Information for Contributors

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Waterbirds is an international scientific journal, published three times a year, specializing in the biology, status, ecology, management and conservation of all water-birds species living in marine, estuarine and freshwater habitats. Waterbirds welcomes submission of scientific papers and notes containing the results of original studies worldwide, unsolicited critical commentary and reviews of appropriate topics. With the modifications noted below, Waterbirds follows the conventions set out in Scientific Style and format: The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors and Publishers ISBN0-521-47154-0.

MANUSCRIPTS

Manuscripts submitted for consideration should be sent to:

Electronic submissions should be made to Bob.Elner@ec.gc.ca as a pdf or Word file.

Papers submitted to Waterbirds should not, currently, be submitted to, or be under consideration by, any other journal. They should present new and unpublished information. Normally, papers will be subject to peer review, but the Editor reserves the right to reject papers not presented in the style used by the journal or which he considers unsuitable for the journal. The Editor’s decision on submitted papers is final. Papers submitted with more than one author should have been read and approved by all of the authors before submission.

An electronic version of the text emailed to the editor directly is preferred. Please include the entire manuscript (text, tables, figures) in a single file. If only hardcopies are possible then mail 3 copies initially. However a final electronic version of suitably revised manuscripts will be needed before publication and can be sent as a Word file on disc. Articles are usually longer papers, while Notes are short communications, typically containing fewer than 3,000 words. The Editor will make a decision between the two categories. The journal cannot publish monograph-length submissions. From time to time, the Society publishes the scientific papers from a symposium presented at a special meeting or conference, but it is necessary for the group organizing the symposium to provide funds to cover the cost of the special publication. Books for review should be sent to the Noteworthy Publications Editor.

PAGE  CHARGES

Page charge rates are currently $90.00US/page for members and $100.00US/page for non-members.

CONTENTS

Text and headings shall be 12 font, double-spaced (Times New Roman) and non-justified on 8.5 x 11 inch paper (without printed borders or numbered lines), with margins of at least 2 cm all round. All major headings (e.g. METHODS, RESULTS, DISCUSSION, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, and LITERATURE CITED) should be written in upper case, centered and not bolded; first-order sub-headings are in lower case, left justified, and with first letter of major words capitalized. Second order subheadings are in italics and entered on the first line of text. Do NOT use an “Introduction” heading. The common name of a bird or any other organism shall have the first letter of each word capitalized except for hyphenated names (e.g. Black-billed Magpie) followed by the scientific name in parentheses immediately after the first mention both in the Abstract and after the first mention in the main text. It is recommended that authors consult a recent copy of the journal for style.

Articles should be partitioned into sections and headings as follows: Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Study Area, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments, Literature Cited, Appendices (if necessary).

Page 1: This page should carry the title of the paper (capitalize first letter of each major word), followed by the names of all the authors (all capitals) and their addresses on separate lines. The e-mail address of the corresponding author should be included on their address line. The top left corner should contain the words “Send proof to:” followed by the name and complete postal address and email of the corresponding author.

Page 2: This page should contain the Abstract, a list of up to ten key words (in alphabetical order), and a suggested running head of less than 30 characters, and should not exceed 1 page in length. The Abstract should be short and give the main results of the study and present quantified effects rather than general statements. The Abstract and Key word headings are bolded and appear on the first line of the text followed by a period and hyphen.

Page 3: This page should start with the Introduction (without the heading) and then continue with each section in turn. Indent all first words at the beginning of paragraphs.

The Discussion should be brief. The longer the Discussion, the fewer people will read it. Do not present results in the Discussion. Do not write the paper in the first person, or restrict the use to emphasizing a particular point.

TABLES

Each Table should be on a separate page at the end of the Article following the Literature Cited and headed with a full caption that allows the table to stand alone from the main body of the paper. Supplementary information should be kept to a minimum and added beneath the Table. Tables should be numbered sequentially starting from Table 1, 2, 3, etc.

FIGURES

Each Figure should be on a separate page at the end of the Article following Tables. Figures should be numbered sequentially starting from Figure 1, 2, 3, etc. Captions to all Figures should be printed on one separate sheet of paper, with each caption giving a comprehensive explanation of the drawing and including the name of the species if the data relate to one or only a few species.

Figures may be submitted as photocopies but originals will be required for publication. Figures should be prepared at about twice the linear dimensions at which they will be published; hence very thin lines should be avoided. Figure size and shape should be suitable, fitting the column or page format of the journal. Lettering should be of uniform thickness and size, and large enough to allow an appreciable reduction.

Graphs should be produced on a good quality printer, in high quality artwork, or preferably in electronic form pasted into the manuscript. Avoid background coloration, and use highly contrasting fills in histograms and pie charts like black, white and grey over complex fill patterns. The axes caption on graphs should be in lower case except for the first letter or in the case of proper names. The vertical axis caption on graphs should be placed sideways and both captions and scale numbers should be large enough to be clear when reduced to one column width. Peck marks should be to the right on the vertical axis, and down over on the horizontal axis.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Monochrome photographs will be accepted if they contribute substantially to the comprehension of the article. They should be of sharp focus and good contrast. Color photographs will be accepted only if the author pays the costs of preparation and printing.

UNITS, SYMBOLS, AND NUMBERS

SI units, abbreviations and symbols should be used (e.g., meter m, kilogram kg, second s, kelvin K, m^-1, m/s). In the text, words should be used for integers up to and including twelve. 24-hour time system (assumed to be local time unless otherwise stated) and a continental date system, e.g., 16.30 h on 3 March 2001 should be used. Whole numbers should contain commas where appropriate e.g., 12,426.

ANIMAL AND PLANT NAMES

Common (vernacular) names of animals and plants should be used whenever possible (using a capital for the first letter of each name or non-hyphenated part of a name e.g., Gull-billed Tern) and the scientific name should be given in italics (e.g., Pandion haliaetus) after the first mention of each species in the main text, table or figure legends and again if mentioned in the Abstract. Lower case should be used for group names, e.g. grebes, eiders, gulls. A capital should be used for the first letter of all proper taxa above the species level, but not for anglicized names, e.g. Mollusca, molluscs.

LITERATURE CITATION

In the text, literature with one or two authors should be cited by surname and year (e.g., Blake 1977). Literature with three or more authors should be cited by the surname of the first author followed by et al., and the year (e.g., Parnell et al. 2001). Multiple citations should be separated by a semi-colon and listed in chronological order (e.g., (Gochfeld and Burger 1996; Bridge et al. 2005)).

Literature cited should be referenced in full as follows:

Scientific journal: give names of all authors with initials, year of publication, title of the article, name of the journal in full, followed by the volume number and the first and last page of the article.

Bridge, E. S., A. W. Jones and A. J. Baker. 2005. A phylogenetic framework for the terns (Sternini) inferred from mtDNA sequences: implications for taxonomy and plumage evolution. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 35: 459-469.

Book: give names of all authors, year of publication, title, (editors if multiple contributions), printer, and place of publication.

American Ornithologists’ Union. 1998. Check-list of North American Birds, 7^th ed. American Ornithologists’ Union, Washington, D.C.

Book chapter: give names of all authors, year of publication, title, (editors if multiple contributions), printer, and place of publication. Spell out all state and province names except D.C.

Chardine, J. W., R. D. Morris, J. F. Parnell and J. Pierce. 2000. Status and conservation priorities for Laughing Gulls, Gull-billed Terns, Royal Terns and Bridled Terns in the West Indies. Pages 65-79 in Status and Conservation of West Indian Seabirds (E. A. Schreiber and D. S. Lee, Eds.). Society of Caribbean Ornithology Special Publication No. 1, Louisiana.

Report or Thesis: give names of all authors, year of publication, title, printer, and place of publication.

Molina, K. C. 2005. The breeding of terns and skimmers at the Salton Sea, 2005. Report to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge, Calipatria, California.

Web articles: give: names of all authors, year of publication, html address, date accessed.

Hines, J. E. 1996. MAYFIELD software to compute estimates of daily survival rate for nest visitation data. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov / software / Mayfield.html, accessed 16 February 2005.

Unpublished work (e.g. unpublished post-graduate theses or reports) should be indicated as such. These works should be used sparingly, as access to them may be difficult and, in most cases, the results have not been subject to peer review.

REPORTING QUANTITATIVE AND STATISTICAL RESULTS

Quantitative results should be accompanied by
descriptions of appropriate statistical methods following
conventions:

When examining relationships between two variables, the slope of the regression and its standard error are often biologically important and may be more meaningful than a correlation coefficient alone; consideration should be given to presenting the slope, P-value, SE and r.

The limitations of parametric,non-parametric and information-theoretic based statistical tests should be considered in selecting and reporting on the respective tests.

REVISIONS AND ACCEPTANCE

Upon manuscript submission, authors are required to identify 3 potential reviewers and provide their names and e-mail addresses on a separate page.

Revisions to manuscripts must be completed within 90 days. Revised manuscripts returned after this period of time may be treated as new submissions. In general, papers will be published in order of acceptance; shorter papers may be published more rapidly. Upon acceptance of a paper for publication, a complete electronic copy of the manuscript should be submitted to the Editor preferably by email and in Word. The date of submission and acceptance will appear on all manuscripts.

PROOFS

Authors will be sent proofs of their papers prior to publication. Proofs should be returned to the Editor preferably by email within 3 days of receipt or by courier. The accepted manuscript is assumed to be correct in all respects; changes to the proofs which differ from the information in the accepted manuscript will be charged to the authors at $2 per printed line changed, unless previously agreed upon with the Editor. Errors attributed to the Editor or Printers and the updating of papers originally quoted as “in press” will not be charged. Please check all figures and tables carefully.

PAGE CHARGES

Contributors are invited to support the journal through personal and institutional memberships. Authors are encouraged to join the Society (and join in its activities) if not already members. Publication in Waterbirds is not dependent upon ability to pay page charges. However, authors will be billed by the Treasurer of the Waterbirds Society for the cost of publication following the printing of an issue. Authors are encouraged to pay the amount billed if institutional or grant funds are available to do so. If authors are unable to arrange for payment, the Editor and Treasurer will waive the charges upon request.