MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY
BULLETIN and BREVIORA
AUTHORS’ GUIDE
2007
The Museum publishes the Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology and Breviora. Appropriate papers are original contributions concerned with systematics, evolutionary biology, ecology and other aspects of organismal and comparative biology.
Longer contributions, those over 30 printed pages, should be published in the Bulletin; Breviora carries shorter papers. Both publications are issued at irregular intervals. Both are mailed to domestic and foreign subscribers, and are automatically copyrighted, but only the Bulletin is officially registered with the Library of Congress.
Who May Publish
Current and retired staff members, students, and MCZ resident associates may submit manuscripts; work by others based on MCZ specimens is also appropriate. Occasionally, special arrangements may be with the Editor for others to submit manuscripts in reporting on work done at, or in some way associated with, the Museum.
Breviora will not carry a series of short papers that could be combined and published more economically as one article, or very short papers more suitable for publication in specialized journals.
Recent issues of Bulletin or Breviora may serve as guides in planning text and illustrations. Papers should be formatted with one inch margins and 12 point font. All material, including reference lists and legends, must be double-spaced. We encourage electronic submission of materials whenever possible.
Both MCZ journals strive for consistency in overall format. Authors should refer to the 5th edition of the CBE (Council of Biology Editors) Style Manual for diction, style and technical writing guidelines.
Title Keep titles short and explicit; include a separate title page. Also provide a running head, a shortened version of the title to be placed at the top of each printed page.
Abstract and Summary An abstract is required and must briefly state the purpose of the article, the methodology used, the results obtained and the conclusions drawn. Summaries at the end of the text are optional and can be more detailed than the abstract.
Taxonomy Taxonomic procedures must conform to the accepted standards. When in doubt, refer to Mayr and Ashlock, Principles of Systematic Zoology (1991), and the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, 4th Edition (1999), available at http://www.iczn.org/iczn/index.jsp.
Tables of Contents and Index Longer papers should have a concise table of contents and an index. It is the author’s responsibility to prepare the index; this is usually done in the galley stage, when pagination is first set.
Illustrations Illustrations should be originals or good photographic reproductions. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to use copyrighted illustrations and other materials. Please submit the copyrighted permissions with the manuscript.
The submission of illustrations in electronic format is encouraged; if questions arise about appropriate format, please contact the Managing Editor. If submitting hard copy, place artwork on sturdy backboard material and cover each piece with a tissue overlay. On the back of each illustration, include your name, the name of the journal, figure or plate number, and desired size of reduction to the printed page. When necessary, indicate the top of the figure.
Color illustrations are permitted when the use of color is necessary; a charge will apply for extensive use of color illustrations. Please discuss with the Editor any color plates, full-page plates with facing legends, or other expensive illustrations you wish to use in your paper.
References Within the text, cite references as follows: (Adams, 1960) (Adams and Dawson, 1976) or Adams and Dawson (1976)
When an article has three or more authors, cite it as first author followed by “et al.”: Jones et al. (1963)
When citing a string of references, arrange them by year: (Adams, 1963; Smith, 1978; Jones et al., 1999)
Be sure references mentioned in the text are included in the literature cited.
Literature cited Under literature cited at the end of the paper, list references alphabetically by author and chronologically under each author. Spell out journal titles fully. Please follow the sample citations below in preparing your literature cited:
Journal article
Brewster, B. 1986. A review of the genus Hydrocynus Cuvier 1819 (Teleostei; Characiformes). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Zoology series, 50(3): 163-206.
___________1987. Additional item by the same author, following same format.
Journal article with multiple authors
Colyn, M. and A.M. Dudu. 1986. Relevé systématique des Rongeurs (Muridae) des îles forestières du fleuve Zaïre entre Kingsangani et Kinshasa. Revue de Zoologie Africaine, 99(4): 353-357.
Cvetkovic, D. and N. Tucic. 1986. Female recombination rates and fitness in Drosophilia melanogaster. Zeitschrift für zoologische Systematik und Evolutionsforchung, 24(3): 169-240.
Book
Buetnner-Janusch, J. 1962. Origins of Man. New York: John Wiley and Sons. xii + 458 pp.
Book Chapter
Jenssen, T.A. 1978. Display diversity of anoline lizards, pp. 269-285. In N. Greenberg and P.D. Maclean, Behavior and Neurology of Lizards: An Interdisciplinary Colloquium, Rockville, MD., vi + 352 pp.
If questions arise about the suitability of a manuscript for submission to one of the MCZ journals, please contact the Editor or a member of the Editorial Board. Authors may submit by email or by sending a CD, DVD or three hard copies, and the transmittal form to the Editor. Original illustrations are not needed at the submission stage, but the quality of facsimiles must be sufficient to allow evaluation. Along with the manuscript, the author must provide at least four names of potential referees, along with their mailing and e-mail addresses, as well as indicating any member of the Editorial Board who has been consulted about the manuscript.
Upon acceptance, authors are asked to fill out a transfer of copyright form, which must be completed before the manuscript goes to press.
Manuscripts are sent to Allen Press for copy-editing. Once they are returned to the MCZ, the Editorial Assistant will notify the author and send the copy-edited manuscript to the author for his or her approval and alterations. It is the author’s responsibility to answer all queries from the copyeditor.
The manuscript is then returned to Allen Press, where it is set into galleys. This is the first proof stage, and while Allen Press proofreads the galleys, the author is also responsible for checking and ensuring that all changes were properly made. All responsibility for accuracy belongs to the author. Again, all queries must be answered. Making large changes at this stage is expensive, and as they are charged for any corrections costing more than 10% of the original composition cost, authors should avoid them. With the galleys, authors will receive an order form for reprints (see below).
Authors return the galleys to the Editorial Assistant, who sends them back to Allen Press. After all changes are made, Allen Press sends page proofs (the second proof stage) to the Editorial Office where they are checked. In most cases, authors do not check page proofs, though if there have been extensive changes in galleys, or if an index is involved, they may be asked to approve remade pages.
Final publication usually takes about one month after page proofs are returned.
Authors will be provided with an electronic version of their paper. Reprints may be ordered at the time of publication.
If you have any questions about editorial procedures or author guidelines for MCZ publications, please contact
Jonathan Losos, Editor: jlosos@oeb.harvard.edu
Adam Baldinger, Managing Editor: abaldinger@oeb.harvard.edu (617) 495-2468
Samantha Edelheit, Editorial Assistant: sedelheit@oeb.harvard.edu (617) 495-2468
Funding
There is in general no charge for publication in MCZ journals. However, publication of exceptionally long manuscripts may require contribution toward publication costs. Authors should include the following in the acknowledgments: “We acknowledge the support of the Colles Fund in meeting expenses to publish this work.”