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The following provides guidelines for authors who wish to submit articles or manuscripts for consideration. SSAR's Ethics Statement should also be consulted prior to submitting manuscripts.
Suitable Topics
Style and Formatting Submitting a manuscript in the correct format for the Journal is essential in minimizing turnaround time and reducing costs to the Society. Manuscripts not in the correct style may be returned to the author before being sent for peer review. Thus, please be sure to follow the instructions below very carefully, especially the "Ten Commandments". Consult a recent issue of the Journal for additional style guidance. Line Numbers - To facilitate and speed electronic review, please use line numbers for your manuscript.Title Page -- Sample Title Page appears at the close of these instructions. Please follow the format precisely. DO NOT abbreviate states, postal codes, etc. Email addresses are required (especially during the publication process). Abstract -- An abstract is required for all papers (including Shorter Communications). It should represent a concise statement of the objectives and results of the paper. Statistical results are not needed. Main Body -- All manuscripts (including Shorter Communications) should consist of the following sections: Introduction (no heading), Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments, Literature Cited, Appendices, and Figure Legends (grouped together). Submissions formatted as Shorter Communications (eight or fewer pages of text) should follow the same sequence, including section headings and a brief Abstract. In-text References -- Cite references in the text in chronological order, using a semicolon to separate citations. Use "et al." for three or more authors (example; Smith, 1975; Jones and Jones, 1987; Brown et al., 1990). Papers accepted for publication should be cited as Smith (in press). Unpublished manuscripts (including manuscripts submitted for publication) should be cited as A.A. Smith (unpubl. data), and should not be placed in the Literature Cited (include all bnames and initials for multi-authored unpublished data).
Literature Cited Format -- The Literature Cited is one the largest sources of errors. Note that it is now policy that all journal titles be spelled out in their entirety (i.e., no abbreviations). Please be sure that all entries in the Literature Cited also appear in the text (and vice-versa), and that the format instructions below are adhered to carefully: Article in a Journal Smith, A. T. 1992. Ecology of rattlesnakes in Florida. Journal of Herpetology 26:100-105. Book Smith, A. T., and J. Jones. 1995. Physiology of Amphibians and Reptiles. McGraw-Hill Inc., New York (page numbers not needed when entire book is the citation). Be sure to include the state and country (unless U.S.A.) with each book entry unless it is given in the name of the publisher (e.g., Arizona Game and Fish, etc.). Capitalize the first letter of each significant word in book titles. Chapter in a Book Smith, A. T. 1994. Systematics of frogs and toads. In J. Black and M. Lee (eds.), Systematics of Amphibians and Reptiles, pp. 52-65. Univ. of Kansas Press, Lawrence. Works "in press" Cite these IN TEXT by following the author's name with "(in press)", and in the Literature Cited section as follows: Smith, J. Q. (in press). Things my uncle never said about snakes. Journal of Ethnography. Dissertation or Thesis Smith, A. T. 1991. Behavioral Ecology of Turtles. Unpubl. Ph.D. Diss. (or Thesis), Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence. (Use state name if not obvious from the university name, and include country if not U.S.A.). Multiple Citations -- Multiple citations for the same author should be organized as follows: single citations first, two-author citations second (in alphabetical order), three or more authors third (in chronological order). NOTE: This represents a style change from previous issues. Smith, A. T. 1992. Ecology of rattlesnakes in Florida. Journal of Rattlesnake Ecology 26:100-105. ----- 1993. Ecology of turtles in Louisiana. Journal of Herpetology 27:91-99. Smith, A. T., and B. Black. 1991. Systematics and morphology of snakes. Journal of Ophidology 25:100-105. Smith, A. T., and J. Jones. 1989. Diamondback terrapins in Louisiana. Bulletin of the Society for Aquatic Critter Study 23:234-236. Smith, A. T., W. White, and J. Jones. 1989. Mating behavior in Gila monsters. Herpetologica 23:230-234. Smith, A. T., A. Black, and J. Jones. 1995. Temperature relationships in garter snakes. Bulletin of the Gartersnake 29:30-34. In general, so-called "gray literature" references (meeting abstracts, unreviewed reports to government agencies) should NOT be listed in the Lit. Cit. If citations of such reports is deemed essential, sufficient information should be provided so that the readers can locate the reference independently. The Editor will act to remove citations deemed unwarranted. Tables - Tables will be uploaded as separate files (XLS or DOC formats). Tables should be double-spaced and each table should be numbered consecutively and placed on its own page. Do not use vertical lines. The legend of the table should be concise but sufficiently detailed so the table can be understood without reference to the text. The legend should appear on the same page as the table. Avoid footnotes whenever possible. Figure Headings -- Figure headings should be placed on a single page and numbered in the order in which they are cited in the text. Figures - Figures should be uploaded as separate files (one per figure). The following formats are supported by our submission site: TIF, EPS, PDF, or JPG formats. Further details are available on the submission site. Figures with multiple parts should have each part labeled with a capital letters (e.g., A,B,C, …) and all parts of the figure should be submitted on a single page.
Spell out week, month, day, and mean. Animal Care and Permits: The Society feels strongly that all animals used in research should be treated humanely and ethically. SSAR, ASIH, and HL have jointly compiled Guidelines for Use of Live Amphibians and Reptiles in Field Research," which outlines appropriate treatment of amphibians and reptiles used in field research, and all contributors to the Journal are expected to comply with these guidelines. In addition, the Journal requires a statement in the Acknowledgments indicating that authors have complied with all applicable institutional Animal Care guidelines, and that all required state and federal permits have been obtained. Voucher Specimens The Journal of Herpetology requires that all submissions from researchers reporting results of phylogenetic reconstruction and taxonomic decision be supplemented by in-text (if a shorter communication) or appendix (if a major paper) reference to voucher specimens. Such reference must include an acceptable acronym (e.g. Copeia 1985:802-832; Copeia 1988:280-282) for the permanent collection(s) in which the voucher(s) resides and inclusive catalogue numbers for all specimens utilized. When tissue or DNA samples are utilized, reference to an identifiable carcass deposited in a permanent museum collection is required. Rationale for this decision appears in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 17:129-132. The
Ten Commandments of Style and Formatting Sample Title PageLRH: Lewis Smith (spell out name if only one author) |
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