Scientific Journal HELIA author guidelines, manuscript preparation rules, ethical policies and submission requirements.
Scientific Journal HELIA is published by the IRA International Researchers Association in Pen Publishing platform authorized by ISA International Sunflower Association.
HELIA publishes original theoretical, experimental and technical contributions arising from the scientific study of sunflower crops and farming systems.
The journal is addressed mostly to researchers, technicians, and practitioners interested in the journal’s field of interest.
Publication of an issue takes place twice a year in July and December, in both online and print versions. The journal publishes only English-language articles.
Crop agronomy; sunflower genetic resources; sunflower improvement and breeding; phytopathology and plant protection; sunflower physiology; biochemistry, metabolism, structure, genetics at diverse levels of integration; ecology; soil, water and mineral nutrition management and farming systems.
Helia is a double-blind journal. Manuscripts are reviewed anonymously by at least two independent reviewers selected by the Editors.
Authors may provide the names, institution, country and e-mail addresses of up to four potential reviewers. Authors may also provide names of reviewers they wish to exclude.
The editors reserve the right to reject submitted manuscripts without peer review if the studies are not novel, not sufficiently important, insufficiently original, or of limited interest to the journal’s target audience.
Articles are first published online as DOI-citable articles and are later assigned to an issue with final page numbers.
Manuscripts dealing with subjects that have been well studied in the literature and do not resolve questions raised by previous studies, or manuscripts that are statistically underpowered, are likely to be rejected without peer review.
Manuscripts are also returned to authors if they do not comply with the Instructions for Authors.
Manuscripts rejected for publication will be reconsidered only at the discretion of the Editor(s). Authors requesting reconsideration must submit a written rebuttal by e-mail to the journal’s editorial office, explaining in detail why the manuscript should be reconsidered.
ISA and IRA do not consider congress abstracts, academic theses, or electronic preprints on recognized servers such as arXiv, RePEc, bioRxiv and ResearchSquare as prior publication.
Inclusive language recognizes diversity, conveys respect for all people, is sensitive to differences and promotes equal opportunities.
Content should not make assumptions about readers’ beliefs or commitments and should not suggest that one person is superior to another because of age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition.
Submit manuscripts exclusively online at: https://helia.ejournal.gen.tr/
Authors are strongly recommended to register with institutional e-mail addresses and avoid using private e-mail addresses.
A cover letter must be submitted for each manuscript upon first submission. It should contain a brief statement explaining the novelty of the manuscript and should be addressed to the Editor-in-Chief.
Revised manuscripts must be accompanied by a point-by-point reply to reviewers’ comments. Major changes should be highlighted, preferably using tracked changes. A clean version should also be submitted.
ORCID is a non-profit, publisher-independent system used to uniquely identify researchers and their publications.
Providing an ORCID number for each author is strongly recommended. ORCID numbers should be listed on the title page.
Submission of a manuscript implies that the work has not been published previously, is not under consideration elsewhere, and has been approved by all authors and relevant authorities.
Manuscripts may be checked using Crossref Similarity Check / iThenticate.
Authors are responsible for all aspects of the study and must ensure that any questions regarding the accuracy and integrity of any part of the work are properly investigated and resolved.
The corresponding author receives galley proofs in electronic form to check editing and typesetting accuracy. Authors receive an e-mail notification with access to the online proofreading system.
Authors can edit the text directly, add comments, answer copy editor questions, or annotate and upload edits to the PDF version.
Electronic files of typeset articles in PDF format are provided free of charge.
Accepted manuscripts may not be published elsewhere without the consent of the copyright holders.
There is no article processing fee or open access fee. Publishing in HELIA is free of charge.
Manuscripts must follow ethical guidelines to be considered for publication. Before submitting, authors and co-authors must agree to the applicable requirements, including conflict of interest declarations and legal requirements related to human and animal research.
Authors may acknowledge individuals, working groups, institutions or others who provided support during research and manuscript preparation.
Manuscripts involving human subjects must state that the research complies with relevant national regulations and institutional policies and has been approved by the authors’ Institutional Review Board or equivalent committee.
Manuscripts involving animals must state that the research complies with relevant national regulations and institutional policies and has been approved by the appropriate committee.
If ethical approval was not required, a corresponding statement should be included in the Methods section.
Authorship is limited to individuals who have made a substantial intellectual or practical contribution to the conception or design of the project, acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data, drafting or critical revision of the work.
Please provide a title page as a separate file during submission, including the following information:
The running head should not exceed 40 characters, including spaces.
Manuscripts must be written in clear and concise English. British or American English should be used consistently.
Provide an abstract of approximately 250 words in a single paragraph. Avoid references, footnotes, tables, figures and equations.
Supply 3–6 specific keywords in alphabetical order and lower case, separated by semicolons.
Headings should be numbered, written in sentence case and should not end with a period.
| Element | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Abbreviations | Expand abbreviations and acronyms at first use. Use them consistently thereafter. |
| Equations and Symbols | Equations should be editable, well-aligned and numbered consecutively if referred to in the text. |
| Scientific Names | Gene acronyms, alleles, genus, species and non-abbreviated Latin expressions should be written in italics. |
| Units | Use SI units. |
| Appendices | Appendices should be cited in the main text and placed before the reference list. |
| Supplementary Material | Supplementary files should be submitted separately and should not exceed 10 MB per file. |