A Global Journal of Soil Science



For many years, Geoderma has helped to stimulate wide interdisciplinary cooperation and understanding among workers in the different fields of soil science by bringing together papers from the entire field of soil research rather than emphasizing any one sub-discipline. The Journal welcomes interdisciplinary work preferably focussing on occurrence and dynamic characterization in space and time of soils in the field.

Incorporating Soil Science Reviews from 2004

Types of contribution

1. Original research papers (Regular Papers)
2. Review articles
3. Book Reviews

Original research 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 and which are of active current interest. They may be submitted or invited.

Book Reviews will be included in the journal on a range of relevant books which are not more than 2 years old. Book reviews are solicited by the Book Review Editor. Please e-mail the Book Review Editor for details at: Alfred.Hartemink@wur.nl

Submission of Manuscripts

From now on, all manuscripts should be submitted electronically through Elsevier Editorial system (EES) which can be accessed at http://authors.elsevier.com/journal/geoderma

1. Papers must be submitted in their final form, bearing in mind that no further correction /addition is possible.

2. 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), 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and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the Publisher.

3. Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to transfer copyright (for more information on copyright see http://authors.elsevier.com). This transfer will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. A letter will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript. A form facilitating transfer of copyright will be provided. 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: contact ELSEVIER, Global Rights Department, P.O. Box 800, Oxford, OX5 1DX, UK; phone: (+44) 1865 843830, fax: (+44) 1865 853333, e-mail: permissions@elsevier.com

4. Manuscripts must be written in English. Authors whose native language is not English are recommended to seek the advice of a colleague who has English as their mother-tongue before submitting their manuscript. Manuscripts written in correct English require less time for review and publication.

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). Please contact www.elsevier.com/locate/elsevierpublishing for further information.

Authors in Japan please note: Upon request, Elsevier Japan will provide authors with a list of people who can check and improve the English of their paper (before submission). Please contact our Tokyo office: Elsevier Japan, 9-15 Higashi Azabu 1-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106; Tel. +81 3 5561 5032; Fax +81 3 5561 5045; E-mail: info@elsevier.co.jp

5. Authors should use IUGS terminology. S.I. units should be used.

6. Manuscripts should be prepared with numbered lines, with wide margins and double spacing throughout, i.e. also for abstracts, footnotes and references. 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. Avoid excessive use of italics to emphasize part of the text.

7. The entire manuscript should be paginated. However, in the text no reference should be made to page numbers; if necessary, you may refer to section numbers.

8. Manuscripts should generally be organized in the following order:
a. Title (should be clear, descriptive and not too long)
b. Name(s) of the author(s) and their affiliations and fax and e-mail numbers. Fax and e-mail numbers should be placed as footnotes. In the case of more than one author please indicate to whom the correspondence should be addressed.
c. Abstract
d. Keywords (indexing terms), normally 4-6 items
e. Introduction
f. Area descriptions, methods and material studied
g. Results and analyses
h. Discussion and conclusions
i. Acknowledgements
j. Appendices
k. References
l. Tables
m. Figure captions
n. Figures

Elsevier reserves the right of returning to the author for revision accepted manuscripts and illustrations that are not in the form given in this guide.

9. Authors are requested to submit, with their manuscripts, the names and addresses of four potential referees.

Electronic manuscripts

Submission to this journal proceeds totally on-line. Use the following guidelines to prepare your article. Via the homepage of this journal you will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of the various files. Once the uploading is done, our system automatically generates an electronic (PDF) proof, which is then used for reviewing. It is crucial that all graphical elements be uploaded in separate files, so that the PDF is suitable for reviewing. Authors can upload their article as a LaTex, Microsoft (MS) Word, WordPerfect, PostScript or Adobe Acrobat PDF document. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revisions, will be by e-mail.

Electronic format requirements for accepted articles

We accept most wordprocessing formats, but Word, WordPerfect or LaTeX is preferred. Always keep a backup copy of the electronic file for reference and safety. Save your files using the default extension of the program used.

Wordprocessor documents

It is important that the file be saved in the native format of the wordprocessor 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 wordprocessor's options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc. Do not embed 'graphically designed' equations or tables, but prepare these using the wordprocessor's facility. 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. Do not import the figures into the text file but, instead, indicate their approximate locations directly in the electronic text and on the manuscript. See also the section on Preparation of electronic illustrations.

To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the 'spellchecker' function of your wordprocessor.

Preparation of Manuscripts

Abstract

The abstract should be a concise summary of the paper stating the methods used, the main results and the conclusions in a way that does not require reference to the body of the paper; it should not be longer than 500 words.

Keywords

Authors should provide 4 to 6 keywords. These must be taken from the most recent American Geological Institute GeoRef Thesaurus and should be placed beneath the abstract.

Tables

1. Authors should take note of the limitations set by the size and layout of the journal. A table should not exceed the printed area of the page. If this appears impossible, reversing columns and rows will often make the impossible possible.

2. Large tables should be avoided. Foldouts can only be accepted in exceptional cases. If many data are to be presented, an attempt should be made to divide these over two or more tables.

3. Tables should be compiled on separate sheets and must be numbered according to their sequence in the text. The text must include references to all tables.

4. Each table must have a brief and self-explanatory title. Column headings should be brief, but sufficiently explanatory. Units of measurement should be given in parentheses. Vertical lines must not be used to separate columns - leave extra space between the columns instead.

5. Explanations that are necessary to the understanding of the table should be given as footnotes at the bottom of the table. A footnote should be indicated by a lower-case letter.

Electronic Illustrations

Submitting your artwork in an electronic format helps us to produce your work to the best possible standards, ensuring accuracy, clarity and a high level of detail.
1. Always supply high-quality printouts of your artwork, in case conversion of the electronic artwork is problematic.
2. Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
3. Save text in illustrations as "graphics" or enclose the font.
4. Only use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Helvetica, Times, Symbol.
5. Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
6. Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files, and supply a separate listing of the files and the software used.
7. Provide all illustrations as separate files.
8. Provide captions to illustrations separately.
9. 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 references cited in the text are to be listed at the end of the paper. 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.

2. 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, 1995, pp. 12–16)''.

3. 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.

4. 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.

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 or abbreviated using the International List of Periodical Title Word Abbreviations), volume number (issue number): first and last page numbers of the paper.
Example:
Elbaz-Poulichet, F., Guan, D.M. and Martin, J.M., 1991. Trace metal behaviour in a highly stratified Mediterranean estuary: the Krka (Yugoslavia). Mar. Chem., 32: 211–224.
b. Monographs: Names and initials of all authors, year. Title of the monograph. Publisher, location of publisher.
Example:
Zhdanov, M.S. and Keller, G.V., 1994. The Geoelectrical Methods in Geophysical Exploration. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
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:
Thomas, E., 1992. Middle Eocene–late Oligocene bathyal benthic foraminifera (Weddell Sea): faunal changes and implications for ocean circulation. In: D.R. Prothero and W.A. Berggren (Editors), Eocene–Oligocene Climatic and Biotic Evolution. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ, pp. 245–271.
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 Proc. Int. Conf. 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:
Moustakas, N., 1990. Relationships of morphological and physicochemical properties of Vertisols under Greek climate conditions. Ph.D. Thesis, Agricultural Univ. Athens, Greece.

5. In the case of publications in any language other than English, the original title is to be retained. Titles of publications in non-Latin alphabets should be transliterated, and a note such as "(in Russian)" or "(in Japanese, with English Abstr.)" should be added at the end of the reference.

Articles in Special Issues: Please ensure that the words 'this issue' are added (in the list and text) to any references to other articles in this Special Issue.

Formulae

1. All formulae should be presented consistently and clearly with regard to the meaning of each symbol and its correct location. Formulae must be typed throughout.

2. All unusual symbols must be collected in a separate list in the appendix, giving a clear explanation of each symbol.

3. Please try to keep the notation as simple as possible, and avoid ambiguities. Do not use special typefonts if there is no urgent need to do so.

4. Different formulae should be clearly separated in the manuscript, at least by punctuation marks, if not by words. Avoid breaking formulae if breaking is not strictly necessary (i.e., if the equation is less than one typed line). Never let a sentence consist of formulae alone (i.e., without any connection with the preceding text).

5. Do not use complicated juxtapositions of symbols. Also, try to avoid complicated subscripts and superscripts; third-order indices especially present difficulties as to their size and position, and fourth-order indices are taboo.

6. The manuscript must show a clear distinction between similar symbols, (e.g., between zero (0) and the letter O, between one (1) and the letter l, and between multiplication (×) and the letter x).

7. Important formulae (e.g. definitions) must be displayed. All formulae which are to be referred to later on must be displayed and numbered consecutively throughout the paper; the number should appear on the right-hand side of the page.

8. In chemical formulae the valence of ions must be given as, for example, Ca²⁺ and CO₃ ² rather than as Ca⁺⁺ and CO₃ ^--.

9. Isotope numbers should precede the symbols (e.g., ¹⁸O).

Footnotes

1. Footnotes should only be used if absolutely essential. In most cases it will be possible to incorporate them in the main text.

2. If used, footnotes should be numbered consecutively throughout the manuscript, indicated by superscript arabic numbers, and kept as short as possible.

Supplementary data

Elsevier now 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 http://www.elsevier.com/authors.

Copyright

1. An author, when quoting from someone else's work or when considering reproducing an illustration or table from a book or journal article, should make sure that he is not infringing a copyright.
2. Although in general an author may quote from other published works, he should obtain permission from the holder of the copyright if he wishes to make substantial extracts or to reproduce tables, plates, or other illustrations. If the copyright-holder is not the author of the quoted or reproduced material, it is recommended that the permission of the author should also be sought.
3. Material in unpublished letters and manuscripts is also protected and must not be published unless permission has been obtained.
4. A suitable acknowledgement of any borrowed material must always be made.

Proofs

When your manuscript is received at the Publisher it is considered to be in its final form. Proofs are not to be regarded as 'drafts'.

One set of page proofs in PDF format will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author, to be checked for typesetting/editing. No changes in, or additions to, the accepted (and subsequently edited) manuscript will be allowed at this stage. Proofreading is solely your responsibility.

A form with queries from the copy editor may accompany your proofs. Please answer all queries and make any corrections or additions required.

The Publisher reserves the right to proceed with publication if corrections are not communicated. Return corrections within two working days of receipt of the proofs. Should there be no corrections, please confirm this.

Elsevier will do everything possible to get your article corrected and published as quickly and accurately as possible. In order to do this we need your help. When you receive the (PDF) proof of your article for correction, 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. Note that this does not mean you have any less time to make your corrections, just that only one set of corrections will be accepted.

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.

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 at http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle.

For privacy, information on each article is password-protected. The author should key in the "Our Reference" code (which is in the letter of acknowledgement sent by the publisher on receipt of the accepted article) and the name of the corresponding author.

In case of problems or questions, authors may contact the Author Service Department, E-mail: authorsupport@elsevier.com.