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JOURNAL of THREATENED TAXA
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Author Cover Letter and Checklist
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Manuscript preparation
Language
Layout and Contents
Citation
References
New Descriptions
New Description of
Fungi
Checklist Preparation
Format
Submission details
Electronic
Hardcopy
Review
Reprints
Copyright
Important Note
Manuscript preparation
Language:
Only English language manuscripts are
accepted. JoTT allows authors to
choose either British or American English styles to
be used consistently throughout the manuscript.
Layout and Contents:
Full Paper/ Communication / Review
Article shall contain the following headings:
1. Title: This should reflect the
content of the manuscript and should be concise.
All Common Names of taxa used should be followed by
Scientific Name and Authority and its systematic
position indicating Order, Family and SubFamily/Tribe
in parenthesis.
2. Authors: Complete first and last
names of all authors along with complete mailing
address (including PIN, ZIP or postal codes, and
country name), phone (including country code and
area code), a working Email ID for each
author should be provided. If the first author is
not the corresponding author, identify the
corresponding author with an Asterisk.
3. Abstract: Not more than 250 words
including key points from Methods and Results.
In the case of New Descriptions,
include key diagnostic characters of the taxon newly
described. In case of multiple taxa described in a
paper, present key points of analysis.
4. Key words: Maximum of ten words
unless warranted.
5. Abbreviations: Expand all
Abbreviations used in the text except the standard
units of measurements. List them alphabetically.
6. Introduction: Must be
crisp and include applicable history of the subject,
state the problem, important literature review, the
hypothesis, the need and the objectives.
7. Materials and Methods:
Must include the dates of study, study area with
map, design, programmes used and data analysis.
8. Results
9. Discussion & Conclusions
10. References
11. Tables
12. Figures – illustrations, maps
13. Images – colour or black & white
photographs, scans, radiographs, SEMs, raster maps
etc.
14. Appendices
15. Author details if in case of
Papers, Communications and Reviews of not more than
50 words each. This should include author
contributions to the paper.
16. Logos of home institutes and
sponsors for Papers, Communications and Reviews:
Authors wishing to highlight the home institutes and
funding agencies are encouraged to send good quality
and clear scans (JPEG or TIFF files) of institution
logos. This facility is not provided for Notes,
Opinions, Book Reviews and Letters.
Manuscripts should be typed
(preferably on computer), double-spaced on Letter or
A4 in WORD document. Font size must be 12 points
Times New Roman.
Text should be left justified;
Footnotes should be avoided; All units of
measurement should be in metric, or preferably SI
units; All pages should be numbered; Tables and
Figures should be numbered and captioned and
included in separate pages at the end of the text;
Original drawings and figures should be submitted;
Photographs must be digitized and must be clear with
no types, watermarks, emboss, or markings; Captions
for all images and figures should be attached
separately at the end of the manuscript; Photo
credit must be provided along with image caption;
Spellings should be consistent with the type of
English chosen (British or American).
Manuscripts using the IUCN Red List
Categories must enter the categories starting with
capital. For example, Paphiopedilum druryi
is a Critically Endangered plant (IUCN
2008). Whereas the description of status of a
species must be in lower case. For example,
Paphiopedilum druryi is a highly endangered
orchid.
Citation:
Reference citation in the text should
follow the following formats. In the case of
multiple citations, the references should be cited
in order of publication priority. In case of two
publications with the same year, alphabetical order
of priority should be followed.
1.
….. Ricketts (2004),
Wilson & Reeder (2005), and Stuart et al. (2008) …..
2.
….. (Rodriguez 1999;
Groves 2001, 2003; Bhatt & Jayaram 2004; Ricketts
2004; Turner et al. 2008).
References:
All references cited in the text
should be quoted completely in this section.
Journal names should be expanded. Please do not
insert abbreviations. For example, expand PNAS to
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
or J. Bom. Nat. Hist. Soc. to Journal of the
Bombay Natural History Society. References
should be listed in the following format:
Journal:
Ricketts, T.H. (2004).
Tropical forest fragments enhance pollinator
activity in nearby coffee crops. Conservation
Biology 18(5): 1262-1271.
Bhatt, A. & K.C. Jayaram (2004). A
new species of the genus Batasio Blyth (Siluriformes:
Bagridae) from Sharavathy River, Uttara Kannada,
Karnataka. Zoos' Print Journal 19(2):
1339-1342.
Open Access Journal:
Turner, E.C., J.L. Snaddon, T.M.
Fayle & W.A. Foster (2008).
Oil palm research in context: identifying the need
for biodiversity assessment. PlosOne 3(2):
e1572.
Thesis:
Rodriguez, J.P. (1999).
Ecology of contraction of geographical
distributions. PhD Thesis. Department of
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton
University, viii+143pp.
Book:
Groves, C. (2001). Primate
Taxonomy. Smithsonian Institution Press,
Washington, viii+350pp.
Edited Book:
Stuart, S.N., M. Hoffmann, J.S.
Chanson, N.A. Cox, R.J. Berridge, P. Ramani & B.E.
Young (eds.) (2008).
Threatened Amphibians of the World. Lynx
Edicions, Barcelona, Spain; IUCN, Gland,
Switzerland; and Conservation International,
Arlington, Virginia, USA, xv+758pp.
Edited Book (multiple volumes):
Wilson, D.E. & D.M. Reeder (eds.)
(2005). Mammal Species
of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference,
3rd edition, Vol. 1 & 2. The Johns
Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, pp.i-xxxv+1-743
& pp.i-xvii+745-2142.
Book Chapter:
Lertzman, D.A. (2003).
Caveat on consilience: barriers and bridges for
traditional knowledge and conservation science, pp.
284-297. In: Westley, F.R. & P.S. Miller (eds.).
Experiments in Consilience: Integrating Social and
Scientific Responses to Save Endangered Species.
Island Press, Washington, xiv+393pp.
Peer-reviewed Monograph:
Nguyen, M.T., D.T. Pham & P.T.
Nguyen (2003).
Conservation of rodents in tropical forests of
Vietnam, pp. 246-250. In: Sngleton, G.R., L.A.
Hinds, C.J. Krebs & D.M. Spratt (eds.). Rats,
Mice and People: Rodent Biology and Management.
ACIAR Monograph No. 96, Canberra, 564pp.
Report:
Kumar, S., B.V. Shetty, D. Bennet
& S. Molur (2000). Report
of the Conservation Assessment and Management Plan
Workshop on Endemic Orchids of the Western Ghats.
Zoo Outreach Organisation & CBSG South Asia,
Coimbatore, India, 150pp.
Web resource:
China Plant Specialist Group (2004). Aristolochia
westlandii. In: IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of
Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>.
Downloaded on 26 January 2009.
Eschmeyer, W.N. & J.D. Fong (2008).
Species of Fishes by
Family/Subfamily. <http://research.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/SpeciesByFamily.html>.
On-line version dated 26 January 2009.
New descriptions:
All new descriptions must follow the
guidelines provided by the International Codes (ICZN,
ICBN or MycoBank). Latin abbreviations such as gen.
nov., sp. nov., ssp. nov., nom. nov., syn. nov. & comb.
nov. should follow new taxa, synonymies or
new combinations. The complete data of the holotype
and paratypes, and the name of the depository (in
abbreviation) should be provided in the original
description.
New descriptions of plants and fungi
must be accompanied by a concise Latin description
before the detailed description in English.
Type material must contain the
following details: Sex, Date of collection,
lat.-long. information of the site of collection
(decimal or degree), elevation (in m), exact name of
the site of collection, broader area name,
District/Province/State, Country, collector’s name,
type registration number and depository name.
For example:
Holotype: Female, 26.i.2009, 13o27’N
75o25’E, 280m, Gopal Nagar, Peelamedu, Coimbatore,
Tamil Nadu, India, coll. B. Ravichandran,
WILD-2009-1, WILD.
Paratypes: 1 female (WILD-2009-5,
WILD), 1 male (30.i.2009, WILD-2009-7, WILD), same
information as in Holotype. 2 Females (ZP43/2008,
ZOO; ZP09/2009, ZOO), same information as in
Holotype. 1 male, 10.i.2009, 25o48’N 77o33’E, 608m,
Kara Valley, Rohitam, Andhra Pradesh, India, coll.
I. Reddy, 430-4568, ANSA.
Important:
Manuscripts will not be accepted if the registration
numbers and name of the depository are not
mentioned. While it is important to have types
deposited in renowned national or international
museums/herbariums or collections, JoTT
accepts manuscripts of types not deposited in such
institutes due to national legislations and other
difficulties such as poor collection maintenance
records of such authorized institutes. However, a
clear description as to why types are not deposited
in national or international collections is required
in the covering letter along with detailed
information on the institute the types are deposited
in and the registration numbers in the text. Please
ensure that types deposited in alternate institutes
and museums are accessible to future taxonomists and
para-taxonomists for examination. Also ensure that
such institutes have a long-term strategy for
preserving and maintaining well such collections, or
with a reasonable approach/time frame for
transferring the materials to other responsible
institutes. Personal collections with a history of
good maintenance should have adequate and
responsible transfer strategy in case of death or
incapacitation of the collector. Single experts in
universities or institutes with collections should
have a strategy for transfer of types and other
materials to other responsible institutes if a
successor/s is not identified.
New descriptions of
Fungi:
Annually around 1400 new scientific
names for fungi are established in various journals
throughout the world. Coordinating and documenting
this diversity is of utmost concern and coordinating
information on these names is essential. The
International Mycological Association (IMA) has
assumed responsibility for managing MycoBank
initiated in 2004 by the Centraalbureau voor
Schimmelcultures of the Royal Academy of Science of
the Netherlands. All newly described fungi species
and names are deposited in MycoBank along with key
nomenclatural and descriptive material. All names
are checked with Index Fungorum and provided with a
unique reference number.
JoTT
encourages all new fungi descriptions submitted for
publication to provide the unique reference number.
Obtaining the number is mandatory for acceptance of
the new description in JoTT.
JoTT also recognizes that for countries with
strict biodiversity laws that does not permit
sending biological material out of the country for
such deposition (e.g. India and Brasil), at least
the new names should be registered with MycoBank and
the registration number indicated in the manuscript.
For further information on
registering new descriptions and names, contact
MycoBank at <www.MycoBank.org> or for further
queries contact the members of its Scientific
Advisory
Board at < www.IMA-mycology.org>.
Bird checklist preparation
format:
1. Introduction:
·
Background information
on the site/locality/area
·
Ornithological/conservation significance of the area
·
Past studies on birds
of the locality
·
Context of the current
survey/study and its significance
2. Study Area:
·
Geographical location
with explicit boundaries of the intensive survey
area and geographical coordinates (a must)
·
A high-resolution,
colour or black-and-white map of the survey area
showing the location of all the major
sites/landmarks that find frequent mention in the
manuscript.
·
Physical features like
major hills, rivers, plateaus, elevation, drainage,
etc
·
If it is a PA,
information on area, year of notification, and
current legal status
·
Biogeographical setting
(e.g. Rodgers & Panwar Classification)
·
Phytogeography (e.g.
Champion & Seth)
·
Brief information on
major flora and fauna
·
Human habitation and
use (including pressures on natural resources and
habitat disturbance)
3. Methods:
·
Period of survey
·
Coverage of area,
habitat types, and seasons
·
Details on methodology:
Survey/sampling design OR ad-libitum opportunistic
observations OR combination of both
·
Any specific efforts to
locate elusive taxa which are normally difficult to
detect OR identify (e.g., gulls and terns, pelagic
birds, accipiters and buzzards, sandpipers and
stints, owls, nightjars, swifts, pipits, larks,
warblers, etc)
·
Taxonomic
sequence/classification and nomenclature followed in
the manuscript with proper citation of the source
(Please stick to BirdLife International list for the
world).
NOTE:
It is generally assumed that the
author(s) would use a good pair of binoculars or a
spotting scope along with a standard field-guide
during bird surveys or observations. Therefore,
trivial statements like the make and specifications
of binoculars/spotting scopes and field-guides used
by the author(s) are better avoided, as they do NOT
add any useful information.
·
If you refer to
threatened status of birds, indicate whether the
threatened status is from BirdLife assessments at
the global level or if the assessment is more at the
regional or national level using appropriate
reference. In case you do not follow the IUCN Red
List of Threatened Species classification or the
IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria for assigning
threatened status, please mention the same under
Methodology.
4. Results:
·
Summary statistics of
the bird checklist:
·
Number of bird species
·
Number of
subcontinent's endemics
·
Taxonomic profile
(Number of genera, dominant bird families and their
proportions)
·
Profile of the birds on
the basis of movement status (Number/proportion of
residents, winter migrants, passage migrants,
stragglers, etc)
·
Abundance profile
(Number/proportion of common, uncommon, and rare
species)
·
Profile of threatened
taxa (Number/proportion of species under various
threat categories).
NOTE:
Standard pie-charts or bar-graphs can be used to
portray these summary statistics. But they should
NOT be repeated in the form of both tables and
graphs. Also please do not repeat the information in
the text, if is already provided in the form of
table or graph
·
An annotated list of
select bird species with brief notes on exact
localities/sites of occurrence, population status,
seasonality -nesting details if resident and
movement details if migratory, and any other
relevant first-hand information
NOTE:
The choice of bird species, described in the
annotated section, may be dictated by some rational
grounds like threat status, rarity, conservation
significance, range extensions, flagship & keystone
species, and those which are generally very elusive
and little-known.
5. Discussion:
·
Biodiversity
significance of the site/locality
·
The richness of
birdlife of the locality
·
Any general
recommendations for monitoring/protecting the site
·
Any species-specific
recommendations
·
Any specific proposals
for short-term or long-term studies on local
avifauna
NOTE:
Authors who compile checklists based on short
studies over one season or a few days/weeks should
refrain from making sweeping statements about the
habitat and suggest recommendations, unless the
habitat has been under observation for a longer
period, which should also be mentioned in
Methodology.
Appendix 1. Complete Checklist of the
Birds
The Checklist should contain ONLY
confirmed and corroborated records, with a separate
list for unconfirmed/uncertain records that can be
given as Appendix 2. The complete checklist may
contain the following information in a neatly
designed, user-friendly table format:
1.
Serial Number
2.
Family
3.
Common Name with Scientific Name
Please stick to
one standard taxonomic sequence and nomenclature
4. Resident/migratory
Status: The following categories may be used
(wherever appropriate/applicable) to describe the
movement patterns of birds. Apt abbreviations can be
used to refer to different categories.
§
Resident
throughout the year
§
Resident with
some local movements
§
Resident with
some altitudinal movements
§
Summer / Monsoon
visitor
§
Winter visitor
§
Passage migrant
§
Nomadic visitor
with no apparent seasonality
§
Vagrant (Only a
single or a couple of records)
5. Frequency/Abundance:
The relative commonness/rarity of each species may
be indicated by a subjective assessment of the local
populations. Probability of sighting in suitable
habitats at right time of the year can be used as a
measure of such relative abundance. The following
example may apply to most parts.
§
Common : 9-10 times out
of 10 visits
§
Fairly common : 6
- 8 times out of 10 visits
§
Uncommon : 3 - 5 times out of
10 visits
§
Rare : 0 - 2 times out of 10 visits
§
Irregular : Occurrence
is too irregular to assign to any of the
classes
6. Occurrence
(Sites/Habitat types): If possible, give sites
or habitat types in which each species primarily
occurs or can be found regularly. Appropriate
abbreviations can be used to refer to each
site/habitat type.
Appendix 2. List of Unconfirmed
Species of Birds
It is a list of bird species recorded
from the site but whose identification remains
uncertain or unconfirmed. Each species can be
annotated with a brief description of the date of
sighting/record, habitat/vegetation type in which
the species is observed, relative rarity, and
morphological/behavioural characters noted in the
field that point to their possible identification.
Some dos and don'ts while
making a bird checklist:
·
Collect and carefully
go through all the past literature on birds of the
survey site/area, before you do a survey or sit down
to prepare the manuscript.
·
Do NOT rush into
calling your record as 'first for the
locality/area/region', or as 'a range extension'
only on the basis of field-guides, as there may be
several new published information in journals after
the publication of these field-guides.
·
Try to cover all the
seasons in the field
·
Try to cover all the
habitat/vegetation types in the locality
·
Make a rough estimate
of the numbers/abundance of common species in the
field
·
Information given in
standard field-guides on habitat, movement and
breeding status, and relative frequency of each
species pertain to the whole country or the
Subcontinent. They are NOT applicable in their
entirety to specific localities or sites for which a
checklist is usually prepared. Therefore, do NOT
reproduce those information in your checklist. Make
your own site-specific observations.
·
Include ONLY those
species whose identification is confirmed or
corroborated by independent observers. Mention all
the unconfirmed species in a separate list.
Information like Warbler sp. or Phylloscopus sp. is
of no use. Please avoid such entries.
·
Do NOT add to your
Checklist generalized information as the following
(which are frequently taken from standard
field-guides), unless it is relevant to the
manuscript OR you have some firsthand data to
corroborate: food habits (insectivore, granivore,
nectarivore, etc), type of nesting-substrate
(ground, tree, shrub, cliff, etc), type of nestling
(nidicolous or nidifugous), etc.
·
If a published
checklist already exists for a locality, do NOT
simply add your records to the existing list and
re-publish it as an 'updated checklist', even if it
means substantial additional information. Journals
have very limited space and each page is very
precious. So, please publish only the new or
additional records.
·
Wherever possible, try
to identify a bird to the level of subspecies. This
is very important, as many taxa, conventionally
treated as geographic races or subspecies, are now
being increasingly recognized as valid species. Of
course, the caveat of confirmed identification also
applies here! In case of any doubt, just stick to
species level.
Submission Details
All submissions to Journal of
Threatened Taxa are considered complete only
if the checklist of attachments (e.g. text, no. of
tables, no. of images, figures, audio or video
files, formats, etc.) is provided along with a
letter listing all authors of the manuscript. We
presume that authors from institutions with
formalities have submitted manuscripts through the
‘right channels’.
Provide names, addresses and working
email ids of at least three experts on the subject
who would be appropriate reviewers for your
manuscript. Make sure that at least one of the
suggested reviewers is from a country other than
yours.
Electronic:
Electronic submission is preferred.
Email to the Editor, Journal of Threatened
Taxa at
articlesubmission@threatenedtaxa.org and
threatenedtaxa@gmail.com. Alternately,
manuscripts should be submitted on a CD-Rom. Please
ensure that a covering letter detailing all the
files attached, number of tables, figures, images,
audio files, video files and appendices are spelt
out.
Text should be in MS WORD.
Scanned images of all figures and
photographs should be in a different file or
attached separately and must be of high quality JPEG
or TIFF files (minimum 600dpi resolution).
Hard copy:
Hard copies are not mandatory. We
encourage authors to provide high quality scans of
images and figures. Only in rare instances we
accept hard copies of originals if the authors are
unable to provide electronic copies and the issue is
of utmost urgency.
Review:
Papers, Communications and Review
articles will be reviewed by a minimum of three
referees before being accepted. Notes will be
reviewed by a minimum of two experts. Every
manuscript will be assigned to a Subject Editor who,
along with the Founding Editor, will be responsible
in accepting or suggesting modifications to the
authors.
Reprints:
No reprints will be supplied to any
author. All publications in JoTT are
completely Open Access and will be available as HTML
and PDF downloads. In case you require high quality
PDFs, contact us at
threatenedtaxa@gmail.com.
Copyright
The copyright of each paper published
in Journal of Threatened Taxa will be
the property of the authors as indicated in the
first page of each article. All articles are
registered under Creative Commons License 3.0
whereby the contents can be used for non-commercial
purposes providing adequate reference to the authors
and the source of publication.
Important Note
In case of Short Notes or Short
Communications that do not match the requirements of
the journal, but are none-the-less of value to
conservation, we will forward the manuscripts for
consideration in appropriate newsletters such as Bat
Net Newsletter, FrogLeg Newsletter, Reptile Rap
Newsletter, Rat-a-Tattle Newsletter, Reintro Redeux
Newsletter or to Zoos’ Print Magazine.
Articles submitted to Journal
of Threatened Taxa are received under good
faith as being based on original research and has
not been submitted, accepted or published
elsewhere. After preliminary assessment of the
suitability of the manuscript for consideration in
JoTT, status of the manuscript will be
intimated to the corresponding author within 3
months. If the manuscript is found in need of minor
corrections or additions, a tentative acceptance
will be communicated in that time. However, final
acceptance will be communicated only after
satisfactory changes have been carried out and
accepted by the Subject Editor for publication. The
date of publication from the date of final
acceptance depends on how fast the authors respond
to the needs of the editorial office in making
corrections to the proofs and submitting all files
according to the format required by the publications
department.
To facilitate speedy publication from
the date of first submission, ensure that the
manuscript is reviewed by peers beforehand. This
will potentially help your manuscript to be reviewed
faster and with lesser suggestions for
modification. For authors from countries with
English as not the primary language, and for new
authors, it is strongly recommended that you also
get the text vetted for presentation, English
language usage, grammar, typographical errors,
consistency, etc. before submitting to JoTT.
While we do consider manuscripts on their merit of
research finding and conservation need, poorly
written manuscripts will have a higher probability
of rejection from reviewers and subject editors for
difficulty in comprehending the subject.
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