An International Scientific Journal dealing with Applied and Fundamental Research on Submerged, Floating and Emergent Plants in Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems
Guide for Authors
Aquatic Botany is concerned with fundamental studies on structure, function, dynamics and classification of plant-dominated aquatic communities
and ecosystems, as well as molecular, biochemical and physiological aspects of aquatic plants. It is also an outlet for papers dealing
with applied research on plant-dominated aquatic systems, including the consequences of disturbance (e.g. transplantation, influence
of herbicides and other chemicals, thermal pollution, biological control, grazing and disease), the use of aquatic plants, conservation
of resources, and all aspects of aquatic plant production and decomposition.
Types of contribution
1. Original
research papers (Regular Papers)
2. Review articles
3. Short Communications
4. Technical Communications
5. Letters to
the Editor
6. Book Reviews
Regular papers should report the results of original research. The material should not have
been previously published elsewhere, except in a preliminary form. Review articles should cover subjects falling within
the scope of the journal which are of active current interest. They may be submitted or invited. A Short Communication is
a concise but complete description of a limited investigation, which will not be included in a later paper. Short Communications should
be as completely documented, both by reference to the literature and description of the experimental procedures employed, as a regular
paper. They should not occupy more than 6 printed pages (about 12 manuscript pages, including figures, tables and references). Technical
Notes should be brief descriptions of experimental procedures, technical operations or applied activities within laboratories or
in the field. Letters to the Editor offering comment or appropriate critique on material published in the journal are welcomed.
The decision to publish submitted letters rests purely with the Editor-in-Chief. Book Reviews are included in the journal
on a range of relevant books which are not more than 2 years old.
Submission of manuscripts
Submission of an article
is understood to imply that the article is original and is not being considered for publication elsewhere. Submission also implies that
all authors have approved the paper for release and are in agreement with its content.
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will
be asked to sign 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 (or letter) 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.
Manuscripts should be submitted in electronic form by using online manuscript submission available at http://ees.elsevier.com/aqbot.
This site will guide authors stepwise through the submission process. Authors can upload their articles as Microsoft (MS) Word or WordPerfect
files. It is also possible to submit an article in PostScript or Adobe Acrobat PDF format. It is desirable that original source files
are already included at first submission of the paper. If they are not included, the paper will be returned to the author. If you submit
a word processing file, the system generates an Adobe Acrobat PDF version of the article, which is used for the reviewing process. Authors,
reviewers, and editors send and receive all correspondence by e-mail and no paper correspondence is necessary.
Preparation of
manuscripts
1. Manuscripts should be written in clear and grammatical English. Authors whose native language is not English are
strongly advised to have their manuscripts checked by an English-speaking colleague prior to submission. English language help service:
Upon request, Elsevier will direct authors to an agent who can check and improve the English of their paper (before submission). For
more information please refer to our terms and conditions at http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorsview.authors/languagepolishing.
Please contact authorsupport@elsevier.com for further information. To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the 'spellchecker'
function of your wordprocessor.
2. Manuscripts should be prepared with wide margins and double spacing throughout, i.e. also for
abstracts, footnotes and references. Do not use numbered lines. Every page of the manuscript, including the title page, references, tables,
etc. should be numbered. However, in the text no reference should be made to page numbers; if necessary, one may refer to sections. Underline
words that should be in italics, and do not underline any other words. Avoid excessive use of italics to emphasize part of the text.
3. Manuscripts in general should be organized in the following order:
Title (should be clear, descriptive and not too long)
Name(s) of author(s)
Complete postal address(es) of affiliations
Full telephone, Fax. no. and E-mail of the corresponding author
Present address(es) of author(s) if applicable
E-mail-address to which the proofs should be sent
Abstract
Key-words (indexing
terms), normally 3-6 items
Introduction
Material studied, area descriptions, methods, techniques
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Acknowledgements and any additional information concerning research grants, etc.
References
Tables
Figure
captions
4. In typing the manuscript, titles and subtitles should not be run within the text. They should be typed on a separate
line, without indentation. Use lower-case lettertype.
5. Units and abbreviations
In principle SI units should be used except
where they conflict with current practise or are confusing. Other equivalent units may be given in parentheses.
Abstracts
The abstract should be clear, descriptive and not longer than 400 words.
Tables
1. Authors should take notice
of the limitations set by the size and lay-out of the journal. Large tables should be avoided. Reversing columns and rows will often
reduce the dimensions of a table.
2. If many data are to be presented, an attempt should be made to divide them over two or more
tables.
3. Tables should be numbered according to their sequence in the text. The text should include references to all tables.
4. Each table should be typewritten on a separate page of the manuscript. Tables should never be included in the text.
5. Each table
should have a brief and self-explanatory title.
6. Column headings should be brief, but sufficiently explanatory. Standard abbreviations
of units of measurement should be added between parentheses.
7. Vertical lines should not be used to separate columns. Leave some
extra space between the columns instead.
8. Any explanation essential to the understanding of the table should be given as a footnote
at the bottom of the table.
Electronic illustrations
1. Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original
artwork.
2. Save text in illustrations as "graphics" or enclose the font.
3. Only use the following fonts in your illustrations:
Arial, Courier, Helvetica, Times, Symbol.
4. Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
5. Use a logical
naming convention for your artwork files.
6. Provide all illustrations as separate files.
7. Provide captions to illustrations
separately.
8. Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version.
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: Colour
or greyscale 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 (colour or greyscale): a minimum of 500 dpi is required.
DOC, XLS or PPT: If your electronic
artwork is created in any of these Microsoft Office applications please supply "as is".
Please do not: • Supply embedded
graphics in your wordprocessor (spreadsheet, presentation) document;• 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.
Colour illustrations
If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable
colour figures then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in colour on the web (e.g., ScienceDirect
and other sites) regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version.
For colour reproduction
in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Elsevier after receipt of your accepted article. 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 colour figures to grey scale (for the printed version should you opt to not
pay for colour in print) please submit in addition usable black and white prints corresponding to all the colour illustrations.
As
only one figure caption may be used for both colour and black and white versions of figures, please ensure that the figure captions are
meaningful for both versions, if applicable.
References
1. All publications cited in the text should be presented in a
list of references following the text of the manuscript. The manuscript should be carefully checked to ensure that the spelling of author's
names and dates are exactly the same in the text as in the reference list.
2. In the text refer to the author's name (without initial)
and year of publication, followed if necessary by a short reference to appropriate pages. Examples: "Since Peterson (1988) has shown
that..." "This is in agreement with results obtained later (Kramer, 1989, pp. 12-16)".
3. If reference is made in the text to a publication
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 first author and co-authors should be mentioned.
4. References cited together
in the text should be arranged chronologically. The list of references should be arranged alphabetically on 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 dates - publications of the same author with one co-author - publications of the author
with more than one co-author. Publications by the same author(s) in the same year should be listed as 1994a, 1994b, etc.
5. Use the
following system for arranging your references:
a. For periodicals
Stewart, D.A., Agnew, D., Boyd, R., Briggs, R., Toland, P.,
1993. The derivation of changes in Nephrops per unit effort values for the Northern Ireland fishing fleet. Fish. Res. 17, 273-292.
b. For edited symposia, special issues, etc. published in a periodical
Roberts, R.J., 1993. Ulcerative dermal necrosis (UDN) in
wild salmonids. In: Bruno, D.W. (Ed.), Pathological conditions of wild salmonids. Fish. Res. 17, 3 14.
c. For books
Gaugh, Jr.,
H.G., 1992. Statistical Analysis of Regional Yield Trials. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
d. For multi-author books
Bucke, D., 1989. Histology.
In: Austin, B., Austin, D.A. (Eds.), Methods for the Microbiological Examination of Fish and Shellfish. Wiley, New York, pp. 69-97.
6. Abbreviate the titles of periodicals mentioned in the list of references according to the International List of Periodical Title Word
Abbreviations.
7. In the case of publications in any language other than English, the original title is to be retained. However,
the titles of publications in non-Latin alphabets should be transliterated, and a notation such as "(in Russian)" or "(in Greek, with
English abstract)" should be added.
8. Work accepted for publication but not yet published should be referred to as "in press".
9. References concerning unpublished data and "personal communications" should not be cited in the reference list but may be mentioned
in the text.
Formulae
1. Formulae should be typewritten, if possible. Leave ample space around the formulae.
2. Subscripts
and superscripts should be clear.
3. Greek letters and other non-Latin symbols should be explained in the margin where they are first
used. Take special care to show clearly the difference between zero (0) and the letter O, and between one (1) and the letter l.
4.
Give the meaning of all symbols immediately after the equation in which they are first used.
5. For simple fractions use the solidus
(/) instead of a horizontal line.
6. Equations should be numbered serially at the right-hand side in parentheses. In general only
equations explicitly referred to in the text need be numbered.
7. The use of fractional powers instead of root signs is recommended.
Also powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp.
8. Levels of statistical significance which can be mentioned without
further explanation are *P<0.05, **P<0.01 and ***P<0.001.
9. In chemical formulae, valence of ions should be given as, e.g.,
Ca2+ and not as Ca++.
10. Isotope numbers should precede the symbols, e.g., 18O.
11. The repeated
writing of chemical formulae in the text is to be avoided where reasonably possible; instead, the name of the compound should be given
in full. Exceptions may be made in the case of a very long name occurring very frequently or in the case of a compound being described
as the end product of a gravimetric determination (e.g., phosphate as P2O5).
Footnotes
1. Footnotes
should be used only if absolutely essential. In most cases it should be possible to incorporate the information in normal text.
2.
If used, they should be numbered in the text, indicated by superscript numbers, and kept as short as possible.
Nomenclature
1. Authors and editors are, by general agreement, obliged to accept the rules governing biological nomenclature, as laid down in
the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria, and the International Code of Zoological
Nomenclature.
2. All biotica (crops, plants, insects, birds, mammals, etc.) should be identified by their scientific names when
the English term is first used, with the exception of common domestic animals.
3. All biocides and other organic compounds must be
identified by their Geneva names when first used in the text. Active ingredients of all formulations should be likewise identified.
4. For chemical nomenclature, the conventions of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the official recommendations
of the IUPAC IUB Combined Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature should be followed.
Supplementary data
Preparation of
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, movies, animation sequences, 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 ensure that data is provided 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.
Copyright
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to sign 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 (or letter) 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.
Funding body agreements and policies
Elsevier has established agreements and developed policies to allow authors who publish in Elsevier journals 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
Proofs
One set of proofs will be sent by e-mail to the
corresponding author. Only typesetter's errors may be corrected; no changes in, or additions to, the edited manuscript will be allowed.
Elsevier will do everything possible to get your article corrected and published as quickly and accurately as possible. Therefore, it
is important to ensure that all of your corrections are sent back to us in one communication. Subsequent corrections will not be possible,
so please ensure your first sending is complete.
Offprints
The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with
a PDF file of the article via e-mail or, alternatively, 25 free paper offprints. 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.
Additional
offprints can be ordered by the authors. An order form with prices will be sent upon registration of the accepted article.
GenBank/DNA
sequence linking
Many Elsevier journals cite "gene accession numbers" in their running text and footnotes. Gene accession numbers
refer to genes or DNA sequences about which further information can be found in the databases at the National Center for Biotechnical
Information (NCBI) at the National Library of Medicine. Elsevier authors wishing to enable other scientists to use the accession numbers
cited in their papers via links to these sources, should type this information in the following manner:
For each and every accession
number cited in an article, authors should type the accession number in bold, underlined text. Letters in the accession number should
always be capitalised. This combination of letters and format will enable Elsevier's typesetters to recognize the relevant texts as accession
numbers and add the required link to GenBank's sequences.
Example: "GenBank accession nos. AI631510, AI631511, AI632198, and BF223228".
Please check accession numbers used very carefully as an error in a letter or number can result in a dead link.
Online Publication
Your article will appear on Elsevier's online journal database ScienceDirect as an "Article in Press" within approximately 1 week
of acceptance. Articles in Press for this journal can be viewed at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03043770.
An Article in Press may be cited prior to its publication by means of its unique digital object identifier (DOI) number, which does not
change throughout the publication process.
Author Discount
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on most Elsevier books, if ordered directly from Elsevier.
Author Services
Authors can also keep a track on the progress
of their accepted article, and set up e-mail alerts informing them of changes to their manuscript's status, by using the "Track a Paper"
feature of Elsevier http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle.
