Guidelines for contributors
We welcome papers and short communications on any aspect of seabird biology, conservation, identification, and status. These will be peer-reviewed. The geographical focus of the journal is the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas, but contributions are also welcome from other parts of the world provided they are of general interest.
Contributions should be in English, and authors whose first language is not English are encouraged to have the paper edited by a native English speaker prior to submission. Submissions should preferably be made electronically via email or provided on a CD, preferably as a Microsoft Word file. If submitting hard copy only, text should be double-spaced on one side of the paper with large margins; three copies of the text complete with Figures and Tables should be provided. At the proof stage, only essential corrections can be made. Corrected proofs should be returned within two weeks to the Editor.
The title should be short and concise, and a proposal for a 'running head' is welcomed. Authors' names should be given below the title of the paper, with addresses (including the email address of the lead author). Indicate the corresponding author with an asterisk. For full-length papers, divisions should include: Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgements, and References; avoid too many subdivisions. The abstract (not exceeding 250 words) should reflect both content and emphasis of the paper. It must be easy to read, emphasising biologically relevant findings, while touching only slightly on methods. The Introduction should be restricted to scope, purpose, and the rationale of the study. The Methods should be limited to the information on to what is essential to judge whether the findings are valid. The Discussion should be limited to the main contributions of the study in relation to the findings of previous workers. Restrict speculation to what can be supported with reasonable evidence; assertions made in the paper that are not supported by your research must be justified by appropriate references. Acknowledge only those who contributed substantially to the paper, or data collection.
Cited literature should be restricted to significant, published papers. Check your citations carefully against the reference list and vice versa. Examples of literature cited in the text: (O'Connor 1984), (Baudinette & Schmidt-Nielsen 1974) or, in case of more than two authors (Pettifor et al. 1988). References in the text should be in order of publication, e.g. (Brown 1974; Anthony et al. 1981). In the reference list the literature cited should be in alphabetical order. Titles should be given in the original language. Examples:
Asbirk S. 1978. Tejsten Cepphus grylle som ynglefugl i Danmark. Dansk Orn. Foren. Tidsskr. 72: 161-178.
Berger M. & Hart J.S. 1974. Physiology and energetics of flight. In: Farner D.S. & King J.R. (eds) Avian Biology, 4: 415-477. Academic Press, New York.
Greenstreet S.P.R. & Tasker M.L. (eds) 1996. Aquatic predators and their prey. Fishing News Books, Oxford.
Van Eerden M.R. & Voslamber B. 1995. Mass fishing by Cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis at lake IJsselmeer, The Netherlands: a recent and successful adaptation to a turbid environment. Ardea 83: 199-212.
All text should be in upper and lower case, and un-formatted; capitals, underscores, indentations and tabs should not be used. Headings should be in bold, sub-headings in bold italic. Use single spaces between sentances. Avoid formatted breaks between paragraphs; use single 'hard return' spaces. On first mention, a species should be referred to by its vernacular name, followed by its systematic binomial name in italics. Capitals should be used for the initial letters of all single words and hyphenated vernacular names of species (e.g. Great Black-backed gull, White-bellied Storm Petrel) but not for group names (e.g. grebes, gulls, corvids). Foreign words, other than those that have been adopted into English, should be italicised. Units and abbreviations should conform to the S.I. system (International System of Units) where possible. Use 0.01 and not .01. Use 50%, not 50 percent.
Legends for Figures / Tables / photographs should be positioned within the text on a line of their own to indicate preferred position for final layout. Legends for Figures and Tables should also be added at the end of the manuscript on a separate page. In addition to a print-out and electronic copy, we prefer to receive raw data underlying figures on file (preferably in Excel). Each figure and table must be on a separate page and have its correct number and the author's name written in pencil on the reverse. Use Arial font for lettering and realise that the diagram may have to be reduced in size. Tables should be concise and self-explanatory and have only horizontal lines. Use tabs, rather than space-bar spaces for tables. Photographs need high contrast and should be supplied in their most original form i.e. the original, un-cropped, unaltered camera files where possible, or if not, TIFF files of at least 20cm and 300dpi.
Details of statistical analysis, which should always be included, are type of test, the value of the relevant test statistic, the sample size and/or degrees of freedom and the probability level. Commonplace statistical abbreviations such as ANOVA, SD, SE, df, t-test, c2, F, P, n, r, rS should be used. A post-fix to the test statistic symbol can be used to present the degrees of freedom, e.g. c23, F12,34. and where appropriate, include a reference for the statistic used. Variables, mathematical formulas, and Latin abbreviations (e.g. et al.) should be in italics.