Paleobiology: Instructions for Contributors

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Submitting your manuscript

New submission

New manuscripts should be submitted as a single PDF file (text, tables, and figures all in one file) with a separate PDF file for the cover letter to: Paleo-Journal@si.edu. The cover letter should include up to five suggested reviewers and their contact information. The subject of the email should be the lead author's name, e.g., "Simpson." If the corresponding author differs from the lead author, follow the first name with the corresponding author's name in parentheses, e.g., "Simpson (Magruder)." In all correspondence beyond the initial submission, please put your assigned ms number on the subject line of your email.  If the manuscript is very long and/or (especially!) if there are numerous large figures, please use Acrobat or another pdf program to reduce the file size before sending it.

The cover letter file should be entitled "Senior author (corresponding author) Cover.pdf"; e.g., "Simpson (Magruder) Cover.pdf".

The manuscript file should be entitled "Senior author (corresponding author) Ms.pdf"; e.g., "Simpson (Magruder) Ms.pdf".

PDF is the only accepted format for new submissions to Paleobiology.

Exceptions: If you cannot submit your manuscript as a single PDF, please contact the Editorial Office prior to submission of your manuscript for permission to use another format (hard copy, electronic format other than PDF, multiple PDF files).

To make reviewing easier, we now encourage authors to embed figures, figure captions, and tables in the text for the copies that are to be reviewed.  (Note that traditional formats will be retained for final submissions.)  We also encourage use of bookmarking in PDF software to create a table of contents for the PDF.  Finally, number every line in the manuscript, either by page or for the whole document.

Revised manuscript submission

If your manuscript was accepted with minor revisions, please see the instructions under Final
Submission. If your manuscript required major revisions, and will most likely be sent back to reviewers,
please see the instructions under New Submission. In all correspondence beyond the initial
submission, please put your assigned ms number in the subject line of your email. Your revised
manuscript files should be named as shown below:

The cover letter file should be entitled "Ms number revised Cover.pdf"; e.g., "03025 revised Cover.pdf"
The manuscript file should be entitled "Ms number revised.pdf"; e.g., "03025 revised.pdf"
Second revisions should be entitled "Ms number 2nd revision.pdf"; e.g., "03025 2nd revision.pdf"

Final submission

Final revisions of accepted manuscripts should be submitted electronically to natashaatkins@comcast.net. Please put your assigned ms number in the subject line of your email message. The text should be in Word or RTF format. Tables should be in Excel or one of these formats; if the latter, use the “create table” option rather than tab-and-space. Electronic figures must be in either TIFF or EPS format. If the total size of all files exceeds 7 MB, attach files to separate emails. Alternatively, you can compile all figures on a CD. Please follow our guidelines for formatting your manuscript and figures (see below) and use our Checklist for Authors to confirm that your manuscript has been formatted correctly. Your final manuscript files should be named as shown below:

The cover letter file should be entitled "Ms number final Cover.rtf"; e.g., "03025 final Cover.pdf"
The manuscript file should be entitled "Ms number final.doc"; e.g., "03025 final.wpd"
Figures should be entitled "Ms number Figure number.tif"; e.g., "03025 figure 1.eps"

Your electronic submission should also include your FedEx address and phone number. In addition, please send high-quality hard copies of your figures, packaged with stiff cardboard to prevent damage in the mail, (along with a CD if you choose not to submit your figures electronically) to Natasha Atkins, 722 S. 22nd Street, Arlington, VA 22202, USA. Please waive the signature requirement by the recipient when using express mail, if possible.

General Notes

• Double-space the entire manuscript in 12-point type, including text, abstract. Literature Cited,
  tables, figure captions, and appendices.

• Number all pages of the text beginning with the title page. The name of the senior author should
  precede the page number in the right hand corner of each page.

• Number all lines on the version submitted for review.  In Microsoft Word, options for line numbering can be found by going to Document (under the Format menu) and choosing Layout.

• Italicize text that should be italicized: do not underline such text; reserve underlines for text that should be underlined (e.g., some mathematical equations). Pay particular attention to: binomials probability (p) and other mathematical variables, statistical test names (t-test; F-test), etc.
• Do not break or hyphenate words at the right margin.

• Leave the right margin ragged (no right or full justification).

• Leave at least a one-inch margin on all sides of the pages. Use 8.5 by 11 inch (21.5 by 28 cm)
  paper. Variations in page size are acceptable for submissions from overseas.

• Collate the manuscript in the following order: title page, abstract, text, Literature Cited, appendix,
  figure legends, tables, and appendix tables.

• If possible, next bookmark the section headings in the pdf prior to submission for review.  This is done in Acrobat by selecting the relevant text and typing ?B. Bookmark all important headings, as has been done in this document.

Title Page

• The first page of the manuscript should include the title (capitalize only the first word and any proper
  names), the names of all authors, and the right and left running heads.

• Authors' names are placed below the title in capital and lowercase letters.

• The running head is below the authors' names. Running heads are not to exceed a total of 40 characters and spaces, and all letters are capitalized. The right running head (RRH) is the running title and the left running head (LRH) is the name or names of the authors. Use "et al." for more than two authors.

RRH: ONSHORE-OFFSHORE FAUNAL CHANGE

LRH: JOHANN S. BACH

LRH: DANA A. JOHNSON AND MICHELLE R. JOHNSON

LRH: RONAELE M. NOVOTNY ET AL.

Abstract Page

• An abstract must be provided, and should be no longer than 3%-5% of the length of the manuscript.

• The abstract should be on its own separate page(s).

• "Abstract" is italicized and followed by a period and a dash. All lines are flush left.

• The abstract is followed by the names and addresses of the authors, with the first line left-justified and any subsequent lines indented. Italicize all names and addresses.  Multiple authors from the same address should be listed with a single address. Do not use abbreviations. Include e-mail addresses if desired. If an author is recently at a different address, please include the present address and mark with an asterisk. Edited manuscripts and proofs will be sent to the present address unless the office is otherwise notified.

James P. McCalpin. Department of Geology, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322

M. Lazee* and U. B. Forty. Department of Geology, University of California, Davis, California 95616. E-mail: iml@ucd.edu

*Present address: Department of Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520

Text Headings

1.   Primary headings are centered and in boldface. The first word and all other important words in the
heading are capitalized. Articles, conjunctions, and prepositions are in lowercase.

Results of the Experiment

2.   Use secondary headings only if three levels of headings are required. If only two levels of headings are required, primary and tertiary headings are used. Secondary headings are capitalized the same as primary headings and are flush with the left margin. The text begins on the next line.

Hierarchical Effects

Text begins here.

3.   Tertiary headings are capitalized the same as primary headings, indented, italicized, and followed by a period and a dash. The text follows the dash.

Hierarchial Effects.—The possible significance of . . .

In-Text Literature Citations

• A one-to-one correspondence must exist between works cited in the text and listed in the Literature Cited section. Books or manuscripts in press must be included; unpublished data and manuscripts in review or otherwise unpublished are not. Avoid citing unpublished theses or dissertations.

• The authors are responsible for the accuracy of all citations.

• Literature is cited in the text, in chronological order, by the last name of the author or authors and the date of publication. For works with three or more authors, the last name of the senior author is followed by "et al." Use semicolons to separate multiple citations by different authors; use commas to separate multiple citations by the same author. Specific pages, tables, or figures within a reference should follow a colon after the reference year. A date should be provided for all personal communications.

(Darwin 1859)
(McCalpin et al. 1987: Fig. 2)
(Darwin 1859; McCalpin et al. 1987, 1989: pp. 22-24)
(Novotny and Borders 1988: p. 123)
(Greenwell in press)

(J. Johnson personal communication 1989)
(J. Jones and T. Freeman unpublished data)

• Where nested parentheses are necessary, use brackets inside parentheses and braces inside brackets ([{}]). Note that the order is the reverse for equations {[()]}.

(Jones [1968] indicated . . .)

In-Text References to Figures and Tables

• Figure parts are capitalized (Fig. 3A).

• Table" and "Appendix" have an initial capital and are not abbreviated. If there is only one
  Appendix, it is not numbered.
  
• (Fig. 2)
• (Novotny 1968: Fig. 4)
• (Borders and Greenwell 1972: Table 1)
• In Figure 15, we see . . .
• (Table 2, Fig. 3)
•  If figures and tables are not embedded in the text, then they should be flagged in the margins at their first appearance in the text to indicate their placement.  They should be so flagged in the final submission.
  

Mathematical Equations, Statistics, and Numerals

• Use italics where necessary. Indicate any italicized parts that may not be obvious with a highlight and comment.

• For probability, use lowercase italic p. For example, p < 0.001 or p = 5x10-10.

• Use metric units. If nonmetric units are required, provide the metric equivalents also.

• Spell out numbers one to ten unless used with units of measurement.  Use Arabic numerals for numbers over 11 and for non-integers.  Use 10-4, 10-5, etc. for numbers less than 0.001 (see 2!)
  
• "Equation" is spelled out and lowercase except when a capital would ordinarily be required. It is abbreviated when used in a parenthetical reference to an equation. Equation numbers are in parentheses, unless they appear in a parenthetical phrase.

Equation (6) shows the results . . .

(Raup 1978: p. 23, eq. 2)

We refer to equation (2) in the next section . . .

• Mathematical expressions and equations set out from the text should be written so that they can be set on one line, if possible.

• Numbered equations should be centered on the line. Equation numbers should be on the right
  margin of text, with the numbers enclosed in parentheses.
  
• Identify ambiguous characters; e.g., lower-case letter l versus numeral one, capital letter O versus  numeral zero, lowercase Greek chi versus lowercase letter x versus the multiplication symbol.

• Use fractional exponents instead of root signs and the solidus (/) for fractions where possible.

•  “ca.” is the preferred abbreviation for approximate dates. For other approximations, no abbreviations should be used (e.g., approximately 400¼ or about 30‰). In instances where approximations are made frequently, the wavy equal sign symbol should be used.

Geologic Time

• Use the abbreviations Ga, Ma, and Ka to indicate dates (billions, millions, and thousands of years
  before the present, respectively). Use Gyr, Myr, and Kyr to indicate duration of time.

• The names of formal time units or time-stratigraphic units should be capitalized. Unless there are special circumstances, use Gradstein et al. (2005: A geological time scale 2004. Cambridge University Press) or  the ICS stratotypes (http://www.stratigraphy.org/gssp.htm) as guides.
• Use “Early/Late” to refer to formal chronologic units (e.g., Late Ordovician);
• Use “early/late” to refer to informal ones (e.g., late Carboniferous);
• Use “Lower/Upper” to refer to stratigraphic units.

• Use a slash (/) to denote boundaries, and a hyphen (-) to denote time ranges.

(K/T boundary)
(Eocene-Oligocene mammals)

Acknowledgments

• Spell out all agency and university names.
• Do not use honorifics such as Dr., Prof., Mrs., etc. Use initials for given names of individuals.

Literature Cited

EndNote has created an output style for Paleobiology to assist in formatting your references, which is available for download from the Endnote website, http://www.endnote.com/support/enstyles.asp. Please do not use Cite-While-You-Write in the final submitted files.

• All works cited in the text, tables, figure captions, and appendices must be included in the
  Literature Cited section.

• Entries in the Literature Cited section (including Mac and Mc) are listed in strict alphabetical order, except in cases of three or more authors. For citations with the same senior author: group all the single-author citations in chronological order; group all the two-author citations alphabetically first and then chronologically; and group all the citations with three or more authors in chronological order only. For works published in the same year by the same author(s), the works are listed in alphabetical order (or in date order if this is obvious, e.g., consecutive articles in a journal or articles numbered I and II). To differentiate articles published in the same year by the same author(s), a lowercase letter follows the date.
• Smith, J. L. 1989a.
  ____. 1989b.
  ____. 1990.
  Smith, J. L., and J. P. Jones. 1979.
  Smith, J. L., and T. Smith. 1978.
  Smith, J. L., T. Freeman, and J. P. Jones. 1977.
  Smith, J. L., J. P. Jones, M. R. Johnson, and T. Freeman. 1978.
  ____. 1979.
  Smith, J. L., J. P. Jones, and T. Freeman, eds. 1980.
  
• The names of authors are in capital and lowercase letters. Authors' initials are separated by a space. Except for the first author, author initials come before surname. For articles in an edited volume, editors' initials precede surnames. Italicize "In" or "in" for citations in a book. (See examples below.)

• Use a dash to denote repeated author names. Use only one dash for exact duplicate of authors in the preceding citation, no matter how many authors.

• Do not abbreviate the names of publications (journals, series).

• Publishers' names:

a) Abbreviate the names of publishers. Blackwell Scientific is an abbreviated form; Blackwell is the abbreviated form for Basil Blackwell. Use Springer, not Springer-Verlag.

b) If necessary, retain initials to distinguish among publishers:

W. H. Freeman

J. Murray (Darwin's publisher)

c) Usually delete "Press" except for University presses. But Academic Press, not Academic.

• Do not underline (italicize) volume numbers for periodicals and series.

• State names are omitted if the city is large and well known or if the state name is part of the publisher's name. Traditional abbreviations of state names are used, not postal codes.
• (Boston)
• (Springfield, Mass.)
• (University of Wisconsin Press, Madison)
• (Marshfield, Wisc.)

• Include country names, if needed, for location of publisher, e.g., Wiley, Chichester, U.K.

•  If three or more chapters of a book are cited, cite the book separately, and use an abbreviated citation of the book in the reference for the chapter.

Davidson, H. 1994. Motor psychology. Harley, Cucamonga, Calif.
Rider, E. Z. 1994. Life in fifth gear. Pp. 136-156 in Davidson 1994.

Journal article:

Storm, E. C. 1974. Omnology at the crossroads. Journal of Omnology 22:1-44.

Article in a serial publication or a special publication with a volume citation (treat as if a journal):

Foote, M. 2001. Origination and extinction components of taxonomic diversity: general problems. In D. H. Erwin and S. L. Wing, eds. Deep time: Paleobiology's perspective. Paleobiology 26(Suppl. to No. 4):12-26.

Smithson, A. B. 1995. Gymnosperm envy. In C. D. Jones, ed. Advances in angiosperm psychology. Short Courses in Paleontology 6:23-45. Paleontological Society, Knoxville, Tenn.

Article in a serial publication without a volume citation (treat as if a book):

Smithson, A. B. 1995. Gymnosperm envy. Pp. 23-45 in C. D. Jones, ed. Advances in angiosperm psychology. Proceedings of the 24th international symposium on fossil plants. Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colo.

Book:

Calm, I. M. 1974. Omnology has passed its peak. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Article in a book:

Storm, E. C. 1974. Whither goest omnology? Pp. 33-44 in I. M. Calm and U. R. Nott, eds. (Note order of editors' initials and names.)

Special example on how to cite the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology:

Arkell, W. J., B. Kummel, and C. W. Wright. 1957. Mesozoic Ammonoidea. Pp. L80-L465 in W. J. Arkell et al. Mollusca 4, Cephalopoda, Ammonoidea. Part L of R. C. Moore, ed. Treatise on invertebrate paleontology. Geological Society of America, New York, and University of Kansas, Lawrence. [Note that later parts are published in Boulder, Colo.].

Tables

• For initial submissions, please embed small tables within the text.  This is done in Microsoft Word by:
• a. Inserting a text box;
• b. Double clicking on the text box and setting it is “square” with the text;
• c. Typing the table caption below the figure;
• d. Inserting the Table (if in Table format) or simply pasting the text;
• e. Drag and drop the table to an appropriate place.
• On final submissions, each table is placed on its own page at the end of the text.

• Table captions are placed directly above the table and on the same page.

• Do not use parentheses around reference dates in the body of a table.

Figures

For detailed information on preparing illustrations, refer to the instructions under "Printing and Typesetting" at the Allen Press web-site at http://www.allenpress.com/illguide.html

• Please embed figures with the text in the original submission.  This is done in Microsoft Word by:
• a. Inserting a text box;
• b. Double clicking on the text box and setting it is “square” with the text;
• c. Inserting the figure (in pict, jpeg, etc. format: BUT SEE 2 below for final submission!);
• d. Typing the figure caption below the figure;
• e. Drag and drop the figure to an appropriate place.
• Paleobiology accepts electronic figures only in TIFF or EPS formats.   (This will be relevant after a manuscript is accepted: see 1 above for manuscripts for review.)

• You are responsible for providing instructions regarding final size of figures. If the figures you provide are already sized, you must specify that the figure size is not to be changed. If you provide no instructions and then request changes in figure size, you will be charged for any changes.

• Original hard copies of figures should be provided in addition to electronic copies. If your figure must be reproduced from the hard copy (due to problems with the electronic file) please keep in mind that extremes in reduction should be avoided. For best result, figures should be reproduced at 75-80% of their original size. Figures cannot be enlarged.

• Do not use boldface lettering. The final size (after reduction or enlargement) of lettering on figures should be no less than 1.5 mm.

• Figures generated by a computer should be printed on high-quality, opaque laser paper.
  Photographs or figures with delicate lettering should be protected by a tissue-paper overlay.
  
• Color figures (and photographs) may be published in Paleobiology at the additional cost to the
  author of $750 per figure.
  
• On the back of each figure, clearly print the author's name and the figure number (hard copy only).
  
• Use capital letters to label figure parts. All parts of a single figure should be on one page as you want them to appear.
  
• Indicate the top of the figure by an arrow or label, especially in the final submission.

• On final submissions, list all figure captions together on a separate page (or pages) in numerical order.

Footnotes

Footnotes should be avoided except in tables.

Supplementary Material

Additional material too long for publication in Paleobiology can be submitted as supplementary material to be available online at the Paleobiology web site. This material may include data, tables, figures, appendices, or program code and will be reviewed along with the rest of the manuscript.

Page Charges

Authors are requested to pay page charges at the rate of $100.00 per page. Authors with access to grant, institutional, or private funds, are expected to pay these charges, which partially cover the expense of publishing their papers. However, papers are accepted for publication without such payments, and no author should be dissuaded from submitting a manuscript for lack of funds.

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