Examples of typical International Rangeland Congress instructions and layouts. Please see the specific Congress Organising Committee instructions.
Instructions to Authors (REVISED)
Types of Papers:Unless you have been invited to present an oral paper (Invited Papers), all accepted papers will be presented as posters (Volunteered Papers).
Number of Papers:
A maximum of two papers (first author) can be submitted. Depending on space we can only guarantee publication of one paper.
Dates:
Papers must be submitted by 30 November, 1998 together with the completed Congress Registration form and minimum payment.
Abstract:
If you have not already submitted an abstract, submit it separately. Text should be less than 250 words (single spaced, 10 pt, Times Roman font). Include title, authors, postal and email addresses and submit by email or on a computer disc with your paper. Label the file as authors name.abs.(e.g. Peter Jones.abs). Abstracts will automatically be placed on the web without review, but this will not imply paper acceptance. Abstracts will not appear in the Proceedings.
Style:
Papers should have a concise and informative title preferably of one line, followed by a list of authors’ names, and addresses of Institutions on separate lines. Refer to the ‘Instructions to Contributors’ of any recent issue of Journal of Arid Environments or Journal of Ecology as a guide for references, units, symbols, abbreviations, and numbers in tables and text. Instructions to Contributors will also be available at http://www.rangelandcongress.com or from the Congress Secretariat (secretariat-irc@unsw.edu.au).
Volunteered Papers:
The text of the paper must be a maximum of 1400 words including references. A maximum of 2 tables or 2 figures or one of each is allowed. Oversize papers will be automatically rejected by the Congress Secretariat. Submit the paper by 30 November.
Invited Papers:
The text of the paper must be a maximum of 6000 words including references. Only 4 figures or 4 tables or a combination up to a total of 4 are allowed.
Key words:
Three words that best reflect your paper’s main concepts must be included with each volunteered and invited paper and listed on a separate line after the authors’ addresses. These words will be used for indexing of the Proceedings.
Margins:
Top and bottom margins are 20 mm and 20 mm respectively. For text, the left and right margins are 25 mm. Text should be left justified. A4 paper has page dimensions 210 x 297 mm.
Tables and Figures:
Submit high quality printed figures and tables that are clearly legible in two sizes: either 170 mm wide (2 columns) or preferably 80 mm wide (one column). Poor quality figures will not be redrawn and the paper will be rejected. Place the caption (title) above each table and below each figure.
Header:
A header with first author’s name and page number must be on the top right of every page of each paper, including the page of figures and/or tables.
Electronic Copy:
Papers (text and tables) should be submitted as one electronic file either on disc, or as an email attachment. Submit papers in WordPerfect or MS Word and as ASCII text. Please state on the disk, or in the email, the file format (e.g. MS Word for Windows 7.0, and ASCII text). If using an Apple computer system, please save in PC format. After completing all revisions, label files as: Authors name.xxx (e.g. Peter Jones.txt). Send figures as one separate file in one of the following formats: jpeg, eps, tiff, bmp, or gif (e.g. Peter Jones fig1.eps).
Printed Copy:
All submissions must include two printed copies of single spaced, 12 pt Times Roman text on A4 (210 x 297 mm) or Letter (8 ½ x 11 inch) sized paper, with all figures and tables on separate pages. Those without access to a computer should send high quality typed copies, double spaced.
Peer Review:
Papers will only be accepted after peer review arranged by the author. Referees will be expected to ensure that the paper meets style requirements, language, scientific acceptability and clarity. The names and addresses of the two referees must be listed on the Congress Registration form. You should attach their short signed statements to the paper.
Editing:
The Editors of the Congress Proceedings reserve the right to make minor linguistic changes to papers. Significant changes may be referred back to authors if there is sufficient time, otherwise they will be rejected. Rejected papers will not be allocated poster space. Assume that your paper has been accepted, unless notified by the Editors. Page proofs will not be sent to authors.
Submission Form:
The paper must be submitted with the Congress Registration form with the appropriate details for paper submission completed. A minimum Priority Registration deposit of $A100 or full registration must be included. Early payment of the registration fee or a deposit will give you accommodation and tour selection advantages but $100 is non-refundable for those registrants whose papers are accepted for publication.
Posters:
Accepted volunteered papers will be presented as posters and displayed for at least two days of the Congress. Format instructions for posters will be provided to authors after paper submission. Details are also available on the web site: Posters
Instructions to Contributors for Style
Paper Title. A concise and informative title (as short as possible), one line is suggested..
Authors. A list of authors' names on one line with names and addresses of Institutions on another.
Key-words. A list in alphabetical order not exceeding three words, excluding words used in the title.
Introduction. This should state the reason for doing the work, the nature of the hypothesis or hypotheses under consideration, and should outline the essential background.
Materials and methods. This should provide sufficient details of the techniques to enable the work to be repeated. Do not describe or refer to commonplace statistical tests in Methods but allude to them briefly in Results.
Results. This should state the results, drawing attention in the text to important details shown in tables and figures.
Discussion. This should point out the significance of the results in relation to the reasons for doing the work, and place them in the context of other work.
Acknowledgments. Be as brief as possible.
References (see Specifications).
Tables (see Instructions to Authors). These should be referred to in the text as Table 1, etc. Do not present the same data in both figure and table form.
Figure legends (see Instructions to Authors). Figures should be referred to in the text as Fig. 1, etc. (note "Figs 1,2" with no period). Illustrations should be referred to as Figures.
Specifications
References
References to work by up to three authors in the text should be in full on first mention, e.g. (Able, Baker & Charles 1986), then subsequently abbreviated (Able et al. 1986). When different groups of authors with the same first author and date occur, they should be cited thus: (Able, Baker & Charles 1986a; Able, David & Edwards 1986b), then subsequently abbreviated to (Able et al. 1986a; Able et al. 1986b). If the number of authors exceeds three, they should always be abbreviated thus: (Frank et al. 1986). The references in the list should be in alphabetical order with the journal name unabbreviated. Please consult a recent issue of the Journal for the format to use in reference lists.
References should only be cited as 'in press' if the paper has been accepted for publication. Other references should be cited as 'unpublished' and not included in the list. One copy of any paper cited as 'in press' must be included with the manuscript so that it can be seen by the Editor. Work not yet submitted for publication may be cited in the text and attributed to its author as: 'full author name, unpublished data'.
Units, symbols and abbreviations
Authors are requested to use the International System of Units (S.I., Systeme International d'Unites) where possible for all measurements (see Quantities, Units and Symbols, 2nd edn (1975) The Royal Society, London). Note that mathematical expressions should contain symbols not abbreviations. If the paper contains many symbols, it is recommended that they should be defined as early in the text as possible, or within a subsection of the Materials and methods section.
Scientific names
Give the Latin names of each species in full, together with the authority for its name, at first mention in the main text. If there are many species, cite a Flora or check-list which may be consulted for authorities instead of listing them in the text. Do not give authorities for species cited from published references. Give priority to scientific names in the text (with colloquial names in parentheses, if desired).
Makers' names
When a special piece of equipment has been used it should be described so that the reader can trace its specifications by writing to the manufacturer; thus:
"Data were collected using a solid-state data logger (CR21X, Campbell Scientific, Utah, USA)."
Mathematical material
Mathematical exressions should be carefully represented, denoting Greek symbols and small fonts by a note in the margin, superscripts and subscripts by the marks /\ and \/, respectively, and bold font by zig-zag underline. Suffixes and operators such as d, log, ln and exp will be set in Roman type; matrices and vectors will be set in bold type; other algebraic symbols (except Greek letters) will be set in italic. Make sure that there is no confusion between similar characters like l ('ell') and 1 ('one'). Also make sure that expressions are spaced as you would like them to appear, and if there are several equations they should be identified by a number in parentheses.
Numbers in tables
Do not use an excessive number of digits when writing a decimal number to represent the mean of a set of measurements (the number of digits should reflect the precision of the measurement).
Numbers in text
Numbers from one to nine should be spelled out except when used with units; e.g. two eyes but 10 stomata and 5 degrees C [but see paper copy or recent edition of the journal for exact format].
Paper Submission Checklist for Volunteered Papers
- Abstract sent separately.
- Paper’s text less than 1400 words including references.
- Only two figures, two tables, or one of each.
- Three key words listed after author’s addresses.
- First author’s name on header of each printed page including figures.
- Peer review reports attached to printed copies.
- Printed copies in 12 pt Times Roman, single spaced. Typewriter copy double spaced.
- Two printed copies posted to Congress; tables and figures on separate pages.
- Electronic copy saved in PC format (not Apple format)
- Text saved in Word or WordPerfect and as ASCII text
- Figures saved in a separate file as an image (e.g. jpeg, eps, tiff, bmp, or giff)
- After final revisions, file(s) named as ‘Authors name.xxx’ (e.g. Peter Jones.txt, or Peter Jones fig 1.eps)
- Electronic copy emailed to Congress, or on disk posted with printed copies.
- Minimum A$100 non-refundable deposit with registration form and printed copies.
