Submitting a Note to the Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation

This page tells you how to submit an article for the NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS section.

We are not that fussy really! We don't mind editing contributions into shape! But please try to stick to the following guidelines and save the Editor some work!

Where an example is given, it should appear in red on your screen.

Title:

Remember - the title is the means by which other people can find out what you have to say. It will also be indexed strictly alphabetically. It should include the key words that you consider crucial for this purpose. It is a very important part of your article!

If you are typing or hand-writing the article, the following guidelines are not critical, as we shall have to retype it in any case. Do what you can. However,

if you are using a word processor, please ...

. Use lower case bold type, reserving initial capitals for the first word and for proper names.

. Type Latin names in italics please (typists and hand writers please underline words to go in italics).

. The English name (if one exists) should appear first. Scientific name comes next, without brackets, but with the author if you know it.

. So that the indexer can place your subject in the right section of the index, please add the Order (abbreviated to three letters followed by a full point) and Family (in full), separated by a colon (:) if known. If you don't know this, the Editor will add it for you.

. Try not to abbreviate in the title. Put county names in full (e.g., Hertfordshire not Herts.).

e.g., The Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba (L.) (Lep.: Noctuidae): A rare species of oak woodland re-discovered in Hertfordshire.

We index papers strictly alphabetically. If your paper starts with the word "The" then it will be indexed under"T". Bear this in mind when thinking of your title.

Content:

This is up to you. Try to keep it relevant. If you use an abbreviation, the full title/phrase or whatever should be given the first time you mention it followed by the abbreviation in brackets after it. Thereafter, use the abbreviation alone.

Distinguish between administrative counties and vice-counties. Thus, West Kent (note capital letters) means vice-county 16; north-west Kent (note lower case letters) is just a part of a wider area of Kent and there is no such proper place as North-west Kent with an initial capital "N".

OS grid references may be given. Please follow the form TQ 123456 or TQ 1245 (space between letters and numbers). Remember that eastings come before northings! We will NOT check grid references!

Illustrations:

We are now able to include colour or black and white photographs (or slides), where these effectively illustrate a point in your article. Click here for more information.

References:

There are two golden rules of scientific publishing.

. You can use previously published information as long as you give credit to the original author (you should always use reference quotes to support statements that are not supported by your own evidence).

. You must also be accurate.

Unacceptable example ......(equivalent to an"A" level fail)

This species is a migrant and so the record from my garden is obviously not a resident.

Much better example (equivalent to an "A" level grade A star)

According to Smith (1999. Migration of Insects. Harley Books) this species is a regular migrant in this country, although Jones (1999. Ent. Rec. 198: 113-115) suggests that in southern Britain there are resident populations. In view of the date, and other migrant activity at the time. Bloggs, pers. comm.), the chances are that the example from my garden was also an immigrant, though the possibility does exist that it could be resident.

In Notes and Observations, references should be given in text and not at the end of the article.

Pers. Comm. in the above example is short for Personal Communication and means that the named person told you but the information is not published.

Acknowledgements:

You should thank people who have supplied information, granted access permission, read the article before you submitted it, and so on. But avoid thanking your mother for making it all possible by giving birth to you!

Finishing off:

Your Note must finish with your name as you wish it to appear in print, and your postal address. If you wish, you may also add an E-mail address).

We do not include telephone numbers.

All authors are equal - so we do not include titles. "Dr Fred Bloggs" will appear as "Fred Bloggs", and "Prof. Reight Uppem MBE, FRES" will appear as "Reight Uppem".

Please use capital letters for your name, please put E-mail addresses last. Follow the format below ....

This is the final sentence of the Note and the name and address of the author follow, separated by an dash after the full stop, as follows. - COLIN W.PLANT, 14 West Road, Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire CM23 3QP (E-mail: cpauk1@ntlworld.com)

Submitting the note to the journal:

Prepare your notice is a format that can be read by Microsoft Word software.

Click on this line and type a message that includes your name and the nature of the attachment.

Attach your Notice to the E-mail and send it.

ANTI-VIRUS WARNING

It is absolutely essential that the body of your E-mail message tells me who you are and that you are attaching an item for the Entomologists Record. This is because most computer viruses are spread via unsolicited E-mail attachments and usually become active when the attachment is opened.

Any E-mail message that does not meet these requirements will be deleted without being opened.

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