Animal Production Research is an open-access peer-reviewed journal published in Persian with English abstracts in one volume with four issues per year, as a printed journal and in electronic version. This journal has no submission fees, but all accepted papers will be subject to an Article Publishing Charge (APC) of 3500000 Iranian Rials for publication. 

This journal publishes original research papers and short communications on basic and applied research relating to domestic animals (cows, sheep, goats, and poultry); however, contributions on other animals may be published where relevant.

• Original      Research papers: Most papers published in Animal Production Research are original research papers. These should describe new and carefully confirmed findings, and experimental procedures should be given in sufficient detail for others to verify the work.
• Short      Communications:  A short communication is a concise but complete description of a limited investigation, which will not be included in a later paper. Therefore, this type of paper is appropriate for recording the results of complete small investigations or giving details of new models or hypotheses, innovative methods, techniques, or apparatus.

The double-blind refereeing, where anonymity is preserved both for the authors and the referees, has been adopted by Animal Production Research; therefore, authors are asked to remove their names, addresses, and email from the first page of the submitted manuscript, and the acknowledgment section. This information should be submitted as one separate file. Submission of the manuscripts and all correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, takes place through the journal website at http://ar.guilan.ac.ir/contacts?_action=loginForm.

Authors are required to submit four separate files in the following order:

1. Word file of the article without author names – A version of the manuscript without the author’s names or any identifying details.
2. Word file with author details – This file should contain the article title, short article title, author names (matching the commitment form), and full contact details (postal address, email, and phone number) along with the academic title and position of each author.
3. Copyright Transfer Form – Authors must submit a signed copyright form. The order of author names when entering information in the submission system must match the names listed in this form. If this is not adhered to, the manuscript will not be considered for review. [Link to download the commitment form].
4. Conflict of Interest Form – A completed conflict of interest form must also be submitted. [Link to download the conflict of interest form].

Structure of the Manuscript:

Each manuscript should include the following sections in order:

• Persian Title (do not include the authors' names)
• Abstract in Persian
• Keywords in Persian
• Introduction
• Materials and Methods
• Results
• Discussion (or Results and discussion)
• Conclusions
• Acknowledgments
• References
• English Title and Extended Abstract
• Keywords in English

Writing Guidelines:

• The manuscript should be prepared using Word 2003 or a later version, formatted on A4 paper.
• The margins should be set to 5 cm on the right and 2.5 cm on the left, top, and bottom.
• Line spacing should be 1.5 lines for the text and 2 lines between sections.
• Both lines and pages should be numbered consecutively.
• For Persian text, use the B Nazanin font, and for English text, use Times New Roman.

Title:

• The title should be concise and reflect the main content of the article, not exceeding 25 words.
• It must be centered and should not include author names.

Abstract and Keywords in Persian:

• Abstract: The abstract should briefly state the objectives (2 lines), methods (up to 4 lines, mentioning variables and observations), results (highlight the key result, including a numerical value in parentheses), and a general conclusion (1 line). The abstract must not exceed 250 words.
• Keywords: Select 3 to 5 keywords that encapsulate the important concepts of the research.

Introduction:

• The introduction should provide a brief explanation of the research topic, its significance, and emphasize the latest scientific findings. It should clearly state the research objectives and hypotheses.

Materials and Methods:

• This section should include a comprehensive description of materials, methods used, experimental design, sampling methods, and statistical analysis. Any new methods should be clearly described, and references should be cited when using existing methods.

Results:

• Results should be presented in a variety of forms, such as figures, tables, or textual descriptions. Avoid redundant data presentation.

Important Notes on Table and Figure Titles:

• Titles must accurately reflect the content of the table or figure. Generic titles are not acceptable.
• Tables should not use abbreviations unless necessary, and any symbols should be explained beneath the table.
• Figures containing text must be in English, and figure captions should be placed at the end of the manuscript.

Discussion:

• The discussion should provide a scientific analysis of the results, comparing them with other studies and assessing how well the results meet the study’s objectives.

Conclusions:

• Summarize the key findings and provide recommendations based on the research.

Acknowledgments:

• Acknowledge organizations or individuals who contributed to the research.

Declaration of interests:

• All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence or bias their work.

Funding sources:

• Authors must disclose any funding sources who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article. The role of sponsors, if any, should be declared about the study design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, writing of the report, and the decision to submit the article for publication. If funding sources had no such involvement this should be stated in your submission. If no funding has been provided for the research, it is recommended to include the following sentence: "The authors received no specific funding for this project".

References:

• All references, both in Persian and English, should be listed in Latin script following the APA format. Persian references should include "[In Persian]" at the end.

Examples of References Formatting:

1. Books (with multiple authors and editions):
• Thicket, B., Mitchell, D., & Hallows, B. (1988). Calf Rearing (2nd ed.). United Kingdom: Farming Press Ltd. P. 199.
2. Book Chapters (from edited books):
• Piper, L., & Ruvinsky, A. (1997). The genetics of sheep (Ed.), Genetics of morphological traits and inherited disorders. New York: CAB International. Pp. 87-132.
3. Journal Articles:
• Ghavi Hossein-Zadeh, N. (2012). Genetic and phenotypic trends for dry days in the first three lactations of Iranian Holsteins. Animal Production Research, 1(3), 39-47. doi: 10.22124/ar.2012.20418.1507 [In Persian].
• Asadi, M., Ghoorchi, T., Toghdory, A., & Shahi, M. (2021). Effect of replacing different levels of wheat straw with cottonseed plant on performance digestibility, blood parameters, and rumination behavior in Dalagh ewes. Animal Production Research, 10(2), 63-72. [In Persian].
• Cha, J., Choo, H., Srikanth, K., et al. (2021). Genome-wide association study identifies 12 loci associated with body weight at age 8 weeks in Korean native chickens. Genes (Basel), 12(8), 1170.
4. Online Journal Articles:
• Blanco, M., Casasus, I., & Palacio, J. (2009). Effect of age at weaning on physiological stress response and temperament of two beef cattle breeds. Animal, 3, 108-117.
5. Web Documents (with and without authors):
• Zanton, G., & Heinrichs, J. (2008). Limit feeding dairy heifers: Strategies and recommendations. The Pennsylvania State University, Department Of Animal and Dairy Science, Retrieved June 13, 2008, from https://www.psu.edu/deiry.
• Food and Agriculture Organization. (2000). Biodiversity: Agricultural biodiversity in FAO. Retrieved January 12, 2009, from http://www.fao.org/biodiversity.
6. Ph.D. Dissertations:
• Zeb, A. (1998). Possibility and limitation of feeding rapeseed meal to broiler chicks. Ph.D. dissertation, George August University, Gottingen.
7. Conference Proceedings:
• Abdullahpour, R., Moradi Shahrbabak, M., Mehrbani Yeganeh, H., et al. (2006). Genetic analysis of dystocia in Holstein cattle of Iran by threshold and linear models, In: Proceeding of 8th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, 13-18 Aug., Brazil. Pp. 1-3.

English Extended Abstract:

• The English abstract must be an extended abstract with 700-1000 words. It should include sections such as Introduction, Materials and methods, Results and discussion, and Conclusions. Avoid citing references in the extended abstract.
• Keywords should immediately follow the extended abstract and must be an exact translation of the Persian keywords.

Provision of the final version of the manuscript for acceptance for publication:

Please follow the instructions below to submit the final version of the manuscript for acceptance for publication:

1. Review Writing Guidelines: Authors must review the journal’s guidelines and use recent published articles or the provided templates as a reference for formatting.
2. Remove Markups: All tracked changes and comments must be removed before submission.
3. Proofread for Typographical Errors: Ensure consistent spacing and correct use of half-spaces in the text.
4. Update Author Information: Names, addresses, and author order should be correctly added according to the commitment form.
5. Consistency Across Submission: Ensure all sections (e.g., authors, abstracts, keywords) in the final manuscript match what was submitted in the journal system.
6. Abstract Clarity: The abstract must clearly outline the methodology, results, and numeric findings. The English abstract should be a precise translation of the Persian abstract.
7. Keywords: Keywords must be alphabetically ordered.
8. Methodology: The methods section should be clear and comprehensible without external references.
9. Reference Formatting: Ensure references follow the journal’s guidelines and match those cited in the text.
10. Image Text: If images contain text, the text must be in English.
11. Table and Figure Placement: Tables and figures should be placed at the top or bottom of pages and not in the middle of the text.
12. Table and Figure Titles: Titles must be detailed and clearly describe the contents.
13. Two-Column Layout: If possible, format the article in two columns to speed up the publication process.
14. Line Spacing: Set line spacing to single.
15. Updating Changed Sections: Any updated sections (e.g., title, keywords, abstracts) must be re-uploaded in the journal system.
16. File Naming: The final file should be named using the full manuscript number (e.g., AR-1508-1029 (R4)).
17. Page Margins: Set page margins to 2.5 cm on all sides.
18. Final File Submission: Upload the final version of the article without any highlighted changes.

This ensures the manuscript complies with all requirements for acceptance and publication. The corresponding author will receive proofs, which should be corrected and returned within one week of receipt.

The conflict of Interest form can be downloaded here.

The copyright transfer form can be downloaded here.

A complete guide for the authors of this journal (Persian version) is available at: https://ar.guilan.ac.ir/journal/authors.note?lang=fa