Folia Zoologica - instructions

Instructions to Authors

Aims and Scopes

Folia Zoologica publishes articles containing original insight into various aspects of vertebrate zoology that are not published and not under consideration for publication elsewhere. The journal welcomes significant papers presenting new and original data of more than regional significance. The journal is published quarterly and one volume usually consists of four issues. There is no page charge except of colour pages and other extras.

Certain papers are rejected because they do not fit within the aims and scopes characterised above. Some examples include:

(1)    Investigations using vertebrates merely as models or emphasizing experimental or veterinary aspects which are not of substantial relevance to zoologists;

(2)    Studies using domestic or laboratory animals as models;

(3)    Papers in which the primary focus is, for example, paleontology, parasitology, physiology, histology or anatomy, but where the links to, and implications for, vertebrate zoology are not clear and have not been strongly developed;

(4)    Local or regional faunistic studies aimed at development of conservation strategies.

Submission of manuscripts

All manuscripts must conform to the present "Instructions" presented herein (a shortened version is printed at the back of each issue) and must be prepared in grammatically correct British English. Authors should also consult the most recent published papers for current format and style. All manuscripts should be submitted online at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/folia_zool. Full upload instructions and support are available online from the submission site. Please submit your covering letter or comments to the editor when prompted online. Authors are required to suggest a minimum of three competent reviewers. This information may facilitate peer-review process.

Format

General: Manuscript can be published as original research papers or reviews. Full original papers or reviews must not exceed 30 manuscript pages including the list of references, figures, and tables. Review papers are invited or consulted with editors before submitting. All the manuscripts should be divided into: Abstract, Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Literature. In addition to the text, original investigations should include illustrations and tables.
Headings should be on separate line. The hierarchy of the sub-headings should not exceed three, and they should be used only when a sub-section contains at least two full paragraphs. Otherwise, the first sentence of the paragraph should be constructed to include mention of the main topic of that paragraph. In the text, one-digit numbers should be spelt out except as part of date, a fraction of decimal, a percent or a unit of measurements. Use Arabic numerals for numbers larger than nine, except as the first word in a sentence; however, avoid starting sentences with numbers. Text should not be written in first person, the passive voice should be used. Pager footnotes are not allowed.
Full references of citations in the text must appear in the "Literature" section, and vice versa. Standard nomenclature should be used for organisms for which normal rules have been established and published. Avoid using scientific names for domesticated animals. Vernacular names of organisms, if not derived from geographic or personal names, are written with small initials. At first mention in the text, provide the vernacular name, the full scientific name (genus and species) and the authority of studied organisms; thereafter, use either the scientific or the vernacular name consistently.
The metric system must be used, and SI units where appropriate. For statistics, use the symbols and abbreviations as recommended in Appendix I, without definition. Unfamiliar or new terms, as well as abbreviations, acronyms, and symbols, should be defined at first mention.

The organisation of a manuscript intended as research paper is usually arranged as follows:

Title: Provide a concise but informative synthesis of the study. Where appropriate, include mention of the family or higher taxon (e.g. Rhinolophidae, Chiroptera). Authors of scientific taxa should be omitted. If both the vernacular and scientific names are used in the title, then the latter may be separated by comma (but not placed in parentheses). Papers in numbered series will not be accepted.

Author(s): Give full first name(s), middle initials and surname(s) in capital letters. The names of two authors are connected by “and”; the names of three or more authors are separated by commas, with the last two separated by “and”. Transliteration of the names of authors from the Cyrillic alphabet should by made according to the British National System of Transliteration, e.g. Sergei Yu. Ushakovich. When a paper has joint authorship, one of the authors is appointed to accept responsibility for all correspondence.

Address(es): The name and address of institution (preferably in English) where study was carried out should be given for each of authors and as complete as possible, including e-mail addresses. Superscript Arabic numerals are used to link the authors’ names with their affiliations. Each affiliation should be on separate line.

Abstract: Provide one paragraph only, of up to 200 words, in which the main results and conclusions are described briefly, with no description of methods, discussion or abbreviations. References should not be included unless they are absolutely essential. Mention of the studied organism(s) must comply with instructions given above.

Key words: Provide 3-6 words, or compound words, suitable for an information-retrieval system, but do not repeat words already contained in the title.

Introduction: Provide a concise description of the background, rationale, aims and specific objectives of the research presented in the paper. First mention of the studied organism(s) must comply with instructions given above.

(Study Area): A description of the study area may be included as a separate section if the description requires more than one full paragraph of text.

Material and Methods: Provide a brief but thorough explanation of the field and laboratory methods used. For laboratory-based studies, information on organisms studied should be given first, followed by the methods and techniques used. Sufficient detail of the procedures and experimental protocol used must be provided to enable other researchers to repeat the work. However, do not give excessive detail of the procedures and leave out the type and make of instruments or chemicals used unless they are not widely available. A brief description should also be given on the statistical analysis of the data, with mention of the statistical tests used to assess data associated with each of the stated objectives.

Results: The Results section should be concise and contain only enough explanation and interpretation to allow reader to understand what information the observations and experiments provided. The results of statistical tests should be presented in parentheses in support of descriptions in the sentence of the patterns observed (name of test, number of observations or degree of freedom, and probability level). When reporting basic population statistics, provide the standard error associated with mean (not average) values unless all samples in the comparison are of equal sample size. When providing the minimum and maximum values observed, avoid using the term ‘range’, which has a well-defined statistical meaning. Explanations of why and how the results were obtained or analyzed should be given in the Introduction and Methods sections, respectively, and should not be repeated in the Results section. Nor should the results be discussed in the Results section. All tables and figures must be referred to in the text (e.g. Table 1, Fig. 2), and sentences such as ‘Figure 1 illustrates…’ should be avoided. The approximate position of each figure and table should be indicated in pencil in the margins of the manuscript and repeated on proofs.

Discussion: Provide an interpretation of the results obtained in light of past and current research relevant to the study, and ensure that the outcome of each stated objective is provided and interpreted within the context of published knowledge. No new results may be presented in the Discussion, though in some instances the Results and Discussion sections may be combined together as‘Results and Discussion’ section.

Acknowledgements: Give a very concise but full acknowledgement of institutions or persons (initials and full family name, but without mention of academic or other titles) who provided financial, collaborative or other support to the study, linguistic assistance, including reference to grant project numbers when appropriate.

Literature: Citations in the text should provide the author’s name and the year of publication, but without punctuation, e.g. Black (1990) or (Black 1990), Black & White (1990) or (Black & White 1990), except in the case of multiple citations, when a comma should be used between the citations, e.g. (Black 1990, Black & White 1990). In citations of three or more authors, the first author’s name plus “et al.” is given, e.g. Black et al. (1990) or (Black et al. 1990). For multiple references cite in chronological order, e.g. (Black et. al. 1988, 1991, White et al. 1990, White & Black 1991, Black & White 1992). Where two or more papers abbreviate to the same citation (i.e. two or more papers produced by the same authors in the same year), use “a”, “b”, “c”, etc. in the order of their first appearance, e.g. (Black 1990a, b). Personal communications and unpublished results should be referred to in the body of the text only, e.g. (A. Black, pers. comm.).
The references included in the list of literature should be given in alphabetical order of the senior author’s name, than by the alphabetical order of the junior author’s name, and then chronologically by date. In citations of five or more authors, the names of the three first authors plus “et al.”. Type out the repeated name of an author; do not use long dashes. Journal names should be abbreviated according to the World List of Scientific Periodicals, published by Butterworths, London or according to Biological Abstracts or Current Contents. For abbreviations of some in the FZ most frequently cited journals see Appendix II. If not certain, do not abbreviate. For non-Roman alphabets, the names of authors, journals, and publishers should be given in transliteration (British National System for Transliteration). For titles of such works, the original title, transliterated in Roman script, and the English translation (in brackets) should be cited. Provide your own translation into English if not supplied by the author’s reference. The original language of the work should be mentioned in brackets at the end of citation, e.g. (in Czech with English summary; in Bulgarian with English and German summaries). Avoid listing publications that are in preparation or unpublished (submitted) in the list of references. Manuscripts that are in press may be acceptable for citation if their publication date is expected to occur prior to the proof stage of the manuscript under consideration.

Use the following formats and examples if citing different literary sources

Articles in periodical journals:
Surname A.B. Year: Title. Abbreviated Journal Name and Volume (issue): pagination. Specify the issue number of the journal only if pagination is not consecutive throughout volume. Zejda J. & Koubek P. 1988: On the geographical variability of roebucks (Capreolus capreolus). Folia Zool. 37: 219–229.

Books:
Surname A.B. & Surname C.D. Year: Title. Publisher, Place.
Teerink B.J. 1991: Hair of West-European mammals. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Stearns S.C. 1992: The evolution of life histories. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Articles in books or proceedings:
Surname A.B., Surname C.D. & Surname E.F. Year: Article Title. In: Editors, Book or Proceeding Title, Publisher, Place: Pagination.
Bauerová Z., Gaisler J., Kovařík M. & Zima J. 1989: Variations in numbers of hibernating bats in the Moravian Karst: results of visual censuses in 1983-1987. In: Horáček I. & Vohralík V. (eds.), European bat research 1987. Charles University Press, Praha: 499–505.
For works published by an organisation with no individual author, cite by the publisher or title, whichever is more convenient:
International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, 1985: International code of zoological nomenclature. London 3rd ed.

Tables: Tabular information must not be repeated in figures or in the text, and vice-versa. Each table should be typed double-spaced, without vertical lines, on a separate sheet of paper (A4 page size), with the caption given at the top. Tables must be self-explanatory and as simple as possible. Ensure that all numerical data are given aligned to the decimal point (never decimal comma), even if a decimal point is not used (i.e. whole numbers). All text information should be aligned range left. No foldouts are accepted. Tables often require the use of abbreviations; these should be defined in the caption or as footnotes indicated by superscripts placed at the bottom of the table. Example: Table 1. The number of specimens, the mean standard length (SL), the standard error (SE) and the range of chub at sites on the River Morava. Every column must be provided by explanatory heading. Explanations given at the bottom of tables should be in the following format: Explanations: n, number of observations; SL, standard length in mm. “Appendices” are acceptable only exceptionally.

Illustrations: Figures must be submitted in digital format: half-tones and photographs as TIFF or JPG formats at resolution yielding 300 dpi. All internal structures, letters, graphic symbols must be fully legible (at least 1.5 mm high) after size reduction. Indicate ’top‘ where this is not obvious. Captions to figures should be typed as a separate section of the manuscript. Each caption to a figure should start with the number of the figure, e.g. Fig. 2. All tables and illustrations must be referred to in the text.

Procedure for submitted manuscripts

Evaluation: Manuscripts will be refused without review if they address inappropriate topics or have not been prepared in the appropriate style, format, linguistic or scientific level associated with the journal. All other manuscripts are reviewed by at least two external referees. The author(s) should consider all recommendations or corrections suggested by the referees and the respective subject and associate Editors. After revision of the manuscript and receipt of the final version, the Editor usually informs authors of the decision on acceptance within one month.

Proofs: One galley proof will be sent to the first (or corresponding) author. Extensive alterations are not allowed and will be charged to the author. Corrected proofs must be returned within two days of receipt. If the proof has not been received in time by the Editors, then publication may be postponed or the article may be published without author’s revision.

Offprints: Following publication, the first (or corresponding) author will be provided with an electronic pdf copy of the published paper. Paper reprints may be purchased using the order form sent out along with the proofs. Please, contact the Editorial Office for further information.

Ethics

Papers based on research that does not appear to have paid proper regard for conservation and animal welfare considerations may be refused, especially work associated with the killing of or damage to animals regarded as threatened or listed in Red Data Books appropriate to the geographic area concerned. Adverse consequences of the work for ecosystems, populations or individual organisms must be weighed against the possible gains in knowledge and its practical applications. In cases of doubt, authors may be required to sign a declaration that their work conforms to the legal requirements of the country in which it was carried out. In all cases, the final decision will rest with the editors.

Copyright

Authors must agree, after acceptance of a manuscript, with the transfer of copyright to the publisher, including the right to reproduce the article in all forms and media.

Correspondence

Correspondence, proofs, reviews etc. concerning editorial matters should be addressed to the Editorial Office of Folia Zoologica, Institute of Vertebrate Biology ASCR, v.v.i., Květná 8, 603 65 Brno, Czech Republic (e-mail: editorfz@brno.cas.cz).

Appendix I – Symbols and Abbreviation

Descriptive statistics
n	sample size
x̄	sample estimate of mean of the scores
SD	standard deviation of a set of sample values
SE	standard error of mean estimate
min-max	minimum and maximum of a set of sample values
Var	variance of a set of sample values
CV	coefficient of variance
∑	summation
f	frequency with which a value occurs
	sample proportion
	sample proportion equal to 1- p
P	statistical probability of an event or the population proportion
p	binomial probability
q	probability or proportion equal to 1 - p
H'	Shannon-Weiner index of diversity
Test statistics
H0	null hypothesis
HA	alternative hypothesis
a	probability of a type I error or the area of the critical region
b	probability of a type II error
df	degrees of freedom
NS	non significant
z	normal distribution
t	Student distribution
F	F distribution
c2	chi-square distribution
Z	Mann-Whitney U-test
Z	Wilcoxon signed-rank test
Correlation, regression and analysis of variance
r (R)	simple (multiple) linear correlation coefficient (Pearson’s)
r2 (R2)	simple (multiple) coefficient of determination
rs	Spearman’s rank correlation
cov	covariance
b	slope of the straight line with equation y = bx + a
a	y intercept of the straight line with equation y = bx + a
SS	sum of squares
MS	mean square