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Information for Authors


Preparation and submission of manuscripts

In the first instance, manuscripts should be sent to S. Gibbs, Production editor, Geological Society Publishing House, Unit 7, Brassmill Enterprise Centre, Brassmill Lane, Bath BA1 3JN. Any editorial correspondence should be sent to the Journal Editor (see inside front cover of Journal). Papers are accepted on the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere and authors (except those in Governmental employment) are required to assign copyright to the Micropalaeontological Society. The Journal of Micropalaeontology is set from disc and authors should consult the ‘electronic text preparation’ notes that are available from the Editor, the Production editor or can be found at http://www.tmsoc.org. Referees are appointed to critically assess the papers, and the editor’s judgement is final. Correspondence in multi-authored works will be with the first-named author, unless otherwise arranged. Proofs will be sent directly to the author, who must read and correct them, returning them to the Production editor. Prompt attention to proofs is essential to avoid delay of publication of the issue.

Papers

Papers on all aspects of micropalaeontology are accepted, the principal fields of interest are listed on the cover of the Journal. Articles submitted should not exceed 8000 words in length including references. There are c. 1000 words on a printed page. The Editor should be consulted if a longer article is to be submitted. Micropalaeontology Notebooks are short, rapidly published communications of 1000 words or less, they conform in style to, and are refereed to the same standards as papers, but exclude abstracts.

Three copies of the script and three sets of the figures should be submitted to the Production editor, who will acknowledge receipt. Manuscripts which deviate excessively from the Journal style and format will be returned to authors for amendment. The typescript should be accurate and in its final form because corrections at proof stage are costly. The Editor reserves the right to charge authors the full cost of corrections resulting from afterthoughts and additions at proof stage.

Terminology

It may be helpful for intending authors to consult the Royal Society booklet, General Notes on the Preparation of Scientific Papers (revised edn 1974). Authors are also advised that measurements should be given in SI units, using the conventions recommended in the Royal Society booklet, Quantities, Units and Symbols (1975). Standard palaeontological and stratigraphical conventions should be followed in the text: authors are advised to consult Rawson et al. (2002) A Guide to Stratigraphical Procedure (Professional Handbook, Geological Society, London) and recent copies of the Journal. Any British Isles localities referred to in the text should be located precisely by their Grid Reference or, for other localities, by latitude and longitude on an index map.

  • Title page: brief, informative title which includes the geographical and stratigraphical limits of the work (when a systematic name is included, include the name of the group, e.g. Loxoconcha (Ostracoda, Crustacea)); short title (50 characters max.); name(s) of authors(s), full postal address(es) where work was carried out, and e-mail addresses where appropriate.
  • Abstract: not more than 200 words. It should summarize facts and conclusions, should not contain any references and must not merely be an introduction to the paper.
  • Keywords: for the benefit of indexing please include five keywords.
  • Text: as concise as possible, subdivided by suitable headings. There are three orders of headings which are not numbered – A-heads are BOLD, UPPER CASE; B-heads are bold, lower case; C-heads as B, but text runs on.
  • Acknowledgements: should be short and concise.
  • Appendices: an ftp site is available for additional data, consult the editor.
  • References: see below.
  • Tables: each on a separate sheet.
  • Figure captions

Taxonomic papers

Systematics layout and style will appear as current issues, in the following order:

SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTIONS
Suborder Globigerinina Delage & Hérouard, 1896
Superfamily Globorotaliacea Cushman, 1927
Family Truncorotaloididae Loeblich & Tappan, 1961
Genus Acarinina Subbotina, 1953

Acarinina soldadoensis (Brönnimann, 1952)
(Pl. 1, figs 3, 9-10; Pl. 2, fig. 16)

Synonymies should appear in the following abbreviated form:

1952 Globigerina soldadoensis Brönnimann: 7, 9, pl. 1, figs 1-9.
1956 Acarinina clara Khalilov: pl. 5, fig. 4; pl. 6, figs 1, 3.
1962 Globorotalia (Acarinina) soldadoensis (Brönnimann); Hillebrandt: 142, pl. 14, figs 5-6.
1971 Acarinina soldadoensis (Brönnimann); Berggren: 76, pl. 5, figs 1-3.

Where relevant, the following order of subheadings should be adopted: Type species. Derivation of name. Diagnosis. Holotype. Paratype. Material. Locality and horizon. Age. Description. Dimensions. Stratigraphic range/occurrence. Remarks.

When associated taxa are discussed in the remarks, please include the author, year and a referenced citation.

References

No reference should be made to unpublished works such as MSc or PhD theses, or company reports. List all references cited. Within the text, the citation should be name and date, e.g. (Smith, 1992), with an ampersand (&) if there are two authors. With references of three or more authors, the citation should appear as first-named author et al. If there is more than one reference listed, these should be ordered chronologically, separated by a semi-colon. In the reference list at the end of the paper, all authors of all references should be listed, and the references should be organized alphabetically and chronologically. References should be given as fully as possible, with no abbreviations of journal titles. Books and edited volumes should include the publisher, town of origin and page numbers (or total number of pages). See recent issues of the Journal for further reference style. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of their references.

Illustrations

Photographs can be submitted as plates or as text-figures. Line drawings are always numbered as text-figures and should be suitable for reduction to either single- (85mm) or double- (178mm) column width, with a minimum cap height of labelling of 2mm (after reduction). The maximum size of text-figures, after reduction, will be 210×178mm. Plates should be sized to fit an area of 210×160mm; photographs that do not conform to, or cannot be reduced to this size, will be numbered as text-figures. If necessary, figures should carry a metric scale at the bottom of the figure, in preference to a reduction factor in the caption. Authors proposing to include coloured figures or plates should consult the Editor; who will advise about the costs.

To be acceptable as a plate, photographs of taxa need to be clear contrast, black-and-white prints of the highest quality (see comments about colour plates). Images may be cut and mounted as rectangles on white board, or individual specimens may be cut around, and mounted neatly on a clean black or glossy white background. Avoid large areas of background. Plates should be submitted on white or black card, or in electronic format with high quality print copies. All photographs should be numbered from top left to bottom right. Plate explanations should be fully informative, giving registration numbers of specimens, locality, magnification, etc.

Three copies of the original photographs and three sets of photocopies of line figures should be sent in with the submission of the typescript. Authors should retain their original line figures until the manuscript is accepted for publication. Artwork is returned to the author after publication, only if requested. Illustrated material should normally be deposited in a museum or other national repository and the catalogue numbers quoted in the paper.

Offprints

50 offprints of each paper are supplied free of charge; no further copies can be purchased. A pdf file of the paper will also be provided along with a copyright form advising of permitted uses.


If you have any queries about submitting your manuscript on disc, please contact:

Sarah Gibbs
Geological Society Publishing House
Unit 7 Brassmill Enterprise Centre
Brassmill Lane
Bath BA1 3JN

Tel: 01225 445046
Fax: 01225 442836
email: sarah.gibbs@geolsoc.org.uk