Cover Letter (send by e-mail)

Submitted to Editor of Journal of Ecological Research: Dr. Douglas S. Glazier, Department of Biology, Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA 16652 (e-mail = glazier@juniata.edu).

Format and Method of Submission of Manuscript

Ÿ Send by Microsoft Word attachment in your cover letter e-mail message

Ÿ Title of paper should be in 16 font and in bold capital letters. It should be centered at top of first page.

Ÿ After a triple space give authors' names (e.g., James H. Econut, Mary L. Nature and Theodore Treehugger) in 12 font and in normal letters. Center the names together.

Ÿ After a triple space begin text of paper. Titles of each section (i.e., INTRODUCTION, METHODS AND MATERIALS, RESULTS, etc.) should be 12 font, capitalized throughout and centered. Text within sections should be 10 font and single-spaced. Sections should be separated by double-spaces.

Ÿ Use digits for numbers (e.g., 7 and 45) unless the number is the first word of a sentence, where it is spelled out. Use symbols or abbreviations (e.g., % and kg) for measurement units that follow a number unless the number is indefinite (thousands of hectares), is a "0" (zero) standing alone, or is the first word. In such cases spell out the number and unit name or recast the sentence. Spell out numbers used as pronouns (i.e. one) or adverbs and ordinal numbers (e.g., first and second). Do not use naked decimals (i.e., use 0.05, not .05).

Ÿ Do not underline or italicize numbers, Greek letters, names of trigonometric and transcendental functions, or certain statistical terms (e.g., ln, e, exp, max, min, lim, SD, SE, CV, and df).

Ÿ Do not capitalize common names of species except words that are proper names (e.g., Canada goose [Branta canadensis], Swainson's hawk [Buteo swainsoni], versus white-tailed deer [Odocoileus virginianus]).

Ÿ When citing literature write the name and then the year without a comma: (Rotella 1992).  Place comas between articles cited in conjunction or between years indicating different articles of the same author: (Barr 1986, Heinz 1976, 1979, Scheuhammer and Blancher 1994, Tejning 1967). List articles alphabetically in this instance.
 
 

Manuscript Sections

ABSTRACT

A terse summary of your results and their implications. Identify the problem or hypothesis and explain why it was important. The abstract should be centered in block print with margins one inch wider than the rest of the document on either side.

KEYWORDS

Space one line between the abstract and the keywords. Provide a list of up to five keywords. These words could be common/scientific names of the organisms or ecosystems you studied, or specific things (e.g., populations, vernal ponds, body size, etc.), processes (e.g., succession, pollution, competition, etc.) or concepts examined (e.g., Bergmann’s Rule, Competitive Exclusion Principle, etc.) in your paper. They should be listed alphabetically and within the same margins as the abstract. After this section space one line and then type a solid line from the left to right full margins. Begin the text with full margins below this line.

INTRODUCTION

What is the question(s) you are asking? What hypotheses are being tested? Why is it worthwhile to test these hypotheses? What organism or system are you studying? Give appropriate background information (i.e., what is already known about the subject?). Best way to organize this section is to proceed from the "general" to "specific". Your job here is to orient the reader to what your paper is about and to explain why it is interesting.

FIELD SITE

This section is sometimes included in ecological papers. Briefly describe the environment of your study site. Include physical, chemical, and biotic aspects. It may be included in the Methods and Materials section.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

Describe the methods and materials you used to obtain your results (test your hypotheses) in sufficient detail that someone else could repeat your research. Be sure to describe sampling (experimental) design and statistical procedures used. Use the past tense throughout.

RESULTS

What did you find? Illustrate with figures and/or tables (include titles for tables and legends for figures). Insert tables and figures in text. Be sure to describe all tables and figures verbally in the text. Be sure to give units of measurement, sample sizes, and the results of your statistical tests (e.g., for t-tests include the t value and its probability; for correlation tests include r value and its probability; etc.). In this section you should only describe your findings without explanation or interpretation. Both Tables and Figures should be numbered independently (i.e. your paper will have both a Table1. and a Fig. 1.). Tables are labeled above and figures below. Labels should be able to describe the table or figure in such a way that you can understand the table without having to read any of the paper. Include year of data collection and general location (i.e., Pennsylvania). Construct tables for column-width printing; do not exceed the normal margins of the paper.
 

DISCUSSION

What do your results mean? What do you conclude from your results? Did anything unexpected happen. Explain why. What further research could be done to clarify your findings? Compare your results with those in the literature.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Acknowledge anyone outside of your group who helped you with your project.

LITERATURE CITED

All published work cited in your paper. Follow the format of Ecology. Examples follow:

For a book-

Niklas, K.J. 1994. Plant allometry. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

For a journal article-

Bowers, M.A. and J.H. Brown. 1992. Body size and co-existence in desert rodents: chance or community structure. Ecology 63: 391-400.

For a book chapter-

Lawton, J.H. 1987. Are there assembly rules for successional communities? Pages 225-244 in A.J. Gray, M.J. Crawley and P.J. Edwards, editors. Colonization, succession and stability. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford, England.

Be sure to double-space between references. It is important that you follow the above format exactly. Editors of scientific journals expect that submitted papers follow precisely the guidelines of the journal. This ensures consistency and high quality of all papers published in the journal.