Check List: Journal of Species Lists and Distribuition

Check List » Author Guidelines & Submission

GENERAL INFORMATION

Categories of papers:
There are two types of papers: Notes on Geographic Distribution (NGD) and Lists of Species (LS). NGDs should provide reports of occurrence of one or a few species. SLs generally report a species inventory from a given locality.

Format rules:
Please pay careful attention to guidelines provided here when preparing your manuscript. If after reading instructions provided here you still have questions, contact the Editor-in-Chief. Manuscripts that are not presented according to Check List guidelines will be sent back to authors without review. Keep in mind that currently, over 80% of manuscripts are returned to authors without review, resulting in delay in the review process. The main reasons are that authors do not read and follow instructions in this webpage, resulting in problems, of which the most frequent are: lack of proper English, names of potential referees not indicated, use of grey literature, incorrect citations of literature or 'in text' citations, and nomenclature instructions not according to Check List guidelines. Whether you want a rapid review process of your manuscript, please start by reading and following instructions carefully.

MANUSCRIPT STYLE AND FORMAT

The manuscript must be submitted as Word document (.doc) or Rich Text Format (.rtf), double-spaced throughout (including tables and references), 2.0 cm margins on 21.0 x 29.7 cm (A4) paper. Please use Times New Roman 12 and do not format table lines. All pages should be numbered consecutively (except the cover page). Manuscripts must be submitted in the order specified below for each manuscript category (NGD or SL). Please indicate the category in the first line of the document.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR LISTS OF SPECIES (LS)

This section is dedicated to complete species inventory from a given locality. Maps, color pictures and tables of species lists are recommended. SL should be organized as follows:

Category of paper and short title (Cover page)
Indicate in the first line of the manuscript its category (NGD or LS). The second line must contain a short title (up to 90 characters with spaces).

Title (Cover page)
Taxonomic group, locality (optional), State, Country.
e.g.: Anurans in bromeliads, Parque Estadual da Serra do Brigadeiro, state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil.

Author(s) (Cover page)
Name(s) with respective institution and author for correspondence (provide e-mail):
First Name and Surnames ¹^*, First Name and Surnames ² and First Name and Surnames ¹
¹ University, Institute, Departament. Complete Address, Zip code (or CEP), City, State, Country.
² University, Institute, Departament. Complete Address, Zip code (or CEP), City, State, Country.
^* Corresponding author. E-mail: author@company-or-university

Abstract (Second page forward)
Up to 150 words.

Introduction (Second page forward)
Brief.

Materials and Methods
Study site; Data Collection (any sort of permits/authorizations should be mentioned in this section); Data Analysis (optional).

Results and Discussion
As concise and objective as possible.

Acknowledgements (optional)
Permits/authorizations should be mentioned in Materials and Methods, not in the Acknowledgements.

Literature Cited
Journal titles should be in full, not abbreviated. Volume should be followed by issue number in parenthesis in every journal reference. Cited publications should be included in alphabetical order in the following formats (attention to the usage of upper and lowercases, commas, semi-colon, brackets, spaces, italics and English words, ever):

Citing Check List articles:
e.g.: Arroyo-Rodriguez, V., J.C. Dunn, J. Benitez-Malvido and S. Mandujano. 2009. Angiosperms, Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve, Veracruz, Mexico. Check List 5(4): 787-799.

Journal articles with usual volume and issue number:
e.g.: França, M.V.N. 1999. La extinción de los zorros (Foxidae: Foxtrotus spp.) de España. Perro Negro 20(3): 251-265.

Two authors in a journal series:
e.g.: Westerman, A.C.B. and E.M. Wistuba. 2007. Born to be wild: Behaviour studies on Steppe wolves. Canadian Canids 51(1): 25-27.

More than two authors in a journal series:
e.g.: Ferraz, M.J.O., P. Pinheiro, M.C. Wachowicz and L.M. Kozak. 2006. A new Wild dog (Canidae: Archaeocerberus) from Madagascar with description of its disgusting habits. South African Mastozoological News 33(6): 339-349.

Chapter in an edited volume:
e.g.: Wal, D. 2008. Die Anwesenheit von Hunden auf europächer Zirkus; p. 11-69 In L. Paretto and C. Drummond (eds.). Der Zirkus als ein Ethik Ort. Hamburg: Fuchs Marke Verlag.

Books:
e.g.: Felde, G. and M. Staveski. 2001. O lobo-guará nos campos do sul do Brasil. Curitiba: Artes de Antes. 210 p.
e.g.: Beux, M.R. 1997. Red Tibetan fox (Vulpoides religiosa). Electronic Database accessible at http://www.allcanids.org/species/ Vulpoides_religiosa.html. MCMK/Asian Canid Group, Foxford University, UK. Captured on 14 February 2008.

Important remark: gray literature will not be accepted.
» "Gray Literature" is scientific or technical literature that is not available through the usual bibliographic sources such as databases or indexes, i.e. that can not be found easily through conventional channels such as regular scientific journals or the internet (scientific open journals).
» Technical reports, pre-prints, committee reports, proceedings (conference, congress and symposia), as well as unpublished works (Monographs, Dissertations and Thesis), will be considered gray literature, even if available in the internet. If strictly necessary, the use of gray literature information must be cited as "unpublished data" or "personal communication". However, the acceptance of this kind of reference will depends on the Area Editor's decision.
» Articles "in press/accepted" should be allowed only if the author has already the formal/final acceptance from the editor. A journal document proving the acceptance can be directed to Check List.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR NOTES ON GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION (NGD)

This section is dedicated to geographic distribution notes. NGD should be organized into categories, such as distribution extension, distribution reduction, historical occurrence, filling gaps, or any other not listed here. NGD should be organized as follows:

Category of paper and short title (Cover page) (as Species Lists)

Title (Cover page)
Taxonomic group, Species name(s) (or taxa name) (authority and date of the species name): category (distribution extension, distribution reduction, historical occurrence, filling gaps, other).
e.g.: Reptilia, Squamata, Serpentes, Dipsadidae, Sibynomorphus lavillai Scrocchi, Porto and Rey 1993: New country record and geographic distribution map. If submitting a note with three or more species, do not provide species, but only higher taxa.

Author names and institutions (as Lists of Species)

Abstract (Second page forward)
Up to 90 words.

Text
No subheading (Introduction, Material and Methods, Results and Discussion).

Acknowledgements (as Lists of Species)

Literature Cited (as Lists of Species)

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

In-text reference to localities:
All names of localities should be in capitals, no matter the language, and not italicized; e.g. Parque Nacional de Itatiaia, Espinhaço Range, Reunión Island.

In-text citations:
Author citations in the text must follow the pattern: "Lutz (1973)" or "(Sazima 1975)", "Secor and Diamond (1998)", "(Abe and Fernandes 1977)", "Johansen et al. (1987)" or "(Andrade et al. 2004)". Several publications must be cited in chronological order; e.g. "(Lutz 1973; Sazima 1975; Secor and Diamond 1998)". Two or more publications by the same author must be cited as "(Sazima 1975; 1976)" or "(Sazima 1974a, b; 1975)".

In-Text reference to tables and figures:
Tables and Figures should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals. In the text, tables should be referred as Table 1, Tables 2 and 3, Tables 2-5; figures must be referred as Figure 1, Figures 2 and 3, Figures 2-5, Figure 4A (not Fig. 1, figure 1, fig. 1, or Figure 4a).

Tables:
Tables must be formatted with horizontal, but not vertical rules. Do not format table lines. Place all tables after Literature Cited, one table per page with its corresponding heading.

Figures:
Each figure must be sent as a separate file. Please, try not to exceed 1 Mb per file (if necessary use data compressors and send as .rar or .zip files). Use sans-serif font (such as Arial) with enough size to allow good readiness. Please name your figure files with the convention: "CorrespondingAuthorSurname_fig1". The use of professional software is strongly recommended in order to get better results. Download the guidelines to the edition of figures.

Figures sizes:
Two kinds of figures are allowed: one or two columns; exactly 87 mm (one column) or 180 mm (two columns) wide. Figures can not exceed 260 mm height. If possible, it is preferable white color to the background.

Figures format:
Photographs and drawings must be sent as 150 or 300dpi (dots per inch, i.e.: pixel/inch) in RGB, CYMK or Grayscale Color Mode and JPEG (.jpg) or TIFF (.tiff) formats.
Line vectors, as maps, must be sent as RGB, CYMK or Grayscale Color Mode and EPS (.eps) files.
Figures must be merged into one single layer.

Nomenclature:
Authors are entirely responsible for correct species identifications. When first mentioning a species name, provide its complete binomial name including the authority and date of the species name. Scientific names must be in italics. Remember to italicize the abbreviations "e.g.", "i.e.", and "et al." as well.

Time:
02:22 h; 14:55 h.

Distances and areas:
15 km²; 60 m; 20,760 ha.

Geographic coordinates:
05°44'00" S, 44°23'04" W.

Temperatures:
20 °C (note spacing)

Percentages:
15 % (note spacing).

SI Units:
Use SI units (quick downloads: International System of Units(SI), SI guide, SI rules and style).

Proofs:
Check List will undertake proofreading of the original manuscript and send galley proofs to corresponding author for final verification.

Reprints:
Authors will not receive printed reprints. Only a printable, high-resolution PDF will be sent to the corresponding author by e-mail and free of charge.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE .TXT FILE

After accepted for publication, the author(s) will have to send a file containing the taxonomic information of the species treated in their articles - named "taxalist". It is necessary to create an online database, which should be created in text editor software, preferably in Word Pad. This file should be as complete as possible to facilitate retrieval of articles after publication. All taxonomic information provided will be included in a database, from where it will be able to search for articles. If your article deals with Anurans and you do not include the word "Amphibia" in this file or in the title of the manuscript, someone searching with the word "Amphibia" will not find the article. This must be send as Text File (.txt) format.

Important remarks:
» The file must be saved in .txt format;
» The symbols < = " " /> from the beginning to the end of each line can not be missing, or the information will not be retrievable from the database;
» The first and last line of the file must be: <taxaList> and </taxaList>, respectively;
» Be careful with upper and lower cases - this file will be case sensitive.
» When the Area Editor communicates you about the acceptance of the manuscript, please start the preparation of the taxalist, as it will be asked when you submited correct proofs. Taxalist preparation is time consuming, particularly for long Species Lists.

SUBMISSION

Please verify that you have the following files ready before submitting an article:

» Text file containing your article (including tables, but not figures)
» Figure files (in high-resolution .jpg, .tiff, or .eps files)
» Please include the names, institutions and e-mail addresses of four potential referees
(Note that the Area Editor retains the sole right to decide whether or not the suggested reviewers will be contacted)
» A .txt file containing the taxonomic data of the species treated in your manuscript
(Note that this is not mandatory at the time of submission, but will be necessary for the publication of the paper)

Submissions must by done by e-mail with attachments to the following address:

Submission to Check List implies that authors agree with our editorial policy and in sharing copyrights with Check List.

Text copyrights belongs to Check List, whereas images (including maps) copyrights are both property of Check List and the authors. However, Check List automatically grants permission to scientific and educational use. Commercial use without strict permission is forbidden without written consent of the Editor-in-Chief.

Obvious ill-intended publication is subject to punishment. In our case, if plagiarism or other sort of scientific misconduct has failed to be perceived during peer-review process, the final published work will be replaced in our website (therefore freely distributed) by a water-marked copy with the text "REMOVED DUE TO UNFAIR USE OF INFORMATION" with a letter from the Editor-in-Chief explaining the reason(s) as front page. If you have any doubts about plagiarism please find some useful information here.