Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology (ANFT) is published tri-annually (January, May and September) in English by the Animal Nutrition Association, India. The suitability of papers for publication in the journal is judged by the peer review. The Editor-in-Chief has full responsibility for papers which are edited in the order received.

A. Submission of Papers

1. Manuscript of original full-length papers (limited to about 6000 words), review articles (up to 8000 words) and short communications (up to 2500 words) must be typed using Times New Roman (font size 11) on A-4 paper, 1.5- spaced. The main document, complete with the tables and figures, should be submitted as a single file using the journal’s online platform. The entire manuscript must be page-numbered and line-numbered continuously. The manuscript, in general, should be organized in the order:
   • Running short title (limited to 50 characters)
   • Title (should be clear and not too long)
   • Present address(es) of authors
   • Abstract
   • Key words (maximum 5)
   • Text of research paper divided into Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgements (if any), References, Tables and Figures.
2. Tables should be 1.5-spaced and as few as possible. Weights and measures must be expressed in the metric system and temperature in the Celsius scale. Data on diet composition and digestibility, etc. must be in percentages. Metabolizable energy including other measures of dietary energy must be in presented in kcal/g or Mcal/kg
3. The legends for figures should be typed on a separate sheet. Photographs should be carefully prepared and labelled on the back with the figure number.
4. The preferred medium of submission of the revised manuscript by the corresponding author is by email (anft.journal@gmail.com).

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B. Structure of Manuscripts

Title Page

The first page of the manuscript should start with a title page containing (in that order) a short title, main title, author(s) name(s), institution, corresponding author’s details and present address additional institutional address of author(s) (if any), the title page should start with the short title (running head or abbreviated title), typed in normal italics and placed at the centre. The short title at the top is to be followed by the main title to be typed in boldfaced print using both upper and lower case (Sentence Case) letters and set in the centre of the page. The names of the authors follow; the names are to be written using initials (with no space in between letters) followed by the surnames. Naming an author for a manuscript on a paper implies that the person named is aware of the research reported and agrees with and accepts responsibility for any results or conclusions reported.
The address of the institution where the research was conducted should include the name of the institution, city, postal code and country. This should be typed using upper and lower case letters. The name of the author responsible for correspondence should be marked with an asterisk, and identified at the bottom along with the detailed address, phone number (preferably mobile phone) and e-mail address. When a paper has several authors from different institutions, key the author to the address with superscripts (Arabic numerals) and present the additional addresses as footnotes at the bottom of the page, after the corresponding author’s details. A model title page can be found above.

Abstract

The abstract (not more than 300 words) should appear on a separate page following the title page. The word ABSTRACT is centred, printed in boldface print using capital letters. The text of the abstract should start on the next line. The abstract should summarize pertinent results in a brief but understandable form. It should start with a statement defining the objectives, followed by a brief description of the experimental design (no. of animals with mean age, sex and body weight, and study duration), important findings (based the statistical analysis) and conclusions of the experiment. Abbreviations that appear in the abstract must be defined before they are first used.

Keywords

List up to five keywords, arranged alphabetically, at the end of the abstract that best describes the nature of the research; the term ‘Keywords’ is to be typed bold-faced followed by a colon. The first letter of each keyword is in upper case and keywords are separated by commas. Keywords should include the species, key variables tested and the major response criteria.

Headings

Major headings (INTRODUCTION, MATERIALS AND METHODS, RESULTS, DISCUSSION or RESULTS AND DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, if any, and REFERENCES) are aligned with the left margin, with the entire heading capitalized using bold-faced type. Major headings of review papers may deviate from this standard format.

Sub-headings (if required):

First sub-heading should appear at the left margin on a separate line in normal italics with only the first letter capitalized and followed by no punctuation. Second sub-heading should appear at the beginning of the first line of a paragraph in normal italics followed by a colon and with only the first letter capitalized.

Introduction

The introduction should start on a new page following the abstract. It should justify the research problem based on a brief review of the latest background literature, leading to the gap in knowledge, and specify the hypothesis to be tested. The introduction should invariably end with the objective(s) of the study.

Material and Methods

A clear description or specific original reference is required for all biological, analytical and statistical procedures used in the experiment. Routine and widely used protocols must not be presented in detail; a simple mention of the concerned reference should serve the purpose. However, modification(s) of the procedures, if any, must be briefly explained. Diets, animals (breed, sex, age, body weight and weighing condition), analytical techniques, measurements and statistical models should be described. While defining the dietary groups, the authors should avoid using notations like T1, T2, T3, … Authors should rather use abbreviations reflecting the datary treatments (as far as possible). For example, in an experiment studying the effects of three levels of dietary protein, the grouping could be represented as LP (low protein), MP (medium protein) and HP (high protein) or CP14, CP16 and CP18, if the study uses 14, 16 and 18 per cent protein in the diets, respectively. These grouping-abbreviations should be defined separately in the abstract as well as in the Materials & Methods sections, and subsequently used throughout the manuscript including the tables and figures. While mentioning time, the 12-hour clock system should be used (e.g., 5.00 am, 6.45 pm).

Results and Discussion

Results (may be combined with discussion) should be presented in tabular form. The text should elaborate or explain on the tabular data without repeating the numbers extensively within the text. The discussion should interpret the results clearly and concisely and should integrate literature results with the research findings to provide the reader with a broad base on which to accept or reject the hypothesis tested. A paragraph may follow the discussion explaining the implications of the findings of the research. If results have no implications, this should be stated.

Conclusion

The conclusion should be brief (limited to two/three sentences at best) and based strictly on the logical outcome of the study. The authors should keep in mind the objectives of the study while writing the conclusion. Additionally, a sentence proposing future research may also be included in the end, if the authors feel so.

References

References in the text should be cited either Sharma (1998) or (Sharma, 1998; Hasan et al., 1978) or Hasan et al. (1978); Sharma and Ogra (1990) or (Sharma and Ogra, 1990). Multiple references, when quoted in for single statement, must be arranged chronologically in ascending order. The references in the bibliography should be listed alphabetically adopting the following style:

• Book:
  • AOAC. 1980. Official Methods of Analysis, 13th ed. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Washington, DC.
  • FAO. 2004. Assessing Quality and Safety of Animal Feeds. FAO Animal Production and Health Paper 160. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy.
  • NRC. 2001. Nutrient Requirements of Dairy Cattle, 7th rev. ed. National Research Council. National Academies Press, Washington, DC.
  • Suttle, N.F. 2010. Mineral Nutrition of Livestock, 4th ed. CAB International, Wallingford, UK.
• Edited book/Book chapter:
  • Weichbrod, R.H., Thompson, G.A.H. and Norton, J.N. (Eds.). 2018. Management of Animal Care and Use Programs in Research, Education, and Testing, 2nd ed. CRC Press/Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, FL, USA.
  • Merril, L.B. and Taylor, C.A. 1981.Diet selection, grazing habits and place of goats in range management. In: Goat Production (Ed. C. Gall). Academic Press, NY, USA, pp. 233-252.
  • Fitzsimmons, K. 2006. Prospect and potential for global production. In: Tilapia Biology, Culture and Nutrition (Eds. C. Lim and C.D. Webster). The Haworth Press, Binghamton, NY, USA, pp. 51-72.
• Conference paper:
  • Pattanaik, A.K., Sastry, V.R.B., Katiyar, R.C. and Lal, M. 1998. Energy kinetics in crossbred calves on synchronized rumen degradable protein and starch-based diets. In: Proceedings of VIII World Animal Production Conference, July 3-8, 1998, Seoul, Korea, pp. 58-59 (Abstr.).
  • Promkot, C. and Wanapat, M. 2007. Effect of sulfur on rumen ecology, blood metabolites, hormones and production in lactating dairy cows supplemented with fresh cassava foliage or cassava hay. In: Proceedings MEKARN Regional Conference 2007: Matching Livestock Systems with Available Resources (Eds. R. Preston and B. Ogle), November 25-28, 2007, Halong Bay, Vietnam.
• Thesis:
  • Pedrock, H.B. 1987. Ammoniated Rice Straw as a Feed for Growing Cattle. PhD Thesis, University of New England, Armidale, Australia.
• Journal article by page numbers:
  • Ricardi, C. and Shimada, A. 1992. A note on diet selection by goats on a semi-arid temperate rangeland throughout the year. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 33: 239-247.
• Journal article by DOI (with no page numbers):
  • Kala, A., Kamra, D.N., Kumar, A., Agarwal, N., Chaudhary, L.C. and Joshi, C.G. 2017. Impact of levels of total digestible nutrients on microbiome, enzyme profile and degradation of feeds in buffalo rumen. PLoS One, 12(2): e0172051. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0172051
  • Pawar, M.M., Pattanaik, A.K., Sinha, D.K., Goswami, T.K. and Sharma, K. 2017. Effect of dietary mannanoligosaccharide supplementation on nutrient digestibility, hindgut fermentation, immune response and antioxidant indices in dogs. Journal of Animal Science and Technology, 59, 11. DOI:10.1186/s40781-017-0136-6
• Journal article with an article number (with no DOI):
  • Dutta, N., Dubey, M., Banerjee, P.S., Pattanaik, A.K., Sharma, K., Kumar, P. and Narang, A. 2012. Effect of supplementing tanniferous tree leaves mixture on immune response and GI nematodes in kids. Livestock Research for Rural Development, 24, 35. http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd24/2/dutt24035.htm.
• Electronic material/Reference to a website:
  • Lückstädt, C., Kühlmann, K.J. and Tho, V. 2012. Effect of dietary sodium diformate on performance and litter quality in broiler till 42 days post-hatch. https://en.engormix.com/poultry-industry/articles/effect-dietary-sodium-diformate-t35441.htm (Accessed 08 December 2019).
  • Haffaf, S., Chachoua, I., Djaalab, I., Allaoui, A. and Mamache, B. 2013. Interest of peripartum mineral profile in the management of breeding reproductive ewes. In: Proceedings of the Conference of Meeting on Ruminant Research, Paris, France, p. 375. http://journees3r.fr/IMG/pdf/Texte_10_repro_S_Haffaf.pdf (Accessed 12 January 2020).

Tables

Tables should present numerical data in a self-explanatory manner. Any abbreviation used in a table must be defined in that table as a footnote. The tables should be typed double-spaced with each table on a separate sheet and placed immediately after the references. Paginate the tables in series with the text. All the tables should be cited in the text. Arabic numerals should be used to number the tables. The table title and number is typed in a normal face. The title of the table continues on the same line with only the first letter capitalized. Column headings should have normal italics with the first letter of each word capitalized.
Presentation of pooled standard errors, the general basis for statistical comparisons of means is recommended when the variance is homogenous because presenting individual standard error tends to clutter up the tables. These should be presented in a separate column or row. Standard errors can be attached to each mean by ± sign when variance or standard errors are heterogeneous (e.g. unbalanced experiment or unequal error). For diet composition, present major ingredient inclusion levels as a percentage of the total rather than in g/kg of diet.
The overall size of the table (including the number of columns and rows) must be decided keeping in mind the payout (page-side) of the journal (12×18 cm).
Authors must explain the relevant information given in the header rows/columns (e.g., different dietary groups, units for enzymes, typical abbreviations, etc.) in the footnote using the following symbols as superscripts: †, ‡, §, ¶, # (in that order). P values should be denoted by asterisks: *, ** and *** to denote P<0.05, P<0.01 and P<0.001, respectively, the case may be. Superscripts to differentiate among groups must use alphabets (a, b, c, …) placed after the mean (54.3ab±2.46, and not after SE as 54.3±2.46ab) with no space in-between.

Figures

Figures should be numbered with Arabic numerals, have descriptive captions, and be mentioned in the text. Photographs submitted must be of high quality for direct reproduction.
Line drawings (in black and white) should be designed with the format of the page of the journal in mind and should be of such a size (including letterings) as to allow a reduction of 50 per cent.
All line- and bar-diagrams must be presented with Error bars. Separate (EXCEL) file(s) for line drawings should also be submitted along with the data.
All abbreviations used in a figure should be defined in the title by placing them after the immediately after the title within square brackets.

Reprints

The journal has no page charges; the corresponding author will be provided with a soft copy (pdf version) of the published article. However, the authors of the accepted manuscripts are required to pay nominal charges towards the processing cost. The exact amount to be paid by the authors would be communicated at the time of conveying the final acceptance.

Common Abbreviations

All abbreviations should be defined in parentheses the first time they appear in the main text. In the case of abstract, if a particular abbreviation is not used multiple times, it is better not to abbreviate the terms and use the expanded form. However, the followings are considered as standard abbreviations for the journal and can be used directly without the need for defining.