Author Guidelines

Author Guidelines — AIDSAE

Applied AI & Data Science for Health, Agriculture & Environment (AIDSAE)
Published by EcoScribe Publishers Company Limited

1.0 Overview

Thank you for considering AIDSAE for your manuscript submission. AIDSAE publishes high-quality applied research at the intersection of AI, machine learning, statistics, and data science with real-world impact in health, agriculture, environment, climate, and One Health settings—especially where methods are validated, reproducible in principle, and clearly reported.

These guidelines explain how to prepare and submit your manuscript. Following them speeds up screening, peer review, and publication.

Contact: editorialoffice@ecoscribepublishers.com
WhatsApp contact: +256702665172

2.0 Scope and What AIDSAE Publishes

AIDSAE considers manuscripts that apply AI/data science to problems such as:

  • Health & public health: diagnosis/prognosis models, surveillance analytics, risk prediction, decision support, epidemiology + ML, digital health analytics
  • Agriculture & food systems: yield prediction, pest/disease detection, remote sensing for agriculture, supply chain analytics, precision agriculture, postharvest analytics
  • Environment & climate: land cover change, hazard prediction, biodiversity analytics, air/water quality modeling, climate risk analytics, conservation analytics
  • Cross-cutting: fairness/bias in models, deployment in low-resource settings, explainable AI in applied contexts, reproducible pipelines

Out of scope (usually):

  • Purely theoretical AI with no applied validation
  • Manuscripts without a clear dataset, validation strategy, and evaluation metrics
  • Marketing/industry brochures, untestable claims, or “toy demos” without meaningful evidence

3.0 Submission Checklist (Read Before You Submit)

Before submitting, confirm:

3.1 Double-Blind Review Files (Required)

You must upload two files:

  1. Anonymised Manuscript (Main File – for review)
    • No author names/affiliations, acknowledgements, or identifying statements
    • No institution names in “study site” wording if it reveals identity (use neutral phrasing during review)
  2. Title Page (Separate File – not sent to reviewers)
    • Full author details, affiliations, ORCID(s) where available
    • Corresponding author contacts
    • Funding statement, conflict of interest statement, acknowledgements
    • Ethics approvals (if applicable)

3.2 AI Reporting Checklist (Required)

Your manuscript must include the required AIDSAE reporting elements:

  • dataset statement, preprocessing pipeline, validation design, baselines, metrics, leakage safeguards, and error analysis/failure modes.

3.3 Reproducibility Statement (Required)

Include a clear statement describing data availability and code/model availability (open where possible, or reproducible in principle where restricted).

3.4 File Format

  • Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) required
  • PDF not accepted for initial submissions

3.5 Similarity & Integrity

  • The submission must be original, not under review elsewhere, and free from plagiarism or fabricated results.

4.0 How to Submit

AIDSAE accepts submissions via:

4.1 Online Submission (Recommended)

  • Visit the AIDSAE website → click Submit
  • Register/login and follow the steps
  • Upload the two required files (Anonymised Manuscript + Title Page)

5.0 Article Types

AIDSAE considers:

  1. Original Research Articles (full applied studies with robust validation)
  2. Short Reports / Technical Notes (compact applied results; still must include proper evaluation)
  3. Systematic Reviews / Scoping Reviews (methods must be explicit; PRISMA encouraged)
  4. Data Papers (well-described datasets with clear collection/curation + access terms)
  5. Methods / Pipeline Papers (methods must be evaluated on real data with baselines)
  6. Case Studies (Applied) (deployment/implementation evidence; limitations clearly stated)

6.0 Manuscript Structure and Formatting

6.1 Anonymised Manuscript (Main File – for review)

Include:

  • Title (no authors)
  • Abstract (≤250 words)
  • Keywords (4–6 keywords recommended)
  • Main Text (recommended headings):
    1. Introduction
    2. Materials and Methods (or Methods)
    3. Results
    4. Discussion (Results & Discussion may be combined or seperate)
    5. Conclusion
    6. Data, Code & Reproducibility Statement (Required)
    7. References
  • Figures and Tables embedded in the text near where they are referenced; captions must be clear.

6.2 Title Page (Separate File – not sent to reviewers)

Include:

  • full author names, affiliations, ORCID(s)
  • corresponding author contacts
  • acknowledgements
  • funding statement
  • conflict of interest declaration
  • ethics approvals/consent (where applicable)

6.3 Formatting Requirements

  • Font: Times New Roman, size 12
  • Spacing: double (or 1.5 acceptable if your template is designed that way)
  • Recommended length:
    • Original Research: up to ~8,000 words (excluding references)
    • Short Report: up to ~3,000 words
    • Reviews: up to ~10,000 words
  • Referencing style: APA (latest edition) or Vancouver (choose one and keep consistent across AIDSAE)..

7.0 AIDSAE AI Reporting Requirements (Required for Review)

To proceed to external peer review, AIDSAE requires minimum reporting standards.

Your manuscript must clearly state:

7.1 Dataset & Ethics

  • dataset source and time period
  • inclusion/exclusion criteria
  • permissions/licensing/access restrictions
  • ethics approval and consent processes (for human data)
  • privacy safeguards (de-identification/aggregation)

7.2 Preprocessing & Features

  • cleaning steps, missing-data handling
  • feature engineering
  • normalization/encoding procedures

7.3 Validation & Tuning

  • train/validation/test logic or cross-validation design
  • hyperparameter tuning process
  • how leakage was prevented (patient-level, farm-level, spatial/temporal leakage)

7.4 Baselines

  • at least one meaningful baseline comparator (not only your proposed model)

7.5 Metrics & Uncertainty

  • evaluation metrics and why they fit the problem
  • confidence intervals or repeated runs where appropriate

7.6 Error Analysis / Failure Modes

  • where the model performs poorly and likely reasons
  • practical limitations (data quality, generalisability, fairness concerns)

Submissions missing these elements may be returned before review or desk rejected.

8.0 Data, Code & Reproducibility Policy (Required Statement)

AIDSAE strongly encourages open science, while recognising restrictions for sensitive or proprietary data.

Your manuscript must include a Data, Code & Reproducibility Statement using one of these options:

  1. Open data + open code (preferred): provide repository links
  2. Restricted data + open code: provide code link + clear instructions for qualified access to data
  3. Restricted data + restricted code: provide detailed reproducibility-in-principle reporting (model parameters, pipeline description, software versions, and enough methodological detail for audit)

If you cannot share the dataset, you must state:

  • why it is restricted
  • what can be shared (aggregated tables, synthetic samples, feature lists, code without data, etc.)

9.0 Ethical Standards and Integrity

AIDSAE may request supporting documentation where needed (ethics approvals, permissions, anonymisation proof, etc.).

Prohibited practices include:

  • fabricated or falsified results
  • manipulated images/figures
  • plagiarism or self-plagiarism without disclosure
  • undisclosed conflicts of interest
  • “paper mill” submissions or unverifiable claims

Use of AI Tools (Disclosure Required)

Authors may use AI tools for language editing or minor assistance, but must:

  • disclose use of AI tools in a short statement (e.g., “AI-assisted language editing was used; authors take full responsibility for content.”)
  • ensure methods, analyses, and results are verifiable and not invented by a tool

Manuscripts showing extensive AI-generated text with weak technical substance may be desk rejected.

10.0 Peer Review and Editorial Decisions

  • AIDSAE uses double-blind peer review.
  • Typically two independent reviewers are invited for Original Research.
  • Editorial decisions: Accept / Minor revision / Major revision / Reject
  • Revised manuscripts must include a point-by-point response to reviewers.

Target timeline: AIDSAE aims for an initial decision within ~3–4 weeks, depending on reviewer availability and manuscript complexity.

11.0 Article Processing Charge (APC) and Waivers

AIDSAE is an open access journal. To support editorial operations, online hosting, and production, an Article Processing Charge (APC) is payable only for accepted manuscripts.

APC (per accepted article): USD 50

·         The APC is charged only after the manuscript has been formally accepted.

·         There are no submission fees.

·         Payment is required before the final version is scheduled for publication.

Important (avoid fraud):
Authors should not send money to individuals claiming to “help publish” in AIDSAE. Payments are made only through official AIDSAE/EcoScribe channels communicated in the acceptance email and on the journal website.

Invoices and proof of payment:
After acceptance, the editorial office will issue an invoice and provide official payment instructions. Authors must submit proof of payment (receipt/transaction confirmation) to enable production and publication.

Waivers/discounts (optional):
AIDSAE may grant partial or full APC waivers in limited cases (e.g., unfunded student-led work, invited articles, or high public-interest research). Waiver requests must be made at submission (or before acceptance) and will be considered by the editorial office.

Withdrawal and refunds:

·         Authors may withdraw a manuscript at any time before acceptance without charge.

·         After acceptance, if production work has started (copyediting, layout, DOI/metadata processing), refunds are normally not provided.

12.0 Post-Publication

12.1 Corrections and Retractions

If errors or integrity issues are discovered, AIDSAE will issue corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions as appropriate.

12.2 Copyright and Licensing

AIDSAE publishes open access articles under Creative Commons licensing: [CC BY]

13.0 Continuous Submission

AIDSAE accepts submissions year-round (rolling basis).