Author information pack
Types of article
Contributions falling into the following categories will be considered for publication: original research paper, short communication, review article, letter to the editors, book review.
Please ensure that you select the appropriate article type from the list of options when making your submission. Authors contributing to special issues should ensure that they select the special issue article type from this list.
Manuscripts should be written clearly and concisely, and in general should not exceed 30 printed pages in the Palaeoworld format; in the case of longer manuscripts, please contact the Editor-in-Chief prior to submission. All manuscripts (except book reviews) are subject to peer-review. Contributions should be original and largely contain previously unreported material and a significant amount of new information; the overlap between related papers should be minimal. Review articles should contain a substantial amount of new information and/or new interpretations, and not merely be summaries of earlier work.
Manuscripts that are not set out according to the house style of Palaeoworld, are poorly written and/or otherwise poorly prepared will be returned to authors for revision before they are dispatched for review.
Ethics in publishing
For information on Ethics in publishing and Ethical guidelines for journal publication see http://www.elsevier.com/publishingethics and http://www.elsevier.com/journal-authors/ethics.
Conflict of interest
All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work. See also http://www.elsevier.com/conflictsofinterest. Further information and an example of a Conflict of Interest form can be found at: http://help.elsevier.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/286/p/7923.
Submission declaration
Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or as an electronic preprint, see http://www.elsevier.com/postingpolicy), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that 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 including electronically in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the copyright-holder.
Contributors
Each author is required to declare his or her individual contribution to the article: all authors must have materially participated in the research and/or article preparation, so roles for all authors should be described. The statement that all authors have approved the final article should be true and included in the disclosure.
Each author is required to declare his or her individual contribution to the article: all authors must have materially participated in the research and/or article preparation, so roles for all authors should be described. The statement that all authors have approved the final article should be true and included in the disclosure.
Changes to authorship
This policy concerns the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship of accepted manuscripts:
Before the accepted manuscript is published in an online issue: Requests to add or remove an author, or to rearrange the author names, must be sent to the Journal Manager from the corresponding author of the accepted manuscript and must include: (a) the reason the name should be added or removed, or the author names rearranged and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, fax, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed. Requests that are not sent by the corresponding author will be forwarded by the Journal Manager to the corresponding author, who must follow the procedure as described above. Note that: (1) Journal Managers will inform the Journal Editors of any such requests and (2) publication of the accepted manuscript in an online issue is suspended until authorship has been agreed.
After the accepted manuscript is published in an online issue: Any requests to add, delete, or rearrange author names in an article published in an online issue will follow the same policies as noted above and result in a corrigendum.
Copyright
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (for more information on this and copyright see http://www.elsevier.com/copyright). Acceptance of the agreement will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this agreement.
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 (please consult http://www.elsevier.com/permissions). 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. Elsevier has preprinted forms for use by authors in these cases: please consult http://www.elsevier.com/permissions.
Retained author rights
As an author you (or your employer or institution) retain certain rights; for details you are referred to: http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights.
Role of the funding source
You are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement then this should be stated. Please see http://www.elsevier.com/funding.
Funding body agreements and policies
Elsevier has established agreements and developed policies to allow authors whose articles appear in journals published by Elsevier, to comply with potential manuscript archiving requirements as specified as conditions of their grant awards. To learn more about existing agreements and policies please visit http://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies.
Open access
This journal does not ordinarily have publication charges; however, authors can now opt to make their articles available to all (including non-subscribers) via the ScienceDirect platform, for which a fee of US $3000 applies (for further information on open access see http://www.elsevier.com/about/open-access/open-access-options). Please note that you can only make this choice after receiving notification that your article has been accepted for publication, to avoid any perception of conflict of interest. The fee excludes taxes and other potential costs such as color charges. In some cases, institutions and funding bodies have entered into agreement with Elsevier to meet these fees on behalf of their authors. Details of these agreements are available at http://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies. Authors of accepted articles, who wish to take advantage of this option, should complete and submit the order form (available at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/openaccessform.pdf). Whatever access option you choose, you retain many rights as an author, including the right to post a revised personal version of your article on your own website. More information can be found here: http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights.
Your publication choice will have no effect on the peer review process or acceptance of submitted articles.
Language (usage and editing services)
Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). Authors who feel their English language manuscript may require editing to eliminate possible grammatical or spelling errors and to conform to correct scientific English may wish to use the English Language Editing service available from Elsevier's WebShop (http://webshop.elsevier.com/languageediting/) or visit our customer support site (http://support.elsevier.com) for more information.
Submission
Submission to this journal proceeds totally online. Use the following guidelines to prepare your article. Via the homepage of this journal (http://ees.elsevier.com/palwor/) you will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of the various files. The system automatically converts source files to a single Adobe Acrobat PDF version of the article, which is used in the peer-review process. Please note that even though manuscript source files are converted to PDF at submission for the review process, these source files are needed for further processing after acceptance. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, takes place by e-mail and via the author's homepage, removing the need for a hard-copy paper trail. If you are unable to provide an electronic version, please contact the editorial office prior to submission, e-mail: palaeoworld@nigpas.ac.cn, palaeoworld2006@hotmail.com; telephone: +86-25-83282197.
Additional information
Every submission has to include a cover letter containing written assurance that the manuscript (and its content) has not been and will not be published or simultaneously submitted elsewhere. The cover letter should indicate the scientific significance and the broad appeal to the readership of the submitted manuscript.
When a manuscript has two or more authors, it is assumed that all listed authors participated meaningfully in the study, have read the final manuscript and agree to its submission. To ensure this, all authors have to send an author agreement.
Please submit, with the manuscript, the names, addresses and e-mail addresses of three potential referees. Note that the editor retains the sole right to decide whether or not the suggested reviewers are used. If relevant, authors may give reasons why the manuscript should not be assigned to specific individuals for review.
Supplementary data such as lengthy tables, video clips, maps, images etc. may be archived with the accepted paper on ScienceDirect: all such material must be submitted with the original manuscript for review.
This journal has no page charges.
Use of word processing software
It is important that the file be saved in the native format of the word processor used. The text should be in single-column format. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. In particular, do not use the word processor's options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc. When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each individual table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs, not spaces, to align columns. The electronic text should be prepared in a way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts (see also the Guide to Publishing with Elsevier: http://www.elsevier.com/guidepublication). Note that source files of figures, tables and text graphics will be required whether or not you embed your figures in the text. See also the section on Electronic artwork.
To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the 'spell-check' and 'grammar-check' functions of your word processor.
LaTeX
If the LaTeX file is suitable, proofs will be produced without rekeying the text. The article should preferably be written using Elsevier's document class 'elsarticle', or alternatively any of the other recognized classes and formats supported in Elsevier's electronic submissions system, for further information see http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorsview.authors/latex-ees-supported.
The Elsevier 'elsarticle' LaTeX style file package (including detailed instructions for LaTeX preparation) can be obtained from the Quickguide: http://www.elsevier.com/latex. It consists of the file: elsarticle.cls, complete user documentation for the class file, bibliographic style files in various styles, and template files for a quick start. For information about reference management please go to the document at http://cdn.elsevier.com/assets/pdf_file/0011/109388/elsdoc.pdf and click on the section 'bibliography'.
Preparation of text
Authors should consult recently published issues of Palaeoworld and construct their papers in accordance with both the general format and the "house style".
Italics are not to be used for expressions of Latin origin, for example in vivo, et al., per se. Use decimal points (not commas); use a space for thousands (10 000 and above).
Article structure
Subdivision - numbered sections
Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ...), 1.2, etc. (the abstract is not included in section numbering). Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to 'the text'. Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line.
Introduction
State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.
Material and methods
Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should be described.
Geological setting
This should highlight the key results (and not repeat material already in figures or tables) and summarize the direct implications of these results.
Results
This should highlight the key results (and not repeat material already in figures or tables) and summarise the direct implications of these results.
Discussion
This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.
Conclusions
The short Conclusions section should summarize the conclusions of the study that have been firmly established. It should not duplicate either the Abstract or the Discussion.
Appendices
If there is more than one appendix, they 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.
Essential title page information
• Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
• Author names and affiliations. Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case 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. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. Ensure that phone numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete postal address. Contact details must be kept up to date by the corresponding author.
• Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.
Abstract
A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, References should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s). Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.
Keywords
Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 6 keywords, avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, "and", "of"). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.
Abbreviations
Define abbreviations that are not standard in this field in a footnote to be placed on the first page of the article. Such abbreviations that are unavoidable in the abstract must be defined at their first mention there, as well as in the footnote. 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, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proof reading the article, etc.).
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 IUPAC: Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry: http://www.iupac.org/ for further information.
Math formulae
Present simple formulae in the line of 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).
Footnotes
Footnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article, using superscript Arabic numbers. Many wordprocessors build footnotes into the text, and this feature may be used. Should this not be the case, indicate the position of footnotes in the text and present the footnotes themselves separately at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list.
Table footnotes
Indicate each footnote in a table with a superscript lowercase letter.
Artwork
Electronic artwork
General points
• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
• Save text in illustrations as "graphics" or enclose the font.
• Only use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times, Symbol.
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
• Provide captions to illustrations separately.
• Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version.
• Submit each figure as a separate file.
• Individual parts of figures are lettered (A, B etc.), rather than numbered.
• Magnifications of individual figures should be indicated by scale bars on the figures.
• Please indicate clearly in the text where each figure/table should be positioned.
A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on our website: http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions
You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.
Formats
Regardless of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalised, please "save as" or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):
EPS: Vector drawings. Embed the font or save the text as "graphics".
TIFF: color or grayscale photographs (halftones): always use a minimum of 300 dpi.
TIFF: Bitmapped line drawings: use a minimum of 1000 dpi.
TIFF: Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale): a minimum of 500 dpi is required.
If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then please supply "as is".
Please do not:
• Supply embedded graphics in your word processor (spreadsheet, presentation) document when submitting the final accepted article;
• Supply files that are optimised for screen use (like GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); the resolution is too low;
• Supply files that are too low in resolution;
• Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.
Color artwork
Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF (or JPEG), EPS (or PDF), or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable color figures then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in color on the Web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in color in the printed version. For color reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Elsevier after receipt of your accepted article. Please indicate your preference for color: in print or on the Web only. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.
Please note: Because of technical complications which can arise by converting color figures to 'gray scale' (for the printed version should you not opt for color in print) please submit in addition usable black and white versions of all the color illustrations.
Figure captions
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. 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.
Tables
Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Place footnotes to tables below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters. Avoid vertical rules. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article.
References
All references cited in the text and in the figures and tables, including those pertaining to the authorship of all taxa (except for taxa mentioned in a non-taxonomic context), are to be listed at the end of the paper. Papers and books to which no reference is made should not be included. The manuscript should be carefully checked to ensure that the spellings of authors' names and publication years are exactly the same in the text as in the reference list. Do not type author's and editor's names in capitals.
Citation in text
Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or 'Personal communication'. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.
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. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.
References in a special issue
Please ensure that the words 'this issue' are added to any references in the list (and any citations in the text) to other articles in the same Special Issue.
Reference style
In the text refer to the author's name (without initials) and year of publication, followed - if necessary - by a short reference to appropriate pages. Examples: "Because Peterson (1994) has shown that...". "This is in agreement with results obtained later (Kramer and Jones, 1996, pp. 12-16; Martin et al., 1998, p. 13, text-fig. 3, pl. 4, figs. 3-7)".
If reference is made in the text to publications written by more than two authors the name of the first author should be used, followed by "et al.". This indication, however, should never be used in the list of references. In this list names of authors and all co-authors must be given in full.
References in the text should be arranged chronologically. The list of references should be arranged alphabetically by authors' names, and chronologically per author. If an author's name in the list is also mentioned with co-authors, the following order should be used: Publications of the single author, arranged according to publication year - publications of the same author with one co-author, arranged according to publication year - publications of the author with more than one co-author, arranged according to publication year.
In the case of publications in any language other than English, a note such as "(in Russian)" or "(in Chinese, with English abstract)" should be added at the end of the reference.
The following system should be used for arranging references:
a. Journal papers: Names and initials of all authors, year. Title of paper. Journal name (given in full), volume number (issue number), first and last page numbers of the paper.
Example:
Allasinaz, A., 1972. Revisione dei Pettinidi triassici. Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia 78 (2), 189-429.
Wu, X.W., Deng, S.H., Zhang, Y.L., 2002. Fossil plants from the Jurassic of Chaoshui Basin, Northwest China. Palaeoworld 14, 136-201 (in Chinese, with English abstract).
b. Monographs: Names and initials of all authors, year. Title of the monograph. Publisher, location of publisher, total page number of the monograph.
Example:
Yang, Z.Y., Zhang, S.X., Yang, J.D., Zhou, H.Q., Cao, H.S. (Eds.), 2000. Stratigraphy of China: Triassic. Geological Publishing House, Beijing, 138 pp. (in Chinese).
c. Edited volume papers: Names and initials of all authors, year. Title of paper. Names and initials of the volume editors, title of the edited volume. Publisher, location of publisher, first and last page numbers of the paper.
Example:
Simms, M.J., 1999. Systematics, phylogeny and evolutionary history. In: Hess, H., Ausich, W.I., Brett, C.E., Simms, M.J. (Eds.), Fossil Crinoids. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 31-40.
d. Conference proceedings papers: Names and initials of all authors, year. Title of paper. Name of the conference. Publisher, location of publisher, first and last page numbers of the paper.
Example:
Smith, M.W., 1988. The significance of climatic change for the permafrost environment. Final Proceedings of the International Conference on Permafrost. Tapir, Trondheim, Norway, pp. 18-23.
e. Unpublished theses, reports etc.: Names and initials of all authors, year. Title of item. All other relevant information needed to identify the item (e.g. technical report, Ph.D. thesis, institute etc.).
Example:
Zhou, Z.K., 1985. The Miocene Xiaolongtan fossil flora in Kaiyuan, Yunnan, China. Master Thesis, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 161 pp. (in Chinese, with English abstract).
Systematic palaelontology
Systematic work is always introduced by the first-order heading above. Care is necessary to ensure that diagnoses, descriptions and remarks are kept distinct.
The mandatory provisions of, and recommendations in, the current editions of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICZB) and International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) must be followed unless there is good reason to do otherwise, in which case this should be justified.
In accordance with the recommendations of the ICBN and ICZN, all fossils that are described and illustrated must be registered and deposited in an appropriate permanent and publicly accessible institution, with staff and facilities capable of ensuring their conservation and availability for future reference in perpetuity. The registered numbers must be given in the paper, commonly within the systematic palaeontology section and figure captions. Repository (e.g. museum) letter codes prefix a specimen number.
Authorship names and dates of all taxa, regardless of rank, mentioned in taxonomic context (i.e. at least those mentioned in the systematic palaeontology section) must be given after the first usage of the taxon, and the respective citations must be included in the references section. All author names (of extant as well as fossil taxa) should be spelt out in full, and the authorship of taxa should be given in full as well (no "et al."). Format: Hongshanosaurus houi You, Xu and Wang, 2003.
Generic names must be given in full at the first mention of a species. They may be abbreviated subsequently to the initial capital letter followed by a full stop unless confusion with another genus is likely. Spell out generic names at the beginning of sentences and when used with "sp.". Do not abbreviate specific and subspecific names.
Authors are encouraged to annotate synonymies using the symbols listed in Matthews (1973) (Matthews, S.C., 1973. Notes on open nomenclature and on synonymy lists. Palaeontology 16, 713-719).
Additional information at the end of synonym entries is enclosed in brackets. It is necessary to note only the first page of a reference in the synonymy list, but all plates and figures should be included. The original designation of the taxon has to be included. Format: 1987 Agenus aspecies Meyer, 1857 – Miller, p. 17, text-fig. 2, pl. 1, fig. 6. // pars 1995 Agenus aspecies Meyer, 1857 – Wang, p. 134, text-fig. 4, pl. 2, figs. 3-4; non text-fig. 5, pl. 3, figs. 1-3 (= Bgenus bspecies Smith, 1983).
Open nomenclature: The guidelines provided by Matthews (1973) and Bengtson (1988) (Bengtson, P., 1988. Open nomenclature. Palaeontology 31, 223-227.) should be followed. Format: Luciniola cf. pumila (Goldfuss, 1840), not Luciniola cf. L. pumila (Goldfuss, 1840); Luciniola? sp., not ? Luciniola sp. or Luciniola ? sp.
Headings in the systematic palaeontology section are usually in the format "Description: " and arranged as follows:
For a new genus:
Genus name followed by "n. gen.".
Figures (provide only when formal descriptions of species are not included).
Synonymy list (including plate and figure citations), optional.
Etymology, required.
Type species, required, with type of designation (original designation or subsequent designation by Author (year, p. xx)).
Other species (if incomplete) or Included species (if complete), recommended, if applicable (otherwise indicate "by monotypy" under "Type species").
Diagnosis, required, in telegraphic style and in a standard sequence; authors should ensure that diagnoses distinguish the taxon in question from all morphologically similar taxa.
Description, recommended, in telegraphic style and in a standard sequence (not necessarily the same as the diagnosis).
Remarks, recommended.
Occurrence, recommended.
For a new species:
Species name followed by "n. sp.".
Figures, required.
Synonymy list (including page and plate citations), required, if applicable.
Etymology, required.
Types, required; type designations, repository acronyms and catalogue numbers must be provided, followed by information on the stratigraphical formation and geological age of the type stratum and the geographical location of the type locality (if applicable, present data for holotype and paratypes separately); measurements of types should follow in a separate heading called "Measurements" after the description.
Other material examined, required, if applicable; repository acronyms and catalogue numbers must be provided for all type, figured and described specimens.
Diagnosis, required; in telegraphic style and in a standard sequence; authors should ensure that diagnoses distinguish the taxon in question from all morphologically similar taxa.
Description, required; in telegraphic style and in a standard sequence (not necessarily the same as the diagnosis); in the case of vertebrates or plants, this section may be split into separate headings for different anatomical parts if desired.
Measurements, at least measurements of the type specimens should be provided.
Remarks, recommended.
Occurrence, required.
In the case of already known taxa, an abbreviated treatment is acceptable.
Supplementary data
Elsevier accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips and more. Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article in Elsevier Web products, including ScienceDirect: http://www.sciencedirect.com. In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please provide the data in one of our recommended file formats. Authors should submit the material in electronic format together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. For more detailed instructions please visit our artwork instruction pages at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.
Submission_checklist
The following list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal for review. Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details of any item.
Ensure that the following items are present:
One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:
• E-mail address
• Full postal address
• Phone numbers
All necessary files have been uploaded, and contain:
• Keywords
• All figure captions
• All tables (including title, description, footnotes)
Further considerations
• Article has been read and approved by all co-authors
• Manuscript has been 'spell-checked' and 'grammar-checked'
• References are in the correct format for this journal
• 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 Web)
• Color figures are clearly marked as being intended for color reproduction on the Web (free of charge) and in print, or to be reproduced in color on the Web (free of charge) and in black-and-white in print
• If only color on the Web is required, black-and-white versions of the figures are also supplied for printing purposes
For any further information please visit our customer support site at http://support.elsevier.com.
Use of the Digital Object Identifier
The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) may be used to cite and link to electronic documents. The DOI consists of a unique alpha-numeric character string which is assigned to a document by the publisher upon the initial electronic publication. The assigned DOI never changes. Therefore, it is an ideal medium for citing a document, particularly 'Articles in press' because they have not yet received their full bibliographic information. Example of a correctly given DOI (in URL format; here an article in the journal Physics Letters B):
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2010.09.059
When you use a DOI to create links to documents on the web, the DOIs are guaranteed never to change.
Proofs
One set of page proofs (as PDF files) will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author (if we do not have an e-mail address then paper proofs will be sent by post) or, a link will be provided in the e-mail so that authors can download the files themselves. Elsevier now provides authors with PDF proofs which can be annotated; for this you will need to download Adobe Reader version 7 (or higher) available free from http://get.adobe.com/reader. Instructions on how to annotate PDF files will accompany the proofs (also given online). The exact system requirements are given at the Adobe site: http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/tech-specs.html.
If you do not wish to use the PDF annotations function, you may list the corrections (including replies to the Query Form) and return them to Elsevier in an e-mail. Please list your corrections quoting line number. If, for any reason, this is not possible, then mark the corrections and any other comments (including replies to the Query Form) on a printout of your proof and return by fax, or scan the pages and e-mail, or by post. 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 only be considered at this stage with permission from the Editor. We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately – please let us have all your corrections within 48 hours. 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. Proofreading is solely your responsibility. Note that Elsevier may proceed with the publication of your article if no response is received.
Offprints
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). For an extra charge, paper offprints can be ordered via the offprint order form which is sent once the article is accepted for publication. Both corresponding and co-authors may order offprints at any time via Elsevier's WebShop (http://webshop.elsevier.com/myarticleservices/offprints). Authors requiring printed copies of multiple articles may use Elsevier WebShop's 'Create Your Own Book' service to collate multiple articles within a single cover (http://webshop.elsevier.com/myarticleservices/offprints/myarticlesservices/booklets).
For inquiries relating to the submission of articles (including electronic submission) please visit this journal's homepage. For detailed instructions on the preparation of electronic artwork, please visit http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions. Contact details for questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those relating to proofs, will be provided by the publisher. You can track accepted articles at http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle. You can also check our Author FAQs at http://www.elsevier.com/authorFAQ and/or contact Customer Support via http://support.elsevier.com.
