Table headings should be clear, concise, and complete. All variables and abbreviations must be defined. Each entry in the table should be in a separate cell, and commas should not be used for numerical values. General notes for the entire table can be included, but colour and shading should not be used to highlight entries. Instead, superscript lowercase letters or symbols may be used for specific notes. Table titles should appear above the table, and legends should appear below. The minimum acceptable font size for table entries is 9 pt. larger datasets or tables that do not fit on an A4 or Letter-sized landscape page should be provided as supplementary files.

For a manuscript to proceed to production, figure captions should be submitted in a separate text file, not included in the graphic file. Symbols or figure keys used in the graphics should be defined, and additional explanations can be included in the caption or legend. All parts of multi-panel figures (labeled a, b, c, etc.) should be submitted as a single composite image file. Biplots should have evenly scaled axes with tick marks. For blot and gel images, experimental samples and controls for a comparative analysis should be on the same blot/gel, and any image adjustments (such as changes to brightness or contrast) should not alter the data. The images should retain all relevant information and bands, even if cropped. Original, uncropped, and unadjusted images must be uploaded as Supporting Information files during the initial submission.

Figures should fit the desired print size: 80 mm for a one-column figure and 180 mm for a two-column figure. The height of the figure and caption should not exceed 225 mm. The minimum resolution required for figures is 300 dpi.

When creating colour figures, authors should consider accessibility for colour-blind individuals by avoiding unnecessary colours or problematic colour combinations like green/red and brown/orange and using alternative methods like green/magenta combinations, greyscale, or adding textures, shapes, or line types to line drawings that rely on colour.

Supplementary Materials

The Biol may publish supplementary materials in the online version of the article. Any supplementary material must be submitted along with the original manuscript and will undergo peer review. Authors are encouraged to submit materials that enhance the content and quality of the article, such as datasets, tables, figures, etc. The supplementary material should be formatted with a cover sheet that includes the manuscript title and the number of pages, figures, and tables. Tables and figures should be labelled Supplemental Table S1, S2 or Supplemental Figure S1, S2, etc., and cited in order in the main manuscript. Citations and references in supplementary files are allowed as long as they are listed in the main text and reference list. Besides datasets, materials like tables and figures can be combined into a single PDF or Microsoft Word file. Datasets are best submitted as spreadsheets, such as Microsoft Excel. If you have questions about file types, please contact the editorial office.

Please include a brief (one or two sentences) description of the supplementary material in the “Supplementary Materials” section of the main manuscript.

Do not include files such as patient consent forms, certificates of language editing, or revised versions of the main manuscript in the supplementary materials. If these files are requested, please send them via email, including the manuscript reference number, to the editorial office. Only send completed patient consent forms if specifically requested.

Units of Measure

The International System of Units (SI) must be used. Other units may be indicated in parentheses after the SI unit if this helps understanding or is needed to replicate the work.

Abbreviations and Acronyms

Abbreviations and acronyms should be defined the first time they appear in the abstract, main text, figure, or table. The full term should be written out when they are first introduced, followed by the acronym or abbreviation in parentheses.

Equations

Use keyboard formatting when possible (e.g., bold, superscript, subscript, etc.). If necessary, use the Microsoft Equation Editor or the MathType add-on. Equations should be in an editable format, not as images.

Language

All manuscripts submitted to The Biol should be written in clear and grammatically correct English. To ensure a smooth and fast peer-review process, well-written English helps editors and reviewers fully understand the manuscript’s scientific content. Authors should ensure their manuscript is written to a high standard of English. Authors from non-native English-speaking countries should have their manuscripts reviewed or professionally edited by a native English speaker before submission. Although language editing can be helpful, it is not a mandatory requirement. Editing does not guarantee that your manuscript will be selected for peer review or accepted for publication. Authors are responsible for any costs related to language editing.

The journal seeks to apply scientific rigor to the study of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) modalities, particularly traditional Asian healing systems. The Biol emphasizes health outcome, while documenting biological mechanisms of action. The journal is devoted to the advancement of science in the field of basic research, methodology or scientific theory in diverse areas of Biomedical Sciences. The journal does not consider articles on homeopathy.