ISSN 1676-0603 online version in portuguese
ISSN 1676-0611online version in spanish
ISSN 0102-8650 online version in english

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

• Scope and editorial policy
• Preparation of manuscripts
• Sending the manuscripts

Manuscripts may be submitted in the following categories:

• Articles
• Inventories
• Short Communications
• Thematic Revisions
• Taxonomic Revisions
• Identification Keys

Thesis and dissertations (Masters, Doctoral) Abstracts will be accepted for the online version only.

BIOTA NEOTROPICA accepts articles in English, Portuguese or Spanish, but all papers, in all categories, must have a title, an abstract, and keywords in English and in Portuguese or Spanish. For more details please consult the item instructions for authors.

The institution responsible for the electronic publication of BIOTA NEOTROPICA is the Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental, CRIA, (Reference Center for Environmental Information), located in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. BIOTA NEOTROPICA is an "online only" journal that uses the World Wide Web as platform. However, to fulfil the rules established by the International Codes of Nomenclature, 20 copies of BIOTA NEOTROPICA are printed and distributed to reference libraries.

Exceptionally, in 2001 only one number of BIOTA NEOTROPICA was published, therefore all papers accepted by the "ad hoc" referees and by the Editorial Board by December 31 of 2001 are found in volume 1, number 1/2. From 2002 to 2005 two numbers per year were published, but with the steep increase in number and good quality of submitted manuscripts, from 2006 onwards three issues per year will be published. Therefore, all papers accepted by the "ad hoc" referees and by the Editorial Board by March 31 will be included in number 1 of the current year; all papers accepted by the "ad hoc" referees and by the Editorial Board by July 31 will be included in number 2 and papers accepted by November 30 will be part of number 3 of the year.

With the exception of the Abstracts of Theses, which are published exactly as they appeared in the theses, all papers submitted for publication in BIOTA NEOTROPICA will be assessed at least two "ad hoc" referees. BIOTA NEOTROPICA uses the double-blind peer review process, i.e. the referees do not know the author(s) of the paper he/she is reviewing and the author(s) will not have access to the identity of the referees. Once articles are accepted, they will be published in the issue in progress.

During the initial six years, while the electronic tools of Biota Neotropica were being developed and tested, the financial support of FAPESP and CNPq covered also PDF production costs, as well as the costs of printing and sending to the reference libraries the 20 copies of the printed version. Now that the development phase its over, and Biota Neotropica became a reference for the large area of research encompassed by the theme characterization, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the Neotropical region, it is necessary to develop means to keep an continuously improve our publication.

Therefore the Editorial Board decided to establish a charge of US$ 15,00 (R$ 25,00) per published page, for all papers submitted for publication from 1º of March of 2007 onwards. This page charge will cover the costs of producing a high quality PDF, as well as printing and posting to the reference libraries the printed version of Biota Neotropica. Maintenance of the electronic version - including de development of new electronic tools - will still be covered by agencies like FAPESP and CNPq.

The page charge above mentioned should be paid directly to the company that makes our PDF. Payment details will be communicated to authors in the final stages of the editorial process of the accepted papers. Aiming to fulfill the requirements of the International Codes of Nomenclature we are producing, and depositing in reference libraries, 20 printed copies of BIOTA NEOTROPICA. Authors submitting papers with the description of new species, with new names or combinations thereof, should make sure that this procedure does fulfill the specific requirements of the taxonomic group he/she is working with. The Editorial Board has no responsibility in this verification.

This publication is sponsored by The State of São Paulo Research Foundation/FAPESP (Grant 07/50856-8).

Papers to be considered for publication in BIOTA NEOTROPICA should be submitted only through the manuscript submission site http://biota.submitcentral.com.br/login.php?lingua=en

All material sent in accordance to the instructions will be revised by at least two "ad hoc" referees selected by the Editorial Board. The comments made by the referees will be sent, without identification, to the author(s). The final acceptance of the article will depend on the decision of the Editorial Board.

Since March 1st 2007 the Editorial Board of Biota Neotropica established a charge per printed page. From 1st of July 2008 onwards this charge will be of US$ 20,00 (twenty American dollars). This is the cost per page of PDF production, as well as of printing and posting to the reference libraries the 20 paper copies of Biota Neotropica. Costs of the electronic version, as well as of the electronic tools developed for Biota Neotropica, will still be covered by grants from FAPESP and CNPq.

When submitting the file: a) please indicate the category (article, short communication, etc.) the paper should be considered; b) send a list of four possible referees for the paper submitted, with their addresses and Emails; c) send a written statement, that can be in the submission Email, saying that you agree in paying the page charge if your paper is accepted for publication.

Whenever a species is first cited in a paper submitted to Biota Neotropica it must be in accordance with its Nomenclatural Code. In the area of Zoology all species cited work must be necessarily followed by its author and date of the original publication of its description. Plant names must be followed by author and/or last reviewer. In the area of Microbiology it is necessary to consult specific sources such as the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.

The paper will only receive a definite acceptance date after the approval of the Editorial Board as to its scientific merit and conformity to the rules established. The rules specified herewith are valid for all categories unless specified otherwise.

All material should be sent in DOC (MS-Word for Windows version 6.0 or superior)format. Articles may have electronic links as appropriate. All material will be reformatted in accordance to pre established standards approved by the Editorial Board for each category. Images and tables will be inserted within the final text following pre established standards. When appropriate, internal links to tables and images will be included. A PDF file with the final format will be sent to each author for prior approval before publication. All images may be used to compose the site with the prior consent of the author and due recognition of the authorship.

Editorial

For each volume of BIOTA NEOTROPICA the Editor in Chief will invite an expert to write an editorial focusing on topics that are interesting not only for the scientific community but also for the improvement of public policies on biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. The editorial, with a maximum of 3000 words, must be written in English, Portuguese and Spanish and the author is responsible for ideas and opinions expressed.

Points of View

This section aims to be a forum for discussions of relevant academic positions on issues related to Neotropical biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. For each number of BIOTA NEOTROPICA the Editorial Board will invite an expert to write a short and provocative article. The Editorial Board may publish replies whenever papers supporting an academic distinct point of view are submitted.

Manuscript submitted to the reminding sections of BIOTA NEOTROPICA should be divided in two files: a Rich Text Format or MS-Word file with the main part of the manuscript (including title, abstract, keywords - in Portuguese or Spanish and English - introduction, material and methods, results, discussion, acknowledgements and bibliographic references) as well as tables and figure legends; a second file, with no more than 2 Mbytes, only with figures, that in the initial submission should be in low resolution (e.g 72 dpi for a 9 x 6 cm figure)..

Before sending the files through the submission site please check them all to verify if all figures (photos, graphics, maps, drawings) and text files are in the correct format, regarding the standards used by BIOTA NEOTROPICA. All texts must use font Times New Roman, size 10. Titles and subtitles may use size 11 or 12. Features such as bold, italic, underline, subscript and superscript may be used when necessary. It is recommended to avoid excessive use of these resources. When absolutely necessary, the following fonts may be used: Courier New, Symbol e Wingdings (see item "formulas" below). Words should not be separated using "-", only when hyphenated. Use only one space between words and don't use "tabs".

Once the manuscript is accepted for publication authors will receive instructions how to submit the final version of the paper. At this stage all figures must be sent with the best resolution possible, to ensure good quality of the on line material.

Main Document

The main part of the document, including title, abstract, and keywords in Portuguese or Spanish and English, bibliographic references tables and figure legends should be in a single file named Principal.rtf or Principal.doc Figures should not be included in this file. The manuscript must be in the following format:

Title: concise and informative

titles must be in English and in Portuguese or Spanish, using capital letters only in the first word and in those for which there are specific orthographic or scientific rules

Running title

Author(s)

Complete name of author(s); institution(s) and full address, whenever possible with electronic links to the institution. Please designate the corresponding author and respective email.

Abstract

Abstracts shall have a maximum of 350 words.

Title in English and in Portuguese or Spanish

Abstract in English

Keywords in English

Title in Portuguese or Spanish

Abstract in Portuguese or Spanish

Keywords in Portuguese or Spanish

Keywords should be separated by coma and should not repeat words already used in the title. Capital letters should be used only in words for which there are specific orthographic or scientific rules

Main body of the manuscript

1. Sections

If the text is an article, short communication, inventory or identification key, it must have the following structure:

Introduction

Materials and Methods

Results

Discussion

Acknowledgments

References

Results and Discussion may be merged into a single section. Do not use footnotes, include the information directly on the text as this makes reading easier and reduces the number of electronic links of the manuscript.

2. Special cases

In the case of Inventories a list of species, environments, descriptions, pictures, etc. must be sent separately so they can be organized in accordance with specific formatting. In the case of Identification Keys, the key must be sent separately so that it can be adequately formatted. In the case of referencing collected material it is mandatory to include the geographic coordinate in degrees, minutes, and seconds (Ex. 24°32'75" S e 53°06'31" W). In the case of endangered species only degrees and minutes should be mentioned.

3. Subtitles

The titles of each section should not be numbered; initial letters should be capital and should be in bold (Ex. Introduction, Material and Methods etc. ). Only 2 subtitle levels are accepted after the title of each section. Only one numbering level is permitted as well as only one level of items. Titles and subtitles must be numbered using Arabic numbers followed by a dot (".") in order to help in identifying the hierarchy when formatting the document. (Example: 1. subtitle; 1.1. sub subtitle)

4. - Bibliographic references

Include bibliographic citations in accordance to the following standard:

Silva (1960) or (Silva 1960);

Silva (1960, 1973);

Silva (1960a, b);

Silva & Pereira (1979) or (Silva & Pereira 1979);

Silva et al. (1990) or (Silva et al. 1990);

(Silva 1989, Pereira & Carvalho 1993, Araujo et al. 1996, Lima 1997).

Unpublished data shall be cited as (A.E. Silva, unpublished data).

In the case of taxonomic material, for citation, follow specific rules of the type of organism studied.

5. Numbers and units

When referring to numbers or units, write numbers up to nine, unless when followed by a unit of measure. For decimal numbers use commas "," when the article is in Portuguese (10,5 m) and point "." when the article is in English (10.5 m). Use the International System Units (SI), separating the units from the value with a space (except in the case of percentages, degrees, minutes and seconds); use abbreviations always when possible. For compost units use exponentials and not bars (Ex.: mg.day-1 instead of mg/day, µmol.min-1 instead of µmol/min). Do not add spaces to change the line if a unit does not fit in the line.

6. Formulas

Formulas that can be written in a single line, even when it is necessary to use special types of letter (Symbol, Courier New e Wingdings), should be included in the text (Ex. a = p.r2 or Na2HPO, etc.). Formulas of any other kind, or equations, should be considered as a figure and follow their standards.

7. Figures and tables references

Figures and Tables should me mentioned as Figure 1, Table 1, etc.

8. References

Adopt the following format:

SMITH, P.M. 1976. The chemotaxonomy of plants. Edward Arnold, London.

SNEDECOR, G.W. & COCHRAN, W.G. 1980. Statistical Methods. 7 ed. Iowa State University Press, Ames.

SUNDERLAND, N. 1973. Pollen and anther culture. In Plant tissue and cell culture (H.F. Street, ed.). Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, p.205-239.

BENTHAM, G. 1862. Leguminosae. Dalbergiae. In Flora Brasiliensis (C.F.P. Martius & A.G. Eichler, eds.). F. Fleischer, Lipsiae, v.15, pars 1, p.1-349.

MANTOVANI, W., ROSSI, L., ROMANIUC NETO, S., ASSAD-LUDEWIGS, I.Y., WANDERLEY, M.G.L., MELO, M.M.R.F. & TOLEDO, C.B. 1989. Estudo fitossociológico de áreas de mata ciliar em Mogi-Guaçu, SP, Brasil. In Simpósio sobre mata ciliar (L.M. Barbosa, coord.). Fundação Cargil, Campinas, p.235-267.

FERGUSON, I.B. & BOLLARD, E.G. 1976. The movement of calcium in woody stems. Ann. Bot. 40:1057-1065.

STRUFFALDI-DE VUONO, Y. 1985. Fitossociologia do estrato arbóreo da floresta da Reserva Biológica do Instituto de Botânica de São Paulo, SP. PhD Thesis, University of São Paulo, São Paulo.

FISHBASE. http://www.fishbase.org/home.htm (último acesso em dd/mmm/aaaa)

Periodical titles must be abbreviated in accordance to the "World List of Scientific Periodicals" (http://library.caltech.edu/reference/abbreviations/) or the National Catalog/CCN-IBICT (http://ccn.ibict.br/busca.jsf).

How to cite papers published in BIOTA NEOTROPICA

ROQUE, F.O.; CORREIA, L.C.S.; TRIVINHO-STRIXINO, S. & STRIXINO, G. 2004. A review of Chironomidae studies in lentic systems in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Biota Neotrop. 4(2): http://www.biotaneotropica.org.br/v4n2/pt/abstract?article+BN0310402200 (last access in day/month/year)

Each paper published in BIOTA NEOTROPICA has an individual electronic address that appears just below the name(s) of the author(s) in the PDF version of the paper. This individual code is composed by the number received by the manuscript when submitted (031 in the above example), the volume number (04), the fascicle number (02) and the year (2004).

9. Tables

Table titles of papers in Portuguese or Spanish must be bilingual - Portuguese/Spanish and English - so that foreigner readers can understand the data presented.

10. Figures

Figures, when a manuscript is first submitted, should be of low resolution, to allow an easy transmission and download of attached files by ad hoc referees that not always have a high speed internet connection available. All figures should be in one "Zipfile" with no more than 2 Mbytes. The size of the image must, when possible, have a proportion of 3x2 or 2x3 between height and width.

Texts inserted within the figures must use sans-seriff fonts such as Arial or Helvética for a better readability. Figures that in reality are a composition of various others must be sent, each part, as a separate file indicated by letters (Ex: Figure1a.gif, Figure 2a.gif, etc.) Use bar scales to indicate the size. Figures should not have legends; these must be specified in a separate file (see below). Authors are encouraged to open all figure files before submission, and check whether all (photos, graphics, maps, drawings, etc.) are in the correct format.

Once the manuscript is accepted for publication all figures must be sent with the best resolution possible, directly to Cubomultimidia, the company responsible for the production of our PDFs.

11. Legends

Figure legends should be part of the Principal.rtf or Principal.doc file. Each legend must be contained in a paragraph and must be clearly identified in the beginning of the paragraph as Figure N, where N is the number of the figure. Composite figures may or not have independent legends. If a table has a legend, this must be included in this file, in a separate paragraph that begins with Table N, where N is the number of the table. Figure legends of papers in Portuguese or Spanish must be bilingual - Portuguese/Spanish and English - so that foreigner readers can understand the data presented.

Papers to be considered for publication in BIOTA NEOTROPICA should be submitted only through the manuscript submission site http://biota.submitcentral.com.br/login.php?lingua=en

All material sent in accordance to the instructions will be revised by at least two "ad hoc" referees selected by the Editorial Board. The comments made by the referees will be sent, without identification, to the author(s). The final acceptance of the article will depend on the decision of the Editorial Board