Introduction
These guidelines in English are aimed at potential authors interested in submitting manuscripts written in this language to Botanical Sciences, the journal published by the Botanical Society of Mexico (SBM). Botanical Sciences is a scientific journal specialized in the field of Botany and its scope covers all areas of plant sciences, from ecosystem and plant community to anatomical, molecular and phytochemical approaches.
Botanical Sciences welcomes original research papers, review papers, description of new taxa, taxonomic treatments, botanical notes and comments that promote the development of botanical knowledge. Book reviews and synopses of unpublished materials of general botanical interest are also considered. Accepted languages for publication are Spanish and English.
Manuscripts will be examined by two referees before any decision is taken regarding acceptance and changes required.
Active SBM members have the right to publish up to ten printed pages free of charge. Authors must identify themselves as SBM members when submitting a manuscript; extra pages will be charged. Non-members must pay the total cost of printing and editorial processing at the same rate per page prior to publication; failure to do so may result in delay of publication. Publication cost will be sent to authors together with proofs. PDF file will be provided free of charge to authors.
Instructions to authors
a. Send original manuscript to editor-in-chief at <botanicalsciences@gmail.com> with a letter indicating corresponding author, institution, postal and email addresses, and phone number. In this letter, include a paragraph indicating that all co-authors agree with the submission.
b. The text and tables of the manuscript must have "DOC" or "RTF" format. Figures should be in separate files, in "PDF" or "EPS" if they are in vector format or with 300 dpi in "TIFF" or "JPG" if they are in bits format.
c. The entire manuscript, including text, references, legends to figures and tables must be made in double-spaced with the "Times New Roman" 12 points typeface.
d. Margins on four sides must be at least 2.5 cm wide.
e. Paragraphs must have a three-space indentation, except those directly under a heading.
f. All lines must finish with complete words (no hyphens); paragraphs must be left-justified.
g. All pages must be numbered consecutively.
i. Tables and figure legends must be placed immediately after Literature Cited, in that order.
Manuscript organization
Manuscripts should not exceed 30 pages, including tables, figures and cited literature, except when the nature of the work justifies a greater length.
Original research papers, review papers and opinion
1. Title and author(s).
a. Title. Must be short, concise, and must clearly reflect the contents of the paper. Capital letters must be used only at the beginning of the sentence and when necessary; if the title includes scientific names of species these must be written in italics.
b. Spanish title. Must be a direct translation of the English one. This will be included in the contents page of the corresponding journalīs issue.
c. Authors' names and institutional affiliation. Names of all authors must be written in full, using upper-case and lower-case letters, centered in the page. Authors from Spanish-speaking countries wanting to use their two family names must necessarily join them with a hyphen. Names must be followed (in a new line) by the name of their institution and/or the place where the research was conducted.
d. Additional information. Include phone/fax numbers and e-mail address to facilitate communication between the editor and the author(s).
e. Running title. If the title is too long, authors may suggest one or several running heads, as short as possible (maximum eight words) that synthesizes it.
2. Abstract.
a. Contents and length. In a maximum of 250 words the most important aspects of the paper must be synthesized, including its relevance and rationale, experimental or observational procedures, as well as the main conclusions reached.
b. The abstract must be written in English and in Spanish (Resumen). If the author is unable to provide the Spanish translation, the journal's editor may do it.
3. Key words. A maximum of five key words will serve to identify the main topics of the paper. These must be written just below the last line of the abstract and of the Resumen, in lower-case letters, separated by commas.
4. Introduction (no heading). The theoretical and conceptual context of the investigation must be described briefly, together with the importance of the problem, its pertinence or the necessity and rationale of the investigation. The relevant literature will be revised here and the hypotheses and objectives will be stated.
5. Materials and methods. Materials used, procedures followed, variable measurements, statistical treatment of data, and other relevant information such as data bases used in the research must be described with all necessary detail. This section must contain necessary and sufficient information to allow corroboration of the experimental designs and the overall methods by other colleagues.
6. Results. Only the observed facts, derived from the application of the methods must be presented in a logical and objective manner, with the support of tables and figures, but strictly avoiding repetition in these aids.
7. Discussion. This section contains the authors' interpretation about their results, a discussion of their meaning and an examination of the hypotheses in the light of the scientific knowledge accumulated up to the time of publication. This section must include assertions about the tested hypotheses and the general conclusions emerging from their findings.
8. Acknowledgments. These must be as short as possible, indicating granting agency and project number (if applicable).
9. Literature cited. A complete list of printed or on-line sources of information that were mentioned in any part of the text, including tables and figures, in strict alphabetical order and according to the following guidelines:
• a. Articles in scientific periodicals. First author, family name(s), initial(s); if more than one author, the remaining in the following order: last name, initial(s). Publication year.Paper title. Journal name, in full and in italics, volume or issue (in bold): page range. When Ibero-american (Hispanic) authors use both family names, these must be joined with a hyphen. Examples:
Rzedowski J. 1981. Un siglo de la botánica en México. Boletín de la Sociedad Botánica de México 65:79-89.
Vázquez-Yanes C. and Orozco-Segovia A. 1993. Patterns of seed longevity and germination in the tropical rainforest.Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 24:69-87.
• b. Technical bulletins or other non-periodic serials.
Arnauld M.C. 1994. La Cuenca de Zacapu en una secuencia de 8000 años. Evolución de los diferentes paisajes y primeros desmontes. Cuadernos de Estudios Michoacanos, CEMAC, México, D.F.
• c. Books. Examples:
Cox C.B. and Moore P.D. 1996. Biogeography: An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach. Blackwell Science, Oxford.
Rzedowski J. 1978. Vegetación de México. Limusa, México, D.F.
• d. Book chapters. Examples:
Gentry A.H. 1991.The distribution and evolution of climbing plants. In: Putz F.E. and Mooney H.A. Eds. The Biology of Vines, pp. 1-49, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Wendt, T. 1993. Composition, floristic affinities, and origins of the canopy tree flora of the Mexican Atlantic slope rain forest. In: Ramamoorthy T.P., Bye R., Lot A. and Fa J. Eds. Biological Diversity of Mexico: Origins and Distribution, pp. 595-680, Oxford University Press, New York.
• e. Thesis, dissertations and the like. Example:
Ortega-Guerrero B. 1992. Paleomagnetismo, magnetoestratigrafía y paleoecología del Cuaternario tardío en el Lago de Chalco, Cuenca de México. Ph.D. Dissertation, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F., 161 pp.
• f. Electronic documents available in line. Authors name, if available, with the above format. The year in which the domain was generated, if available. Title of document should followed by the complete uniform resources location (URL). Give date or period of consultant at least in months, Example:
Colwell R.K. 2009. EstimateS v. 8.2.0: statistical estimation of species richness and shared species from samples.
<viceroy.eeb.uconn.edu/EstimateS> (accessed October 7, 2009).
10. Appendices. Lengthy materials, whose inclusion in text may not be adequate, may be published as appendices and will be attached in an ordered fashion at the end of the text.
11. Footnotes. These will be used only when strictly necessary (in most cases the information may be incorporated into the text). These should be concisely written and numbered progressively. The Editorial Committee keeps the right to remove those footnotes considered to be inadequate.
12. Headings. These may be of various ranks (orders), which are indicated by their position in the text.
a. First order headings. The only heading of this type is the title of the paper.
b. Second order headings. These correspond to the main sections of the text: Abstract, Resumen, Materials and methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments and Literature cited. They must be written in upper- and lower-case letters, in bold typeface.
c. Third order headings. They are written in upper-and lower-case characters, left-justified, and in italics, two spaces below last line of previous paragraph. Text follows in the same line, separated by a period.
d. Fourth order headings. They are written in higher- and lower-case letters, left-justified. Text follows in the same line, separated by a period and a hyphen.
e. Lower rank headings. When these are really necessary, letters or numbers may be used.
13. References cited in text. All references cited in the text must be listed in the Literature Cited section.
a. The complete last name(s) of the author and publication year must be written, separated by a comma.
b. In the case of two authors, last name(s) of each one and publication year.
c. In the case of three or more authors, only the complete last name(s) of the first one will be written, followed by et al. (in italics) and publication year.
d. When several papers are cited together, these must be ordered chronologically.
e. When the author(s) name(s) is part of the sentence, publication year will be in parentheses.
f. When the reference is located at the end of the sentence, both the last name(s) and the publication year will be in parentheses, separated by a comma.
g. If more than one paper of a given author or author combination are cited that were published in the same year, these must be distinguished by using lower-case letters (a, b, c, d).
h. Personal communications will be cited in the text as if they were published references, except that first name(s) initial(s) will be added. Example: (P. Dávila, pers. comm.).
i. Verbatim quotes. When used, these will be written between quotation marks. If they are longer than one line, they must be indented on both sides; the reference will include last name(s), year and page after a colon.
14. Tables and figures. These are used in order to replace text or because their use helps to save space. They must be clear, simple and concise. The third dimension must be strictly avoided in graphs, unless absolutely necessary. They may not be larger than letter-size paper. Tables may have footnotes where elements of the table are referred to by numbers and explained. Tables and figures must be numbered consecutively, according to the order of appearance in the text. Headings of tables and legends to figures must be concise but self-explanatory. Titles of columns in tables must be written in upper- and lower-case characters. In the case of photographs or microphotographs the legend must indicate the corresponding scale. All tables and figures must be cited in the text. It is recommended to consult the following page before preparing the electronic figure files
<http://authorservices.wiley.com/submit_illust.asp>
15. Formulae. These must be written with the same typeface, leaving a blank line between them; sub-indexes and super-indexes must be properly located and readable; the numbers 0 and 1 must be clearly differentiated from capital letters O and I, respectively.
a. Equations. These must be numbered consecutively in parenthesis on the right side of the page.
b. Greek letters and symbols. These should be explained after being used for the first time, except those of universal use. The expression "chi-squared" must be written with the Greek letter ?2.
c. Fractions. The lineal form will be used, with negative exponents for denominators.
d. Abbreviations or acronyms. They must be explained the first time they are used in text.
16. Nomenclature. This must follow international rules of nomenclature pointed out in the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. Species names must be written correctly following the rules of nomenclature of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. When necessary they must be subjected to the principles of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and to the International Code of Bacterial Nomenclature. The "International Plant Name Index" page <www.ipni.org> especially the Gray Card Index (GCI) must be a guide. All living organisms (plants, insects, birds, mammals, etc.) that are the central topic of the paper must be identified with their scientific (Latin) names the first time they are mentioned. Italics will be use for them as well as for words in foreign languages.
New taxa description and taxonomic treatments
a. The new name should be in bold (not italicized) in the left-hand margin followed by the author(s) name, for example Sicyosmotozintlensis Lott et Fryxell sp. nov.(Figure 1).
b. The protologue must include a short diagnosis in Latin (essential characters); it should be in a separate paragraph below the taxon name.
c. The type citation must be written in a separate paragraph below the Latin diagnosis.
d. The type data order must be: TYPE: country, state, specific locality, elevation, habit, plant features, date, initials and last name of the collector and collection number (bold), herbarium acronym (parenthesis), for example: TYPE: México, estado de México, Cerro Sincoque, alt 2,300 m, eroded soils, female plant, 10/05/1981. J. Rzedowski 37253. (Holotype: ENCB, Isotypes: MEXU, NY, ZEA).
e. The full description should have all the plant structures and start a new paragraph.
f. In the case that two or more taxa are described, the descriptions follow the same order.
g. After the description starting a new paragraph "Distribution and ecology" which should include geographic and altitudinal distribution, vegetation types, etc.
h. If common names and/or uses are given, they must in a new paragraph.
i. In case of particular data, such as to whom the species is dedicated, these data must be given in a new paragraph.
j. The list of examined specimens should be in a new paragraph name "Additional specimens examined" where all specimens examined by the author(s) must be cited. The data must be the same given for the holotype and alphabetically ordered by country, state, and locality, collector and collection number (italics).
k. Exclamation points are not used for specimens examined.
Short scientific note or communication
These serve to report findings or contributions that deserve immediate publication. They do not require those sections of original research papers and the author is free to decide the details of their structure. Their maximum length should be five pages.
Book review
It is an analytical appraisal of scientific books or publications of broad interest for the readership. It must be properly sustained and should be no longer than five pages. Its aim is to objectively orient the scientific community. It may have a free structure, and will not be subject to peer-review.
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