The Journal of Geological Society of India

No.30 & 31, 1st Main, 3rd Cross,
Byrappa Garden, Kathriguppe,
BSK 3rd Stage,
Bengaluru 560 085 (INDIA)
Phone: 080-26723943
Email: [email protected]

The Journal of the Geological Society of India (JGSI) is the official journal of the Geological Society of India (GSoI) and publishes articles covering all branches of Earth Sciences. It is issued on the first of every month and consists of the following features: Research articles, Review articles, Editorial, Book reviews, Corporate News, Correspondence, Discussion, obituary and News and Notes. The journal Geological Society of India welcomes contributions that support and advance the UN's sustainable development Goals.

GUIDELINES FOR THE AUTHORS

(Please follow these guidelines strictly and help in expeditious handling)

If you require any further information or help, please visit Journal Editorial Office (JEO) Assistant at [email protected].

Research Articles: Articles intended for publication in the JGSI should be based on the results of original work carried out by the author(s) and be a distinct contribution to the advancement of knowledge in the selected field and should not have been communicated elsewhere for publication in part or whole. In the case of multi-author papers it is presumed that all the authors are involved in the work and have approved the manuscript. It is to be communicated by the Corresponding author by appending his/her signature in the covering letter on behalf of all the co-authors. Each MS should be accompanied by a short informative ABSTRACT not exceeding 300 words summarizing the main points made in the paper and the important conclusions arrived at. Citation of literature should be avoided in the abstract. KEYWORDS should be supplied. The aims and objectives or purpose of the MS should be given in the INTRODUCTION. Authors should have their MS preferably checked for plagiarism, grammar, spellings, etc. before submission. The names of the potential reviewers (at least 3) together with those whom the authors would not like to review the MS (if any) should be mentioned in the covering letter when the MS is submitted. The editor reserves the right to refuse any material for publication, if not suitable for the journal. When contributions are judged as acceptable for publication on the basis of scientific content, the editor reserves the right to modify scripts to eliminate ambiguity and repetition and improve communication. If extensive alterations are required, the MS will be returned to the authors for revision. The authors should strictly adhere to the comments made by reviewers while revising the MS. If the authors agree with the comments made by reviewers, the authors should indicate the changes effected in the text and provide changes made in the form of a double column table (Question: Response). In case, where authors disagree with the comments of reviewers, they should indicate the same giving reasons. The editor will make the final decision concerning the acceptance or rejection of MS. JGSI follows the British English style.

Following style in the text be followed while citing figure, tables in the MS in different situations. Few examples are given below:

From table 7 and figure 9 five band ratios were formulated based on the spectral behaviour curves to produce spatial distribution image of muscovite schist and gneissic rocks of the study area. The distinctive properties of the rock units were revealed upon close examination of these band ratios in grayscale images (Fig. 10).

Table 9 shows the eigen values and variances % for the ICA of Landsat-9 (OLI) bands.

Figure 12 shows the plots of reflectance value of muscovite schist and gneissic rock and waste dump are positively correlated (R2 = 0.775).

Short Research Articles: The JGSI publishes ‘Short Research Articles’ on priority basis. The ‘Short Research Articles’ address significant recent research results. The general style of these short Articles is similar to that of full articles. MS for these articles must not exceed 5000 words, including illustrations (Full page illustration = 1250 words) and references.

Review Articles: These are intended to trace developments in an area of research and presented in a manner to catch the attention of the general readers. Reviews should be more than a simple compilation and should synthesize known information into a coherent picture and identify gaps in our knowledge.

Book Reviews: The Journal undertakes to review important new releases received by the Society. Contributors are welcome to send important book reviews on their own. In such a case the contributors are requested to send the reviewed book to the Society’s library.

Discussion: Comments on papers published in the journal are accepted provided they are brief (not exceeding 500 words), constructive and received within three months of publication of the relevant article. Comments and reply by the author(s) are subject to review for suitability and to editing for length and clarity. Figures and tables should not be included unless absolutely essential. Final decision regarding acceptance rests with the Editor-in-Chief (EiC)

News and Notes: Conference Reports, Correspondence, Summary of lectures, Obituary, etc. be sent to [email protected].

Contact details for submission: Submission to JGSI proceeds exclusively online. Use the following guidelines to prepare your article, via the home page of this journal https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/jour-geosocindia. You will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of the various files. For technical support during the submission process, please contact Journal Editorial Office Assistant (JEO) at [email protected].

Submission checklist You can use this list to carry out a final check of your submission before you send it to the journal for review. Please check the relevant sections in this ‘Guide for Authors’ for more details. Ensure that the following items are present:

• Designate Corresponding author
• E-mail address
• Full postal address
• All necessary files have been uploaded:
• Include keywords
• All figures (include relevant captions)
• All tables (including titles, description)
• Ensure all figure and table citations in the text match the files provided
• Supplementary files (where applicable) published online only
• Manuscript has been 'spell checked', 'grammar checked' and ‘plagiarism checked’.
• All references mentioned in the ‘Reference List’ are cited in the text, and vice versa
• Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Internet)
• A ‘competing interests’ statement is provided, even if the authors have no competing interests to declare
• Journal policies detailed in this guide have been followed
• Referee suggestions and contact details are provided, based on journal requirements
• Copy right transfer form has been duly filled and signed.

Please see our information on Ethics in publishing - COPE

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract), is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright holder (GSI). To verify compliance, your article will be checked by Crossref Similarity Check and other originality or duplicate checking softwares (ithenticate).

Author contributions: For transparency JGSI require corresponding authors to provide co-author contributions to the manuscript using the relevant CRediT roles. The CRediT taxonomy includes 14 different roles describing each contributor’s specific contribution to the scholarly article. The roles are: Conceptualization; Data curation; Formal analysis; Funding acquisition; Investigation; Methodology; Project administration; Resources; Software; Supervision; Validation; Visualization; Roles/Writing - original draft; and Writing - review & editing.

Note that not all roles may apply to every manuscript, and authors may have contributed through multiple roles.

All authors should have made substantial contributions to all of the following: (1) the conception and design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, (2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, (3) final approval of the version to be submitted. All authors, i.e., including co-authors, will be mailed by the site to confirm the submission of this manuscript, and will need to contact JGSI and/or corresponding author for any concerns, (4) all authors are added in the author fields in the submission menu. This information generates a page automatically consisting of manuscript title, abstract and all authors, their affiliations and addresses.

Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list are not allowed; however, in compelling circumstances, minor changes may be allowed only before the manuscript has been accepted; provided approved by the journal EiC. To request such a change, the EiC must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the valid reason for the change in author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement in the original list. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed or change in the original sequence/change of corresponding author.

Copyright

The authors are required to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement’. A form or a link to the online version of this agreement is available on the JGSI website. Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution and for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article.

Manuscript Submission: The JGSI online submission system guides you stepwise through the process of entering your article details and uploading your files. The Corresponding Author has to sign in through ORCID only. The system converts your article files to a single xml file used in the peer-review process. Editable files (e.g., MS Word) are required to typeset your article for review process and final publication. All correspondence, including notification of the EiC’s decision and requests for revision, is sent by e-mail. lease submit your article via https://geosocindia.kriyadocs.com/submission/jgsi/jgsi.

Covering Letter/Potential Reviewers: Along with the covering letter available at the JGSI website, please submit the names and institutional/personal e-mail addresses of potential referees from at least three different institutions/countries.

Queries for questions about the editorial process (including the status of manuscripts under review) or for technical support on submissions, please contact our JEO Assistant at [email protected].

New Submissions: Submission to the JGSI proceeds totally online and you will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of your files. The system automatically converts your files to xml file, which is used in the peer-review process. As part of your MS, you have to choose to submit your manuscript as a single blinded file (MS without authors’ names, their affiliations, and any section including acknowledgements identifying the authors and their affiliations) to be used in the refereeing process. This should be a Word document, in Times New Roman 12 size font in single column layout that can be used by referees to evaluate your MS. It should contain high quality figures for refereeing. All other information should be provided in separate files including a file with abstract having names and affiliations of all the authors and indicate corresponding author, his email address and other postal details.

References: The reference formatting should be strictly according to the JGSI format. Where applicable, author(s) name(s), journal title/ book title, chapter title/article title, year of publication, volume number/book chapter and the article number or pagination must be present. Use of DOI is highly encouraged. References to unpublished work should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. All points of reference [name(s) of author(s), spelling, year of publication, title, publisher, volume number and page numbers, must be checked between the text and the list of references. In case of reference to books, the relevant page number has to be included in the text after the year (e.g. Pichamuthu, C.S., 1963, p.18). We suggest journal titles be given in internationally accepted abbreviations. Personal communications (e.g., J. Saraswati, 1990, pers. comm.) should be authorized in writing by the person concerned.

Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication. Citation of internal reports is not acceptable unless these reports are in the public domain. Please follow the text call-out style and list format in a recent issue; do not number the references. Web references as a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given.

Few examples of JGSI style of referencing

Bezuidenhout, J. (2013), Measuring naturally occurring uranium in soil and minerals by analysing the 352 keV gamma-ray peak of 214Pb using a NaI (Tl)-detector. Appl. Radia. Isotop., v.80, pp.1-6. doi:10.1016/ j.apradiso.2013.05.008

Basu, A. (1985), Influence of climate and relief on compositions of sands released at source areas, in Zuffa, G.G. (ed.), Provenance of Arenites, NATO-ASI, v. 148, p. 1-18.

Yang, Q.Y. and Santosh, M. (2015), Charnockite magmatism during a transitional phase: implications for late Paleoproterozoic ridge subduction in the North China Craton. Precambrian Res., v.261, pp.188–216

Wang, J., Long, X. and Zhai, M., (2021), Early Paleoproterozoic magmatism and tectonic evolution in the southern section of North China Craton. Jour. Northwest Univ. (Natural Science Edition) v.51(6), pp.985-1006 doi: 10.16152/j.cnki.xdxbzr.2021-06-006.

Davis, J.C. (2002), Statistics and Data Analysis in Geology. John Wiley & Sons, New Delhi, 638p.

Data references: The JGSI encourages authors to cite underlying or relevant datasets in manuscripts by citing them in the text and including a data reference in the Reference List. Data references should include the following elements: author name(s), dataset title, data repository, version (where available), year, and global persistent identifier.

Add [dataset] immediately before the reference so we can properly identify it as a data reference. The [dataset] identifier will not appear in your published article. Preprint references where a preprint has subsequently become available as a peer-reviewed publication, the formal publication should be used as the reference. If there are preprints which are central to your work or which cover crucial developments in the topic, but are not yet formally published, these may be referenced. Preprints should be clearly marked as such, for example by including the word preprint, or the name of the preprint server, as part of the reference. The preprint DOI should also be provided. For format of the sample references and citations, please see the latest issue of the JGSI.

Reference formatting: References follow the Harvard system. In the reference list the order is alphabetic. The use of DOIs is encouraged. Note that missing data will be highlighted at proof stage for the authors to correct.

All citations in the text should refer to:

1. Single author: the author's name (without initials, unless there is ambiguity) and the year of publication;
2. Two authors: both authors' names and the year of publication;
3. Three or more authors: first author's name followed by 'et al.,' and the year of publication. Citations may be made directly (or parenthetically) as the case may be. Groups of references can be listed first alphabetically, then chronologically. Examples: 'as demonstrated (Gupta, 2000a, 2000b, 1999; Allan and Jones, 1999)…. References should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must be identified by the letters 'a', 'b', 'c', etc., placed after the year of publication.

Formatting requirements: All manuscripts must contain the essential elements needed to convey your manuscript, for example Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Figures/illustrations and Tables with Captions. If your article includes any other supplementary material, this should be included in your initial submission for peer review purposes. Divide the article into clearly defined sections. Figures and tables embedded in text should be indicated. Please ensure the figures and the tables included in the single blinded file are placed next to the relevant text in the MS. The corresponding caption should be placed directly below the figure and at the top of the table. To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the 'spell-check' and 'grammar-check' functions of your word processor.

Structure of the Manuscript: Introduction should include ‘state the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results’. Results should be clear and concise. Discussion should explore the significance of the results of the work. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. The main conclusions of the study should be presented in a short, standalone, ‘Conclusions section’. The conclusions must be unnumbered and not written in bullet-point style. They must be written in standard paragraph and they must state conclusions which are of general applicability.

Data Availability: Authors are encouraged to include a 'Data Availability' section in their manuscript which is visible in all reading formats and may refer to data hosted in any repository. It should be placed before the references to provide readers with information about where they can obtain the research data required to reproduce the work reported in the manuscript, and typically consists of a simple sentence giving the URL(s) of and citation(s) to the dataset(s).

Appendices: Appendices should be identified as A, B, etc. Formulae and equations in appendices should be given separate numbering: Eq. (A.1), Eq. (A.2), etc.; in a subsequent appendix, Eq. (B.1) and so on. Similarly for tables and figures: Table A.1; Fig. A.1, etc.

• Title: Title of the MS should be concise and informative (Objective in nature), including period and structure name/location, if appropriate. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible. Avoid the phrase 'case study'.
• Author names and affiliations: Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lowercase superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.
• Corresponding author: Indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication. This responsibility includes answering any future queries about the MS. Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, the address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to provide passport size photo and brief bio (40 words) of the authors once the MS is accepted.

Highlights: Highlights are required by the JGSI. They help increase the discoverability of your article via search engines and are a reviewed part of your paper. Highlights must be placed above the abstract and consist of four to five bullet points, which capture only: the novel results of your research, any new methods used, the primary conclusions. These must be intelligible and standalone statements without reference to the paper. That is, they must not include phrases such as `are discussed?, `are shown?, etc.

Abstract: The abstract should not exceed 300 words and must consist of one paragraph that states only in this order: The research problem, main method(s), main results and main conclusions. The abstract must convey the main content of the paper so that the reader can understand the main content without actually referring to the paper.

Keywords: Following the abstract, provide a maximum of 5 keywords, using British spelling and avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, "and", "of").

Abbreviations: Only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes. Define abbreviations which are not standard in this field in the text at their first mention and put them in parenthesis. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.

Acknowledgements: Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article before the references and do not, therefore, include them on the title page. List here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proof reading the article, etc.).

Funding: This work was supported by the xxxxxxx [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; It is not necessary to include detailed descriptions on the program or type of grants and awards. When funding is from a block grant or other resources available to an academic institution, or other research institution, submit the name of the institute or organization that provided the funding. If no funding has been provided for the research, it is recommended to include the following sentence: This research did not receive any specific grant from any public or private funding agencies.

Nomenclature and units: Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units (SI). If other quantities are mentioned, give their equivalent in SI. You are urged to consult IUGS: Nomenclature for geological time scales/Stratigraphic nomenclature/rock names for further information.

Math Formulae: Please submit math equations as editable text and not as images. Present simple formulae in line with normal text where possible and use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms, e.g., X/Y. In principle, variables are to be presented in italics. Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text)

General points

• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
• Preferred fonts: Arial, Times New Roman; Symbol: Courier.
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
• Indicate per figure if it is a single, 1.5 or 2-column fitting image.

Authors are requested to contribute towards reproduction of figures in colour

Figure Captions: Ensure that each illustration has a caption. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used. All captions must not only state the content of the figure but must also tell the reader the main message of the figure. For Production-standard figures will be requested on acceptance.

Tables: Please submit tables as editable text and not as images. Tables can be placed next to the relevant text in the article. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text and place any table notes above the table body. Ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Please avoid using vertical rules and shading in table cells.

Supplementary material: Supplementary material such as applications and images, can be published with your article to enhance it. Submitted supplementary items are published exactly as they are received. Please submit your material together with the article and supply a concise, descriptive caption for each supplementary file. If you wish to make changes to supplementary material during any stage of the review process, please make sure to provide an updated file. Supplementary material are published online only

To foster transparency, we require you to state the availability of your data in your submission if your data is unavailable to access or unsuitable to post. This may also be a requirement of your funding body or institution. You will have the opportunity to provide a data statement during the submission process.

Peer review: The JGSI operates a double blinded anonymized review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by the EiC for suitability for the journal. MSs deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers (either processed by an Associate editor or directly by the EiC) to assess the scientific quality of the MS. The EiC is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of an articles. The EiC's decision is final and unchallengeable. Editors are not involved in decisions/recommendations about MSs which they have written themselves or have been written by family members or colleagues or which relate to products or services in which the editor has an interest. Any such submission is subject to all of the journal's usual procedures, with peer review handled independently by the relevant Associate editor and their research groups.

Online proof correction: To ensure a fast publication process of the article, we kindly ask authors to provide us with their proof corrections within ten days. Corresponding authors will receive an e-mail with a link to our online proofing system, allowing annotation and correction of proofs online. In addition to editing text, you can also comment on figures/tables and answer questions from the Copy Editor. Web-based proofing provides a faster and less error-prone process by allowing you to directly type your corrections, eliminating the potential introduction of errors. If preferred, you can still choose to annotate and upload your edits on the PDF version. All instructions for proofing will be given in the e-mail we send to authors. We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness and correctness of the text, tables and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will not be considered at this stage; however, in extremely compelling cases can be considered with permission from the EiC. It is important to ensure that all corrections are sent back to us in one communication. Please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proof reading is solely your responsibility. On acceptance of the MS, the authors will be required to send passport size photographs with about 40 words write up of each author and highlight contribution of each of them in the MS.

In view of the high cost of scientific printing and publication, it is necessary that papers should be as brief and concise as possible; and the number of illustrations and tables restricted to the absolute minimum. Varying of length limits, acceptance and scheduling of articles will be at the EiC’s discretion.

Article offprints can be ordered via the offprint order form which is sent once the article is accepted for publication. The authors are required to contribute to the cost of reproduction of photographs in colour. All photographs submitted should be of minimum 300 dpi resolution and should be supplied as TIFF/jpg format image.

• The Editors and Reviewers must declare any conflict of interest before agreeing to review a manuscript (MS). Reviewers usually volunteer their work as a gift to society or science without any payment or reward.
• Peer reviewers should judge whether a submitted MS is novel and worthy of publication, without any plagiarism, data falsification, or unjustified authorship.
• The JGSI adheres to a double-blind review policy, where the authors’ names and affiliations are not open to the reviewers, and the reviewers’ identities are kept confidential. All manuscripts are reviewed by at least two reviewers appointed by the editor-in-chief or Associate Editors. The authors shall be informed of one of the following decisions: accept, major revisions, minor revisions, Reject, not suitable and reject.

The JGSI recommends the basic ethical guidelines for peer reviewers:

• Reviewers must keep the peer review process confidential.
• Justify his/her recommendation with concrete evidence and specific examples.
• Be specific so the authors know what they need to do to improve the MS.
• Be thorough. This might be the only time you read the MS.
• Be professional and respectful.
• Remember to say what you liked about the MS!
• The review process is strictly confidential, and all reviewers are expected to maintain confidentiality regarding the MS they are reviewing, disclosure of their identities to the authors or to other colleagues.

Reviewers must read the manuscript thoroughly and provide constructive suggestions with a dignified way to improve the quality of the article, regarding study design, methods of data analysis and presentation, applied statistical analysis, expressions to improve clarity, relevant references, and convincing conclusions. The reviewer’s comments and conclusions should be objective and free from any personal or professional biases. The contents should be considered based on the facts that are being presented, and comments should be solely based on the MS’s originality, quality, and scientific merits.

The most crucial ethical obligation is the prevention of the publication of erroneous and/or unsubstantiated findings, which could mislead subsequent research. The authors’ efforts should be objectively assessed. Thus, reviewers should avoid negative bias and prejudice. Reviewers should avoid suggesting citations of their own work for personal gain.

The role of editors and publishers in detecting ethical misconduct is limited; therefore, peer reviewers’ roles are crucial in maintaining publication ethics. Reviewers are responsible for providing a review within the specified time based on the journal’s policy for review. This includes 1) deciding to review the manuscript, and 2) completing the review within the requested time frame. The JGSI strives to make every effort for the timely publication of submitted MSs.