DOI: 10.

31398/tpjf
The Philippine Print ISSN: 0048-377X
Journal of Fisheries Online ISSN: 2672-2836

Guide for Authors

Table of Contents

About TPJF p.1

Manuscript Submission p.1
Type of Manuscript p.2
Manuscript Preparation p.3
Submission Checklist p.4
Publication Policy
General Guide p.5
Copyright and Permission p.5
Authorship and Contributorship p.5
Conflict of Interest p.6
Data and Reproducibility p.6
Ethical Consideration p.6
Plagiarism, Misreporting,
and Falsification of Data p.7
Manuscript Charges and
Color Reproduction p.8
Article withdrawal p.8
Article Retraction p.8
Complaints, Appeals, and Allegations p.8
References p.8
Peer Review Process p.9

About TPJF

The Philippine Journal of Fisheries (TPJF) is the official joint publication of the Bureau
of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the National Fisheries Research and
Development Institute (NFRDI). It is a semi-annual, open-access journal that accepts
research article, short communication, review article, commentary, and policy brief on
relevant topics covering all aspects of fisheries, both in basic and applied sciences.
Some of the related fields of studies are Capture Fisheries, Aquaculture, Postharvest
Technology, Marketing and Industry, Aquatic Ecology, Oceanography, Aquatic Resource
Conservation, Health of Aquatic Organisms, Biotechnology, Food Safety and Traceability,
Socioeconomics, and Systematics in freshwater, estuarine, marine, and other identifiable
water habitats. The articles are held to a high standard by undergoing a rigorous peer-
review process by experts in particular fields of fisheries and aquatic sciences.

Manuscript Submission

The manuscript (including text, figures, and tables) and the cover letter should be
submitted electronically via TPJF website under Publish>Submit Manuscript, or e-mail
us directly at [email protected]. Please use the manuscript and the cover letter
templates provided by the journal. It is expected that authors have read our Publication
Policy.

The manuscript should be prepared in a Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx) and the file
name should be clearly labeled with the corresponding author’s last name and title
running head (e.g. Mutia_Distribution of Sardinella tawilis larvae in Lake Taal).

TPJF-GUIDE FOR AUTHORS www.nfrdi.da.gov.ph/tpjf 1

Types of Manuscript

A. A research article is a full-length paper reporting new research findings with

sufficient details for validation and reproducibility. It should be approximately
5000-8000 words long, including abstract, acknowledgment, and references.

B. A review article is a critical review presenting objective synthesis and assessment

of topics within the scope of the Journal and carefully interpreting and critiquing
said knowledge based on available literature. It is more flexible in terms of format
and length but is stricter on having at least 30 literature references, preferably
published over the last five years. A review article may be submitted directly or by
invitation.

C. A short communication is a concise but complete description of new concepts,

investigations, experimental methods, models, technical operations, or applied
activities to inform readers of development in a particular research area. Short
Communications are limited to 3000 words and are not subdivided (no need to
label headings such as Introduction, Materials and Methods, etc.). However, it
should contain an abstract, main body, and references, and should have no more
than 6 figures or tables, combined. The abstract is limited to 100 words.

D. A commentary is a scholarly article that expresses a personal opinion or a new

perspective about existing research on a particular topic. A commentary may be
commissioned by the editor-in-chief or editorial board members, or spontaneously
submitted. They are not minireviews. Commentaries do not include original data
and are heavily dependent on the author’s perspective or anecdotal evidence
from the author’s personal experience to support the argument. It should be
approximately 1000-1500 words long. No need for abstracts or keywords. However,
it should contain the following:
a. Background - This should explain the background to the article, its aims, a
summary of a search of the existing literature, and the issue under discussion.
b. Main text - This should contain the body of the article, and may also be broken
into subsections with short, informative headings.
c. Conclusions - This should state clearly the main findings and include an
explanation of their relevance or importance to the field.

E. A policy brief is a “concise summary of a particular issue, the policy options to

deal with it, and some recommendations on the best option” (FAO Food Security
Communications toolkit). It is aimed at government policymakers and others who
are interested in formulating or influencing policy. It is more flexible in terms of
format and length but is typically a single sheet containing around 700 words and
may have one or more photographs. Longer briefs can take up to 8 pages or 3,000
words.

TPJF-GUIDE FOR AUTHORS www.nfrdi.da.gov.ph/tpjf 2

Manuscript Preparation

A. General Guidelines

1. The manuscript should be submitted and compiled in the following order: Title
page; title, abstract, and keywords; main text; acknowledgments; supplementary
material (if applicable); author contributions; conflicts of interest; ethics
statement; references; tables with captions. All figures should be submitted in a
separate file.

2. The manuscript text should be in Times New Roman, 12 point, double-spaced, with
at least one-inch margin on each side, justified throughout, and with continuous
line numbers

3. TPJF adopts the Scientific Style and Format developed by the Council of Science
Editors. Refer to their website for your in-text citation and reference list.

4. Figure captions should appear below each figure, flush left.

5. Figure formats should be 600 dpi in TIFF/JPG/JPEG format.

6. Measurements should adhere to the internationally accepted rules (i.e.,

international system of units or SI). Do not italicize the units. Kindly consult this
website.

7. Page numbers are at the right bottom of the page.

8. Abbreviations should be defined at first mention and used consistently thereafter.

B. Manuscript Structure

1. Title page shall contain the following:

a. Type of article (e.g., research article, short communication, review article,

commentary, policy brief);
b. Title of the article;
c. Author/s’ full name/s, affiliations, mailing addresses, e-mail addresses, and ORCID
d. Identify the corresponding author (the primary contact person of the editors).

2. Manuscript text must be separated from the Title Page with a page break. It should
contain the following:

a. Title;
b. Abstract – maximum of 250 words are required for all types of manuscripts;
c. Key Words – three (3) to six (6) words to identify the most important topics covered
in the paper and for indexing purposes;
d. The main text should be structured and numbered consecutively as (depending
on the type of manuscript): 1. Introduction; 2. Materials and Methods; 3. Results;
4. Discussion; 5. Conclusion. Acknowledgment, supplementary material (if
applicable), author contributions, conflicts of interest, ethics statement, and
references need not be numbered but they must be properly labeled.

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3. Tables
a. Tables should appear at the end of the main text, after the references section. Do
not embed tables and figures in the text.
b. They should be numbered in the order in which they appear in the text (e.g. Table
1, Table 2, etc.). Contents (including captions) must be set in Times New Roman 12
point.
c. Table captions should appear above each table, flush left. Any legend or footnotes
must be clearly identified below the table. Avoid vertical lines.

4. Figures
a. Figures should have the highest quality format possible. Photographs and scanned
materials should be of a minimum resolution of 600 dpi in TIFF/JPG/JPEG format.
b. Because figures are usually large files, send them in a separate document
complete with captions appearing below the figure, flush left, Times New Roman,
12 point.
c. Figures should be numbered in the order in which they appear in the text (e.g.
Figure 1, Figure 2, etc).
d. Maps should have the following elements: scale bar, north arrow, latitude/longitude
(graticule lines), legend, and inset/locator maps. Maps should be georeferenced
or drawn using appropriate software or application. You may check this source to
be guided on designing maps for scientific publication.

Submission Checklist
You can use this list to carry out a final check of your submission before you send it to us.
Please check the relevant section in this Guide for Authors for more details.

Ensure that the following items are present:

1. One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:
• E-mail address
• Contact number
• ORCID identifier

2. All necessary files have been uploaded.

a. Manuscript:
i. Include keywords
ii. Figures (include relevant captions)
iii. Tables (including titles, description, footnotes)
iv. Ensure all figure and table citations in the text match the files provided
b. Supplemental files (where applicable)

3. Further considerations:
• Manuscript has been 'spell checked' and 'grammar checked'
• All references mentioned in the Reference List are cited in the text, and vice versa
Sources found online must be properly cited with links or DOI. Please refer to the
manuscript template or check the Scientific Style and Format style guide.
• Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources
(including the Internet)
• A conflicts of interest and ethics statement is provided in the manuscript.
• Journal policies detailed in this guide have been reviewed
• Referee suggestions and contact details provided in the cover letter.

TPJF-GUIDE FOR AUTHORS www.nfrdi.da.gov.ph/tpjf 4

 Publication Policy
General Guide
The Philippine Journal of Fisheries (TPJF) publishes scientifically significant papers on
relevant topics covering all aspects of fisheries, both in basic and applied sciences. Some
of the related fields of studies are Capture Fisheries, Aquaculture, Postharvest Technology,
Marketing and Industry, Aquatic Ecology, Oceanography, Aquatic Resource Conservation,
Health of Aquatic Organisms, Biotechnology, Food Safety and Traceability, Socioeconomics,
and Systematics in freshwater, estuarine, marine, and other identifiable water habitats,
among others.

The journal strictly considers that the manuscript is the authors’ original work and has not
been previously published elsewhere, nor is it submitted partly or wholly in any other
journal.

All manuscripts and materials submitted to TPJF should contain accurate information
and properly cite all sources, including the author’s previous work. It is assumed that the
analyses and conclusions are not based on fraudulent data. All manuscripts will undergo
a doubleblind peer-review process (see Peer Review Process).

The contents of the journal will be available in open access through the journal’s website.
Issues are released every June and December yearly.

In submitting to TPJF, all authors must agree to abide by TPJF editorial and journal policies.

Copyright and Permission

TPJF, as an open access journal, is publishing Creative Commons-licensed research,
which promotes access and re-use of scientific and scholarly research. TPJF fulfills the
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) definition of open access.

Authors who submit manuscripts to us agree that their work will be licensed under a CC
BY-NC 4.0 license (This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon
the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so
long as attribution is given to the creator). However, if your work contains a novel method
or requires protection over the discovery of new technology, let us know beforehand to
guide you in finding the appropriate license option.

The authors retain the copyright of published articles without restrictions.

Authors who desire to include previously published figures, tables, or text excerpts in their
papers must seek permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online
formats and give proof of such permission when submitting their papers. Any material
received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.

Authorship and Contributorship

All authors must have contributed substantially to the research and preparation of the
manuscript. For the submission of each revision of the paper and any authorship change,
the corresponding author must have received permission from all the authors.

For transparency, TPJF requires authors to submit an author statement file, included in the
cover letter, outlining their individual contributions to the paper using the relevant
Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) roles. Authorship statements should be formatted
first with the writers' names following the CRediT role(s). An author may mention more

TPJF-GUIDE FOR AUTHORS www.nfrdi.da.gov.ph/tpjf 5

than one contribution, and more than one author may have contributed to the same
aspect of the work. This should also reflect in the manuscript itself under the section
Author Contributions.

See sample below.

Juan dela Cruz: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software
Angel Santos.: Data curation, Writing-Original draft preparation
Joshua Valencia: Visualization, Investigation.
Jan Reyes: Supervision.
Nicole Cruz: Software, Validation
Adrian Gonzales: Writing-Reviewing and Editing

For more details on CRediT, click here.

In addition, TPJF strongly encourages all authors to use their Open Researcher and
Contributor ID (ORCID) when submitting papers. ORCID provides a persistent digital
identifier that distinguishes an author from every other researcher. When provided,
published articles display the ORCID logo and link to an author’s ORCID record. Learn
more or register for ORCID here.

The addition of authors is only allowed up to the final proof. After the authors have
submitted their final corrections, no other changes to the list of authors will be accepted.
It is understood that all authors have read the the Journal’s Publication Policy.

Conflict of Interest
All authors should disclose any conflict of interest that might be perceived to influence
the authors’ objectivity. Also called competing interests, conflicts of interest are defined
as financial, personal, social, or other interests that directly or indirectly influence the
author’s conduct with respect to the particular manuscript (Sengupta and Honavar 2017).
If there is no conflict of interest to declare, state it explicitly, both in the cover letter and the
manuscript (under the section Conflicts of Interest).

A potential conflict of interest includes but not limited to:

• Patent ownership;
• Fund sources;
• Author or suggested reviewer has a substantial direct or indirect financial interest in
the subject matter of the manuscript;
• One of the authors belongs to the same institution as the suggested reviewer;
• The suggested reviewer has on-going research collaborations or grants with one of
the authors

Data and Reproducibility

TPJF encourages authors to provide an optional statement of data availability in their
manuscripts. Data Availability Statements should include information on where to find
data that supports the findings presented in the paper, including, when appropriate,
hyperlinks to publicly archived datasets analyzed or generated during the study. Data
availability statements can also indicate whether data are available on request from the
authors and where no data are available, if appropriate.

Example statements:

“The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available
in the [NAME] repository, [PERSISTENT LINK TO DATASETS]” “The datasets generated during

TPJF-GUIDE FOR AUTHORS www.nfrdi.da.gov.ph/tpjf 6

and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author
on reasonable request.”

Ethical Consideration
TPJF adheres to the standards, best practices, and regulations set by various Philippine
laws and institutions such as the Republic Act (RA) 8550 “The Philippine Fisheries Code of
1988”, Republic Act 10654 “Amending RA 10654”, Republic Act 9147 “Wildlife Resources
Conservation and Protection Act”, Republic Act 11333 “National Museum of the Philippines
Act”, Republic Act 8485 “The Animal Welfare Act of 1988”, Republic Act 11038 “Expanded
National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 2018” and the National Committee on
Biosafety of the Philippines. Research on wildlife and genetic resources in the Philippines
is regulated through Executive Order (EO) 247.

For studies on species regulated under any Philippine law, state the following sentence or
an equivalent statement under the manuscript’s Ethics Statement: “The authors obtained
an authorization/permit/consent allowing (state what the document is about) from the
(state the issuing government office or institution).”

For studies involving human subjects, state the following sentence or an equivalent
statement in the manuscript under the Ethics Statement section that relates to a
particular study: “All the procedures followed were in line with the ethical principles of the
responsible committee on human experimentation and the 1975 Helsinki Declaration as
revised in 2000. The authors obtained informed consent from all participants for inclusion
in the study.” The following sentence should also be included if any identifying information
about participants is included in the paper: “Additional informed consent was obtained
from all individuals for whom identifying information is included in this article.”

For studies with animals, provide the following sentence in the manuscript under
the section Ethics Statement: “The researchers followed all institutional and national
guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals.”

If the authors did not carry out animal or human studies as part of their research, they must
include the following statement in the manuscript under the section Ethics Statement: “No
animal or human studies were carried out by the authors.”

If the authors have not included or cannot include one of these statements in their
manuscript, provide the reason or an alternative statement in the cover letter and the
manuscript.

Plagiarism, Misreporting, and Falsification of Data

Plagiarism is committed when one author uses another work without permission, credit, or
acknowledgment. Plagiarism takes different forms, from literary copying to paraphrasing
the work of another. In judging whether an author has plagiarized, the following definitions
may be used:
• Literal copying - reproducing a work word for word, in whole or in part, without
permission and acknowledgment of the source.
• Substantial copying - reproducing a substantial part of a work without permission
and acknowledgment of the source.

If there is any question about whether research results reported in a submitted article are
original to the purported author or authors, the editorial board shall make inquiries of the
authors and their institutions.

TPJF-GUIDE FOR AUTHORS www.nfrdi.da.gov.ph/tpjf 7

In addition, the managing editor will do a plagiarism check before sending the manuscript
to peer reviewers. A text similarity of below 15% is acceptable. If the manuscript were
detected to have greater than 15% text similarity, the submission would be rejected and
returned to the author right away.

All manuscripts and materials submitted to TPJF should contain accurate information
and should properly cite all sources. The editors and reviewers will report any suspected
plagiarism, misreporting, or falsification of data to the Editor-in-Chief.

Manuscript Charges and Color Reproduction

There is no publication fee. Color figures will be reproduced in the online publication free
of charge.

Article withdrawal
Only used for Advanced Online Publication (AOP) or Article in Press which represent
early versions of articles and sometimes contain errors. Authors themselves have the
prerogative to withdraw their paper for any personal or professional reasons. When an
article is withdrawn, its content (HTML and PDF) is removed and replaced with an HTML
page and PDF, stating that the article has been withdrawn.

Article Retraction
The articles may occasionally, but less frequently, violate professional and ethical
standards through multiple submissions, false authorship claims, plagiarism, fraudulent
use of data, or the like. Articles that include errors, are found to be accidental duplicates
of previously published article(s), or are found to violate our journal publishing ethics in
the view of the editors will be “retracted” from TPJF. Following several scholarly bodies, the
best practice is adopted by TPJF:

• A retraction note titled “Retraction: [article title]” signed by the authors and/or the
editor is published in the paginated part of a subsequent issue of the journal and
listed in the contents list.
• In the electronic version, a link is made to the original article.
• The online article is preceded by a screen containing the retraction note. It is to this
screen that the link resolves; the reader can then proceed to the article itself.
• The original article is retained unchanged save for a watermark on the .pdf indicating
on each page that it is “retracted.”
• The HTML version of the document is removed.

Archival Policy
TPJF articles are deposited in and available from multiple digital archives around the world.
Content published in TPJF shall be deposited in AquaDocs and NFRDI Digital Repository
to guarantee long-term digital preservation. The NFRDI Digital Repository uses DSpace,
an open-source software, developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Libraries. It is an Open Archives Initiative (OAI)-compliant. Materials deposited shall be
subjected to existing policies and regulations of the NFRDI Digital Repository.

Self-Archiving Policy
Authors are encouraged to deposit the final published PDF in their personal or institutional
repository.

Authors should provide a link from the deposited version to the URL of the published
article on the journal's website. In all cases, the requirement to link to the journal's website
is intended to protect the integrity and authenticity of the scientific record, with the online

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published version on the journal's website clearly identified as the definitive version of
record.

Authors are advised to check their funders' deposition requirements to ensure compliance.

Complaints, Appeals, and Allegations

In handling disputes that might arise due to and are not limited to authorship disputes,
corrections/retractions, plagiarism, and ethics, TPJF adheres to the guidance set by the
Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

References:
Executive Order No. 247. 1995. Prescribing Guidelines and Establishing a Regulatory
Framework for the Prospecting of Biological and Genetic Resources, their By-Products
and Derivatives, for Scientific and Commercial Purposes; and for Other Purposes. https://
www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1995/05/18/executive-order-no-247-s-1995/

Landscape Ecology. 2022. Submission guidelines. [Internet]. https://www.springer.com/

journal/10980/submission-guidelines

[PNAS] Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
2021. Editorial and Journal Policies [Internet]. Available from: https://www.pnas.org/
authors/editorial-and-journal-policies#peer-review-process

Republic Act No. 8485. 1998. An Act to Promote Animal Welfare in the Philippines, Otherwise
Known as "The Animal Welfare Act of 1998". https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1998/02/11/
republic-act-no-8485/

Republic Act No. 8550. 1998. An Act Providing for the Development, Management and
Conservation of the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Integrating All Laws Pertinent
Thereto, and for Other Purposes. https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1998/02/25/republic-
act-no-8550/

Republic Act No. 9147. 2001. An Act Providing for the Conservation and Protection of Wildlife
Resources and their Habitats, Appropriating Funds Therefor and for Other Purposes.
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2001/07/30/republic-act-no-9417/

Republic Act No. 10654. 2015. An Act to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported
and Unregulated Fishing, Amending Republic Act No. 8550, Otherwise Known as “The
Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998,” and for Other Purposes. https://www.officialgazette.
gov.ph/2015/02/27/republic-act-no-10654/

Republic Act No. 11038. 2018. An Act Declaring Protected Areas and Providing for Their
Management, Amending for This Purpose Republic Act No. 7586, Otherwise Known as the
"National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act of 1992" and for Other Purposes.
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/ downloads/2018/06jun/20180622-RA-11038-RRD.pdf

Republic Act No. 11333. 2018. An Act Strengthening the National Museum of the Philippines,
Repealing for the Purpose R.A. No. 8492, Otherwise Known as the "National Museum
Act of 1998", and Appropriating Funds Therefor. https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/
downloads/2019/04apr/20190426-RA-11333-RRD.pdf

Sengupta S, Honavar SG. 2017. Publication ethics. Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. 65(6):
429–432. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_483_17

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 Peer Review Process
Tier 1: Editor-in-Chief Assessment
All manuscripts submitted to the journal will undergo a preliminary evaluation
by the Editor-in-Chief to determine the suitability of the submission based on the aims,
scope, and adherence to the journal format.

Tier 2: Independent Peer Review

Upon passing the preliminary evaluation, the manuscript will then go to the
Managing Editor to manage the peer-review process. The manuscript will undergo
a double-blind peer review by at least two independent experts in the particular field,
wherein the identity of the author(s) is unknown to the reviewers and vice versa. The
reviewers will evaluate the manuscript based on the relevance of the topic, timeliness,
and technical quality.
All article types (research article, review article, short communication, commentary,
policy brief) will undergo a double-blind peer review process.
Peer reviewers are given one month to submit their evaluations to us. On the other
hand, authors are given 30 days for minor revision and 60 days for major revision.
In the case where the two reviewers have contradicting evaluations, a third
reviewer will be consulted, after which the final decision is made by the editor-in-chief.

The reviewers are prohibited to show the manuscript under review to another person
nor use the information contained therein. To ensure unbiased review, manuscripts
submitted by BFAR and NFRDI researchers and other members of the editorial board shall
be reviewed by experts from outside their respective institutions.

For the reviewers, you may use the following guide questions.
1. Was sufficient background on the topic provided by the authors?

2. What is the objective or hypothesis of the paper?

3. Are the methods sufficient to address the objectives?

4. Results
a. Are the results presented from the methods described?
b. Are comparisons supported by statistics?
c. Are the figures and tables self-explanatory?
d. Did the results support the initial hypothesis or not?
e. Are the quality of the figures and tables adequate?

5. Discussion
a. Were the results properly interpreted?
b. Were the results compared to other studies?
c. Any issues not resolved by the results?
d. Were the limitations of the study adequately explained?
e. What are the implications of the study?

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