Submissions

Author Guidelines

Authors are invited to make a submission to this journal. All submissions will be assessed by an editor to determine whether they meet the aims and scope of this journal. Those considered to be a good fit will be sent for peer review before determining whether they will be accepted or rejected.

Before making a submission, authors are responsible for obtaining permission to publish any material included with the submission, such as photos, documents and datasets. All authors identified on the submission must consent to be identified as an author. Where appropriate, research should be approved by an appropriate ethics committee in accordance with the legal requirements of the study's country.

An editor may desk reject a submission if it does not meet minimum standards of quality. Before submitting, please ensure that the study design and research argument are structured and articulated properly. The title should be concise and the abstract should be able to stand on its own. This will increase the likelihood of reviewers agreeing to review the paper. When you're satisfied that your submission meets this standard, please follow the checklist below to prepare your submission.

Article types

• Critical Reviews/Mini Reviews

Reviews are comprehensive critical assessments of topics that are of current importance and relevance and have been commissioned specifically for areas related to natural products chemistry.

• Full Research Papers

Full papers consist of experimental and theoretical works that present new results on the research topics outlined.

• Short Communications

Short communications should contain a summary of new experimental results and must not exceed 4 pages (excluding tables, figures and references). Experimental details and supporting information are still required.

Peer review

This journal follows an anonymized review process. Your submission will first be internally reviewed by editors for format and language before the content to determine suitability for publication in this journal. If your submission is deemed suitable, it will be sent to at least two reviewers who will independently assess its scientific quality. The decision to accept or reject your article will be made by the editors. Authors who wish to appeal against the editorial decision can submit a formal appeal request. However, only one appeal per submission will be considered and the decision on the appeal is final.

Our editors are not involved in the decision on submissions that:

• they have written themselves.
• are written by family members or colleagues.
• refer to products or services in which they have an interest.

Ethics and policies

Ethics in publishing

The formal component of the publication of an article in a peer-reviewed journal, serves many purposes beyond simple communication. It is a building block in the development of a coherent and respected knowledge network. It is prima facie evidence of the quality and impact of the research work of its authors and, by extension, the institutions that support it. It supports the scientific method and is itself an example of it. For all these reasons and more, it is important to establish standards of expected ethical behaviour for all parties involved in the publication: the author, the journal editor, the peer reviewer, and the publisher. This includes ensuring that all parties treat each other with respect and dignity. These guidelines were developed specifically for primary research journals but may also be relevant for reviews and other specialized publications.

Declaration of interest

When authors submit an article to the CRNP journal, this is assumed:

• The work described has not been published elsewhere.
• The article is not being considered for publication elsewhere.
• The publication of the article is approved by all authors.
• The article, if accepted, will not be published elsewhere in English or any other languages, including electronically, in the same form without the written consent of the copyright holder.

All authors must also disclose any financial or personal relationships with individuals or organizations that could inappropriately influence or interfere with their work. Examples of potential competing interests include:

• Employment
• Consulting activities
• Share ownership
• Patent applications or registrations
• Grants or other funding

A declaration of interest must be uploaded during the submission process, regardless of whether there are competing interests. The author's signature is not required.

Download Declaration of Interest template

Authorship & Changes to authorship

Each manuscript may nominate up to two corresponding authors who will take primary responsibility for communication with the journal during the submission, peer review and publication process. The corresponding authors should ensure that all co-authors approve the final version of the manuscript and agree to the submission. Both corresponding authors will be listed in the publication and each of them can respond to research queries after publication.

All authors agree to be responsible for all aspects of the work to ensure that issues related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are adequately investigated and resolved. Importantly, all authors should have made a significant contribution to any of the following points:

• the conception and design of the study, or the acquisition of data, or the analysis and interpretation of the data.
• the drafting of the article or the critical revision of the article.
• the final approval of the version to be submitted.

Generally, the editors of this journal do not consider changes in authorship once a manuscript has been submitted. Authors are requested to check the author list and the order of authors carefully before submission and to ensure that the final author list is attached to the original submission. Guidelines for authorship changes:

• All authors must be listed in the manuscript and their details must be correctly entered into the submission system.
• Additions, removals, or rearrangements of author names should only be made prior to acceptance of the manuscript and only with the approval of the journal editor.
• Requests for changes in authorship must be made by the corresponding author, who must provide the journal editor with a clear explanation for the request and written confirmation from all authors, including those added or removed, agreeing to the change. Any unapproved authorship change may result in rejection of the manuscript or retraction if the article has already been published.
• Publication may be delayed while the journal considers a request for authorship change.

Funding sources

Authors must list all funders who have financially supported the conduct of the research and/or the production of the article. Write the sources of funding in the following standard form to ensure compliance with funder requirements:

Funding: This work was funded by the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) [Grant numbers xxxx].

If the research was not funded, it is recommended to include the following sentence:

This research received no specific grants from public, commercial or non-profit funding agencies.

Data Availability Statement

Choose a short statement that best describing the availability of your research data:

• No data were used for the research described in the article
• The data that was used is confidential
• The author does not have permission to share data
• The data will be made available on request
• Other (Please explain) 

Use of AI in scientific writing 

In general, the journal does not welcome the use of AI in scientific writing. However, generative AI and AI-assisted technologies may be used in the writing process ONLY to improve the readability and language of the manuscript.

To protect the rights of authors and the confidentiality of their research, this journal has ensured that the use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies or similar services by reviewers or editors is not permitted in the peer review and manuscript evaluation process.

Writing and formatting

File format

It is recommended that the corresponding author provide editable source files for the manuscript submission, including figures, tables and text graphics. The following guidelines apply:

• Save files in an editable format and use the .doc/.docx extension for Word files. PDF files are not acceptable as source files.
• Format the text in a single-column layout (Template attached).
• Use the spell and grammar check functions to minimize errors.

Download manuscript template

Title page

When submitting, the corresponding author must provide the following information on the title page:

• Article Title: The title should be concise and informative; the length should not exceed 20 words. Avoid abbreviations and formulas unless they are commonly known (e.g. DNA).
• Authors' names: Give the full first name(s) and surname(s) of each author and make sure that the spelling and order of the authors matches the order in the submission system.
• Affiliations & Address: Under the authors' names, list the affiliations where the work was conducted. Include the full mailing address of each affiliation, including the country and an email address.
• Corresponding Author: Clearly indicate who will handle all correspondence regarding the article during the peer review, publication and post-publication process. This includes answering any questions about the results, data, methods and materials. Ensure that the corresponding author's email address and contact details are up to date during submission and publication.

Abstract

An abstract is mandatory. It is strongly recommended that the corresponding author provide a short and concise abstract, not exceeding 250 words. The abstract should briefly mention the research objective, main findings and conclusions. The following guidelines should be followed:

• Abstracts must be self-contained, as they are often presented separately from the full article.
• Avoid non-standard abbreviations. If any are important to be included, define them at the first mention in the abstract.
• Avoid references.

Keywords

It is mandatory to provide a maximum of 5 straightforward keywords for indexing, written in English.

Highlights

Highlights consist of a brief collection of 3 to 5 bullet points (maximum 85 words) that emphasize the key findings of the research. These highlights generally improve the findability of the article by search engines.

Graphical abstract

The graphical abstract should summarize the main content of the article in a concise and visually appealing way to increase the visibility of the article and help the reader better understand the research. The guidelines to be referred:

• Submit the graphical abstract as a separate file during the submission process.
• The image should be at least 531 x 1328 pixels (height x width) or proportionally larger so that it is readable at a size of 5 x 13 cm and a standard screen resolution of 96 dpi.
• Acceptable file formats for graphical abstracts are JPEG and PNG files.

Formula

Some guidelines if some formulas are to be included in the article:

• Submit math equations as editable text.
• If possible, present simple formulas in line with the normal text and use the solid (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractions.

Tables

All tables included must be self-explanatory and submitted as editable text in the main article. The following guidelines should be applied:

• Cite all tables and place them next to the relevant text.
• Number the tables consecutively according to their order of mention in the text.
• Add concise captions to the tables and insert the necessary notes below the body of the table.

Figures and images 

All figures, images, diagrams and other graphical elements (in JPEG or PNG files) required to illustrate and support the results must be self-explanatory and included in the main article. Some guidelines to follow:

• Cite all figures/images and place them close to the relevant text.
• Number figures/images consecutively according to their order of mention in the text.
• Provide each figure/image with a concise caption, which should include a brief title (which does not appear on the figure itself) and a description of the image.
• Avoid submitting low-resolution files (e.g. GIF, BMP, PICT or WPG files optimized for screen use) or images that are disproportionately large compared to the font size, as this may make the text unreadable.
• The use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools to create or modify images in submitted articles is not permitted.

Supplementary material

The use of supplementary material to complement the research is strongly encouraged. Some guidelines to follow:

• Cite all supplementary files in the relevant text and include a concise caption for each file that describes the contents of the file.
• Submit supplementary materials along with the main article. Note that the files will appear online exactly as they were submitted, without formatting or typesetting by the production team.
• Submit updated supplementary materials if changes are required during the peer review process.

Research data and data linking

Research data refers to the results of observations or experiments that support research findings. This may also include software, code, models, algorithms, protocols, methods and other relevant materials related to the project. For this journal, the corresponding author is encouraged to do so:

• Deposit the research data in a relevant data repository. For example: The Global Natural Products Social (GNPS) serves as a repository for mass spectrometry (MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) data that are important for the annotation and identification of natural products.
• Cite the dataset and link to it in the main article. If linking to the dataset is not possible, the author should add an explanation of why the research data cannot be shared.

Data statement

To promote transparency, the corresponding author is obliged to indicate the availability of data when submitting the article.

Article structure 

Article sections

• For a clear and organized structure, divide the article into numbered sections (e.g. 1, 2, ...). If necessary, use subsections with hierarchical numbering (e.g. 1.1, 1.1.1, 1.1.2, then 1.2, etc.). Include a brief heading for each section.
• Use the numbering format [1, 2, ...] for cross-references within the article.
• Exclude the abstract in the numbering of the sections.

Introduction

The introduction should clearly state the research gap and the aims of the reported work. Authors are encouraged to provide sufficient background information but avoid presenting a detailed literature review or summary of results.

Methodology

The methodology section should include details of the materials and methods to ensure reproducibility of the work. Some guidelines to be followed:

• If a published method is used, provide a summary and cite the original source.
• Clearly describe any changes that have been made to existing methods.
• The name of the manufacturer including in bracket (Town, Country) should be given for materials and equipment. E.g., 700 MHz ASCENDTM NMR spectrometer (Bruker, Karlsruhe, Germany). 
• The plant material used in the studies must be identified according to The Plant List (https://wfoplantlist.org/), and a voucher specimen must be deposited with the relevant institution. The same procedures apply to products of other origins (animal, fungal, bacterial, etc.), which must also be properly identified and deposited.
• Methods for the complete structural characterization of new synthetic bioactive compounds are required.
• If research involving animals is reported, these studies must be conducted in accordance with the guidelines and documented consent from the responsible authorities and approval of the experiments must be provided.

Characterization

For known compounds, characterization by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry is sufficient and purity should be verified. A reference to the fully characterized compound should be provided.

Meanwhile, all new compounds must be fully characterized by appropriate analytical methods, with sufficient evidence of composition, structure (including stereochemistry of at least the relative conformation e.g. NOESY/ROESY), purity and melting point ranges.

The characterization of the compound must include either elemental analysis data with an accuracy of 0.4% of the calculated value or High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HR-MS) with an accuracy of 4 ppm (e.g. ions with 500 m/z must be characterized as 500.0000 ± 0.0020 m/z). In the latter case, the exact relative molecular mass obtained by HR-MS from the largest chromatographic peak should be reported.

¹H spectra of all new compounds are mandatory, as well as ¹³C NMR spectra, IR spectra, specific rotation (if applicable) should also be provided in the in the Supporting Materials.

Additional data from X-ray crystallography, electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, etc. is welcomed. The reporting of single-crystal X-ray structures is encouraged for crystalline solids; however, such structures cannot be used as the sole means of characterization as they do not necessarily represent the bulk material. Data from X-ray diffraction of powders can be submitted as evidence of the purity of a bulk material – ideally in comparison with a calculated diffraction pattern.

If the HPLC method is used to determine the purity of a compound, HPLC traces are only required for important target compounds.

Characterization techniques

(Manipulation of spectra is unethical, will not be tolerated and will lead to rejection of the manuscript).

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy: Proton (1H; the minimum chemical shift range of −1 to 10 ppm) and carbon resonances (13C; the minimum chemical shift range of −10 to 200 ppm) must be reported for each new compound in the Methodology section or in the Supporting Materials; appropriate deuterated solvents and instrument frequencies are required. Depending on the compound, additional resonances such as 19F, 29Si or 31P should be added, where necessary. NMR spectra should have a sufficiently high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) so that all peaks can be adequately resolved. qNMR for purity detection is welcome but not required.

¹H NMR resonances should be reported to the nearest 0.01 ppm. The abbreviations of the multiplets (m), the number of atoms represented by each signal and the coupling constants should be indicated; for example: ¹H NMR (500 MHz, acetone-d6): δ = 7.66–7.50 (m, J = 3 Hz, 6H, Ar–H), 7.12 (d, J = 15.8 Hz, 1H,  CH=CH-Ar), 1.23 ppm (s, 3H, CH₃). Whilst ¹³C NMR resonances should be reported to the nearest 0.1 ppm. The number of attached hydrogen atoms can also be specified. Example: ¹³C NMR (125 MHz, acetone-d6: δ = 71.9 (C=CH), 25.7 ppm (CH₃).

Importantly, 1H and 13C NMR spectra of all major intermediates, final products or isolated compounds from natural product resources must be included in the Supporting Materials. The spectra must be from the specific reactions as discussed in the manuscript and not from copies of previous syntheses of the same compounds. Each spectrum must be legible and should be labelled with the compound number used in the manuscript. All peaks should be labelled and integrated.

Infrared spectroscopy: It is welcome to submit a complete list of IR stretches in the mid-IR range. However, only the significant signals of the functional groups of the compound need to be listed. The band frequencies should be given to the nearest 1 cm⁻¹ and their intensity should be indicated [strong (s), medium (m), weak (w), broad (br)]; for example: IR (KBr): ṽ = 1715 (vs), 1780 (s) cm⁻¹ (C=O).

Mass spectrometry (MS): It is recommended to list only the signals for which the molecular fragment can be identified. Molecular ion peaks and all other fragmentation peaks should be reported in comparison to the calculated mass of the ion. Indicate the ionization technique used for the reported compound. The relative intensities of the signals should be provided; for example, MS (EI, 70 eV) m/z (%): 185 (32), 173 (100) [M+H]⁺.

High resolution MS (HR-MS): Data should be reported with an accuracy of ± 4 ppm of the calculated values; for example: HR-MS (ESI) m/z [M-H]^- calcd. 248.0790, found: 248.0788.

Elemental analysis data may be submitted in lieu of HR-MS data, but must be accompanied by the following data, HPLC profiles: Data should be reported to within ±0.4 percentage points of calculated values; for example, Anal. calcd. for C23H17N3O2: C (75.20), H (4.65), N (11.45) %. Found: C (75.32), H (4.61), N (11.60) %.

UV/Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy: If UV/Vis or fluorescence spectroscopy data are included in the article, the following data should be stated in the Methodology section of the Supporting Materials along with copies of the corresponding spectra. UV/Vis absorbance (peak, extinction coefficient); for example, UV/Vis (n-hexane): λmax (ε) = 320 (5000), 270 nm (12000 mol−1dm3cm−1).

Fluorescence excitation and emission; for example, fluorescence (CH2Cl2): λex = 433.8 nm, λem = 654, 718 nm.

Specific rotation: The specific rotations according to [α] = (100α)/(λc) should be given for isolated and synthesized natural products as well as for other enantioenriched compounds; for example, [α]D20 = −13.5 (c = 0.2 in acetone). For new chiral compounds, the HPLC or GC traces should be included in the Supporting Materials.

Physical state and melting point: Describe the physical state and colour of a new compound, e.g., pale yellow needle-like crystals. Melting point ranges should only be given for crystalline compounds, e.g. mp: 100–102 °C.

Isomeric mixtures: When isomeric mixtures are reported, provide the percentage compositions and information on how these values were determined (e.g., NMR, HPLC). If certain spectroscopic signals can be assigned to one of the two isomers, these data should be given in separate lists and not in combined lists.

Microscopy: Microscopic images should be taken at sufficient magnification. If high magnification images of selected particles are used, they must be supplemented with low magnification images of the entire sample. The use of histograms and statistics to describe size and shape distributions is recommended.

Crystallographic data can be provided as Supporting Materials and must be deposited with the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC; http://www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk/deposit). Authors must deposit their data before submitting their article so that reviewers can retrieve the information directly from the data repository. Please use the free online service CheckCIF, provided by the International Union of Crystallography, to check the quality of the crystal structure analysis. All "A" warnings should be addressed prior to submission or otherwise explained in the CIF using the Validation Reply Form (VRF). To facilitate retrieval of the data, the database name and accession number(s) must be included in the part of the article describing the structure or sequence determination. If the data are revised before publication, please make sure that the latest version has been deposited and that the data deposited in the database matches those in the manuscript.

If a crystal structure analysis is not an essential part of the article, a footnote indicating where the detailed results can be found is sufficient. Otherwise, the following data should be given in the manuscript: Crystal dimensions, crystal system, space group, unit cell dimensions and volume, ρcalcd, 2θmax, radiation, wavelength, scan mode, temperature of measurement, number of measured and independent reflexes, number of reflexes included in the refinement, σ limits, whether and how Lorentzian polarization and absorption corrections were performed (μ, min/max transmission), method of structure solution and program, method of refinement and program, number of parameters, treatment of H atoms. R, wR, whether refined against |F| or |F2|, residual electron density and the database in which the detailed results are stored. An ORTEP-like representation that merely confirms the structure of a synthetic intermediate should not be included.

For articles that include results from computational chemistry, authors should provide any details that will allow other scientists to reproduce the results. Results obtained by methods not described in the current article or in previously published reports are not acceptable for publication. Details of the calculations, including data such as force field parameters and equations defining the model, may be included in the article itself or in the Supporting Information. Alternatively, references to the locations of these data in the open literature can be provided.

The software used for the calculations must be properly cited. References to the methods on which the software is based must be given. Submissions, including results of electronic structure calculations, should include the geometries of all reported stationary points, which should be indicated with their relative energies (as Cartesian coordinates in the manuscript or as Z-matrices in the supporting information) as well as their calculated absolute energies (Hartree). Where appropriate, the number of imaginary frequencies should also be given to allow the identification of stable structures.

Results & Discussion

It is strongly recommended to combine the results and discussion in one section. The guidelines should be followed:

• Present the results using relevant tables (maximum of 5), figures, schemes (maximum of 8) or formulas. Additional tables and figures can be included in the Supplementary Materials section.
• Avoid repeating the content of tables or figures in the text. Instead, discuss them in the context of the objectives of the study and the existing knowledge.
• Ensure that the experimental data are statistically sound and analysed using appropriate statistical methods.
• For molecular modelling/molecular docking studies, a significant number of newly predicted compounds should be synthesized and tested in vitro. Experimental data to support molecular modelling is highly suggested.
• Avoid extensive citations and excessive discussion of the published literature in the discussion section.

Conclusion

The conclusion section should summarize the main findings of the work and, where appropriate, make recommendations for future research and suggest potential applications or practical implementation.

Abbreviations

All relevant abbreviations included in the abstract must be defined at their first mention. Ensure consistent and standardized use of abbreviations throughout the article prior to submission.

Acknowledgements

ALL sources of funding for the study and each author's contribution to the article (including help with language, writing, or proofreading) should also be acknowledged in this section.

Conflict of Interest

All authors must disclose any financial or commercial conflicts of interest. Even if none exist, this must be explicitly stated as this section is mandatory for all articles.

Author contributions

Corresponding authors must indicate the contributions of co-authors in the roles indicated (some authors may take multiple roles), as follows:

• Conceptualization
• Data curation
• Formal analysis
• Funding acquisition
• Investigation
• Methodology
• Project administration
• Resources
• Software
• Supervision
• Validation
• Visualization
• Writing – original draft
• Writing – review and editing

E.g., Author 1: Writing – original draft, Investigation, Formal analysis. Author 2: Data curation, Validation. Author 3: Visualization, Validation, Methodology, Data curation, Conceptualization, Methodology, Supervision, Project administration.

References

References in the text

All references cited in the article should also be included in the reference list and vice versa. Linking to the cited sources increases the findability of your research results. 

Reference format

This journal has the following requirements for formatting references based on the American Psychological Association (APA) style for submission. 

Indicate references by inserting a number in square brackets in the text. You can refer to author names in your text, but you must always include the reference number, e.g. "as shown [3,6]. Barnaby and Jones [8] came to a different conclusion ....".

Number the references in the order in which they appear in your article.

Examples:

Reference to a journal/newspaper/newsletter article:

[1] Jackson, A. (2007). New approaches to drug therapy. Psychology Today and Tomorrow, 27(1), 54-59.

[2] Johns, E., &Mewhort, D. (2009). Test sequence priming in recognition memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 35, 1162-1174. doi: 10.1037/a0016372 

[3] Darby, A. (2002, August 20). Rarest tiger skin a rugged survivor. Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au

Reference to a book/e-book:

[4] Cochrane, A. (2007). Understanding urban policy: A critical approach. Malden, MA:  Blackwell Publishing. 

[5] Niemann, S., Greenstein, D., & David, D. (2004). Helping children who are deaf: Family and community support for children who do not hear well. Retrieved from http://www.hesperian.org/publications_download_deaf.php 

[6] Schiraldi, G. R. (2001). The posttraumatic stress disorder sourcebook: A guide to healing, recovery, and growth [Adobe Digital Editions version]. doi:10.1036/0071393722

 Reference to a chapter in a book/conference proceeding/Dissertation:

[7] Richards, K. C. (1997). Views on globalization. In H. L. Vivaldi (Ed.), Australia in a global world (pp. 29-43). North Ryde, Australia: Century. 

[8] Tester, J. W. (2008). The future of geothermal energy as a major global energy supplier. In H. Gurgenci & A. R. Budd (Eds.), Proceedings of the Sir Mark Oliphant International Frontiers of Science and Technology Australian Geothermal Energy Conference, Canberra, Australia: Geoscience Australia. Retrieved from http://www.ga.gov.au/image_ cache/GA11825.pdf 

[9] Duddle, M. (2009). Intraprofessional relations in nursing: A case study (Unpublished doctoral thesis), University of Sydney, Australia.

[10] Lacey, D. (2011). The role of humiliation in collective political violence (Masters thesis, University of Sydney, Australia). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2123/712 8 

Reference to a website:

[11] New child vaccine gets funding boost. (2001). Retrieved April 16, 2012, from http://news.ninemsn.com.au/h ealth/story_13178.asp 

 Reference to a dataset:

[12] Oguro, M., Imahiro, S. (2015). Mortality data for Japanese oak wilt disease and surrounding forest compositions [dataset], Mendeley Data, v1. https://doi.org/10.1234/abc12nb39r.1.

Reference to software:

[13] Coon, E., Berndt, M. (2020). Advanced Terrestrial Simulator (ATS) v0.88 [software], Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.1234/zenodo.3727209.

After receiving a final decision

Publishing agreement

Upon acceptance, authors will be asked to complete a publishing agreement. The corresponding author will receive a link to the online agreement by email.

Permission for copyrighted works

If your article contains excerpts from other copyrighted works, you are responsible for obtaining written permission from the copyright holders and properly citing the sources in the article.

Proof correction

To expedite the publication process, please submit corrections within two days.

Corresponding authors will receive an email with proof manuscripts requiring corrections in a Word-like format.

The purpose of the proofreading phase is to check the typesetting, editing, completeness and accuracy of the text, tables and figures in your article. Major changes in this phase must be approved by the journal's editorial team.