An International Journal on Ecoinformatics and Computational Ecology
Guide for Authors
Language The official language of the journal is English.
Online submission to the journal prior to acceptance Submission to this journal proceeds totally online. Use the following guidelines available on http://ees.elsevier.com/ecoinf
to prepare your article, where 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 and via the Author's homepage, removing the need for a hard-copy paper trail.
The above represents a very brief outline
of this form of submission. It can be advantageous to print this "Guide for Authors" section from the site for reference in the subsequent
stages of article preparation.
Types of contributions
The following contributions will be accepted:
• Review
Papers • Original Research Papers and case studies • Special themed issues (only to be submitted after prior consultation
with the Editor in Chief) • Short Notes • Letters to the Editor • Viewpoint articles (invited) •
Book Reviews
Manuscript
Preparation
Manuscripts are to be written in English. Authors whose native language is not English
are advised to seek the help of an English-speaking colleague, if possible, before submitting their manuscripts. Generally, manuscripts
should not exceed 7,000 words, the maximum word length being 10,000. Underline words that should be in italics, and do not underline
any other words. Avoid excessive usage of italics to emphasize part of the text. Manuscripts in general should be organized in the following
order: Title (should be clear, descriptive and not too long), Abstract, Key Words (four to six), Introduction Materials and Methods (Study
area descriptions, methods, techniques), Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Acknowledgments, References, Tables, Figure captions.
SI
units should be used.
Abstracts
The abstract should be clear, descriptive and not longer than 400 words.
Tables
Authors should take notice of the limitations set by the size and layout of the journal. Large tables should be avoided. Reversing
columns and rows will often reduce the dimensions of a table. If many data are to be presented, an attempt should be made to divide them
over two or more tables. The text should include reference to all tables.
References
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 authors' names and dates are exactly
the same in the text as in the reference list.
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 (1989) has shown that...". "This is in agreement with results obtained later (Kramer, 1992, pp. 12–16)".
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.
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 1974a, 1974b,etc.
Use the following system for arranging your references:
a. For periodicals.
Ayres, R.U., 1993. Cowboys, cornucopians and long-run sustainability. Ecol. Econ. 8, 189-207.
b. For edited symposia, special issues,
etc., published in a periodical. Reiche, E.-W., 1993. Modelling water and nitrogen dynamics on catchment scale. In: B. Breckling
and F. Müller (Editors), State-of-the-Art in Ecological Modelling. Ecol. Model., 75/76; 371–384.
c. For books. Ahmad,
Y., El Serafy, S. and Lutz, E. (Editors), 1989. Environmental Accounting for Sustainable Development. The World Bank, Washington, DC,
100 pp.
d. For multi-author books. Daly, H.E., 1991. Ecological economics and sustainable development. In: C. Rossi and E. Tiezzi
(Editors), Ecological Physical Chemistry. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 185-201.
e. For unpublished reports, departmental notes, etc.
Goodland, R.,Daly, H.E. and El Serafy, S., 1991. Environmentally Sustainable Economic Development: Building on Brundtland. Environment
Working Paper No. 46, World Bank, Washington, DC.
Do not abbreviate the titles of periodicals mentioned in the list of references;
alternatively use the International List of Periodical Title Word Abbreviations.
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.
In referring to a personal communication,
the two words are followed by the year, e.g., "(J. McNary, personal communication,1992)".
Formulae
Formulae
should be typewritten, if possible. Leave ample space around the formulae.
Subscripts and superscripts should be clear.
Greek letters and other non-Latin or handwritten 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 O, and between one (1) and the l.
Give the meaning of all symbols
immediately after the equation in which they are first used.
For simple fractions, use the solidus (/)instead of a horizontal
line, e.g.,Ip/2mrather than Ip–2m
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.
The use of
fractional powers instead of root signs is recommended. Also, powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp.
Levels
of statistical significance which can be mentioned without further explanation are * P<0.05, **P<0.01 and *** P<0.001.
In chemical formulae, valence of ions should be given as, e.g., Ca2+and CO2-3
not as Ca++ orCO--3.
Isotope numbers should precede the symbols, e.g., 13O.
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
Footnotes should only be used if absolutely essential. In most cases it will be possible to incorporate the information in normal
text. If used, they should be numbered in the text, indicated by superscript numbers, and kept as short as possible.
Nomenclature
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.
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.
All biocides and other
organic compounds must be identified by their Geneva names when
first used in the text.
For chemical nomenclature, the conventions
of the International Union of Pure and Applied
Chemistry and the official recommendations of theIUPAC–IUB Combined
Commission on Biochemical Nomenclatureshould be followed.
Illustrations
Preparation of 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.
General points
Always supply high-quality printouts of your artwork, in case conversion
of the electronic artwork is problematic.
Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
Save
text in illustrations as "graphics" or enclose the font.
Only use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier,
Helvetica, Times and Symbol.
Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
Use a logical naming
convention for your artwork files, and supply a separate listing of the files and the software used.
Provide all illustrations
as separate files and as hardcopy printouts on separate sheets.
Provide captions to illustrations separately.
Produce
images near to the desired size of the printed version.
Submit colour illustrations as original photographs, high-quality
computer prints or transparencies, close to the size expected in publication, or as 35 mm slides. Polaroid colour prints are not suitable.
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://authors.elsevier.com/artwork.
Please note: Because of technical complications which can arise by converting colour figures to 'grey scale' (for the printed
version should you not opt for colour in print) please submit in addition usable black and white prints corresponding to all the colour
illustrations.
This journal offers electronic submission services and graphic files can be uploaded.
Captions
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions on a separate sheet, not attached to the figure. A caption should comprise
a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum
but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.
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://authors.elsevier.com. This journal offers electronic
submission services and supplementary data files can be uploaded.
Colour charges
Authors will be charged for including
colour illustrations in the printed version at the following rates and are encouraged only to consider colour if necessary for clarity
or comprehension: 1st page: Euro 350. Every 2nd page: Euro 175 (Prices per October 2004).
Copyright guidelines
All authors
must sign the `Transfer of Copyright' agreement before the article can be published. This transfer agreement enables Elsevier Ltd to
protect the copyrighted material for the authors, but does not relinquish the author's proprietary rights. The copyright transfer covers
the exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute the article, including reprints, photographic reproductions, microform or any other
reproductions of similar nature and translations, and includes the right to adapt the article for use in conjunction with computer systems
and programs, including reproduction or publication in machine-readable form and incorporation in retrieval systems. Authors are responsible
for obtaining from the copyright holder permission to reproduce any figures for which copyright exists.
Conflicts of Interest
To allow scientists, the public, and policy makers to make more informed judgements about published research, this journal adopts
a strong policy on conflicts of interest and disclosure. Authors should acknowledge all sources of funding and any direct financial benefits
that could result from publication. Editors likewise require referees to disclosure current or recent association with authors and other
special interest in this work.
Author Enquiries
Authors can 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 links available on (http://authors.elsevier.com).
Contact details for questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those relating to proofs, are provided when an article
is accepted for publication.
