Check List » Author Guidelines & Submission

GENERAL INFORMATION

Categories of papers:
Two types of papers are considered for publication: Notes on Geographic Distribution (NGD) and Lists of Species (LS). NGDs should provide reports of occurrence of one or a few species in a given area or locality. A LS is generally a species inventory from a given locality.

Format rules:
Please pay careful attention to guidelines provided here while preparing your manuscript. If, after reading instructions provided here, you still have questions, please contact the Editor-in-Chief. Manuscripts that are not presented according to Check List guidelines will be sent back to authors without review. Please 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 nomenclatural instructions not in accordance with Check List guidelines. If you want a rapid review process for your manuscript, please start by reading and following instructions carefully.

 

MANUSCRIPT STYLE AND FORMAT

The manuscript must be submitted as a 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 LS). Please indicate the category in the first line of the document.

Voucher Policy:
All submitted manuscripts must be in accordance with the journals Voucher Policy. Click here to download the Voucher Policy of Check List.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR LISTS OF SPECIES (LS)

This section is dedicated to a complete species inventory from a given locality. Maps, color photographs and tables of species listed are recommended. A LS 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)
Left to the author(s) discretion.
Starting March 2011, the Check List editorial board has decided that titles will no longer be required to follow the previously strict formatting policy used by the journal. However, some information is required, as follows:

  1. Brief Description of studied taxa.
  2. Brief description of article. Ex.: Inventory; Checklist; List of species; Species composition.

Examples of titles:
  1. Mosquitoes (Insecta: Diptera: Culicidae) of the Florida Keys, Florida, United States of America.
  2. Fishes from the Lower Urubamba river near Sepahua, Amazon Basin, Peru.

Author(s) (Cover page)
Name(s) with respective institutions and corresponding author (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, (abbreviation), Country.
2 University, Institute, Departament. Complete Address. Zip code (or CEP). City, State, (abbreviation), 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
Articles presenting just a list of species, without any kind of discussion concerning its results will not be accepted for publication.

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):

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.: Gutberlet-Jr., R.L. and M.B. Harvey. 2004. The Evolution of New World Venomous Snakes; p. 634-682 In J.A. Campbell and W.W. Lamar (ed.). The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. Volume II. Ithaca: Comstock Publishing Associates.

Books:
e.g.: Felde, G. and M. Staveski. 2001. O lobo-guará nos campos do sul do Brasil. Curitiba: Artes de Antes. 210 p.

Electronic publications:
e.g.: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. Electronic Database accessible at http://www.iucnredlist.org/. Captured on 29 October 2010.

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 Thess), will be considered gray literature, even if available on 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 depend on the Subject Editor's decision on a case-to-case basis.
» Articles "in press/accepted" should be referred to only if the author has already received 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)

Left to the author(s) discretion.
Starting March 2011, the Check List editorial board has decided that titles will no longer be required to follow the previously strict formatting policy used by the journal. However, some information is required, as follows:
  1. Scientifc name of taxa.
  2. Authority on name (Author, Year).
  3. Brief 2-3 word description of note. Ex.: Distribution extension; New distribution records; Geographic distribution map.
  4. Brief classification. Ex.: (Aves: Tinamidae); (Insecta: Lepidoptera).
Examples of titles:
  1. Amphisbaena miringoera Vanzolini, 1971 (Squamata: Amphisbaenidae): New state record.
  2. Range extension of Anthus nattereri Sclater, 1878 (Aves: Motacillidae) in Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil.

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:
The first letters of 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 ascending chronological order; e.g. "(Lutz 1973; Abe and Fernandes 1977; 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, with their corresponding headings, after Literature Cited.

Figures:
Each figure must be sent as a separate file (.jpg. or .tif). Please try not to exceed 1 Mb per file (if necessary use data compression and send as .rar or .zip files). The use of professional imaging software is recommended in order to get publication quality results. Figure captions must be placed at the end of the manuscript file, after Literature Cited and Tables (if any). For manuscripts with numerous illustrations, it is recommended that figures be converted to one PDF file (no more than 10 Mb in size). This makes it easier for editors to forward the images to reviewers and prevents e-mail messages from being returned due to excessive size of attachments. The original high resolution figures must be retained by the authors and will be requested by the graphic editor if the manuscript is accepted for publication.

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, white is the preferred background.

Figures format:
Figures must be sent as 150 or 300dpi (dots per inch, i.e.: pixel/inch) in RGB, CYMK or Grayscale Color Mode and JPEG (.jpeg) or TIFF (.tiff) formats.

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 (without spacing)

Percentages:
15% (without 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 a paper is 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 possible 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.

  
  
<taxaList>
<taxon class="Amphibia" order="Anura" family="Bufonidae" genus="Rhinella" species="crucifer"/>
<taxon class="Amphibia" order="Anura" family="Hylidae" genus="Dendropsophus" species="minutus"/>
<taxon class="Amphibia" order="Anura" family="Hylidae" genus="Dendropsophus"/>
<taxon class="Amphibia" order="Gymnophiona" family="Caeciliidae" genus="Siphonops" species="annulatus"/>
</taxaList>

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 Subject Editor communicates to you about the acceptance of the manuscript, please start preparation of the taxalist, as it will be required when you submited corrected proofs. Taxalist preparation is time consuming, particularly for long Lists of Species.

 

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, or .tiff files) (For further details about the edition of figures click here)
» Please include the names, institutions and e-mail addresses of four potential referees
(Note that the Subject Editor retains the sole right to decide whether or not the suggested reviewers will be contacted)
» Voucher policy. Please, check if your manuscript is in accordance with Check List.s requirements. Further details here.
» 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:

 

 

COPYRIGHT AND ETHICAL GUIDELINES

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

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

Obviously ill-intentioned publication is subject to punishment. In our case, if plagiarism or other sort of scientific misconduct has failed to be perceived during the 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.