The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County publishes the results of original research in the life and earth sciences in its Contributions in Science series. Individual Contributions are issued at irregular intervals and range in size from papers of 8 printed pages to lengthy monographs. Manuscripts submitted for publication will undergo anonymous peer review. Priority is given to manuscripts written by members of the Museum staff.
SCHOLARLY PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE
Prepare manuscript double-spaced, including title page, abstract, text, acknowledgments, references, tables, and figure captions. A paper must total a minimum of 6 printed pages (as a guideline, 3.5 typed pages equal about 1 page of final printed copy). Indicate italicized words with underscores; do not use an italic font for these words.
Each manuscript component should begin on a new page, in the following sequence: title page; abstract(s); text; acknowledgments; literature cited; tables, each table--complete with title and footnotes--on a separate page; and figure captions. All pages should be numbered consecutively.
Submit original illustrations. Line drawings are best prepared for 50 percent reduction and should not exceed 11 by 17 inches (28 by 43 cm) in size; photographs are usually reproduced at full size and should not exceed 5.5 by 8.5 inches (14 by 21.5 cm), full page, or 2.5 by 4.5 inches (6.5 by 11.5 cm), single column.
Transmit to the chair of the Museum's Scientific Publications Committee (currently John M. Harris) three copies of the manuscript in a secure enclosure. The manuscript should be accompanied by a covering letter signed by the author who will be responsible for correspondence regarding the manuscript. The covering letter should contain a statement that the manuscript is based on original research and has not been published elsewhere except in abstract or abbreviated form and that all authors have seen and approved the manuscript. The letter should also give information on prior publications about any part of the research and whether or not funds are available to meet the cost of reproducing color illustrations. Include copies of any permissions needed to reproduce published material.
Manuscripts will be reviewed for possible publication with the understanding that they have not been published, simultaneously submitted, or already accepted for publication elsewhere. This does not preclude consideration of a complete report that follows publication of preliminary findings elsewhere.
After acceptance of a paper by the Museum, the author(s) will receive a statement of page charges from the Managing Editor, calculated at a current rate. Partial or complete payment of this statement will be solicited from those authors who have funds available for this purpose. Authors without access to funds for partial or complete payment of page charges should so indicate on the statement and return it to the Managing Editor. The returned statement qualifies the paper for publication; acceptance of a paper and priority of publication are in no way dependent on payment of the statement.
TITLE PAGE. The title page should contain (1) the title of the manuscript, which should be concise but informative; (2) authors' names as they wish them to appear in final type; (3) in footnotes to authors' names, the professional address of each and affiliation, if any, with the Museum; and (4) a running footline, consisting of authors' last names and an abbreviated title for the paper (the latter should total no more than 30 characters--count letters and spaces).
ABSTRACT. An English language abstract is required for all papers. The abstract may be presented in a second language where appropriate.
The abstract should state the purposes of the study, basic procedures (study subjects and observational and analytical methods), main findings (give specific data and their statistical significance, if possible), names of new taxa and nomenclatural actions, and principal conclusions. New and important results or observations should be emphasized.
Consult the style manuals of the U.S. Geological Survey (Eric, 1978) and the Council of Biology Editors (1978) for guidelines for writing the abstract.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE ABSTRACTS. If a foreign language abstract is included, it should follow the English abstract in the manuscript.
TEXT. The text of articles is usually divided into sections with headings such as INTRODUCTION, METHODS AND MATERIALS, SYSTEMATICS, and DISCUSSION. Long articles may need subheadings within some sections to clarify their content, especially the SYSTEMATICS and DISCUSSION sections.
Authors must adhere to the articles of the International Codes of Botanical and Zoological Nomenclature and are urged to comply with all recommendations of these codes. Authors using stratigraphic terminology must comply with the recommendations of the North American Stratigraphic Code (1983) or the International Stratigraphic Guide (1976).
Diagnoses (as a separate paragraph or in a key, a table, or other suitable format) are required for all newly proposed taxa.
Authors proposing new taxa must indicate and verify that all primary types have been deposited in accordance with recommendations of the appropriate code, citing the depository by name and providing the relevant identifying details. The depository of other study material should also be identified.
The author and date must be provided when a species or generic name first appears in the manuscript.
Avoid footnotes. Do not make reference to other parts of the manuscript by page number.
SYNONYMIES. For each entry in a synonymy, cite the taxon exactly as in the quoted reference and include the last name of the author of that reference, year of publication, and page and figure numbers. Put the full citation of the reference will appear in the LITERATURE CITED section of the paper, not in the synonymy.
For synonymies in botanical papers, the format described above may be used, or a citation consisting of taxon, abbreviated author, abbreviated reference, volume, page, and date may be used (with the latter format, citations do not need to be included in the LITERATURE CITED). Journal abbreviations must follow Lawrence et al. (1968). Authors should describe their methods of designating nomenclatural and taxonomic synonyms.
Following are sample skeleton synonymies for zoology and botany. Please adhere to punctuation and general format as indicated. Additional information may be included in parentheses.
Argentina silus (Ascanius)
Salmo silus Ascanius, 1775:3, pl. 24 (orig. desc.); Müller, 1776:49.
Coregonus silus: Cuvier, 1817: 163; Nilsson, 1832: 19; 1835:40.
Silus ascanii Reinhardt, 1853:11 (new name for Salmo silus Ascanius).
Argentina silus: Risberg, 1835:3; Kendall and Crawford, 1922:8, figs. 1-8.
Acantholepis silus: Krøyer, 1846:97, fig.
Argentina sphyraena (not of Linnaeus, 1758): Kiddle, 1855:35.
Argentina syrtensium Goode and Bean, 1879:261 (orig. descr.).
Monotropa hypopithys L.
Monotropa hypopithys L., Sp. Pl. 1:387. 1753.
Hypopitys monotropa Crantz, Inst. Rei Herb. 2: 467. 1766.
Monotropa hypopithys L. var. glabra Roth, Tent. Fl. Germ. 1:180, 1788.
M. lanuginosa Michx., Fl. Bor. Amer. 1:266, 1803.
Hypopithys lanuginosa (Michx.) Nutt., Gen. North Amer. Pls. 1:271, 1818.
Hypopitys insignata Bickn., Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 41:413, 1914.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. Acknowledge only persons who have made substantive contributions to the study. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission from everyone acknowledged by name, as readers may infer their endorsement of the data and conclusions. Do not acknowledge typists and illustrators (names of the latter should appear in figure titles or on figures).
LITERATURE CITED. In text and synonymies, refer to the literature citations using the following forms: Carleton (1977), (Carleton, 1977), (Blackith and Reyment, 1971), (Fowler and Hoyle, in press), (Osgood, 1904, 1909; Hall and Alvarez, 1961; Hall, 1971), (Gars, 1878:31), or (Gars, 1871:31, pl. 3, figs. 6 and 7, table 2).
In the LITERATURE CITED section, list references in the following formats (note that journal and series titles are not abbreviated):
1. Journal and series articles:
Madin, L.P., and G.R. Harbison. 1978. Salps of the genus Pegea Savigny, 1816 (Tunicata: Thaliacea). Bulletin of Marine Science 28:335-344.
Miller, W.D., and J.D. Brotherson. 1979. Size variation in foot elements of Bison from Rancho La Brea. Contributions in Science 323:1-12.
2. Books:
Krombein, K.V. 1967. Trap-nesting wasps and bees: Life histories, nests, and associates. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 165 pp.
3. Chapter in a book or proceedings volume:
Chave, K.E. 1964. Skeletal durability and preservation. In Approaches to paleoecology, ed. J. Imbrie and N. Newell, 77-187. New York: Wiley.
4. Chapter in a book that is part of a series:
Sleurs, Willy J. 1991. Mollusca Gastropoda: Four new rissoinine species (Rissoininae) from deep water in the New Caledonia region. In Rèsultats des Campagnes Musorstom, ed. A. Crosnier and P. Bouchet. Mèmoires du Musèum National d'Histoire Naturelle 7(150): 163-178.
Unpublished observations and personal communications may not be listed in the LITERATURE CITED, although references to written, not verbal, communications may be inserted (in parentheses) in the text (e.g., "J. Herdwick (pers. comm., 1982) has challenged the validity...."). Include among the literature cited manuscripts accepted but not yet published; give the journal name followed by "in press." Information from manuscripts submitted but not yet accepted should be cited in text as "unpublished observations."
Verification of all citations is the responsibility of the author(s). References not seen should be so indicated.
TABLES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Separately numbered tables and figures should stand alone, that is, explanatory notes should appear in the titles, legends, or footnotes of these elements, not in the text of the article.
Tables. Type each table double-spaced on a separate sheet. Do not submit tables as photographs. Number tables consecutively in the order that they are first referred to in text, and supply a brief title for each. Give each column a short or abbreviated heading. Place explanatory matter in titles or footnotes, not in the column headings. Explain in footnotes all nonstandard abbreviations that are used in each table. Use superscript numbers or letters to organize footnotes.
Omit internal horizontal and vertical rules.
If you use data from another published or unpublished source, obtain permission and acknowledge fully as appropriate.
Tables should be longer than they are wide; make sure that each table has fewer columns than it has entries in the left-hand column. If a table is too wide to be printed out in a 12- characters-per-inch font on a 14-inch wide sheet of paper, consider breaking it into two tables.
Figures. All illustrations will be printed as text- figures, i.e., they will appear in the most appropriate part of the paper. With this in mind, the components of each figure should be selected by subject matter, and groups of unrelated items should not be put together in one figure in an attempt to fill a printed page.
Submit the originals and two copies of figures. Include, separately, a list of figure captions. Figures should be of professional quality; freehand or type-written lettering is unacceptable. Letters, numbers, and symbols should be clear and even throughout and of sufficient size that each item will still be legible when reduced for publication. Identify symbols briefly in a legend on the figure; include detailed explanations in the figure title.
Each figure should have a label pasted on its front indicating, in ink, the number of the figure, the names of the authors, and the top of the figure. Do not write on the back of figures or scratch or mar them using paper clips. Do not bend figures.
If possible, cite each figure in text in consecutive order. Show in the margin of the text the approximate place where each figure should actually appear in the final copy (e.g., "Fig. 3 near here"), keeping in mind that figures must appear in numerical sequence. If a figure has been published, acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material.
For illustrations in color, supply color positive transparencies and, when necessary, accompanying sketches marked to indicate the region to be reproduced. In addition, send two positive color prints or photocopies to assist editors and reviewers in evaluating the illustration.
Figures will generally be reproduced as follows (unless instructions to the contrary accompany the manuscript): (1) Line drawings will be reduced to 50 percent of original size (illustrations to occupy a full page should be no wider than 11 inches (28 cm); those to occupy a single column should be 5 inches (12.5 cm) or less; neither should exceed 17 inches (43 cm) from top to bottom). (2) Photographs will be reproduced at close to 100 percent of original size (5.5 inches (14 cm) wide for full page width; 2.5 inches (6.5 cm) wide for single-column width; not to exceed 8.5 inches (21.5 cm) from top to bottom).
ABBREVIATIONS. Standard abbreviations (those defined in Webster's Third International Dictionary, unabridged) may be used without introduction throughout the manuscript. Other abbreviations should be defined the first time they are used in text and should be employed only if they are great space-savers in the manuscript, replacing frequently used two- or three-word terms.
Abbreviations for special terms and names of institutions housing collections should appear in the METHODS AND MATERIALS section; in long papers, a glossary defining abbreviations and terms may appear as part of the front or back matter.
Avoid abbreviations in the paper title and in headings and subheadings. If nonstandard abbreviations are used in tables, they should be defined in footnotes to the tables.
Bernstein, T.M. 1965. The careful writer: A modern guide to English usage. New York: Atheneum.
Blaker, A.A. 1977. Handbook for scientific photography. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman.
CBE Style Manual Committee. 1983. CBE style manual, 5th ed. Bethesda, Md.: Council of Biology Editors, Inc.
Day, R.A. 1979. How to write and publish a scientific paper, Philadelphia: ISI Press.
Eric, J.A., coord. 1978. Suggestions to authors of reports of the United States Geological Survey, 6th ed. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
International Subcommission on Stratigraphic Classification, IUGS Commission on Stratigraphy. 1976. International stratigraphic guide: A guide to stratigraphic classification, terminology, and procedure. New York: Wiley-Interscience, John Wiley and Sons.
Lawrence, G.H.M., A.F.G. Buchheim, G.S. Daniels, and H. Dolezal, eds. 1968. Botanico-Periodicum-Huntianum. Pittsburgh, Pa.: Hunt Botanical Library.
Mayr, E. 1969. Principles of systematic zoology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
McCartney, E.S. 1953. Recurrent maladies in scholarly writing. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press.
North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature. 1983. North American Stratigraphic Code. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 67:841-75.
Strunk, W., Jr., and E.B. White. 1959. The elements of style. New York: Macmillan Co.
University of Chicago Press. 1982. The Chicago manual of style, 13th ed. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, unabridged. 1976. Springfield Mass.: G.& E. Merriam Co.
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