Guidelines for authors

** These guidelines (slightly modified) can now be found on our escholarship site. Please note that all submissions must now be made through the escholarship site. **

PaleoBios accepts papers on all aspects of unpublished original paleontological research from all fields of paleontology. Authors need not be affiliated with UCMP, nor does research have to be based on UCMP collections.

Manuscripts must be in Microsoft Word format, in 12 point Times New Roman, double-spaced throughout, including literature cited, figure captions, and tables, and typically should not exceed 50 pages. Do not justify margins and avoid ending sentences with hyphens or dashes. Sentences are to be separated by a single space. Indent paragraphs 1/4". Words to be italicized should be in italics, not underlined. Type author(s') name(s) and page number in the upper right-hand corner of each page, beginning with page 2 (Abstract page).

Manuscripts must be prepared in the following sequence:

Title page |  Abstract page |  Text |  Literature Cited |  Tables |  Figures |  Figure captions |  Submission

Title page

Center title on the page, 2.54 cm (1 inch) from the top margin, typed in boldface. The Title page is page one, but do not number it.

Type author(s') name(s) in capital letters, centered below title. Type affiliation, complete unabbreviated mailing address, and e-mail address, centered below author(s') name(s). For multiple authors at different institutions, type superscript numbers after the last letter of the author's names, with the corresponding superscript numbers typed in front of the first letter of each author's address (e.g., JOHN DOE¹, ¹Department of Paleontology, Howland University; JANE BUCK², ²Department of Geology, State University).

Abstract page

Single paragraph summarizing paper, up to one double-spaced page. Numbering begins with page 2, the Abstract page.

Text (Introduction, Materials & Methods, Results, Systematic Paleontology, Discussion)

All margins 2.54 cm (1 inch).

Main headings are in capital letters and centered on one line. Secondary headings are boldfaced, first letter capitalized, left justified, and on line by itself. Tertiary headings, if necessary, are to be indented and italicized and/or underlined, followed by a dash with text following on the same line. For example:

Nomenclature in manuscripts should follow standard International Codes.

All genera and species names are to be in italics. When a taxon is first mentioned in the text it should be accompanied by the author and year.

Latin terms (sensu, in situ, contra, etc.) should be italicized except when they immediately follow italicized names. Do not italicize common Latin abbreviations (cf., et al., etc.).

Figures and tables must be cited in the text and, as far as possible, appear in numerical order throughout the text.

Write out "Figure" only at the beginning of a sentence and in figure captions (see sample captions below); otherwise use "Fig." if singular (e.g., Fig. 2); "Figs." if plural (e.g., Figs. 2, 3 or Figs. 3-7).

Use the metric system. Write out numbers one to ten, unless a measurement (e.g., seven clams, 6.0 cm, 0.15 mm).

Styles for literature cited in text: single author, Gray (1998) or (Gray 1998); two authors, Gray and Black (1997) or (Gray and Black 1997); three or more authors, use "et al." (e.g., Gray et al. (1998) or (Gray et al. 1998), but list all names in the Literature Cited section. Citation of papers accepted, but not yet published, e.g., Gray (in press) or (Gray in press). Papers in review are not to be listed in the Literature Cited section, but referred to in text as, e.g., Gray (unpublished data) or (personal observation) or (personal communication). Use commas to separate citations in parentheses e.g., (Gray 1994, Black and Bleu 1997, Rose 1997, White et al. 1998), and list in chronological order starting with the earliest. Citations should be ordered first by publication date, second alphabetically, e.g., (Lander 1977, Kelly and Lander 1988b, Lander 1988, 1989, Lander and Kelly 1989).

All references in text must be listed in the Literature Cited section, and vice versa.

Systematic Paleontology section should conform to the following general style:
All supraspecific taxonomic category names should be in small caps followed by authority and year, with first category left justified and each successive category indented. For example:

SUBORDER: TAENIOLABIDOIDEA Granger et Simpson 1929
    FAMILY: EUCOSMODONTIDAE Jepsen 1940
       SUBFAMILY: MICROCOSMODONTINAE Holtzman et Wolberg 1977
          GENUS: MICROSMODON Jepsen 1930

Included should be diagnoses, descriptions, designated type specimens, type localities, etymologies, etc.

Subheadings should be boldfaced with first letter capitalized (e.g., Diagnosis—with text following on same line).

Literature Cited

List references in alphabetical order using the following styles:

Periodicals:

Bell, C.J. 1993. Fossil lizards from the Elsinore fault zone, Riverside
   County, California. PaleoBios 15(2):17-26.
Wolfe, J.A, H.E. Schorn, C.R. Forest, and P. Molnar. 1997. Paleobotanical
   evidence for high altitudes in Nevada during the Miocene. Science
   276:1672-1675.

Periodicals with edited theme:

Lucas, S.G., and R.M. Schoch. 1989. Taxonomy of Duchesneodus
   (Brontotheriidae) from the late Eocene of North America. In D.R.
   Prothero and R.M. Schoch (eds.). The Evolution of the
   Perissodactyls. Oxford Monographs on Geology and Geophysics
   15(27):490-503.

Books:

Simpson, G.G. 1951. Horses: The Story of the Horse Family in the Modern
   World and Through Sixty Years of History. Oxford University Press, New
   York. 247 pp.

Edited books:

Rose, K.D., and T.M. Bown. 1993. Species concepts and species
   recognition in Eocene primates. Pp. 299-330 in W.H. Kimbell and L.B. Martin
   (eds.). Species, Species Concepts, and Primate Evolution. Plenum Press, New York.

Thesis:

Klucking, E.P. 1962. An Oligocene flora from the western Cascades. Ph.D.
   diss. University of California, Berkeley, CA.

No space between author initials or following colon.

Single-authored citations are listed first in chronological order, starting with the earliest date. Citations with same senior author and one coauthor are listed second, again in chronological order; those of same senior author with two coauthors are listed third, and so on.

Write out journal titles in full.

Tables

Double-spaced; data arranged in columns in same font and size as text; each on a separate page with the title at the top of the table, numbered in Arabic numerals, in sequence according to its appearance in the text.

Do not use vertical lines to separate columns.

Figures (all non-table illustrations)

PaleoBios aims at publishing illustrations of the highest quality so authors' adherence to PaleoBios format is appreciated.

We are now accepting only digital images.

Figure basics
Arrange figures in proper sequence, as far as possible, according to their appearance in the text.

All photos, drawings and graphs are considered figures and each is to be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals (e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc.). This applies to plates of more than one image as well (e.g., Figs. 3–7) — do not use letters to label the images.

Where appropriate, figures should include a scale bar.

Handwritten numbers, letters, or symbols on figures are not acceptable.

Figure dimensions and resolution
Prepare your figures for final publication size, either one or two columns in width. PaleoBios has a two-column format: a one-column figure should be 8.7 cm or 3.417 inches wide; a two-column figure should be 17.8 cm or 7.0 inches wide. Maximum figure height is 23.4 cm or 9.21 inches. Leave no white space around the perimeter of figures — crop figures tightly so that the actual image spans the width of the page or column.

All figures must be of sufficient resolution so that when printed, there is no pixelation or fuzziness — a minimum of 300 dpi for photographs and 600 dpi for line art (e.g., drawings, maps) is required. The preferred format for photographs is basic Photoshop (.psd extension), although tiffs are acceptable (.tif extension). IMPORTANT: In manuscripts submitted for review, jpegs may be used, however, they may not be used in your final submission for publication. Also, if you prepare a figure or compose a plate of figures in Adobe Illustrator, you must also submit (separately) any individual Photoshop files that were included within the Illustrator file. Put any numbers, lines, labels, letters, symbols or scale bar on a separate layer or layers (that goes for both Photoshop and Illustrator). Figures not meeting these conditions will be returned for editing.

Figure captions

Type figure captions in paragraph form on separate page, not on the actual figures. For grouped figures start with descriptor of inclusive series, then individual figure number and caption (e.g., Figs. 3-6 below).

Figure 1. Map showing fossil locality.
Figure 2. Generalized stratigraphic section marking position of fossil locality.
Figures 3-6. Skull of Stygimoloch spinifer, UCMP 1234567, scale bar=5 mm. 3. Skull in right lateral view. 4. Illustrative drawing of skull in right lateral view. 5. Skull in left lateral view. 6. Illustrative drawing of skull in left lateral view.

List explanations of symbols/abbreviations used in figures at the end of last page of the Figure captions section.

Submission

** With PaleoBios transitioning to an Open Access format, authors must now submit manuscripts and associated files using the escholarship.org website. **

Submissions should be in Microsoft Word format. Figures should follow the digital image guidelines listed at the end of the figures section above. Include all illustrations with submission, and a cover letter with any special instructions, address changes over the next several months, phone and FAX numbers for the corresponding author, and names and addresses (including e-mail and FAX numbers) of suggested reviewers.

Manuscripts not in PaleoBios format will be subject to delay and further revision.

Follow the Submission Guidelines on our escholarship page. Once your manuscript is in PaleoBios format, select "Submit Article" from the gray "Journal Info" column. Files are no longer being accepted via e-mail. During this transition period to Open Access on escholarship.org, please e-mail any questions to the PaleoBios editor.

Your page proof file must be accompanied by a completed transfer of copyright form (Word document). Your manuscript cannot be published until this form is returned to the editor because of copyright law that became effective January 1, 2007.

PaleoBios is a peer-reviewed journal. Manuscripts are evaluated by qualified reviewers. There is no manuscript submission fee or page charges for publishing in PaleoBios. Authors of papers 50 pages or more or those with a large number of illustrations may be asked to make a contribution toward their manuscript's publication costs; however, this contribution may be waived at the Editor's discretion. The senior author will receive 20 reprints and a pdf file of their paper when it is published; ordering additional reprints is no longer an option.
 

PaleoBios Home  |   Back Issues  |   Guidelines for Authors  |   Contact us