Submissions

Manuscript composition

For the review process, a *.pdf file of the complete manuscript is required and the matter should be placed in the following order: title, abstract with keywords, text, appendices, acknowledgements, references, tables and figures. All matter must be consecutively and line numbers must be included.

• Title: Title (concise but informative), author initials and last names, full institutional addresses of all authors, correspondence email for proofs. Font: Times New Roman, Size: 12 pt., Space: Double and Justify

• Abstract: The abstract should be intelligible to the general reader without reference to the text. After a brief introduction of the topic, the summary recapitulates the keywords of the article and mentions possible directions for prospective research. Reference citations should not be included in this section, unless urgently required, and abbreviations should not be included without explanations.

Font: Times New Roman, Size: 12 pt., Space: Double and Justify

• Headings/Sections: The headings of all sections, including introduction, results, discussions or summary must be numbered. The headings and subheadings should be numbered hierarchically (such as 1/ 1.1/ 1.1.1 etc.).

  1st Order: 1. Upper case + bold), 2nd Order: 1.1 (Title case + bold), 3rd Order: 1.1.1 (Title case +italic + bold), and 4th Order: 1.1.1.1 (Title case + italic) etc.

• Appendices: These should be labelled with capital letters: Appendix A, Appendix B etc. Equations, figures and tables should be numbered as (A1), Fig. 5 and Table 1 respectively.

• Equations: They should be referred to by the abbreviation "Eq." and the respective number in parentheses, e.g. "Eq. (14)". However, when the reference comes at the beginning of a sentence, the unabbreviated word "Equation" should be used, e.g.: "Equation (14) is very important for the results; however, Eq. (15) makes it clear that..."

• Figures: It is important for the production process that separate figures are submitted. Composite figures containing multiple panels should be collected into one file before submission. The figures should be labelled correctly with Arabic numerals (e.g. Fig. 1). They can be submitted in *.cdr, *.pdf, *.ps, *.eps, *.jpg, or *.tiff format and should have a resolution of at least 300-600 dpi. The width should not be less than 9 cm (for single col. Figure) and 18 cm (for double col. Figure). A legend should clarify all symbols used and should appear in the figure itself, rather than verbal explanations in the captions (e.g. "dashed line" or "open green circles").

  Tips for producing high-quality line graphics:

  • The first choice should be vector graphics in *.cdr, *.eps or *.pdf format.

  • If this is not possible, a bitmap image should be saved in a "non-lossy" format, e.g. *.png. A high resolution is recommended. It is always possible to reduce the size of

    the figure later.

  • The *.jpg or *.tiff format should only be used for photos. It is not suitable for sharp edges. Note that it is not advisable to convert a *.jpg or *.tiff file back to *.png.

    The abbreviation "Fig." should be used within bracket when it appears at the end of the sentence. When it is appear in running text and should be followed by a number unless it comes at the beginning of a sentence, e.g.: "The results are depicted in figure 5. Figure 5 reveals that..........................".

  • Figure captions: Each illustration should have a concise but descriptive caption. The abbreviations used in the figure must be defined, unless they are common abbreviations or have already been defined in the text. Figure captions should be included in the text file and not in the figure files.

  • Tables: Any tables should appear on separate sheets after the references and should be numbered sequentially with Arabic numerals. For the production of the accepted manuscript, they should be submitted as CorelDraw, MSWORD file. Tables submitted as a PDF or an image file cannot be processed. Tables should be self-explanatory and include a concise, yet sufficiently descriptive caption. Horizontal lines should normally only appear above and below the table, and as a separator between the head and the main body of the table. Vertical lines must be avoided. Please note that the word "Table" is never abbreviated and should be capitalized when followed by a number (e.g. Table 4).

  • File size: Authors are kindly asked to find the best balance between the quality of figures and submitted material on the one hand, and a manageable file size on the other hand. Individual figures should not exceed 10 MB.

  • Review criteria: While preparing their manuscript, authors are kindly requested to consider the manuscript review criteria to meet the quality standards and to reduce the peer-review processing time.

    References

    The authors are organized in alphabetical and chronological order, every author separated by coma “,”. References by the same author, published in the same year should be distinguished by the use of suffixes : 1999a, 1999b, 1999c. All author names are set in small letters. Publication/journal name are given in full title/name. Volume numbers are printed in bold and issue numbers are given in parenthesis followed by a coma and page numbers.

Examples:

• Single author papers: chronologically, beginning with the oldest. If there is more than one paper in the same year, a letter (a, b, c) is added to the year, both in the in-

  text citation as well as in the reference list.

• Co-author papers: first alphabetically according to the second author's last name, and then chronologically within each set of co-authors. If there is more than one paper in the same year per set of co-authors, a letter (a, b, c) is added to the year both in the in-text citation as well as in the reference list.

• Team papers: first chronologically (beginning with the oldest), independent of the team author names, then alphabetically within each year according to the second (third, etc.) author. If there is more than one paper in the same year for a first author (independent of the team), a letter (a, b, c) is added to the year both in the in- text citation as well as in the reference list.

  Examples
  Author, A. 1990. Title of paper. Full name of journal, 11 (2), 205-221.
  Author, A.B., Author, B.C. 1991a. Title of paper. Full name of journal, 12 (2), 205-221.
  Author, A.B., Author, B.C. 1991b. Title of paper. Full name of journal, 14 (2), 205-221.
  Author, A.B., Author, B.C., Author, C.D. 1991. Title of paper. Full name of journal, 15 (2), 205-221.
  Author, A.B. 1990. Title of book. Name of Publisher, place of publication, 150p.
  Author, A.B. 1990. Title of Contribution. In: Editor, A.B. (ed.), Title of book. Name of Publisher, place of publication, 150p.
  Author, A.B., Author, C.D. 1990. Title of Contribution. In: Editor, A.B. & Editor, C.D. (eds), Title of book. Name of Publisher, place of publication, 150p.

  Literature citations in the text

  Literature citations in the text should be formatted as follows : Author (1990: 525) or (Author 1990 : 525). Two author are linked by “&”: Author & Author (1990 : fig. 2). Three or more authors are abbreviated by “et al.” after the first author : Author et al. (1990). References are separated by a semi colon “;”and year by a coma “,” : Author 1990; Author 1995, 1996). Citations of figures, plates and tables are written in small letters : (Author 1990: 56, pl. 4, fig. 5) or (Author 1990 : 56, text-fig. 4, tab.4). Note that there is no coma between authors name and year of publication.

  All pages of scripts, including references and explanations of illustrations, should be numbered consecutively. Papers on palaeontology must strictly follow the most recent issues of the International Codes of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) and Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN). In making any stratigraphical changes or erecting new stratigraphic terms the International Stratigraphic guidelines should be followed. As per the recommendations of ICZN and ICBN, all illustrated and described fossils must be registered and deposited in an appropriate permanent institution. The register number and the name of the repository (Institution) must be quoted.

  In terms of in-text citations, the order can be based on relevance, as well as chronological or alphabetical listing, depending on the author's preference.

  Example for reference sorting

  In general, in-text citations can be displayed as "Smith (2009)", or (Smith 2009)".

  Literature citations in the text should be formatted as follows:
  Single author reference: chronologically
  Smith 1990 / Smith (1990) / Smith 1990a / Smith (1990b) / Smith 1990, 1995 Two author reference: alphabetically before chronologically

Smith & Carter 1990 / Smith & Carter (1990) / Smith & Carter 1990a / Smith & Carter 1990, 1995 More than two author reference: chronologically before alphabetically
Smith et al. 1990 / Smith et al. (1990) / Smith et al. 1990a / Smith et al. 1990, 1995

Visual conventions

• Mathematical symbols and formulae: In general, mathematical symbols are typeset in italics. The most notable exceptions are function names (e.g. sin, cos), chemical formulas and physical units, which are all typeset in roman (upright) font. Matrices are printed in boldface, and vectors in boldface italics. A range of numbers should be specified as "a to b" or "a...b". The expression "a–b" is only acceptable in cases where no confusion with "a minus b" is possible.

• Equations: These should be numbered sequentially with Arabic numerals in parentheses on the right-hand side, e.g. (1), (2). If too long, split them accordingly. If there are chemical formulae included, e.g. reactions, please number them (R1), (R2), etc. When using Word, the equation editor and not the graphic mode should be used under all circumstances.

• Units: The metric system is mandatory and, wherever possible, SI units should be used. Also units in the denominator should be formatted with negative exponents (e.g. km h-1 instead of km/h).

• Date and time: 25 July 2007 (dd month yyyy), 15:17:02 (hh:mm:ss). Often it is necessary to specify the time if referring to local time or universal time coordinated.

  General obligations for authors

  1. An author's primary obligation is to present a concise, accurate account of the research performed, as well as an objective discussion of its significance. 2. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to public sources of information to permit the author's peers to replicate the work.
  3. A paper should be as concise as possible but not at the expense of scientific accuracy and completeness. To promote scientific conciseness and

  completeness at the same time, the inclusion of a comprehensive abstract is encouraged.
  4. Papers have to be written in English, and authors should pay attention to correct spelling and grammar.
  5. An author should cite those publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work and that will quickly guide the reader

  to the initial work essential for understanding the present investigation. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, should not be used or reported in the author's work without explicit permission from the investigator with whom the information originated. Information obtained in the course of confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, should be treated similarly.

  6. Fragmentation of research papers should be avoided. A scientist who has done extensive work on a system or group of related systems should organize publication so that each paper gives a complete account of a particular aspect of the general study.

  7. It is inappropriate for an author to submit manuscripts describing essentially the same research to more than one journal of primary publication.
  8. A criticism of a published paper may sometimes be justified; however, in no case is personal criticism considered to be appropriate.
  9. To protect the integrity of authorship, only persons who have significantly contributed to the research and paper preparation should be listed as authors.

  The corresponding author attests to the fact that any others named as authors have seen the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication. Deceased persons who meet the criterion for co-authorship should be included, with a footnote reporting date of death. No fictitious names should be listed as authors or co-authors. The author who submits a manuscript for publication accepts the responsibility of having included as co- authors all persons that are appropriate and none that are inappropriate.