Author's instruction page:

All articles and opinion pieces to be considered for publication in Lignocellulose are to be submitted online, using the Submit Item feature, by selecting "Author submissions" at top. More instructions regarding using the submissions software are given below. Articles must be written in English. Major forms of standard written English (e.g. U.S., British, and Australian) may be used, as long as one is consistent. Authors must keep in mind that submitted articles must be previously unpublished material, with the exception that material appearing in the preprints to a conference, etc., can be republished, with the permission of the copyright owner and there must be an Acknowledgments section stating the first appearance of the material, as well as describing the permissions under which the material is being published again.

In cases where the DOC (WORD) for an article is larger than 2 megabytes, the article itself will not be able to be uploaded during the online submission process (see below). Nevertheless, authors are asked to please complete the online submission process, just skipping the step of uploading their article. The latter should be sent, subsequently, in an e-mail to the editor, with an explanation that the author has opened a corresponding account in Open Journal Systems.

Article Preparation: Authors are required to use a template (see below), so that the format matches the example. For instance, the font styles, sizes, and margins need to match that of the template example for each item in the article. After renaming a copy of the template file, it is recommended to copy items from your original file one-by-one, using a command sequence such as "paste special, unformatted text," and copy to the next line after the corresponding item in the template file. Then make any adjustments so that the font style, size, margins, etc., exactly match the format of the original content of the template. Then delete the default text from the original template item.

Please be aware that submitted files larger than 2 MB will be rejected by the automated submission system (called Open Journal Systems). If the editable file for your submitted article is longer than this, please e-mail it directly to the editors. However, please ALSO complete the on-line submission process, even if you skip the step of uploading a document file. You will know that you are done after you have entered "Finish Sumbission." At that point in the process you will have an opportunity to select "Active files" and make note of the ID number (which will be referred to as "Lignocellulose ####", replacing the #'s with digits) of your submitted article.

Authors can ease the burden on the process of editing and reviewing by avoiding the use of excessively high resolution graphics. When incorporating images into an article to be submitted to Lignocellulose, it is recommended that the image files be modified, as necessary, so that no one of them has a file size larger than about 250 kBytes. Most image processing software provides ways to descrease file size, often by reducing the nominal size of a JPEG image, etc. Due to the default settings that are used during the creation of PDF files, the resolution of the published version usually is not affected by moderate reductions in the resolution of the original image files that become inserted into a document.

If you are interested in submitting an Opinion Piece (Editorial) or a Review Article, then please scroll down (below the discussion of peer-review article submissions).

Peer-reviewed articles: In the case of original research articles, prospective authors are required to use the exact format as exhibited in the downloadable MS WORD article template document. Please click on the appropriate link in the previous sentence. Just replace the title and other contents of the downloaded template document with your own title and other contents. When pasting, please use a "paste special / unformatted" sequence so that your copying does not introduce unintended changes in fonts, margins, or various auto-format settings of the software. Don't worry about making changes to the footer that comes from the template; the editors will take care of those details. Within the text of the template you will find further author instructions. The following is a summary. A more detailed "Style Guide" for articles in general appears at the bottom of this page.

Abstract length: Target 150 words; maximum 200 words

Article length: Typically 4 to 20 pages, following the required format

Scope: Science and engineering of biomass from lignocellulosic sources for new end uses and new capabilities; examples include advances in wood science, new uses of crop residues, biofuels, biocomposites, papermaking, and chemical production that is based on plant material that contains substantial amounts of cellulose or lignin. The journal scope does not include consideration of articles mainly dealing with waste remediation, food, or pharmaceuticals (except as derived form lignocellulosic sources).

Audience: Please bear in mind that the likely audience will be multi-disciplinary; your work needs to be understood by scientists and specialists who may have very different backgrounds from your own.

Opinion pieces: The editors will have sole discretion in accepting a limited number of suitable opinion pieces, which will be called "Editorials." These items will not be peer-reviewed. Suitable opinion pieces will be selected based on the judgment of the editors that the ideas will help to stimulate a discussion among practitioners in the field of lignocellulosic bioresources. Prospective authors should use the exact format as exhibited in the downloadable MS WORD opinion piece template document. Note that this template is different in detail from that used for peer-review articles (see previous item).

Length: Typically 1 to 2 pages, following the required format

Scope: We are particularly interested in opinions related to the pace, direction, and barriers to implementation of sustainable, environmentally responsible solutions to society's needs for energy, materials, and products.

Review articles: The editors may either request review articles or consider articles that are submitted without request. Review articles that appear to generally fall within the scope and other requirements of the journal will be subject to the same peer-review process that was discussed in the case of research articles. Authors who are planning major review articles are encouraged to contact the editors at an early stage to confirm that the topic is within the scope and interest of the journal.

Format: The required format is similar to that used for research articles, with the exception that headings such as "Experimental," "Results and Discussion," and "Conclusions" should be replaced with more appropriate headings, consistent with the contents of the article. Please use a downloadable review article template as a MS WORD file.

Length: The length of review articles generally should be within 4 to 20 pages, but the literature references are not included in the page count. The editors reserve the right to waive the 20 page limit in case of reviews of unusual quality and importance. However, it is well appreciated that many articles can be improved in quality by shortening them.

Contact information: If questions remain that are not answered in this template document or elsewhere on the website, please feel free to contact the editors at one of the following email addresses: O_ramezani@sbu.ac.ir or lignocellulose@sbu.ac.ir.

Submission Instructions

Lignocellulose is one of many online journals that use an automated software system known as "Open Journal Systems" (OJS). This system is highly sophisticated and capable, but it is necessary to follow certain procedures. Please be aware that the appearance of some of the screens will change, depending on whether or not you have logged on, registered, etc. Here is a general stepwise procedure that may be useful in case you run into questions during the submissions process:

1. From the links at the upper left of the present screen, select "Author Submissions."

2. Log in. Unless you have set your system to log you in automatically, you ought to first look at the upper right of your screen. Look for the word USER. Below that heading find the word Username, with a box at the right. Below that you should see the word Password, with another box at the right. Please use these boxes if you already have registered. If you are not yet registered with the site (in other words, you don't yet have a user name and password), then click on the "Log In" box just below "Password," and then follow the prompts. Please write down your user name and password. Authors who have forgotten their password or user ID should contact one of the editors, who can let you know your ID and create a new password for you.

3. The next screen that you come to usually will have the title "Lignocellulose" at the top, on a gray-green field. Below a series of links, you should see another heading, "User Home." Just below that, you should again see the word " Lignocellulose " as well as the underlined word "Author," which is a link. To submit an article you must select your role as "Author."

4. The next screen may show your "Active Submissions," if you have previously submitted an article. To submit a new article, look near the bottom of the text area, just above the words, "URL:lignocellulose.sbu.ac.ir". You will want to select the following underlined link: "STEP ONE OF THE SUBMISSIONS PROCESS." Select that link, and follow the prompts.

5. Continue through the process, following the prompts. Make sure to fill in the four required check-boxes, if true. If you run into difficulty (for instance maybe your file exceeds the 2 megabyte maximum size), please contact the editors. Though it is very helpful to the process to have the submission carried out by means of the software system, the editors also can enter the information after receiving a manuscript by e-mail. Make sure to select "save and continue" at the bottom of each screen, and do not stop until after you have selected "Finish submission" at the bottom of the final page.

6. Also, when you get to the very end of the submissions process on OJS you will have an opportunity to select a link to "Active submissions". It is recommended to click on that link and make note of the ID number of your article. Let's suppose that you found that your ID number was "1234". In that case you would make sure to put "Lignocellulose 1234" somewhere in the subject line of each e-mail that you send to the editor who is assigned to your article.