ISSN 0100-8404 printed version
ISSN 1806-9959 online version

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

• Scope
• Preparation of manuscripts
• Instructions to Authors

The complete manuscript (including figures and tables) must be sent to the Editor-in-chief at the address of the manuscript sending system online (http://submission.scielo.br/index.php/rbb/index). Paper acceptance depends on the Editorial Board's decision. The manuscripts should contain only information considered essential for its understanding. Articles with more than 15 printed pages (approximately 30 typed pages, including figures and tables) may be published at the Editorial Board's discretion, and charged for the extra pages. The costs of color photographs, if approved by the Editorial Board, will be also charged to the author(s). Scientific notes should represent original contributions of scientific research. Instructions for organising scientific notes are the same described for complete articles. They should not exceed 10 typed pages including up to three figures or tables. Review papers can be invited by the Editor Board.

The Brazilian Journal of Botany (BJBot), a periodical published by the Sociedade Botânica de São Paulo (SBSP), publishes results of original botanical research as complete articles or scientific notes in English.
Manuscripts should be double-spaced and with consecutive page numbering. Use Word for Windows 2000 or later version, font Times New Roman, size 12. Place only one space between words and do not hyphenate them. Do not use tabulation (Tab key) except for the beginning of paragraphs. Do not use bold or underline. Restrict italics only for scientific names, words in Latin or another language (exception names for geographic locations), descriptions or diagnosis of new taxa, for names and numbers of collectors and for genetic or statistical symbols.

Manuscript format

First page - Title: concise and informative (in bold); authors' full names (in capital letters); affiliation, complete address, corresponding author and respective e-mail as footnotes; running title.

Second page - ABSTRACT (include title), Key words (up to 5, in alphabetical order without repeating the title words).

Text -Start a new page according to the following sequence: Introduction, Material and methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgements and References. Cite each figure and table in the text in numeric order.
Present references according to the following examples: Smith (1960) / (Smith 1960); Smith (1960, 1973); Smith (1960a, b); Smith & Gomez (1979) / (Smith & Gomez 1979); Smith et al. (1990) / (Smith et al. 1990); (Smith 1989, Liu & Barros 1993, Araujo et al. 1996, Sanches 1997).

Present references according to the following examples: Smith (1960) / (Smith 1960); Smith (1960, 1973); Smith (1960a, b); Smith & Gomez (1979) / (Smith & Gomez 1979); Smith et al. (1990) / (Smith et al. 1990); (Smith 1989, Liu & Barros 1993, Araujo et al. 1996, Sanches 1997).

In taxonomic papers, cite botanic material in detail in the following sequence: place and date of collection, collector's name and number, and herbarium abbreviation, according to the samples below: BRAZIL. MATO GROSSO: Xavantina, s.d., H.S. Irwin s.n. (HB3689). SÃO PAULO: Amparo, 23-XII-1942, J.R. Kuhlmann & E.R. Menezes 290 (SP); Matão, ao longo da BR 156, 8-VI-1961, G. Eiten et al. 2215 (SP, US).

All other papers should cite vouchers.

Authors of scientific names of vascular plants should be abreviated according to Brummit & Powell (1992). A single blank space must always follow after a period (full stop), e.g. Brassica nigra (L.) W. D. J. Koch. Species author(s) name(s) should be placed in the Abstract, first mention in text and in the title when essential. Abreviations of original works on taxonomy must follow BPH.

References to unpublished results or submitted papers should appear as follows: (S.E. Sanchez, unpublished data).

Provide numbers and units as follows: - Numbers up to nine should be written in full, except if they are followed by units or indicate tables or figures.

- Separate units from values by placing a space (except for percentages, or degrees, minutes and seconds); use abbreviations whenever possible.
- For composed units, use exponentiation, not bars (Example: mg day-1 instead of mg/day, ?mol min-1 instead of ?mol/min).
Do not insert spaces to move to the next line in case the unit does not fit in the same line. Do not insert figures in the text file.

References - Indicate, next to the reference, the page(s) where it was mentioned in all versions sent.

Adopt the format used in the examples as follows:
ZAR, J.H. 1999. Biostatistical analysis. 4th ed., Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River.
YEN, A.C. & OLMSTEAD, R.G. 2000. Phylogenetic analysis of Carex (Cyperaceae): generic and subgeneric relationships based on chloroplast DNA. In Monocots: Systematics and evolution (K.L. Wilson & D.A. Morrison, eds.). CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, p.602-609.
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.
DÖBEREINER, J. 1998. Role of nitrogen fixation in leguminous plants do not and its importance in Brazilian ecosystem. In Proceedings of the IV Symposium on Brazilian Ecosystems (S. Watanabe, coord.). Aciesp, São Paulo, v.3, p.1-6.
FARRAR, J.F., POLLOCK, C.J. & GALLAGHER, J.A. 2000. Sucrose and the integration of metabolism in vascular plants. Plant Science 154:1-11.
PUNT, W., BLACKMORE, S., NILSSON, S. & LE THOMAS, A. 1999. Glossary of pollen and spore terminology. http://www.biol.ruu.nl/~palaeo/glossary/glosint.htm (accessed 2003 Apr 10).

Cite dissertations or thesis only in exceptional cases, when the information provided is essential for a good understanding of the paper, and when they have not been published as scientific papers. In this case, use the format below:
SANO, P.T. 1999. Revisão de Actinocephalus (Koern.) Sano - Eriocaulaceae. Tese de doutorado, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo.

Tables
Use Word for Windows' design resources and table formatting. Avoid abbreviations (except for units).
Tables should be placed in separate pages, their titles inserted in the upper part, according to the example:
Table 1. Total flavonoids and total phenol production (% of dry mass) in leaves of Pyrostegia venusta.
Do not insert vertical lines; use horizontal lines only to stress the header and close the table.

Figures
Submit a set or high-resolution original figures. The space available for plates (photographs or drawings, charts, maps, diagrams) is 23.0 × 17.5 cm the most, including if possible the space required for the legend. Any figure exceeding the size established will be refused. Digital images must have a minimum of 600 dpi, this resolution must be obtained from the original scan or software used. Send the original file (in CorelDraw, Photoshop) and also a .tif file of each digital image. It should never be attached into MS Word nor Power Point. Charts or other figures fitting into a single column (8.5 cm) will be reduced; therefore, be sure that numbers or font size remain visible after reduction. Font type and size, both in the legend and in the chart, should be the same used in the text. Charts and figures made in the excel spreadsheet must be accompanied by file with the original sheet. Insert each plate in a separate page. Type all figure legends (numbered sequentially), in another page. Use bar scale to indicate size. Scales should be placed on the bottom of the page on the left hand side. The right hand side must contain figure number. Avoid the use of letters that should be used for internal legends. Failure to follow all the instructions concerning illustrations can result in poor quality figures in the printed version; in such cases the editorial commitee can decide for the rejection of already accepted manuscripts. Details of the manuscript organisation can be found in the last pages of every issue. For further information, refer to the journal's latest issue. The paper's final acceptance date will only be revealed after approval by the Editorial Board, both in terms of scientific merit and graphic format. For further information contact us at rbbot@ig.com.br