Theoretical Population Biology publishes papers on the theoretical aspects of the biology of populations, especially in the areas of ecology, genetics, demography, and epidemiology. The main emphasis is on developments of the theory but experimental results directly impinging on the theory may be accepted for publication. There are no submission fees or page charges. Each manuscript should be accompanied by a letter outlining the basic findings of the paper and their significance.

Manuscript Submission

Submission to this journal proceeds totally online. Use the following guidelines to prepare your article. Via the online submission and review Web site of this journal (http://ees.elsevier.com/tpb) 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, removing the need for a hard-copy paper trail.
Manuscripts are accepted for review with the understanding that no substantial portion of the study has been published or is under consideration for publication elsewhere and that its submission for publication has been approved by all of the authors and by the institution where the work was carried out. Manuscripts that do not meet the general criteria or standards for publication in Theoretical Population Biology will be immediately returned to the authors, without detailed review.

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Copyright. Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to transfer copyright (for more information on copyright, see http://www.elsevier.com/copyright). 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 after acceptance.
If material from other copyrighted works is 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.

US National Institutes of Health (NIH) voluntary posting ("Public Access") policy. Elsevier facilitates author posting in connection with the voluntary posting request of the NIH (referred to as the NIH "Public Access Policy"; see http://publicaccess.nih.gov/) by posting the peer-reviewed author's manuscript directly to PubMed Central on request from the author, after formal publication. Upon notification from Elsevier of acceptance, we will ask you to confirm via e-mail (by e-mailing us at NIHauthorrequest@elsevier.com) that your work has received NIH funding (with the NIH award number, as well as the name and e-mail address of the Prime Investigator) and that you intend to respond to the NIH request. Upon such confirmation, Elsevier will submit to PubMed Central on your behalf a version of your manuscript that will include peer-review comments, for posting 12 months after the formal publication date. This will ensure that you will have responded fully to the NIH request policy. There will be no need for you to post your manuscript directly to PubMed Central, and any such posting is prohibited. Individual modifications to this general policy may apply to some Elsevier journals and its society publishing partners.

Preparation of Manuscript

Manuscripts prepared using TeX or LaTeX are welcome; however, LaTeX(2e) is strongly preferred. The Elsevier LaTeX package (including detailed instructions for LaTeX preparation) is available at http://www.elsevier.com/latex.
Manuscripts should be double-spaced throughout. Pages should be numbered consecutively and organized as follows:

The Title Page (p. 1) should contain the article title, authors' names and complete affiliations, footnotes to the title, and the address for manuscript correspondence (including e-mail address and telephone and fax numbers).

The Abstract (p. 2) must be a single paragraph that summarizes the main findings of the paper in less than 150 words. After the abstract a list of up to 10 keywords that will be useful for indexing or searching should be included.

Headings. The organization of the paper must be clearly indicated by appropriate headings and subheadings.

References may be cited in the text, as, e.g., Doe (1980) has observed that ... ; (Doe, 1981); (Doe et al., 1982); (Doe, 1983, p. 250). Suffixes a, b, etc., should be used following the date to distinguish two or more works by the same author(s) in the same year, e.g., Doe, 1984a,1984b. Literature citations in the bibliography should be arranged alphabetically according to the surname of the author. Journal abbreviations should follow the style of Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index. Please note the following examples:

Ebert, T.A., 1998. Plant and Animal Populations. Academic Press, San Diego, pp. 237-248.

Mettam, G.R., Adams, L.B., 1999. How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In: Jones, B.S., Smith , R.Z. (Eds.), Introduction to the Electronic Age. E-Publishing Inc., New York, pp. 281-304.

Pascual, M., Levin, S.A., 1999. Spatial scaling in a benthic population model with density-dependent disturbance. Theor. Popul. Biol. 56, 106-122.

Figures. Number figures consecutively with Arabic numerals. Please visit our Web site at http://authors.elsevier.com/artwork for detailed instructions on preparing electronic artwork.
Illustrations in color can be accepted only if authors defray the cost. However, 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 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. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see http://authors.elsevier.com/artwork. Please note: Because of technical complications that can arise in 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 files corresponding to all the color illustrations.

Tables should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals in order of appearance in the text. Type each table double-spaced on a separate page with a short descriptive title typed directly above and with essential footnotes below.

Equations. Number equations consecutively, with the number placed in parentheses to the extreme right of the equation. Refer to equations as Eq. (3) or simply (3). Punctuate equations to conform to their place in the syntax of the sentence.

Preparation of Supplementary Data

Elsevier accepts 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://authors.elsevier.com/artwork.

Proofs

PDF proofs will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author. To avoid delay in publication, only necessary changes should be made, and corrections should be returned promptly.