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Author Guidelines

Overview

The author guidelines include information about the types of articles received for publication and preparing a manuscript for submission. Other relevant information about the journal's policies and the reviewing process can be found under the about section. All forms need to be completed in English. Please provide a title page with each submission.

Original Research Article

An original article provides an overview of innovative research in a particular field within or related to the focus and scope of the journal, presented according to a clear and well-structured format.

Word limit: 3500-7000 words (excluding the structured abstract and references)

Structured abstract: 250 words including the following headings only: Background, Objectives, Method, Results and Conclusion

References: 40 or less

Tables/figures:  No more than 7 tables/Figure

Ethical statement: Should be included on the separate title page and NOT in the manuscript

Ethical clearance letter/certificate should be submitted as a supplementary file

Author Publishing Charges (APCs) are charged at R1,300.00 (excl. VAT) per published page for non-members of the SAVA for original research articles and US$50.00 per published page for non-South African authors.

Case Report

A venue to document their experience with testing, diagnosis and treatment of a patient, animal or group. This can include the diagnosis and treatment of a patient, or a potential description of the implementation of an educational programme or healthcare-related intervention towards the improvement of animal development

Word limit: 500-1500 words (excluding the abstract and references)

Unstructured abstract: 250 words

References: 15 or less

Tables/figures: No more than 4 tables/figures

Ethical statement: Should be included in the title please and NOT in the manuscript

Ethical clearance letter/certificate should be submitted as a supplementary file.

Review Article

Review articles provide a comprehensive summary of research on a certain topic, and a perspective on the state of the field and where it is heading. These articles are often meta-analyses comparing and combining findings of previously published studies.

Word limit: 2500-4000 words (excluding the abstract and references)

References: 30 or less

Structured abstract: 250 words including the following headings only: Background, Objectives, Method, Results and Conclusion

Tables/figures: Data in the text should not be repeated extensively in tables or figures

Short Communications

Original research that is limited in scope can be submitted as a scientific communication rather than a full original research article. It is intended to rapidly communicate novel ideas and results in new and developing areas of veterinary science.

Word limit: 800 words

References: 6 or less

Tables/figures: No more than 1 table/figure

Conference Reports

The publication of conference reports are arranged with the Editor-in-Chief.

Word limit: 1500 words

References: 6 or less

Tables/figures: No more than 1 table/figure

Title page:

The following should appear on the title page

Title: The title should be concise and informative.

Author names and affiliations”

Please provide the following information for each author:

  • Full names and surname, as well as title (Please check that all names are accurately spelled)
  • Qualifications
  • Designation
  • Affiliation and address (Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author’s name and in front of the appropriate affiliation details)
  • ORCID ID (if authors do not have ORCID, please register at https://orcid.org/)
  • Provide the e-mail address of each author.

Corresponding author

  • Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, including post-publication.
  • Ensure that the e-mail address and permanent address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author.
  • Please note that the corresponding author’s contact details will be provided in the final article.
  • Provide the following information for the corresponding author:
    • Full names and title
    • Affiliation
    • Physical address
    • Postal address
    • Telephone number
    • E-mail address

Declarations

Authors are to insert a section at the end of the title page entitled declarations (please provide the author's name, signature and date). The following statements are required under the declarations section:

Authorship

The authors confirm that all authors have made substantial contributions to all of the following:

  • The conception and design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data.
  • The drafting of the article or its critical revision for important intellectual content.
  • Final approval of the version to be submitted.

Sound scientific research practice

The authors further confirm that:

  • The manuscript, including related data, figures and tables, has not been previously published and is not under consideration elsewhere.
  • No data have been fabricated or manipulated (including images) to support conclusions.
  • This submission does not represent part of a single study that has been split up into several parts to increase the quantity of submissions and submitted to various journals or to one journal over time (e.g. ‘salami-publishing’).

Plagiarism

The authors confirm that the work submitted is original and does not transgress the plagiarism policy of the journal.

  • No data, text or theories by others are presented as if they were the authors’ own.
  • Proper acknowledgements of others’ work have been given (this includes material that is closely copied, summarised and/or paraphrased); quotation marks are used for verbatim copying of material.
  • Permissions have been secured for copyrighted material.

Conflict of interest statement

A conflicting interest exists when professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as the patient’s welfare or the validity of research) may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain or personal rivalry). It represents a situation in which financial or other personal considerations from authors, reviewers or editors have the potential to compromise or bias professional judgment and objectivity. It may arise for the authors when they have a financial interest that may influence their interpretation of their results or those of others. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, grants, or other funding. All potential conflicts of interest need to be declared. The conflict of interest statement should list each author separately by name, e.g.,

‘Author A.B. (use initials of relevant author, not full name in order for the document to remain blinded) has received research grants from Company A. Author B.C. has received a speaker honorarium from Company X and owns stock in Company Y. Author C.D. is a member of committee Z.’

If no conflicts of interest exist, state this as follows: ‘The authors declare they have no conflicts of interest that are directly or indirectly related to the research.’

Funding sources

All sources of funding should be declared. Also, define the involvement of study sponsors in the study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of data; the writing of the manuscript; and the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

List all funding sources as follows:

‘This work was supported by the xxxx (grant numbers xxxx, yyyy).’

When funding is from a block grant or other resources available to a university, college or other research institution, submit the name of the institute or organisation that provided the funding.

If no funding was received, state as follows: ‘No funding was received for this study.’

Compliance with ethical guidelines

For all publications:

‘The author/s declare that this submission is in accordance with the principles laid down by the Responsible Research Publication Position Statements as developed at the 2nd World Conference on Research Integrity in Singapore, 2010.’

Available from: http://publicationethics.org/resources/international-standards-for-editors-and-authors

Institutional Review Board (IRB) ethical approval must have been given if the study involves human subjects or animals. Please provide the approval number. IRB documentation should be available upon request.

‘Prior to the commencement of the study, ethical approval was obtained from the following ethical review board: Provide name and reference number’

For studies with animals, include the following sentence:

‘All institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals were followed.’

For articles that do not contain studies with human or animal subjects:

‘This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects.’

If doubt exists whether the research was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration, the authors must explain the rationale for their approach and demonstrate that the institutional review body explicitly approved the doubtful aspects of the study. If any identifying information about patients is included in the article, the following sentence should also be included: Additional informed consent was obtained from all patients for which identifying information is included in this article. The Helsinki Declaration 2008 can be found at http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/

Article processing charges
Please provide the following information for invoicing:

  • Submitting author name for invoice
  • Email address
  • To whom the invoice must be issued
  • Company/University Address
  • Company/University VAT Reg. number
  • Purchase Order Number
  • Please provide the address and telephone number of the person/company/university who must be invoiced

If the submitting author is a member of SAVA please provide your membership number on the title page for this amount to be waivered.

Acknowledgements: Those who contributed to the work but do not meet our authorship criteria should be listed in the Acknowledgments with a description of the contribution. Authors are responsible for ensuring that anyone named in the Acknowledgments agrees to be named.

Corrections

A correction provides the platform to communicate important, scientifically relevant errors or missing information in a published article. Any changes after publication that affect the scientific interpretation (e.g., changes to a misleading portion of an otherwise reliable publication, an error in a figure, error in data that does not affect conclusions or addition of missing details about a method) are announced using a Correction. Read our submission procedure for corrections and publishing policies.

References:

The manuscript must adhere to the Harvard Referencing Style

References in the text should be as follows:

  • If the reference has only one author: (Hammer 2022:67–69) 
  • If the reference has two authors: (Lamb & Kling 2003:197)
  • If the reference has more than two authors (Shilo et al. 2010:28–34)

In the reference list the references should appear as follows (please take note of the punctuation)

Hammer, M., 1990, Reengineering Work: Don't Automate, Obliterate, Harvard Business Review, July–August, 104–112.

Kozulin, A., 1993, Literature as a psychological tool, Educational Psychologist 28(3), 253–265.

Reilly, S., Seddighi, MR., Steeil, J.C., et al., 2014, Selected clinical, biochemical, and electrolyte alterations in anesthetized captive tigers (Panthera tigris) and lions (Panthera leo), J Zoo Wildl Med 45(2), 328–334.

Original Research Article full structure

Title: The article’s full title should contain a maximum of 95 characters (including spaces).

Abstract: The abstract, written in English, should be no longer than 250 words and must be written in the past tense. The abstract should give a succinct account of the objectives, methods, results and significance of the matter. The abstract for an Original Research article should consist of five paragraphs unlabelled Background, Objectives, Method, Results and Conclusion.

  • Background: Why do we care about the problem?  State the context and purpose of the study. (What practical, scientific or theoretical gap is your research filling?)
  • Objectives: What problem are you trying to solve? What is the scope of your work (e.g. is it a generalised approach or for a specific situation)? Be careful not to use too much jargon.
  • Method: How did you go about solving or making progress on the problem? State how the study was performed and which statistical tests were used. (What did you actually do to get the results?) Clearly express the basic design of the study; name or briefly describe the basic methodology used without going into excessive detail. Be sure to indicate the key techniques used.
  • Results: What is the answer? Present the main findings (that is, as a result of completing the procedure or study, state what you have learnt, invented or created). Identify trends, relative change or differences on answers to questions.
  • Conclusion: What are the implications of your answer? Briefly summarise any potential implications. (What are the larger implications of your findings, especially for the problem or gap identified in your motivation?)
  • Keywords: 5 keywords should be provided.

Do not cite references and do not use abbreviations excessively in the abstract.

Introduction: The introduction must contain your argument for the social and scientific value of the study, as well as the aim and objectives:

  • Social value: The first part of the introduction should make a clear and logical argument for the importance or relevance of the study. Your argument should be supported by use of evidence from the literature.
  • Scientific value: The second part of the introduction should make a clear and logical argument for the originality of the study. This should include a summary of what is already known about the research question or specific topic, and should clarify the knowledge gap that this study will address. Your argument should be supported by use of evidence from the literature.
  • Conceptual framework: In some research articles it will also be important to describe the underlying theoretical basis for the research and how these theories are linked together in a conceptual framework. The theoretical evidence used to construct the conceptual framework should be referenced from the literature.
  • Aim and objectives: The introduction should conclude with a clear summary of the aim and objectives of this study.

Research methods and design: This must address the following:

  • Study design: An outline of the type of study design.
  • Setting: A description of the setting for the study; for example, the type of community from which the participants came or the nature of the health system and services in which the study is conducted.
  • Study population and sampling strategy: Describe the study population and any inclusion or exclusion criteria. Describe the intended sample size and your sample size calculation or justification. Describe the sampling strategy used. Describe in practical terms how this was implemented.
  • Intervention (if appropriate): If there were intervention and comparison groups, describe the intervention in detail and what happened to the comparison groups.
  • Data collection: Define the data collection tools that were used and their validity. Describe in practical terms how data were collected and any key issues involved, e.g. language barriers.
  • Data analysis: Describe how data were captured, checked and cleaned. Describe the analysis process, for example, the statistical tests used orsteps followed in qualitative data analysis.
  • Ethical considerations: Approval must have been obtained for all studies from the author's institution or other relevant ethics committee and the institution’s name and permit numbers should be stated here.

Results: Present the results of your study in a logical sequence that addresses the aim and objectives of your study. Use tables and figures as required to present your findings. Use quotations as required to establish your interpretation of qualitative data. All units should conform to the SI convention and be abbreviated accordingly. Metric units and their international symbols are used throughout, as is the decimal point (not the decimal comma).

Discussion: The discussion section should address the following four elements:

  • Key findings: Summarise the key findings without reiterating details of the results.
  • Discussion of key findings: Explain how the key findings relate to previous research or to existing knowledge, practice or policy.
  • Strengths and limitations: Describe the strengths and limitations of your methods and what the reader should take into account when interpreting your results.
  • Implications or recommendations: State the implications of your study or recommendations for future research (questions that remain unanswered), policy or practice. Make sure that the recommendations flow directly from your findings.

Conclusion: Provide a brief conclusion that summarises the results and their meaning or significance in relation to each objective of the study.

References: Authors should provide direct references to original research sources whenever possible. References should not be used by authors, editors, or peer reviewers to promote self-interests. Refer to the journal referencing style downloadable on our Formatting Requirements page.

Case Report full structure

Title: The article’s full title should contain a maximum of 95 characters (including spaces).

Abstract: The abstract should be no longer than 250 words and must be written in the past tense. The abstract should give a concise account of the Introduction, Patient presentation, Management and outcome and significance of the matter. The abstract can consist of four paragraphs unlabelled Introduction, Patient presentation, Management and outcome, and Conclusion.

  • Introduction: Describe the context and the reason for publishing this patient study.
  • Patient presentation: Describe your 3-stage assessment of the patient.
  • Management and outcome: Describe the management plan, progress and final outcome.
  • Conclusion: Summarise the lessons learnt and key implications or recommendations.
  • Keywords: 5 keywords should be provided

Introduction: Convey clearly what is particularly interesting about the patient that you want to describe to the reader. It is useful to begin by placing the study in a historical or social context. If similar cases have been reported previously, please describe them briefly. Clarify your aim or objectives in publishing this patient study.

Patient presentation: Describe your patient in detail with consideration of the following aspects:

  • Describe the information that was gathered on the patient’s medical problem(s) from the consultation, physical examination and results of any investigations.
  • Describe the information that was gathered on the patient’s perspective of their illness (loss of function, ideas, beliefs, concerns, expectations, or feelings)
  • Describe the information that was gathered on the patient’s context (family structure and function, occupational issues, environment)
  • Provide a 3-stage assessment of the patient’s clinical, individual and contextual issues.

Management and outcome: In this section, you should clearly describe the plan for care, as well as the care that was actually provided, how the patient’s condition progressed over time and the final outcome.

Discussion: Summarise the key points, lessons learnt and discuss these in relation to the literature. Clarify the implications or recommendations that arise from this patient study.

References: Authors should provide direct references to original research sources whenever possible. References should not be used by authors, editors, or peer reviewers to promote self-interests.

Copyright Notice

Journal of the South African Veterinary Association (JSAVA) Copyright held by SAVA. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial Works 4.0 South Africa License (CC BY 4.0). Material submitted for publication in the JSAVA is accepted provided it has not been published elsewhere. JSAVA does not hold itself responsible for statements made by the authors. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the SAVA or its members.

Submission Preparation Checklist

All submissions must meet the following requirements.

  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  • The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, or RTF document file format.
  • Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
  • The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines.
  • I agree to pay Author Publishing Charges (APCs) at R1300.00 (excl. VAT) OR US$50.00 per published page for original research articles. Members of SAVA please provide your membership number on the title page for this amount to be waivered.

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