Journal of Zoology

Published on behalf of the Zoological Society of London

Edited by:
Nigel Bennett (Editor-in-Chief), Tim Halliday, Virginia Hayssen, Andrew Kitchener, Jean-Nicolas Volff, Günther Zupanc Reviews Editor:Steven Le Comber

Print ISSN: 0952-8369
Online ISSN: 1469-7998
Frequency: Monthly
Current Volume: 280 / 2010
ISI Journal Citation Reports® Ranking: 2008: 31/125 Zoology
Impact Factor: 1.669

TopAuthor Guidelines

Instructions for Contributors
Papers should be submitted online at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jzo. Full upload instructions and support are available online from the submission site via the 'Get Help Now' button. Please submit your covering letter or comments to the editor when prompted online.

Aims and scope
The Journal of Zoology is published monthly and includes original research papers and reviews within the whole field of zoology. Articles should be written in a style that can be understood by the general reader. Papers should have a broad interest and proposals for reviews and forum papers intended to promote discussion are particularly welcomed by the Editors. Reports on the systematics of a restricted number of taxa or on topics of specialist interest will not normally be accepted. Please note that Appendices are no longer published in the printed version of the Journal of Zoology. Supplementary material may be published in electronic form. Please click here for our supplementary material guidelines.

Papers that report experimental work must comply with the standards and procedures laid down by British national or equivalent legislation. Attention is drawn to the 'Guidelines for the Use of Animals in Research' published in each January issue of the journal Animal Behaviour. Papers will not be accepted if they are based on work involving cruelty to animals or if the work may have put at risk endangered populations, species or habitats. Where radio collars are used, authors must provide details on the removal of the collar at the end of the research. The Editors may seek advice from the Ethical Committee of the Zoological Society of London on ethical matters.

The Journal of Zoology is a member of and subscribes to the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics. Papers that report experimental work must comply with the standards laid down by British national or equivalent legislation and the research permit number must be stated in the acknowledgments section of your manuscript.

Authors of manuscripts reporting DNA and protein sequences must submit the relevant data to public databases, such as GenBank http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Genbank/, EMBL Nucleotide Sequence Database http://www.ebi.ac.uk/embl/, DDBJ http://www.ddbj.nig.ac.jp/, UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot http://www.ebi.ac.uk/uniprot/ or another equivalent database. An accession number should be supplied at a relevant location in the text.

Conflict of interest
Authors must declare details of any potential conflict of interest. A conflict of interest exists when professional judgement concerning a primary interest (such as animal welfare or the validity of research) may be influenced by secondary interests (personal matters such as financial gain, personal relationships or professional rivalry).

Submission
Submission of a manuscript will be taken to imply that the material is original and that no similar paper is being, or will be, submitted elsewhere, either in whole or substantial part. Serialized studies should not be submitted and titles should not contain part numbers. The Editors reserve the right to accelerate the publication of high-profile papers, commissioned reviews or topical papers. Authors may suggest up to four referees for their paper, however the Editor reserves the right to choose referees other than those suggested.

OnlineOpen
Authors of articles in the Journal of Zoology can now choose to make their articles open access and available free online for all readers through the payment of an author fee. A copy of the OnlineOpen form can be found here.

Exclusive Licence Form
Authors will be required to sign an Exclusive Licence Form (ELF) for all papers accepted for publication. Signature of the ELF is a condition of publication and papers will not be passed to the publisher for production unless a signed form has been received. Please note that signature of the ELF does not affect ownership of copyright in the material. (Government employees need to complete the Author Warranty sections, although a licence does not need to be assigned in such cases). After submission authors will retain the right to publish their paper in various medium/circumstances (please see the form for further details). To assist authors an appropriate form will be supplied by the editorial office. Alternatively, authors may like to download a copy of the form here.

Presentation
Papers should not exceed 5000 words. Typescripts must be typed in double spacing, and pages should be numbered consecutively, including those containing acknowledgements, references, tables and figures. Lines must be numbered, preferably within pages.

Manuscripts for review must consist of no more than two files and should, ideally be a single file with figures embedded in the text (please note that separate high resolution figure files will be required upon acceptance - please see below). Typescripts must be in English (both English and American English are acceptable). The Editors reserve the right to modify accepted manuscripts that do not conform to scientific, technical, stylistic or grammatical standards, and these minor alterations may not be seen by the authors until the proof stage.

Conventions
The Metric system must be used and SI units where appropriate. For further details see Baron, D.N. (1988). Units, symbols and abbreviations. 5th edition. London: Royal Society of Medicine Series.
Whole numbers one to nine should be spelled out and number 10 onwards given in numerals. If a new taxon is described, the institution in which the type material is deposited must be given, together with details of the registration assigned to it. Full binomial names should be given on the first occasion an organism is mentioned (and abbreviated thereafter), except at the beginning of a sentence. Avoid footnotes except to add information below the body of a table. Do not use initial capitals for the common names of animals unless derived from a proper noun.

Typescript
The typescript should follow the conventional form and must include:
(1) Title page giving a concise title (do not include scientific names in the title), followed by a list of authors' names and the institutions where the work was carried out. The name, address and email address of the corresponding author should also be given. A short title for page headings must be provided (maximum eight words).
(2) Abstract of not more than 300 words which should list the main results and conclusions. The abstract should also explain the importance of the paper in a way that is accessible to non-specialists. Authors may submit non-English abstracts for online publication to allow the international research community greater access to published articles. Translated abstracts should be submitted in pdf format as supplementary material. The Editors have no input into the content of supplementary material, therefore accuracy is the sole responsibility of the authors.
(3) Keywords. A maximum of eight keywords may be suggested.
(4) Introduction, which should not provide a review of the area of work but should introduce the reader to the aims and context for the work described.
(5) Materials and Methods should be sufficient to allow the work to be replicated, but should not repeat information described fully elsewhere.
(6) Results should be restricted to a factual account of the findings obtained and the text must not duplicate information given in Tables and Figures.
(7) Discussion. This should point out the significance of the results in relation to the reasons for undertaking the research.

Please note that appendices are no longer published in the printed version of the journal. Supplementary material may be published in electronic form. Please click here for our supplementary material guidelines.

References
Accuracy of references is the responsibility of the author(s). References must be checked against the text to ensure (a) that the spelling of authors' names and the dates given are consistent and (b) that all authors quoted in the text (in date order if more than one) are given in the reference list and vice versa. The full title of the paper must be given together with the first and last pages.

Journal titles should be abbreviated in accordance with the Zoological Record Serial Sources, published annually by BIOSIS.

Book titles should be followed by the place of publication and the publisher. Please give the name of the editor(s) if different from the author cited.

In the text, references must be arranged chronologically with the surname(s) of the author(s) followed by the date. Use a, b, etc. after the year to distinguish papers published by the same author(s) in the same year. Reference should not be made to unpublished data.

(i) Two authors: use both names and the year. Do not use et al.
(ii) Three authors: on first citation use all authors' names and the year.
Thereafter it is usually sufficient to give the name of the first author followed by et al. and the date.
(iii) More than three authors: on first citation and thereafter give the name of the first author followed by et al. and the date.
In the list, references must be arranged first alphabetically under author(s) name(s) and then in chronological order if several papers by the same author(s) are cited.

Examples
Lemelin, P. (1996a). Relationships between hand morphology and feeding strategies in small-bodied prosimians. Am. J. phys. Anthrop ` (Suppl.) 22, 148.
Lemelin, P. (1996b). The evolution of manual prehensility in primates: a comparative study of prosimians and didelphid marsupials. PhD thesis, State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Pianka, E. R. (1978). Evolutionary ecology. 2nd edn. New York: Harper & Row.
Whitear, M. (1992). Solitary chemosensory cells. In Fish chemoreception: 103-125. Hara, T. J. (Ed.). London: Chapman & Hall.

References in Articles
We recommend the use of a tool such as EndNote or Reference Manager for reference management and formatting.
EndNote reference styles can be searched for here:http://www.endnote.com/support/enstyles.asp

Reference Manager reference styles can be searched for here:http://www.refman.com/support/rmstyles.asp

Figures
Illustrations may be line drawings or photographs and should be numbered consecutively in the text as Fig. 1, Fig. 2 etc. Component parts of figures should be labelled (a), (b), (c) etc. Captions for figures, which should be self-explanatory, must be typed, double spaced, on a separate page and must not contain details of results.

Our preferred electronic file type is vector-format encapsulated post script (EPS) because these images are scaleable and therefore do not lose quality in the online PDF. All line drawings or photographs with added labelling should be supplied in EPS format. Half tones without any labelling should be supplied in TIFF format at 300 dots per inch minimum. If line drawings cannot be supplied as EPS files then they must be in TIFF format with a minimum resolution of 800 dpi. These resolutions also apply to any images embedded into an EPS file. Please click here for our artwork guidelines. Please also see the illustration submission section in the 'author resources' section of the author services site. This page has some useful documents that explain why we use vector format images and TIFF files rather than JPEG or other formats.

Line drawings should not be larger than twice the final size and in no circumstances should exceed 168 x 220 mm. The axes of graphs should be carefully chosen so as to occupy the space available to the best advantage. When reduced, the drawing should fit into either one (80 mm) or two (168 mm) columns, preferably the former. Lines should be bold enough to stand reduction to about 0.25-0.35 mm. Line drawings should be as simple as possible and many computer-generated figures, such as 3-dimensional graphs, fine lines, gradations of stippling and unusual symbols, cannot be reproduced satisfactorily when reduced. Unsatisfactory line drawings will have to be redrawn at the author's expense. Preferred symbols are open and filled circles, boxes and triangles, and these should be used consistently. Lettering should be kept to a minimum and should be self-explanatory and unambiguous and of sufficiently high quality and size to be clearly visible after reduction to final size. Lettering of all figures within the manuscript should be of uniform style in a sans serif typeface (Helvetica) and capitals should be used for the initial letter of the first word only. Bold lettering should not be used.

Photographs should be the same size as they will appear in the journal and should be selected to fit neatly into one column (80 mm) or two columns (168 mm). Photographs should be labelled and numbered as for line drawings. For microscopical preparations, scale bars with appropriate units must be provided; statements of magnification are not acceptable.

Colour figures may be accepted provided that they are of a very high quality. The cost of reproduction must be met by the author(s) and a binding agreement to meet the costs will be required before the manuscript can be accepted for publication. For colour figures, the instructions for the preparation of photographs should be followed. Original illustrations should not be sent until the paper has been accepted and will only be returned on request. Any article received by Wiley-Blackwell with colour work will not be published until the colour work agreement form has been returned.

Tables
These must fit the page size (220 x 168 mm) without undue reduction. Oversize tables will not be accepted. Tables are referred to as Table 1, Table 2, etc., and any sub-sections as (a), (b), etc. Footnotes in tables should be indicated by superscript a, b, etc.

Decisions and invitations to revise
All submissions are subject to peer review and authors can expect a decision, or an explanation for the delay, within 3 months of receipt. If a revision is requested, the corresponding author should submit the revised manuscript within 2 months unless there are special reasons for a delay, agreed in advance with the Editor. Papers not received within 2 months may be treated as new submissions and sent for further evaluation by new referees.

Pre-submission English-language editing
Authors for whom English is a second language may choose to have their manuscript professionally edited before submission to improve the English. A list of independent suppliers of editing services can be found at www.blackwellpublishing.com/bauthor/english_language.asp. All services are paid for and arranged by the author, and use of one of these services does not guarantee acceptance or preference for publication.

Accepted manuscripts
Following acceptance of a manuscript, authors will be asked to send their final version as a Word file. Figures should be saved in an EPS format and photographs saved as TIFF files. Authors will be asked to complete an Exclusive Licence Form.

NEW: Online production tracking via Wiley-Blackwell's Author Services
Author Services enables authors to track their article - once it has been accepted - through the production process to publication online and in print. Authors can check the status of their articles online and choose to receive automated e-mails at key stages of production. The author will receive an e-mail with a unique link that enables them to register and have their article automatically added to the system. Please ensure that a complete e-mail address is provided when submitting the manuscript. Visit http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/ for more details on online production tracking and for a wealth of resources including FAQs and tips on article preparation, submission and more.

Proofs
The corresponding author will receive an email alert containing a link to a web site from where a PDF file of the proof can be downloaded. The corresponding author must provide a reliable email address and inform the Production Editor of any extended period when the email address is not effective. Instructions for returning the proofs will be sent with the proof. Excessive alterations to the text, other than printer's errors, may be charged to the author. The Editors reserve the right to correct the proof themselves, using the accepted version of the typescript, if the author's corrections are overdue and the journal would otherwise be delayed. The Journal of Zoology has had a change in journal style, Latin species names are no longer given in the article title but are instead inserted in the abstract, please keep this in mind when choosing the titles for submitted articles.

Early View publication
The Journal of Zoology is covered by Wiley-Blackwell's Early View service. Early View articles are complete full-text papers published online in advance of the print issue. To register to receive an email alert when your Early View article is published please click here. Articles published online are complete and in their final form: the author's final corrections have been incorporated and changes cannot be made after online publication. Early View articles do not have volume, issue or page numbers, and therefore cannot be cited in the traditional way. They are therefore given a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), which allows the article to be cited and tracked before it is assigned to an issue. After print publication the DOI remains valid and can continue to be used to cite and access the article.

Author material archive policy
Please note that unless specifically requested, Blackwell Publishing will dispose of all hardcopy or electronic material submitted 2 months after publication. If you require the return of material submitted please inform the Production Editor when your paper is accepted for publication.

Offprints
On publication, an electronic offprint (a PDF file) is sent to the first author at the e-mail address given on the title page of the paper unless advised otherwise; therefore please ensure that the name, address and e-mail of the receiving author are clearly indicated on the manuscript title page if he or she is not the first author of the paper. A copy of the Publisher's Terms and Conditions for the use of the PDF file will accompany the electronic offprint and the file can only be distributed in accordance with these requirements. Additional paper offprints may be ordered when proofs are sent out, provided that the order is placed promptly (i.e. at the time of proof correction).