Submissions

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Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
  • The article is unpublished and has not been submitted to any other journal (otherwise, a comment in "Comments for the editorial staff" must be added). I grant the usage rights to the “Sencken-berg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung” (SGN).
  • The structure and language of the paper are in accordance with the general and professional requirements of science. The manuscript is linguistically accurate.
  • Formatting and typography of the manuscript accord with our instructions for authors.
  • Scientific names are used following the current rules of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature and are formatted according to our instructions.
  • New taxa are to be registered by the author in ZooBank and their Life Science Identifiers will be submitted at the latest after the manuscript has been accepted.
  • The name and location of the collection in which types of newly described species are deposited are stated. Abbreviations correspond to our instructions.
  • Illustrations correspond in size, resolution and naming to our instructions and are uploaded as JPG-, TIFF, or etc.-files at the time of submission.
  • Cited literature is formatted according to our instructions, or is uploaded as a file in one of the formats "endNote", "RIS", or "BibTex". URLs / DOIs have been added as far as possible.

Author Guidelines

 

Preparation

  • The structure and language of the paper are in accordance with the general and professional requirements of science. The manuscript should be linguistically accurate. We ask the authors to carefully obey our instructions.
  • Papers should normally not exceed 40 printed pages. The text should be submitted as continuous text (preferably OpenOffice, Microsoft Word or RTF). Generally keep formatting at a minimum. The text must be left-aligned and without indentations. Paragraphs must be closed with a forced line break. Chapters must be introduced as well as closed with a forced line break. No other formatting is necessary except: species and genus names italic, and author's names in small Capitals with large first letter. For symbols, date, etc. see typography.

Structure of the manuscript

  • short and significant title (about 12 words) in the language of the article and in English. Both titles should contain higher systematic categories. Please submit also a running title up to 45 characters, e.g.: New late eocene Chrysomelidae (Insecta, Coleoptera) from Baltic, Rovno and Danish ambers | New late eocene Chrysomelidae from ambers
  • number and kind of illustrations, e.g.: With 73 figs, 5 maps; for size and format see illustrations and tables
  • because of the double blind review please do not write author's names or addresses into the manuscript
  • concise summaries (about 250 words) in German and English, and if applicable in the language of the paper
  • key words that are higher systematic categories of the title, reference time and place, scientific methods etc., e.g.: Insecta, Coleoptera, Canary Islands, distribution, zoogeography
  • new or nomenclaturally treated taxa should be listed below the abstract (new!); example and technique see taxa
  • text of the work usually structured in Introduction, Material and Methods, Results or Descriptions, Discussion or Conclusions and Acknowledgements
  • references; formatting and new technique see references
  • appendix: long lists (that might disturb the fluency of the text), video or audio files etc. can be added in the online version; the editorial team will willingly assist

Typography

  • several special characters are to be substituted as follows: ♀ = #w, e.g. 1#w for one female respectively 9#w#w for 9 females, ♂ = #m, e.g. 1#m for one male respectively 9#m#m for 9 males
  • measurements should be given in the metric system. Exceptions are citations, where, however, a conversion into a metric unit should be provided. Please use the form 2.3 mm, 2.5 min, 15 ºC, 20 % or 2 ft [609 mm]
  • dates should be given in the intenational format, e.g., 2013-06-14 or 2017/07/01. In German manuscripts 14.05.2013 is also allowed
  • write geographical coordinates in the form, e.g., 11º22'33"N or 22º33'44"E or in decimal system 52,515062, 14,116436. Do not use quotation marks nor spaces, rather ° (degrees) = #g, ' (minutes) = #i and " (seconds) = #s, e.g.: 11#g22#i33#sN
  • fractions should be written as 2/3, 1/10, etc.

Scientific names

  • scientific species and genus names (including plant names) are formatted in italics, names of authors in small Capitals with large first letter. Text citations of collection labels (locality, collector, identification) and personal names are in normal type
  • species should be named completely (e.g.: [taxon] [Author], [year]) at least once in the paper
  • authors should strictly follow the provisions of the current edition of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
  • nomenclatural alterations should be abbreviated as gen. nov., spec. nov., syn. nov., comb. nov. etc.

Taxa

  • register taxa that you have described as new to science or that you have treated nomenclatorally at ZooBank. There you get a Life Science Identifier (LSID) for this nomenclatural act. Add this LSID to your summary and to your description, e.g.: Succinispa stainesi Nadein spec. nov. — urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:50A0690E-E210-418F-9419-C664D734DBB6
  • types are to be kept in publicly accessible museums. The place of storage must be named
  • collections should be abbreviated according to the codens from "Abbreviations for Insect and Spider Collections of the World"

Illustrations

  • do not integrate illustrations into the manuscript file. The size of the figures should match 80 mm (the width of one column) or 165 mm (the width of the type area) and 245 mm height less the space of the legend, generally 15 mm
  • images should contain a minimum of typographic elements, if possible only the scale bars for drawings or the legends in diagrams. Please do not write any numbers in the pictures. This can be done more uniformly by the editor in the layout
  • it is recommended that coloured illustrations are arranged as plates of 165 mm width and 245 mm height less the space of the legend, generally 15 mm. The position of these plates depends on the print layout and will be defined by the editor
  • the placement of text-figures should be indicated on the manuscript as #fig.[number] together with the legend, e.g.: #fig.1: Succinispa stainesi habitus or #fig.2a-c: Succinispa stainesi a: latera view; b: dorsal view; c: aedeagus
  • illustrations should be submitted online (coming soon), as original line drawings or photographs (size up to A3) or as separate files (drawings 1200 dpi, monochrome photos 300 dpi, colour photos 300 dpi) and in loss-free formats, e.g.: JPEG und TIFF or PDF with clear name, e.g.: fig_01.jpg, fig_02a.jpg, fig_02b.jpg etc. The editor will be happy to edit pictures if they have at least the mentioned parameters

Tables

    • please design tables and keys as simply as possible, because we have to reset them. A Table should either match the width of one column, or the width of the type area. It is usually structured in table title (e.g. Tab. 1 [title]), table body, and legend. All tables must be referred to in the text
    • the placement of tables and keys should be indicated on the manuscript as #tab. [number] together with the title, e.g.: #tab.1: Localities ...

References

  • references in the text are to be cited as: ... Staudinger (1871) recorded for the first time ... or ... butterflies (Baldock & Bretherton 1981) ...
  • if available add DOIs, URNs or URLs (URLs with access date) to the bibliography
  • the citations are collected by the editors in Endnote. Using the "Contribution to Entomology" style definition, the records are formatted as a (new) bibliography in the manuscript. In addition, the bibliography is added to the online publication as files in bibliographic formats. Here you will find instructions for endnote, Citavi and Zotero (coming soon). The editorial staff will be pleased to provide further information on the private use of this technology!
  • the following is a description of the formatting of different types of publications in the manuscript:

Article in a journal

Component Formatting Example Remark
Legend * mandatory specification, ◊ blank, — dash
Authors * between ;◊ before the last ◊&◊ Hlaváč,◊P.;◊Newton,◊A.◊F.◊&◊Maruyama,◊M. last name, initial
Year of publication * before ◊ ◊2011 if several years, then from-to
Title of the article * before :◊ :◊World catalogue of the species of the tribe Lomechusini (Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae). names of species and genera italic; finish with punctuation mark of the title or with full stop
Title of the journal * before ◊—◊ ◊—◊Zootaxa detailed, not abbreviated, see ZDB
Volume bold, before ◊ ◊3075 if the year of the volume is nesessary in []
Issue enclosed by ()    
Pages * before :◊ :◊1-151 from-to
DOI before ◊—◊DOI:◊    
URL before ◊—◊   detailed, withHTTP:// etc.
Access date before ◊[accessed◊ behind ]   year/month/day
Result Hlaváč, P.; Newton, A. F. & Maruyama, M. 2011: World catalogue of the species of the tribe Lomechusini (Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae). — Zootaxa 3075: 1-151.

Monograph, collected edition, research report

Component Formatting Example Remark
Legend * mandatory specification, ◊ blank, — dash
Authors or editors * between ;◊ before the last ◊&◊ behind ◊(ed) oder ◊(eds) Kazenas,◊V.◊L. last name, initial
Year of publication * before ◊ ◊2000 if several years, then from-to
Title of the monograph * before :◊ :◊Digger wasps (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae) of Kazakhstan. Part 2. Subfamilies Pemphredoninae and Astatinae (in Russian). Title, numbering and subtitle were summarized here; names of species and genera italic; finish with punctuation mark of the title or with full stop
Volume before ◊   description in the language of the monograph, e.g.: Band 1, Part 3
Edition before ,◊   description in the language of the monograph, e.g.: 2nd edition, Verbesserte Edition
Editors of the series before ◊—◊ between ;◊ before the last ◊&◊ behind ◊(ed) oder ◊(eds)   last name, initial
Title of the series before :◊   names of species and genera italic; finish with punctuation mark of the title or with full stop
Publisher before ◊—◊ ◊—◊Ministerstvo Obrazovaniya i Nauki Respubliki Kazakhstan. Institut Zoologii First publisher suffices
Place of publication before ,◊ ,◊Almaty First place of publication suffices
Number of pages before :◊ :◊320 pp. finish one page with p., several with pp.
ISBN before ◊—◊    
DOI before ◊—◊DOI:◊    
URL before ◊—◊ ◊—◊https://archive.org/details/KazenasV.L.DiggerWaspshymenopteraSphecidaeOfKazakhstan.Part2 detailed, withHTTP:// etc.
Access date before ◊[accessed◊ behind ] ◊[accessed◊2017/02/10] year/month/day
Result Kazenas, V. L. 2000: Digger wasps (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae) of Kazakhstan. Part 2. Subfamilies Pemphredoninae and Astatinae (in Russian). — Ministerstvo Obrazovaniya i Nauki Respubliki Kazakhstan. Institut Zoologii, Almaty: 320 pp. — https://archive.org/details/KazenasV.L.DiggerWaspshymenopteraSphecidaeOfKazakhstan.Part2 [accessed 2017/02/10].

Book section, contribution in handbooks or collected editions

Component Formatting Example Remark
Legend * mandatory specification, ◊ blank, — dash
Authors * between ;◊ before the last ◊&◊ Zorn,◊C. last name, initial
Year of publication * before ◊ ◊2006 if several years, then from-to
Title of the section * before :◊ :◊Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae: Anomalini. if title is missing, alternatively use start of text in []; names of species and genera italic; finish with punctuation mark of the title or with full stop
Pages of the section * before :◊ :◊251-276 from-to
Editors of the monograph before ◊—◊In:◊ between ;◊ before the last ◊&◊ behind ◊(ed) oder ◊(eds) ◊—◊In:◊Löbl,◊I.◊&◊Smetana,◊A.◊(eds) last name, initial
Title of the monograph * before :◊ :◊Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera. names of species and genera italic; finish with punctuation mark of the title or with full stop
Volume before ◊   description in the language of the monograph, e.g.: Band 1, Part 3
Edition before ,◊   description in the language of the monograph, e.g.: 2nd edition, Verbesserte Edition
Editors of the series before ◊—◊ between ;◊ before the last ◊&◊ behind ◊(ed) oder ◊(eds)   last name, initial
Title of the series before :◊   names of species and genera italic; finish with punctuation mark of the title or with full stop
Publisher before ◊—◊ ◊—◊Apollo Books First publisher suffices
Place of publication before ,◊ ,◊Stenstrup First place of publication suffices
ISBN before ◊—◊    
DOI before ◊—◊DOI:◊    
URL before ◊—◊   detailed, withHTTP:// etc.
Access date before ◊[accessed◊ behind ]   year/month/day
Result Zorn, C. 2006: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae: Anomalini.: 251-276 — In: Löbl, I. & Smetana, A. (eds): Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera. Volume 3 — Apollo Books, Stenstrup.

Contribution in conference proceedings

Component Formatting Example Remark
Legend * mandatory specification, ◊ blank, — dash
Authors * between ;◊ before the last ◊&◊ El-Desouky,◊A.◊&◊Hall,◊D.◊G. last name, initial
Year of publication * before ◊ ◊2012 if several years, then from-to
Title of the contribution * before :◊ :◊New simple methods for studying hemipteran stylets, bacteriomes and salivary sheaths in host plants. if title is missing, alternatively use start of text in []; names of species and genera italic; finish with punctuation mark of the title or with full stop
Pages * before :◊ :◊2 [unnumbered] from-to
Editors of the conference proceedings before ◊—◊In:◊ between ;◊ before the last ◊&◊ behind ◊(ed) oder ◊(eds)   last name, initial
Title of the conference proceedings * before :◊ ◊—◊In:◊95th Annual Meeting if editor is missing, then before ◊—◊In:◊
Date of the conference before ,◊ 22012/07/22-25 year/month/day
Volume before ◊ presentation abstracts poster session 1 description in the language of the monograph, e.g.: Band 1, Part 3
Publisher before ◊—◊ ◊—◊Florida Entomological Society First publisher suffices
Place of publication before ,◊ ,◊Jupiter, Florida First place of publication suffices
DOI before ◊—◊DOI:◊    
URL before ◊—◊ http://www.flaentsoc.org/2012annmeetabstracts.pdf detailed, withHTTP:// etc.
Access date before ◊[accessed◊ behind ] 2017/06/20 year/month/day
Result El-Desouky, A. & Hall, D. G. 2012: New simple methods for studying hemipteran stylets, bacteriomes and salivary sheaths in host plants.: 2 [unnumbered] — In: 95th Annual Meeting, 2012/07/22-25, presentation ab-stracts, poster session 1 — Florida Entomological Society, Jupiter, Florida — http://www.flaentsoc.org/2012annmeetabstracts.pdf [accessed 2017/06/20].

Article in newspapers

Component Formatting Example Remark
Legend * mandatory specification, ◊ blank, — dash
Authors * between ;◊ before the last ◊&◊ Trunschke,◊A. last name, initial
Year of publication * before ◊ ◊2017 if several years, then from-to
Title of the  article * before :◊ :◊Käfer in Großformat. names of species and genera italic; finish with punctuation mark of the title or with full stop
Titleof the newspaper * before ◊—◊ ◊—◊Märkische Oderzeitung detailed, not abbreviated; when applicable local edition
Publisher before ◊—◊   First publisher suffices
Place of publication before ,◊ ,◊Bad Belzig First place of publication suffices
Date of the newspaper before ,◊ ,◊2017/05/09 year/month/day
Pages * before :◊ :◊[no page number] from-to
DOI before ◊—◊DOI:◊    
URL before ◊—◊ ◊—◊http://www.moz.de/artikel-ansicht/dg/0/1/1572477 detailed, withHTTP:// etc.
Access date before ◊[accessed◊ behind ] ◊[accessed◊2017/06/20] year/month/day
Result Trunschke, A. 2017: Käfer in Großformat. — Märkische Oderzeitung, Bad Belzig, 2017/05/09: [no page number] — http://www.moz.de/artikel-ansicht/dg/0/1/1572477 [accessed 2017/06/20].

Personal communication

Component Formatting Example Remark
Legend * mandatory specification, ◊ blank, — dash
Authors * between ;◊ before the last ◊&◊ Swigert,◊J. last name, initial
Year of publication * before ◊ ◊1970 if several years, then from-to
Title of the communication * before :◊ :◊[Houston, we've had a problem here...]. if title is missing, alternatively use start of text in []; names of species and genera italic; finish with punctuation mark of the title or with full stop
Typ of the communication * before ◊—◊ ◊—◊radio message e.g.: letter, pers. commun., radio message
Ort before ,◊ ,◊Apollo 13 in space First place of publication suffices
Date of the communication before ,◊ ,◊1970/04/14 year/month/day
Pages before :◊   from-to
Recipient before ,◊Recipient:◊ ,◊recipient:◊Houston Controll Center if person, then last name, initial
DOI before ◊—◊DOI:◊    
URL before ◊—◊   detailed, withHTTP:// etc.
Access date before ◊[accessed◊ behind ]   year/month/day
Result Swigert, J. 1970: [Houston, we've had a problem here...]. — radio message, Apollo 13 in space, 1970/04/14, recipient: Houston Controll Center.

Thesis (dissertation, degree dissertation etc.)

Component Formatting Example Remark
Legend * mandatory specification, ◊ blank, — dash
Authors * between ;◊ before the last ◊&◊ Kramp,◊K. last name, initial
Year of publication * before ◊ ◊2014 if several years, then from-to
Title of the thesis * before :◊ :◊Comparative European phylogeography of mountain forest and peatland species using the example of two plant and two butterfly species. names of species and genera italic; finish with punctuation mark of the title or with full stop
Typ of the thesis * before ◊—◊ ◊—◊Dissertation  
University before ,◊ ,◊Universität Trier  
Place of the University before ,◊   First place of publication suffices
Date of the thesis before ,◊ ,◊2014/07/22 year/month/day
Number of pages before :◊ :◊viii + 118 + 1 pp.  
DOI before ◊—◊DOI:◊    
URL before ◊—◊ ◊—◊http://ubt.opus.hbz-nrw.de/volltexte/2014/842/pdf/Dissertation_Katja_Kramp.pdf detailed, withHTTP:// etc.
Access date before ◊[accessed◊ behind ] ◊[accessed◊2017/06/16] year/month/day
Result Kramp, K. 2014: Comparative European phylogeography of mountain forest and peatland species using the example of two plant and two butterfly species. — Dissertation, Universität Trier, 2014/07/22: viii + 118 + 1 pp. — http://ubt.opus.hbz-nrw.de/volltexte/2014/842/pdf/Dissertation_Katja_Kramp.pdf [accessed 2017/06/16].

Web page

Component Formatting Example Remark
Legend * mandatory specification, ◊ blank, — dash
Authors * between ;◊ before the last ◊&◊ Pulawski,◊W. last name, initial
Year of publication * before ◊ ◊2016 if several years, then from-to
Title of the web page * before :◊ ◊:Dryudella (last updated 17. November 2016). In: Catalog of Sphecidae sensu lato (= Apoidea excluding Apidae). if title is missing, alternatively use start of text in []; names of species and genera italic; finish with punctuation mark of the title or with full stop
DOI before ◊—◊DOI:◊    
URL before ◊—◊ ◊—◊http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/entomology/entomology_resources/hymenoptera/sphecidae/genera/Dryudella.pdf detailed, withHTTP:// etc.
Access date before ◊[accessed◊ behind ] ◊[accessed◊2017/06/16] year/month/day
Result Pulawski, W. J. 2016: Dryudella (last updated 17 November 2016). In: Catalog of Sphecidae sensu lato (= Apoidea excluding Apidae). — http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/entomology/entomology_resources/hymenoptera/sphecidae/genera/Dryudella.pdf [accessed 2016/12/10].

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