Text
This page sets out instructions for the preparation of text within Geological Society books and journals. They are designed to be used along with 'Information for Authors' for the relevant journal or book series. Information about submission and colour charges can be found in those pages, as they vary.
Layout of manuscript | Headings and paragraphs | Spellings and word usage | Abbreviations | Tables | Analytical data in tables | Figure captions | References | Reference list | Textual citations | Acknowledgements | Hyphens and dashes | Points of the compass | Lists | Quotations | Equations, symbols and numbers | Units | Stratigraphy | Palaeontology | Type and figured material | Mineralogy | Igneous rock nomenclature
Prepare the text of your paper using Word or any word-processing package that allows you to save/export as rich-text format (rtf). For tables, use Word, Excel or a package that allows you to save/export as rtf or comma delimited (csv). Please give the files meaningful names, e.g. SmithFig1. You do not need to layout the paper as it will appear in print. It does not matter which font you use for the text.
The first page of the typescript must give:
Books: Books do not have keywords.
JGS: JGS no longer publishes keywords.
Petroleum Geoscience: The words/phrases should be chosen from the Exploration & Production Thesaurus and the Geographic Thesaurus (both are published by the University of Tulsa). If you do not have access to the thesaurus, use simple, specific nouns clauses.
QJEGH: no longer publishes keywords.
Capitals should be used only for start of sentences, proper nouns and acronyms. Do not use full capitals for authors’ names in the reference list, titles or headings. Ensure that O (oh), 0 (zero), 1 (one) and l (ell) are correctly used, especially in chemical formulae.
Figures and tables should be referred to in numerical order; they will generally be positioned close to the first citation.
Keep the use of first person to a minimum.
Footnotes are not normally allowed, except in tables.
The first paragraph of the main text, following the abstract, should not have a heading, i.e. avoid using ‘Introduction’ or other such headings. It can be taken for granted that such material is introductory.
There are only three levels of headings. Please ensure that you use a distinctive style for each. Do not use full capitals. Avoid numbering headings.
English-preferred spellings should be used, e.g. dyke (not dike), palaeo- prefixes (not paleo-) and Cenozoic (not Cainozoic). Check that the correct spellings are used in diagrams as well as in the text.
Useful references are: The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Fowler’s Standard English Usage, The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors and specialist publications such as AGI Glossary (but not US spellings).
The ending ‘-ize’ is used whenever there is an option. The exceptions (likely to occur in a scientific context) are:
advertise, advise, apprise (inform), arise, chastise, comprise, compromise, concise, demise, devise, disguise, emprise, enterprise, excise, expertise, franchise, guise, improvise, incise, merchandise, practise, precise, premise, prise (open), reprise, revise, supervise, surmise, surprise, televise, treatise.
Use ‘-yse’, e.g. analyse.
Use ‘geological’, ‘petrological’ and ‘lithological’ rather than ‘geologic’ etc. ‘Stratigraphic’ or ‘stratigraphical’ are acceptable.
Pers. comm., etc., i.e., e.g., cf., v. are in upright type (with points as shown).
In situ, et al., c., sensu stricto/lato in italic.
The word ‘data’ is plural.
Outcrop is a noun; the verb is ‘to crop out’.
‘Watershed’ means a drainage divide not, as in American usage, a drainage basin.
‘Terrane’ is used to describe a fault-bounded tectonic unit of regional extent which possesses a history unlike that of adjacent terranes and is thought to be far-travelled: hence allochthonous, displaced, exotic or suspect terrane. ‘Terrain’ should be employed more generally to describe a region characterized by distinctive geomorphological or geological attributes without implication that it is far-travelled.
Where they form part of the name of a recognized feature or event, fault, complex, orogeny, etc. should be capitalized.
Adjectives should not be used in place of nouns, e.g. volcanic rocks not volcanics. Likewise for plutonics, clastics, intrusives etc. It should also be noted that stratigraphic system and series names are adjectives: use ‘the Cambrian System/Period’ not just ‘the Cambrian’. Do not add -ian to Lower Palaeozoic series names (i.e. Caradoc not Caradocian etc.).
Avoid soda and potash, use sodium, potassium, sodic, potassic, Na- or K- as appropriate.
Use relict not relic.
In isotope geochemistry use solidus only for ratios (e.g. Rb/Sr) but en-rule (see below) for dating methods (e.g. K–Ar).
Use capital for Sun, Moon, Earth and other planets.
Grid references should always be enclosed by square brackets.
The use of abbreviations can make an article difficult to follow for the non-specialist, e.g. an undergraduate or someone planning to visit the area for the first time. Therefore you should avoid the use of abbreviations for local features and phenomena, unless the name is exceptionally long (more than about 30 characters). In such cases you should still give it in full at the start of each section where they are used.
Abbreviations and acronyms for methods, equipment and such like should be explained in full for the first usage.
Abbreviations in common use (would an undergraduate know what it meant?) need not be spelled out.
Tables should be saved in separate files from the text.
If you are preparing a paper for online submission and using Excel, each table should have only one worksheet. The submission system cannot process files with multiple worksheets.
If you have large tables of data, please include only summaries in the main paper and provide the full data as a Supplementary Publication. Please provide such data as csv (comma delimited) files (you can do that in Excel).
Vertical rules should not be used and normally there should be only three horizontal rules (top and bottom of table, and under column headings).
Footnotes in tables should be marked using the following symbols in this order of preference: * † ‡ § ¶. Where there are more than five footnotes, superscript numbers can be used.
Tables should be headed thus:
Table 1. Brief title in italics
Capitals should be used only for the first word and proper nouns. There is no full stop at the end.
Explanation of the contents of tables should be brief and given under the table. The information should not duplicate that given in the text.
If sample lists are being tabulated, give each a petrographic name and locality (include grid reference or longitude/latitude).
If chemical analyses are being tabulated, give the oxides in standard order: SiO2, TiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, FeO, MnO, MgO, CaO, Na2O, K2O, P2O5, CO2, H2O+, H2O-.
Use Fe2O3 T or FeOT if total Fe is being quoted.
Use bd to indicate that a component is below detection and na for one not analysed. These should be explained in the footnote.
Chemical analyses of rocks and minerals should not be recalculated to 100%. Original analytical figures should be quoted (check the summation for rounding errors). Ensure that the number of decimal places given is appropriate to the level of accuracy.
Representative analyses are generally preferable to averages. Averages should carry standard deviations.
Detailed guidance on the reporting of geochronometric data can be downloaded below:
Layout of manuscript | Headings and paragraphs | Spellings and word usage | Abbreviations | Tables | Analytical data in tables | Figure captions | References | Reference list | Textual citations | Acknowledgements | Hyphens and dashes | Points of the compass | Lists | Quotations | Equations, symbols and numbers | Units | Stratigraphy | Palaeontology | Type and figured material | Mineralogy | Igneous rock nomenclature
Layout of manuscript
Prepare the text of your paper using Word or any word-processing package that allows you to save/export as rich-text format (rtf). For tables, use Word, Excel or a package that allows you to save/export as rtf or comma delimited (csv). Please give the files meaningful names, e.g. SmithFig1. You do not need to layout the paper as it will appear in print. It does not matter which font you use for the text.
The first page of the typescript must give:
- the full title
- names of authors with initials first then surname; one full forename may be given if wished
- full postal addresses of all authors including institution where the work was carried out
- the corresponding author should be indicated with an asterisk
- The following should be listed at the end of the addresses: *Corresponding author (e-mail: author@institution.co.uk)
- the number of words of text, references, tables and figures
- an abbreviated title (< 40 characters) for use as a running header at the top of right-hand pages (in the typescript, put it under the other information).
Keywords: the purpose of Keywords is to assist indexing services in choosing appropriate words and phrases.
Books: Books do not have keywords.
JGS: JGS no longer publishes keywords.
Petroleum Geoscience: The words/phrases should be chosen from the Exploration & Production Thesaurus and the Geographic Thesaurus (both are published by the University of Tulsa). If you do not have access to the thesaurus, use simple, specific nouns clauses.
QJEGH: no longer publishes keywords.
Capitals should be used only for start of sentences, proper nouns and acronyms. Do not use full capitals for authors’ names in the reference list, titles or headings. Ensure that O (oh), 0 (zero), 1 (one) and l (ell) are correctly used, especially in chemical formulae.
Figures and tables should be referred to in numerical order; they will generally be positioned close to the first citation.
Keep the use of first person to a minimum.
Footnotes are not normally allowed, except in tables.
Headings and paragraphs
The first paragraph of the main text, following the abstract, should not have a heading, i.e. avoid using ‘Introduction’ or other such headings. It can be taken for granted that such material is introductory.
There are only three levels of headings. Please ensure that you use a distinctive style for each. Do not use full capitals. Avoid numbering headings.
Spellings and word usage
English-preferred spellings should be used, e.g. dyke (not dike), palaeo- prefixes (not paleo-) and Cenozoic (not Cainozoic). Check that the correct spellings are used in diagrams as well as in the text.
Useful references are: The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Fowler’s Standard English Usage, The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors and specialist publications such as AGI Glossary (but not US spellings).
The ending ‘-ize’ is used whenever there is an option. The exceptions (likely to occur in a scientific context) are:
advertise, advise, apprise (inform), arise, chastise, comprise, compromise, concise, demise, devise, disguise, emprise, enterprise, excise, expertise, franchise, guise, improvise, incise, merchandise, practise, precise, premise, prise (open), reprise, revise, supervise, surmise, surprise, televise, treatise.
Use ‘-yse’, e.g. analyse.
Use ‘geological’, ‘petrological’ and ‘lithological’ rather than ‘geologic’ etc. ‘Stratigraphic’ or ‘stratigraphical’ are acceptable.
Pers. comm., etc., i.e., e.g., cf., v. are in upright type (with points as shown).
In situ, et al., c., sensu stricto/lato in italic.
The word ‘data’ is plural.
Outcrop is a noun; the verb is ‘to crop out’.
‘Watershed’ means a drainage divide not, as in American usage, a drainage basin.
‘Terrane’ is used to describe a fault-bounded tectonic unit of regional extent which possesses a history unlike that of adjacent terranes and is thought to be far-travelled: hence allochthonous, displaced, exotic or suspect terrane. ‘Terrain’ should be employed more generally to describe a region characterized by distinctive geomorphological or geological attributes without implication that it is far-travelled.
Where they form part of the name of a recognized feature or event, fault, complex, orogeny, etc. should be capitalized.
Adjectives should not be used in place of nouns, e.g. volcanic rocks not volcanics. Likewise for plutonics, clastics, intrusives etc. It should also be noted that stratigraphic system and series names are adjectives: use ‘the Cambrian System/Period’ not just ‘the Cambrian’. Do not add -ian to Lower Palaeozoic series names (i.e. Caradoc not Caradocian etc.).
Avoid soda and potash, use sodium, potassium, sodic, potassic, Na- or K- as appropriate.
Use relict not relic.
In isotope geochemistry use solidus only for ratios (e.g. Rb/Sr) but en-rule (see below) for dating methods (e.g. K–Ar).
Use capital for Sun, Moon, Earth and other planets.
Grid references should always be enclosed by square brackets.
Abbreviations
The use of abbreviations can make an article difficult to follow for the non-specialist, e.g. an undergraduate or someone planning to visit the area for the first time. Therefore you should avoid the use of abbreviations for local features and phenomena, unless the name is exceptionally long (more than about 30 characters). In such cases you should still give it in full at the start of each section where they are used.
Abbreviations and acronyms for methods, equipment and such like should be explained in full for the first usage.
Abbreviations in common use (would an undergraduate know what it meant?) need not be spelled out.
Tables
Tables should be saved in separate files from the text.
If you are preparing a paper for online submission and using Excel, each table should have only one worksheet. The submission system cannot process files with multiple worksheets.
If you have large tables of data, please include only summaries in the main paper and provide the full data as a Supplementary Publication. Please provide such data as csv (comma delimited) files (you can do that in Excel).
Vertical rules should not be used and normally there should be only three horizontal rules (top and bottom of table, and under column headings).
Footnotes in tables should be marked using the following symbols in this order of preference: * † ‡ § ¶. Where there are more than five footnotes, superscript numbers can be used.
Tables should be headed thus:
Table 1. Brief title in italics
Capitals should be used only for the first word and proper nouns. There is no full stop at the end.
Explanation of the contents of tables should be brief and given under the table. The information should not duplicate that given in the text.
Analytical data in tables
If sample lists are being tabulated, give each a petrographic name and locality (include grid reference or longitude/latitude).
If chemical analyses are being tabulated, give the oxides in standard order: SiO2, TiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, FeO, MnO, MgO, CaO, Na2O, K2O, P2O5, CO2, H2O+, H2O-.
Use Fe2O3 T or FeOT if total Fe is being quoted.
Use bd to indicate that a component is below detection and na for one not analysed. These should be explained in the footnote.
Chemical analyses of rocks and minerals should not be recalculated to 100%. Original analytical figures should be quoted (check the summation for rounding errors). Ensure that the number of decimal places given is appropriate to the level of accuracy.
Representative analyses are generally preferable to averages. Averages should carry standard deviations.
Detailed guidance on the reporting of geochronometric data can be downloaded below:
If full analytical data are not to be published in the paper, you should make these available as a Supplementary Publication.
These should be provided separate from the figures at the end of the script. They should begin ‘Fig. 1.’ etc. Captions to composite parts of figures should be referred to thus: (a), (b), etc. (note that brackets are not bold). Figure captions should be intelligible without reference to the text. Avoid using ‘see text for details’ and similar wording.
Avoid making long lists of references pertaining to well-documented phenomena.
PhD theses and Masters theses and their equivalents may be referred to.
Unpublished material, such as abstract volumes available only at the conference, should not be referenced.
Manuscripts submitted to a journal but not yet accepted cannot be considered part of the literature and should not be referred to. Likewise, papers ‘in preparation’ are not acceptable. This applies to journals with dynamic/public peer-review where the manuscript is ‘published’ online after only a preliminary check, for example, the ‘Discussions’ versions of EGU journals. Such papers can only be considered part of the literature once they have been accepted for the main version of the journal.
Authors names in the reference list should be typed as capitals and lower case. Do not use full capitals. Setting some of the capitals a smaller font doesn't work – they are still full capitals and have to be changed to lower case.
The list must include only references cited within the text. Failure to check this could result in publication being delayed. Inaccuracies in a reference also means that it will not link properly in the online version.
Journal and series titles are given without abbreviation. As a rough guide, the volume title appears in italics and the volume number in bold. Book series titles are not italicized (NB: series titles are usually plural e.g. Special Publications).
They should be ordered alphabetically with papers with two authors coming before 'et als', which are ordered chronologically. Journal titles should be given in full. Please include a doi as well as page numbers if known. Please check that all references in the list appear in the text and vice versa. Any discrepancies will be queried. Examples of presentation (note that we cannot display small caps on this web page):
Brabb, E. E., Pampeyan, E. H. & Bonilla, M. G. 1972. Landslide Susceptibility in San Mateo County, California. United States Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-310.
Deegan, C. E. & Scull, B. J. 1977. A Standard Lithostratigraphic Nomenclature for the Central and Northern North Sea. Institute of Geological Sciences Report 77/25.
Gibson, S. A. 1988. The geochemistry, mineralogy and petrology of the Trotternish Sill Complex, northern Skye, Scotland. PhD thesis, Kingston Polytechnic.
Leeder, M.R. 1992. Dinantian. In: Duff, P.M.D. & Smith, A.J. (eds) Geology of England and Wales. Geological Society, London, 207–238.
Montone, P., Mariucci, M.T., Pondrelli, S. & Amato, A. 2004. An improved stress map for Italy and surrounding regions (central Mediterranean). Journal of Geophysical Research, 109, 10410, doi:10.1029/2003JB002703.
QEN 1995. The Quaternary Environments Network Atlas and Review of Palaeovegation during the last 20,000 years. World Wide Web Address: http://www.soton.ac.uk/~tjms/adams1.html.
Polson, D. & Curtis, A. 2010. Dynamics of uncertainty in geological interpretation. Journal of the Geological Society , London, 167, 5–10, doi: 10.1144/0016-76492009-055
Worthington, P. F. 1990. Sediment cyclicity from well logs. In: Hurst, A., Lovell, M. A. & Morton, A. C. (eds) Geological Applications of Wireline Logs. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 48, 123–132.
Use the author’s name (no initial unless two or more references to authors with the same name and year are cited in the paper) and the year of publication (e.g. Smith 1991). Do not use ‘op. cit.’ etc. For two authors use Smith & Jones (1991) and for three or more use Smith et al. (1991). Note that no commas are used between name and date. Lists of references in the text should be as follows: (Smith 1988, 1991; Jones & Smith 1989; Smith et al. 1990, 1992 a, b, i.e. in chronological order (except that all references by the same author(s) appear together), separated by a semi-colon. Specific pages or illustrations should be referred to thus: (Smith 1990, p. 30, fig. 2).
For personal communications, whether verbal or written, use ‘pers. comm.’ (upright type), with year where appropriate. Initials are optional.
The final paragraph of the text is usually a statement of acknowledgement of assistance. It does not carry a heading. Grant or award numbers can be quoted as can departmental publication numbers.
Acknowledgements must be brief and confined to persons (and organizations) that have made significant contributions. Omit titles and ranks. Discussions with colleagues can be taken for granted; typing and drafting assistance, where this is routine, should not be included.
Hyphens should be used in compound adjectives appearing before the noun (e.g. island-arc volcanic rocks). They are not required when the first half of the compound adjective is unmistakably an adverb (e.g. strongly sheared gneiss) or when the modifier is a compound proper name (e.g. Upper Cretaceous sediments).
En-rules, which are longer than hyphens, should be used in ranges and when the first part of a compound does not modify the second part (e.g. Carboniferous–Triassic, garnet–mica schist, Morvan–Cabrach area, gas–liquid chromatography, time–depth curve). They should not be used to replace ‘to’ in ‘from 30 to 40’ or ‘and’ in ‘between 30 and 40’. Permo-Triassic, Afro-Arabian Shield etc. take hyphens. In Word, they are inserted by CTRL + number pad hyphen.
Parenthetical dashes (em-rules) should be avoided—they look ugly when printed! However, if you insist, they are inserted in Word by CTRL + ALT + number pad hyphen (no spaces on either side).
Cardinal points (north, south, east, west) should always be in full. Ones in between should always be abbreviated, even in proper nouns. However, use southeasterly, north-northwestwards; note hyphenation.
Lists take up more space than normal text and their use should be carefully considered. Where they offer great enhancement of the argument, they should be laid out thus:
(a) they should begin with a colon;
(b) each item in the list should be only one phrase;
(c) the items should be numbered or lettered;
(d) the number/letter should be enclosed in parentheses;
(e) the phrases should end with a semi-colon;
(f) the only full stop should be at the end of the list.
It should be clear whether or not text following the list starts a new paragraph. Where the listed items comprise more than one sentence, they should not start with a colon; numbered paragraphs may be more appropriate in such cases.
Quotations should be enclosed in single quotation marks. Long quotations (more than a few lines) should be avoided, but if essential they should form separate paragraphs, indented from the left margin. Extracts from other sources should follow the spelling, punctuation, etc. of the original exactly in all respects. Quotations of more than 100 words require permission of the copyright holder.
Mathematical and chemical expressions should be numbered sequentially with the number in parentheses flush with the right margin. Equations are normally centred.
Use x for multiplication (not * or .).
Greater than (>) and less than (<) signs should be used only with a scaled measurement, e.g. > 250 Ma.
Use ≈ for approximately equals only in equations (~ means asymptotically equal to). Mathematical symbols should not be used as abbreviations in the text. Wt% is acceptable.
In the text, specific quantities (scaled measurements) should be in figures. Numbers one to ten in the text should be written as words, unless part of a scaled measurement, e.g. ‘3 km' but ‘three samples’. Numbers greater than ten should be written as figures. No commas, but group in threes above 9999, e.g. 1760, 10 000. For numbers above 9999 powers are to be preferred, e.g. 2.51 x 104.
Do not contract ranges, i.e. 6000–7000 not 6–7000 .
Figures should not normally be used to open a sentence.
Write ‘about ten’, but ‘c. 1000’ in a scaled measurement.
Use a decimal point, not a comma.
The recommended abbreviation for year is a (for annum) and Ma means millions of years with no further meaning implied. ‘y’ and ‘yr’ are not acceptable abbreviations for year.
Units should be abbreviated only when preceded by a figure, e.g, ‘10 mm’ but ‘hundreds of metres’. Abbreviation should be made without stops and with no ‘s’ for plurals.
Use °C (e.g. 540 °C) and K (not °K).
Radius, diameter, day and month should not be abbreviated.
The product of two units should be represented e.g. Pa s (small space) and the quotient e.g. m s-1.
Authors should refer to ‘A guide to stratigraphical procedure’ (Geological Society Professional Handbook), paying particular attention to the following sections. Authors are also referred to the ISC Stratigraphic Chart at : http://www.stratigraphy.org/upload/ISChart2009.pdf. Note that the chart using US English spellings, but GSL uses British English (palaeo, etc.)
Acceptable abbreviations are Gp (Group), Fm (Formation), Mbr (Member), Sst (Sandstone), Slst (Siltstone), Mdst (Mudstone), Sh (Shale), Congl (Conglomerate), Lst (Limestone), but these should be spelled out in full on first use. Use of such abbreviations should be kept to a minimum in the text but can be used to full advantage in tables and diagrams.
The use of ungrammatical phrases, such as ‘end Carboniferous’ and ‘top Cretaceous’, should be avoided. It is better to use ‘latest Carboniferous’ and ‘uppermost Cretaceous’.
The most recent editions of the international codes of Botanical Nomenclature and Zoological Nomenclature should be followed. All type, figured and cited specimens should be accompanied with a museum catalogue number, and their full geological horizon and locality given. If an authority is cited with a date in the text, the full reference should appear in the reference list. To avoid an excessively long list, omit the date in the text. Synonymy lists should be in the same style as those in Palaeontology (e.g. 1996, 39, 1068). Open nomenclature should follow Matthews (1973, Palaeontology, 16, 713-719) and Bengston (1988, Palaeontology, 31, 223-227). Note that a group of half-tone prints is referred to as a Figure (not Plate). Photographs of fossils should be lit from the upper left. All photographic figures should include a scale bar.
Black backgrounds should be avoided as they created problems for printing.
Type material (in palaeontological terms the holotype or any syntypes) must be deposited in an accessible permanent collection. Under exceptional circumstances other figured specimens (including any palaeontological paratypes) can remain in a private collection as long as (in the case of palaeontological material) an accurate cast of any such paratype remaining in a private collection is deposited in a recognized permanent collection.
Mineral nomenclature should follow the recommendations of the International Mineralogical Association Commission on New Minerals Nomenclature and Classification, e.g. hematite, barite, analcime, feldspar. Note the discreditation of sphene (now titanite), acmite (now aegirine), titanaugite, barkevikite, basaltic hornblende, chalcolite, idocrase and hypersthene. More information can be found at IMA-CNMNC website: http://pubsites.uws.edu.au/ima-cnmnc/
Standardization of names is absolute but there is less agreement over standardization of abbreviations of mineral names. Kretz, 1983, Symbols for rock-forming minerals, American Mineralogist, 68, 277-279, is recommended.
Follow the IUGS recommendations of Le Maitre (ed.), 2002, Igneous Rocks: A Classification and Glossary of Terms (Cambridge University Press).
Figure captions
These should be provided separate from the figures at the end of the script. They should begin ‘Fig. 1.’ etc. Captions to composite parts of figures should be referred to thus: (a), (b), etc. (note that brackets are not bold). Figure captions should be intelligible without reference to the text. Avoid using ‘see text for details’ and similar wording.
References
Avoid making long lists of references pertaining to well-documented phenomena.
PhD theses and Masters theses and their equivalents may be referred to.
Unpublished material, such as abstract volumes available only at the conference, should not be referenced.
Manuscripts submitted to a journal but not yet accepted cannot be considered part of the literature and should not be referred to. Likewise, papers ‘in preparation’ are not acceptable. This applies to journals with dynamic/public peer-review where the manuscript is ‘published’ online after only a preliminary check, for example, the ‘Discussions’ versions of EGU journals. Such papers can only be considered part of the literature once they have been accepted for the main version of the journal.
Reference list
Authors names in the reference list should be typed as capitals and lower case. Do not use full capitals. Setting some of the capitals a smaller font doesn't work – they are still full capitals and have to be changed to lower case.
The list must include only references cited within the text. Failure to check this could result in publication being delayed. Inaccuracies in a reference also means that it will not link properly in the online version.
Journal and series titles are given without abbreviation. As a rough guide, the volume title appears in italics and the volume number in bold. Book series titles are not italicized (NB: series titles are usually plural e.g. Special Publications).
They should be ordered alphabetically with papers with two authors coming before 'et als', which are ordered chronologically. Journal titles should be given in full. Please include a doi as well as page numbers if known. Please check that all references in the list appear in the text and vice versa. Any discrepancies will be queried. Examples of presentation (note that we cannot display small caps on this web page):
Brabb, E. E., Pampeyan, E. H. & Bonilla, M. G. 1972. Landslide Susceptibility in San Mateo County, California. United States Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-310.
Deegan, C. E. & Scull, B. J. 1977. A Standard Lithostratigraphic Nomenclature for the Central and Northern North Sea. Institute of Geological Sciences Report 77/25.
Gibson, S. A. 1988. The geochemistry, mineralogy and petrology of the Trotternish Sill Complex, northern Skye, Scotland. PhD thesis, Kingston Polytechnic.
Leeder, M.R. 1992. Dinantian. In: Duff, P.M.D. & Smith, A.J. (eds) Geology of England and Wales. Geological Society, London, 207–238.
Montone, P., Mariucci, M.T., Pondrelli, S. & Amato, A. 2004. An improved stress map for Italy and surrounding regions (central Mediterranean). Journal of Geophysical Research, 109, 10410, doi:10.1029/2003JB002703.
QEN 1995. The Quaternary Environments Network Atlas and Review of Palaeovegation during the last 20,000 years. World Wide Web Address: http://www.soton.ac.uk/~tjms/adams1.html.
Polson, D. & Curtis, A. 2010. Dynamics of uncertainty in geological interpretation. Journal of the Geological Society , London, 167, 5–10, doi: 10.1144/0016-76492009-055
Worthington, P. F. 1990. Sediment cyclicity from well logs. In: Hurst, A., Lovell, M. A. & Morton, A. C. (eds) Geological Applications of Wireline Logs. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 48, 123–132.
Textual citations
Use the author’s name (no initial unless two or more references to authors with the same name and year are cited in the paper) and the year of publication (e.g. Smith 1991). Do not use ‘op. cit.’ etc. For two authors use Smith & Jones (1991) and for three or more use Smith et al. (1991). Note that no commas are used between name and date. Lists of references in the text should be as follows: (Smith 1988, 1991; Jones & Smith 1989; Smith et al. 1990, 1992 a, b, i.e. in chronological order (except that all references by the same author(s) appear together), separated by a semi-colon. Specific pages or illustrations should be referred to thus: (Smith 1990, p. 30, fig. 2).
For personal communications, whether verbal or written, use ‘pers. comm.’ (upright type), with year where appropriate. Initials are optional.
Acknowledgements
The final paragraph of the text is usually a statement of acknowledgement of assistance. It does not carry a heading. Grant or award numbers can be quoted as can departmental publication numbers.
Acknowledgements must be brief and confined to persons (and organizations) that have made significant contributions. Omit titles and ranks. Discussions with colleagues can be taken for granted; typing and drafting assistance, where this is routine, should not be included.
Hyphens and dashes
Hyphens should be used in compound adjectives appearing before the noun (e.g. island-arc volcanic rocks). They are not required when the first half of the compound adjective is unmistakably an adverb (e.g. strongly sheared gneiss) or when the modifier is a compound proper name (e.g. Upper Cretaceous sediments).
En-rules, which are longer than hyphens, should be used in ranges and when the first part of a compound does not modify the second part (e.g. Carboniferous–Triassic, garnet–mica schist, Morvan–Cabrach area, gas–liquid chromatography, time–depth curve). They should not be used to replace ‘to’ in ‘from 30 to 40’ or ‘and’ in ‘between 30 and 40’. Permo-Triassic, Afro-Arabian Shield etc. take hyphens. In Word, they are inserted by CTRL + number pad hyphen.
Parenthetical dashes (em-rules) should be avoided—they look ugly when printed! However, if you insist, they are inserted in Word by CTRL + ALT + number pad hyphen (no spaces on either side).
Points of the compass
Cardinal points (north, south, east, west) should always be in full. Ones in between should always be abbreviated, even in proper nouns. However, use southeasterly, north-northwestwards; note hyphenation.
Lists
Lists take up more space than normal text and their use should be carefully considered. Where they offer great enhancement of the argument, they should be laid out thus:
(a) they should begin with a colon;
(b) each item in the list should be only one phrase;
(c) the items should be numbered or lettered;
(d) the number/letter should be enclosed in parentheses;
(e) the phrases should end with a semi-colon;
(f) the only full stop should be at the end of the list.
It should be clear whether or not text following the list starts a new paragraph. Where the listed items comprise more than one sentence, they should not start with a colon; numbered paragraphs may be more appropriate in such cases.
Quotations
Quotations should be enclosed in single quotation marks. Long quotations (more than a few lines) should be avoided, but if essential they should form separate paragraphs, indented from the left margin. Extracts from other sources should follow the spelling, punctuation, etc. of the original exactly in all respects. Quotations of more than 100 words require permission of the copyright holder.
Equations, symbols and numbers
Mathematical and chemical expressions should be numbered sequentially with the number in parentheses flush with the right margin. Equations are normally centred.
Use x for multiplication (not * or .).
Greater than (>) and less than (<) signs should be used only with a scaled measurement, e.g. > 250 Ma.
Use ≈ for approximately equals only in equations (~ means asymptotically equal to). Mathematical symbols should not be used as abbreviations in the text. Wt% is acceptable.
In the text, specific quantities (scaled measurements) should be in figures. Numbers one to ten in the text should be written as words, unless part of a scaled measurement, e.g. ‘3 km' but ‘three samples’. Numbers greater than ten should be written as figures. No commas, but group in threes above 9999, e.g. 1760, 10 000. For numbers above 9999 powers are to be preferred, e.g. 2.51 x 104.
Do not contract ranges, i.e. 6000–7000 not 6–7000 .
Figures should not normally be used to open a sentence.
Write ‘about ten’, but ‘c. 1000’ in a scaled measurement.
Use a decimal point, not a comma.
Units
The Society uses the SI systems of units. This is a flexible system; in most cases international units and abbreviations should be used. The Society, in common with most English language publishers allows exceptions, e.g. cm may be used in descriptive text but should be avoided in diagrams and scales (m and mm are the recommended units). Pascals (Pa) are the recommended units for pressure but there is no objection to the use of bar and kbar (1 kbar = 0.1 GPa). Unusual units should be explained the first time they appear, e.g. 24 Tg (= 24 x 109 kg).The recommended abbreviation for year is a (for annum) and Ma means millions of years with no further meaning implied. ‘y’ and ‘yr’ are not acceptable abbreviations for year.
Units should be abbreviated only when preceded by a figure, e.g, ‘10 mm’ but ‘hundreds of metres’. Abbreviation should be made without stops and with no ‘s’ for plurals.
Use °C (e.g. 540 °C) and K (not °K).
Radius, diameter, day and month should not be abbreviated.
The product of two units should be represented e.g. Pa s (small space) and the quotient e.g. m s-1.
Stratigraphy
Authors should refer to ‘A guide to stratigraphical procedure’ (Geological Society Professional Handbook), paying particular attention to the following sections. Authors are also referred to the ISC Stratigraphic Chart at : http://www.stratigraphy.org/upload/ISChart2009.pdf. Note that the chart using US English spellings, but GSL uses British English (palaeo, etc.)
Lithostratigraphical units
Their establishment, naming and hierarchy. Fossils forming part of a lithostratigraphical unit name have a capital initial letter and are not italicized (e.g. Plenus Marls, Boueti Bed).Biostratigraphy
The organization of strata into biostratigraphical units (biozones) on the basis of fossil content; be especially careful over the nomenclature of biozones and their distinction from chronozones (see below). Fossil names forming part of a biostratigraphical unit name are italicized (e.g. Alsatites liasicus Biozone, or liasicus Biozone).Chronostratigraphy
Correct usage of chronostratigraphical divisions, their hierarchy and corresponding geological time divisions. Only divisions with internationally agreed and ratified boundary stratotypes qualify as formal chronostratigraphical divisions. Units recognized as formally defined are listed periodically by the International Subcommission on Stratigraphy in Episodes. In chronozones, fossil species names have a capital initial letter and are not italicized (e.g. Herveyi Chronozone).Formal and informal names and use of capital initial letters
Capital initial letters are used for expression of time (Early, Mid- or Late) only where reference to formally defined time divisions is made or intended; in all other instances, lower case initial letters should be used. Expression of relative position within a chronostratigraphical unit (i.e. lower, middle, upper) may be formal or informal, depending on context. Formal usage requires capital initial letters. Usage of lower, middle and upper in relation to lithostratigraphical units is generally informal.Acceptable abbreviations are Gp (Group), Fm (Formation), Mbr (Member), Sst (Sandstone), Slst (Siltstone), Mdst (Mudstone), Sh (Shale), Congl (Conglomerate), Lst (Limestone), but these should be spelled out in full on first use. Use of such abbreviations should be kept to a minimum in the text but can be used to full advantage in tables and diagrams.
The use of ungrammatical phrases, such as ‘end Carboniferous’ and ‘top Cretaceous’, should be avoided. It is better to use ‘latest Carboniferous’ and ‘uppermost Cretaceous’.
Palaeontology
The most recent editions of the international codes of Botanical Nomenclature and Zoological Nomenclature should be followed. All type, figured and cited specimens should be accompanied with a museum catalogue number, and their full geological horizon and locality given. If an authority is cited with a date in the text, the full reference should appear in the reference list. To avoid an excessively long list, omit the date in the text. Synonymy lists should be in the same style as those in Palaeontology (e.g. 1996, 39, 1068). Open nomenclature should follow Matthews (1973, Palaeontology, 16, 713-719) and Bengston (1988, Palaeontology, 31, 223-227). Note that a group of half-tone prints is referred to as a Figure (not Plate). Photographs of fossils should be lit from the upper left. All photographic figures should include a scale bar.
Black backgrounds should be avoided as they created problems for printing.
Type and figured material
Type material (in palaeontological terms the holotype or any syntypes) must be deposited in an accessible permanent collection. Under exceptional circumstances other figured specimens (including any palaeontological paratypes) can remain in a private collection as long as (in the case of palaeontological material) an accurate cast of any such paratype remaining in a private collection is deposited in a recognized permanent collection.
Mineralogy
Mineral nomenclature should follow the recommendations of the International Mineralogical Association Commission on New Minerals Nomenclature and Classification, e.g. hematite, barite, analcime, feldspar. Note the discreditation of sphene (now titanite), acmite (now aegirine), titanaugite, barkevikite, basaltic hornblende, chalcolite, idocrase and hypersthene. More information can be found at IMA-CNMNC website: http://pubsites.uws.edu.au/ima-cnmnc/
Standardization of names is absolute but there is less agreement over standardization of abbreviations of mineral names. Kretz, 1983, Symbols for rock-forming minerals, American Mineralogist, 68, 277-279, is recommended.
Igneous rock nomenclature
Follow the IUGS recommendations of Le Maitre (ed.), 2002, Igneous Rocks: A Classification and Glossary of Terms (Cambridge University Press).