The objective of the magazine "ASD Oil Palm Papers" is to disseminate unpublished studies related to the species Elaeis guineensis Jacq. Papers on other palm species may be accepted at the discretion of the editorial committee. Papers may be presented as technical notes or as formal articles.

Technical note

Disseminates results of limited scope or suitable for publishing within a limited time frame, such as updates on more extensive studies. The structure is flexible, but it is advisable for it to closely follow the format for an article.

Article

Applies in the case of results of completed studies that are appropriate for detailed publication. The structure of the article includes the following: Title, Author, Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Reference List.

The title should be short and provide a clear idea of the essence of the article. Regarding the author, it would be a good idea to include his/her address at the bottom of the page. The abstract should provide a brief overview of the contents of the article. It should not repeat the title, nor should it include methodology, except for one or two explanatory sentences. In essence, it should only contain the results and the implications thereof. The introduction should include a review of the literature and previous studies to orient the reader as to the nature of the problem. It should explain the importance of the project and the objectives.

The materials and methods should be described concisely but completely. The reader should be able to perform a repetition of the experiment with the information supplied directly in the article and in the reference list. The results and discussion section should specify how the objectives were reached. The discussion of the results is done by relating them to the results published by other authors. The results should be presented in figures, charts and any other means that makes them more comprehensible. The charts and figures must contain all the information necessary for them to be understood independently, without reference to the text.

Writing

Clarity, objectivity, and the use of short, precise sentences are characteristic of the writing of a scientific article. "The necessary words per sentence, the necessary sentences per paragraph, and the necessary paragraphs for the document."

Be considerate of the readers. Don't make them work to understand the article. Keep it simple. Eliminate redundancies and unnecessary words. Make smooth transitions between sentences and paragraphs. If you get stuck on a sentence, so will your readers.

Think of the manuscript as if it were a car ride. When you drive, you also want to enjoy the trip. Interesting scenery (style and content), a good road with clear road signs (good grammar and punctuation), gentle curves (smooth transitions between sentences and paragraphs) and good asphalt (a polished, well-edited piece) will help you reach your destination with a minimum of fatigue, having enjoyed the trip more and understood it better. (Hazel ,B.)*

Guidelines 

• Texts can be submitted in Spanish or English.
• Texts should be double-spaced, on letter-sized paper.
• Don't use barbarisms, like "reportar" instead of "informar".
• Abbreviations should be explained the first time they are used in the article. 
• Units of measurement are according to the decimal metric system. 
• The binomial of a scientific name should be written out in full the first time it is used in the article (e.g., Elaeis guineensis Jacq.). Afterwards, the genus can be abbreviated (e.g., E. guineensis ).
• Scientific names should be written in italics or underlined. 
• The title of a chart should be placed in the upper portion and does not end in a period. The title of a figure should be placed in the lower portion and does end in a period. 

References

Benavides (1987) found that….

… (Rodríguez, 1988) ….

Salazar et al. (1999) stated …(note the lack of italics and the period in "et al."). 

Bibliographic references should follow the guidelines of the Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA). Please refer to other articles of the publication for permissible changes.

Application for publication

Simply write a brief letter to the magazine editor. Include an original copy of the article on paper and an electronic version.