Biosystems Engineering contains original papers only and submission of a paper will be taken to imply that no similar paper has been or is being submitted elsewhere.
We can accept most word-processing formats (ideally Microsoft Word or WordPerfect). Please see the relevant Guide for Authors to check the style of the individual journal to which the manuscript is to be submitted, particularly the reference style. This means that fewer changes have to be made, which reduces the possibility of errors being introduced.

Most formatting codes are removed or replaced when we process your article so there is no need for you to use excessive layout styling.

Please do not use options such as automatic word breaking, justified layout, double columns or automatic paragraph numbering (especially for numbered references).

Do use bold face, italic, subscripts, superscripts, etc., as appropriate.

When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, please use only one grid for each separate table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is being used, use tabs to align columns instead of spaces.

When you create your manuscript, please make sure it is in the following order:

1. Title
2. Authors
3. Affiliation
4. Abstract
5. Keywords
6. Main Text
7. Acknowledgement
8. Appendix
9. References
10. Vitae
11. Figure Legends
12. Tables

Note Do not import the Figures into the text file.



Before publication, authors are requested to assign copyright to IAgrE to sanction reprints and photocopies. Authors' traditional rights will not be jeopardized as they retain the right to re-use material.



The subject matter reflects the wide range and interdisciplinary nature of research in engineering and physics for agriculture. The Editor welcomes papers describing engineering innovations for field crops, horticulture and livestock and those reporting research seeking to understand and model the physical processes underlying agricultural systems. Papers may report the results of experiments, theoretical analyses (including operational research studies), design of, or innovations relating to, machines and mechanization systems, equipment and buildings, experimental equipment, laboratory and analytical techniques and instrumentation. Topics include engineering for agriculture; soil and water engineering; irrigation; irrigation scheduling; soil and water management; power and machinery; animal production technology; advanced engineering in agriculture; emerging technologies in agriculture; precision agriculture; post-harvest technology; post-harvest processing; decision support in agriculture; farm machinery management; rural development; farm mechanisation; agricultural mechanisation; extension in agricultural engineering; physical properties of agricultural and food products; air quality in animal houses; environmental control of livestock buildings; horticultural engineering; greenhouse structures and environment; sustainable agriculture; renewable energy; biomass energy; forest mechanisation; machine vision for agriculture and food processing; mechatronics in agriculture; robotic milking; robotics in agriculture; ergonomics in agriculture; work science in agriculture; gaseous emissions; greenhouse gases and protection of the rural environment.



There are three types of paper. The inclusion of figures and tables will reduce the allowable number of words and 250 words should be allowed for each such figure or table.

4.1 Research papers

These are the normal type of paper published and make up the main bulk of the Journal. They should not normally exceed seven Journal pages, that is, about 5500 words.

4.2 Research notes

These enable important findings to be speedily communicated and facilitate the reporting of work not meriting a full length paper. They should not exceed two Journal pages, that is, about 1500 words.

4.3 Review papers

These are intended to be in-depth studies of the state-of-the-art in the chosen subject. They should not normally exceed 10 Journal pages, that is, about 8000 words.



All papers are refereed. Usually, two or more referees, who have appropriate knowledge of the subject, are appointed for each paper. They are asked to return papers within 5 weeks of receipt. The Editor collates the referees' reports and adds his own comments. Final decisions on papers are made by the Editor and every effort is made to explain to authors the reason for any adverse decisions. The Editorial Board is grateful to referees for their assistance and seeks to add new referees to the list, mainly from among those who are themselves achieving publication of their own work in the Journal.
With the submitted manuscript authors are requested to provide full contact details of four potential reviewers including email addresses. The suggested reviewers should not be people at the same institution as the author, Biosystems Engineering Editors or Editorial Board members, and at least two should be from other geographic regions.



Papers must be submitted in English, typed in double-line spacing on one side only of A4 paper (210 x 297 mm). You should leave wide margins and number every sheet. Do not underline anything and avoid the use of footnotes in the main text. Spelling should follow the Oxford English Dictionary. Authors whose native language is not English will find it helpful to seek comments from a native English colleague if possible before submission.

English language help service: Upon request, Elsevier will direct Authors to an agent who can check and improve the English of their paper (before submission). Please contact www.elsevier.com/locate/elsevierpublishing



Your paper should be arranged as follows.

7.1 Title, authors' names, affiliations and addresses. Please include e-mail addresses where appropriate.

7.2 Abstract. The Abstract of not more than 200 words should state the problem investigated, outline the methods used and summarize the main conclusions.

7.3 Notation

7.4 Main body text. The main body of the text should be divided under suitable headings, numbered to show the hierarchical order. Some or all of the following headings may be appropriate.

1. Introduction. This should explain the problem investigated, review earlier work and state the intentions of the present paper.

2. Literature review. A separate section may be justified for this, depending on length.

3. Theoretical considerations. It may be appropriate to explain or develop a theory to shed light on a problem or to correlate experimental results.

4. Materials and methods or Procedures or Experimental details.

5. Results. These should be presented with reference to appropriate figures and tables. The most appropriate presentations should be chosen and tabulated data should not duplicate that shown graphically.

6. Discussion. This may merit a separate section, although Results and Discussion can sometimes be presented together.

7. Conclusions. Research and Review papers must have this final section but it is optional in Research Notes. Conclusions emerging from the work should be succinctly summarized. These conclusions will have been discussed in the paper and new material must not be introduced at this stage.

7.5 Acknowledgments. These are optional.

7.6 References

7.7 Appendices. It may be appropriate to place detailed mathematical derivations in appendices, rather than in the main body of the text.

7.8 Figure captions. These should be listed, together with any 'key' information necessary to aid interpretation.

7.9 Tables. Each table must be placed on a separate sheet and numbered consecutively throughout the text (with Arabic numerals), and referred to as Table 1, Table 2, etc. There must be a caption at the top of each table.

7.10 Figures. Each figure must be placed on a separate sheet and numbered consecutively throughout the paper, being referred to in the text as Figure 1, Figure 2, etc. Figure captions should be placed beneath each figure and should also be listed on a separate sheet as given in 7.8.



8.1 Headings

The title of the paper should be as short as possible and all principal words should have an initial capital letter. All section headings, table headings and figure captions should have an initial capital letter for the first word of each expression only, while all other words, with the exception of proper names, should be lower case letters throughout. There should be no stop at the end of any title, heading or caption. Units in table headings and in captions and legends on figures should follow the expression after a comma, not in parentheses, e.g. Max. output, kW.

8.2 Units, symbols and abbreviations

System International (SI) Units must be used. Some common abbreviations and symbols are given below. More detailed information can be found in the following publications.

1. British Standards Institution. Specification for SI units and recommendations for the use of their multiples and of certain other units. BS 5555:1981 (identical with International Standard ISO 1000-1981).

2. British Standards Institution. Specification for quantities, units and symbols. Part 0: General principles. BS 5775:Part 0:1982 (identical with International Standard ISO 31/0-1981). (For more detailed recommendations in the various fields of science and technology, see also BS 5775: Parts 1 to 13:1979 onwards. This is identical with International Standard ISO 31/1 to 13:1978 onwards.)

Some basic rules of the British Standard should particularly be noted. Units should be printed in roman (upright) type and remain unaltered in the plural. There should be a space between the numerical value and the unit symbol. The solidus is used to denote per e.g. m/s. In the case of more than two units, the solidus may be used as in kg/m s2 or the same quantity may be expressed by negative indices as kg m-1 s-2. More than one solidus should never be used in one quantity. Care must be taken with compound units. mN means millinewton, not metre newton. Newton metre can be written as N m and also without a space as Nm because N, unlike m, cannot be mistaken for a prefix.

8.3 Mathematical symbols

Symbols should be kept as simple as possible and all symbols used must be defined. Where many symbols are used in a paper, they should be listed in an unnumbered section headed "Notation". The printer will place this in a convenient location. In addition, it is helpful to define each symbol as it is used for the first time. Greek letters and mathematical symbols should be inserted clearly, if necessary by hand, and distinguished by name in the margin where this is necessary. Particular care should be taken to ensure that the relative position of letters and numerals is quite clear. This applies particularly to equations, subscripts, exponents and indices. Mathematical symbols should be printed in italics, since this helps to distinguish them from units, which are printed in upright form.

8.4 References

References in the text should be in the format of surnames of authors followed by the year of publication of the appropriate reference, separated by a comma and in parentheses. The artifice "Leading author et al." should be used in the text for multiple authorship papers, where there are more than two authors. At the end of the paper, there should be a section headed "References" in which the full references should be given, listed in alphabetical order. Each reference should give the names of all authors (or, if anonymous, the name of the organisation), the year of publication, the title in the original language (and a translation into English), publication title (in full, not abbreviated), volume (in bold) and issue number, and pages, in that order. Some examples of references are given below.

In the text: "Previous work has shown (McGechan & Wu, 1998; Toda et al., 1999; Witney, 1995) ..."

In the reference list (to journals):

McGechan M B; Wu L (1998). Environmental and economic implications of some slurry management options. Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research, 71(3), 273-283

McGechan M B; Lewis D R (2000). Water course pollution due to surface runoff following slurry spreading, part 2: decision support to minimise pollution. Biosystems Engineering

In the reference list (to books):

Witney B (1995). Choosing and Using Farm Machines. Land Technology, Edinburgh

8.5 Figures

All illustrations, whether line drawings, graphs or photographs, are presented as figures and are given a figure number (e.g. Figure 1) in ascending numerical order as reference is first made to each in the text. Captions should be placed beneath the figure and a separate list should also be provided. Any key information necessary for understanding of the figure, without reference to the text, should be placed beneath the figure caption. Legends on diagrams and graphs should be given in lower case letters with an initial capital for the first word. For purposes of refereeing, figures should be complete with all legends and captions.

8.6 Online colour graphics

Authors can include colour graphics in their articles online. In the print version, colour figures are also acceptable where they are beneficial to the scientific presentation and comprehension of the research article.

8.7 Footnotes

These are not used in relation to the main text but may be used in tables.

8.8 Roman numerals

These are best avoided or used sparingly where Arabic numerals or lower case letters [e.g. (a), (b) etc.] would not conveniently give the distinction required.

8.9 Abbreviations (see list)

These are useful where space is limited as in table headings and on figures but should be used sparingly in the text, unless commonly accepted (e.g. the use of a.c. for alternating current, m.c.d.b. for moisture content, dry basis and p.t.o. for power take-off).



In general, it is not desirable to give the names of products, instruments and equipment, model designations or the names of, their manufacturers; exceptions may be allowed, where detailed descriptions can be avoided by indicating the make etc., or where considerations of accuracy and precision make it desirable that the particular product should be known. Mention of any proprietary product in this way implies no endorsement by this Journal.



The publisher provides page proofs for checking. These proofs, clearly marked with the corrections, should be returned to the Publisher, with the minimum of delay.



The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail. The PDF file is a watermarked version of the published article and includes a cover sheet with the journal cover image and a disclaimer outlining the terms and conditions of use. Paper offprints can be ordered by the authors. An order form with prices will be sent to the corresponding author.