Author Guideline

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

Online submission and review of manuscripts is now mandatory for all types of papers. Please read and follow the instructions for authors given below. When your manuscript has been prepared in accordance with these instructions and you are ready to submit online, go to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jappl-besjournals. Select the Journal of Applied Ecology when you log on to the online submission site. If submission is completed successfully, a manuscript ID will appear on screen and an e-mail acknowledgement will follow. Subsequent correspondence should be routed via the Managing Editor, Dr Gillian Kerby, at japplecol@britishEcologicalSociety.org

Editorial Policy
The Journal of Applied Ecology is an international journal that combines the highest standards of ecological science with direct relevance to environmental management. For readers, the Journal provides generic, topical and applicable knowledge from all types of organisms and all types of ecosystems. For authors, it offers publication in a journal of recognised prestige with a large circulation to researchers, environmental managers, students and libraries worldwide. Our ISI® Impact Factor of 4.560 places us within the top rank of all ecology journals. Papers from the journal are now receiving wide media coverage and recognition in political circles.

The Journal of Applied Ecology publishes original papers that apply ecological concepts, theories, models and methods to the management of biological resources in their widest sense. Equally, the editors encourage contributions that use applied ecological problems to test and develop basic ecological theory. The focus, which should be explicitly ecological, includes all major themes in applied ecology: conservation biology, global change, pollution biology, wildlife and habitat management, land use and management, aquatic resources, restoration ecology, and the effects of genetically modified organisms. Articles that interact with related fields are welcomed providing that their relevance to applied ecology is clear. An editorial in Volume 42, Issue 1, discusses the scope of the Journal in detail.

Since the scope is large, contributions should be of the highest quality. Papers should convey important recommendations for environmental management and policy. We seek Reviews or Mini-reviews that offer timely synthesis, and we encourage Forum articles that stimulate dialogue between ecologists and managers. Where there is clear justification, the Journal publishes outstanding submissions under the heading Priority Contributions.

The Journal draws together groups of papers in Special Profiles with a common theme of topical relevance in ecology. The profile is usually introduced by an editorial that sets the context; highlights the key messages from the research included in the feature; and shows how it contributes to the field of applied ecology as a whole. These articles provide an overview of the issue for our readers and demonstrate how themes in applied ecology develop within the pages of the Journal over time. We welcome Opinion pieces that provide new perspectives on any issue covered in a special profile and we may invite such contributions from practitioners or others in the field.

Whilst encouraging authors to submit their best and most innovative work to us, the Journal of Applied Ecology also seeks to build on past work published in the Journal, where relevant. This preserves the internal integrity of the Journal's themes and increases exposure of published papers. The Journal sometimes has papers in production or in press that are relevant to papers currently under consideration. Authors may not be aware of this work if it is not published or is recently published. Other papers may have been published since a paper was originally submitted. As part of our editorial service, we may draw authors' attention to other journal papers of relevance. There is no requirement to cite such papers at any stage.


Welfare and Legal Policy
Researchers must have proper regard for conservation and animal welfare. Attention is drawn to the 'Guidelines for the Use of Animals in Research' published in each January issue of the journal Animal Behaviour since 1991. Any possible adverse consequences of the work for ecosystems, populations or individual organisms must be weighed against the possible gains in knowledge and its practical applications. Authors are required to sign a declaration that their work conforms to the legal requirements of the country in which it was carried out (see below), but editors may seek advice from referees on ethical matters and the final decision will rest with the editors.

Submission
The Journal of Applied Ecology has a fully web-based system for the submission and review of manuscripts. Authors must submit their manuscripts online. Full instructions and a helpline are accessible from the 'Get Help Now' icon on the online submission site at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jappl-besjournals. Please use this facility or contact support@scholarone.com in case of difficulty. Should problems persist, please notify the Managing Editor.

During submission, authors will be required to agree to the Author's Declaration confirming that:

• the work as submitted has not been published or accepted for publication, nor is being considered for publication elsewhere, either in whole or substantial part;
• the work is original and all necessary acknowledgements have been made;
• all authors and relevant institutions have read the submitted version of the manuscript and approve its submission;
• all persons entitled to authorship have been so included;
• all work conforms to the legal requirements of the country in which it was carried out, including those relating to conservation and welfare, and to the Journal's policy on these matters.

Manuscripts should not exceed 7000 words. We will, in exceptional circumstances, consider longer papers, provided that a clear justification is provided in the cover letter. Authors are reminded that online supporting information can be used to provide additional data for readers.

Manuscripts should be typed in double spacing with a generous margin, and pages should be numbered consecutively, including those containing acknowledgements, references, tables and figures. Lines must be numbered, preferably within pages. Typescripts must be in English and spelling should conform to the Concise Dictionary of Current English. Journal of Applied Ecology rarely publishes Appendices in the printed version, but additional supporting information may be published in the online version of the article.

Manuscripts for review must consist of no more than two files and should, ideally, be a single Word file with figures embedded at the end of the text. This file will be converted to PDF (portable document format) upon upload. Referees will be given access to the PDF version although the Word file will remain accessible by the Managing Editor. Authors must therefore open each of the PDF files during submission to check that conversion has not introduced any errors.

Do not include high-resolution versions of figures at submission; reduce the size and resolution of graphics to a file size of less than 1 MB. If a manuscript is accepted, higher quality versions of figures can be submitted at a later stage. Authors should retain their electronic manuscript file in case of any difficulties arising during online submission.

Papers must reach certain standards before referees are asked to consider them: submissions that are out of scope of the journal or do not match our criteria may be rejected without review. A member of the editorial team undertakes the pre-review assessment, and up to 30% of papers submitted to the journal may be rejected at this stage. Manuscripts that are not in the correct format, are too large or which cannot be downloaded and printed reliably, maybe also be returned to authors without review.

At submission, authors are asked to provide the names and contact details of 5 potential referees. These should be scientists qualified to provide an independent assessment of the work.

Pre-submission English-language Editing
Authors for whom English is a second language may wish to consider having their manuscript professionally edited before submission to improve the English. A list of independent suppliers of editing services can be found at www.blackwellpublishing.com/bauthor/english_language.asp. All services are paid for and arranged by the author, and use of one of these services does not guarantee acceptance or preference for publication.

Types of Paper

STANDARD PAPERS
Given the need to balance a significant increase in submissions and our wish to publish as much top quality applied ecological science as we can, standard research papers should not normally exceed 9 printed pages, or 7000 words, inclusive of the summary, main text, references, tables and figure legends (although excluding any supporting information). The manuscript should be arranged as follows.

Title page. This should contain:

• A concise and informative title. Do not include the authorities for any taxonomic names.
• A list of authors' names and addresses.
• The name, address and e-mail address of the corresponding author. Include a telex or fax number if possible.
• A running title not exceeding 45 characters.
• A word count of the entire paper including references, tables and figure legends.

Summary (called the Abstract on the web submission site). This should outline the purpose of the paper and the main results, conclusions and recommendations, using clear, factual, numbered statements. The Summary should follow a formula in which point 1 sets the context and need for the work; point 2 indicates the approach and methods used; the next 2-3 points outline the main results; and the last point identifies the wider implications and relevance to management or policy. The final summary point carries the subheading 'Synthesis and applications' and is the most important of all in maximising the impact of the paper. It should synthesise the paper's key messages as widely as possible: it should be generic, seminal and accessible to non-specialists. The whole Summary should be readily understandable to all the Journal's readers, and must not exceed 350 words.

Key-words. A list in alphabetical order not exceeding 10 words or short phrases. Avoid overlap with the title.

Introduction. State the reason for the work, the context and the hypotheses being tested.

Materials and methods. Include sufficient details for the work to be repeated.

Results. State the results, drawing attention to important details in tables and figures.

Discussion. Point out the importance of the results and place them in the context of previous studies and in relation to the application of the work (expanding on the Synthesis and applications section of the Summary). Where appropriate, set out recommendations for management or policy.

Acknowledgements. Be brief.

References (see Specifications below).

Tables (see Specifications). These should be referred to in the text as Table 1, etc. Avoid duplication between figures and tables.

Figures (see Specifications). Figures and their legends should be grouped together at the end of the paper. Figures should be referred to in the text as Fig. 1, Figs 1 & 2, etc. Photographic illustrations should also be referred to as Figures.

Supporting Information and Appendices. Please note that Journal of Applied Ecology rarely publishes Appendices in the printed version, but essential supporting information may be published in the online version of the article. Instructions for the preparation of Supporting Information are given here and at http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/bauthor/suppmat.asp

In order to promote the advancement of science through the process of documenting and making available the research information and supporting data behind published studies, the editors of this journal strongly encourage authors to make arrangements for archiving their underlying data.

REVIEWS
Reviews should provide timely synthesis of topical themes in major areas of applied ecology. They should also offer new insights or perspectives to guide future research efforts. The editors are actively seeking reviews and mini-reviews, and will be happy to discuss proposals with authors before submission. Reviews should not normally exceed 8000 words. The title page, summary, references and supporting elements should follow the format for standard papers, but the layout of the main text can be flexible.

FORUM ARTICLES
Forum articles stimulate debate in the ecological community. They should be short contributions up to 4000 words and offering conceptual advance, opinion, response to previous articles, or identifying gaps in knowledge. We welcome items that develop dialogue between ecologists and environmental managers. The title page, summary (up to 150 words), references, tables and figures should follow the format for standard papers. The Journal encourages forum contributions organised around a cogent theme.

Decisions and invitations to revise
As a leading international journal, our aim is to publish innovative papers that apply ecological knowledge to address management issues, or that use applied ecological problems to test and develop basic ecological theory. We expect authors to produce a detailed analysis of the applied implications of their work and to translate their results into management recommendations, where appropriate. All submissions will be assessed by one or more editors to determine whether they fall within the general remit of Journal of Applied Ecology, address a broad rather than narrow ecological subject area, have the potential to make a substantial contribution both to ecological understanding and management issues, and cover a subject area that is topical and, therefore, potentially of interest to a wide readership. Papers that do not fulfil these criteria are likely to be rejected without review. This reduces the burden on both the refereeing community and the editorial system, and enables authors to submit, without delay, to another journal.

After this initial screening, all types of papers are subject to peer review and authors can expect a decision, or an explanation for the delay, within 3 months of receipt. If a revision is invited, the corresponding author should submit the revised manuscript within 6 weeks. Otherwise, revisions may be treated as new submissions and sent for further evaluation by new referees unless there are special reasons for prolonged delay agreed, in advance, with editor.

Accepted manuscripts
Editors reserve the right to modify accepted manuscripts that do not conform to scientific, technical, stylistic or grammatical standards, and minor alterations of this nature may not be seen by authors until the proof stage.

All Authors will be required to sign an Exclusive Licence Form (ELF) when a paper is accepted for publication. Signature of the ELF is a condition of publication and papers will not be passed to the publisher for production unless a signed form has been received. Please note that signature of the Exclusive Licence Form does not affect ownership of copyright for the material. After submission authors will retain the right to publish their paper in various media/circumstances (please see the form for further details).
A link to the appropriate form will be supplied by the editorial office at acceptance. Please read carefully before signing: conditions are changed from time to time and may not be the same as the last time you completed one of these forms.

OnlineOpen
OnlineOpen is available to authors of primary research articles who wish to make their article available to non-subscribers on publication, or whose funding agency requires grantees to archive the final version of their article. With OnlineOpen the author, the author's funding agency, or the author's institution pays a fee to ensure that the article is made available to non-subscribers upon publication via Wiley InterScience, as well as deposited in the funding agency's preferred archive. For the full list of terms and conditions, click here. 

Any authors wishing to send their paper OnlineOpen will be required to complete the payment form available from our website here. 

Prior to acceptance there is no requirement to inform an Editorial Office that you intend to publish your paper OnlineOpen if you do not wish to. All OnlineOpen articles are treated in the same way as any other article. They go through the journal's standard peer-review process and will be accepted or rejected based on their own merit.

Tracking of accepted manuscripts
Author Services enables authors to track their article through the production process to publication online and in print. Authors can check the status of their articles online and choose to receive automated e-mails at key stages of production. The author will receive an e-mail with a unique link that enables them to register and have their article automatically added to the system. A complete, current e-mail address must be provided when submitting the manuscript. Visit www.blackwellpublishing.com/bauthor for more details on online production tracking.

Southwood Prize for the best young author
The British Ecological Society awards the Southwood Prize to the author of the best paper by a young investigator in any subject area published in each volume of the Journal of Applied Ecology. Authors will be invited to indicate their eligibility at the time of acceptance. The first-named or sole author will be considered if they are at the start of their independent research career.

Handling proofs
The corresponding author will receive an e-mail alert containing a link to a web address from where a PDF file of the proof can be downloaded. A reliable e-mail address must therefore be provided for the corresponding author. Acrobat Reader software can be downloaded (free of charge) from www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. This will enable the file to be opened, read on screen, and printed out in order for any corrections to be added. Further instructions will be sent with the proof. Contributor's whose e-mail connection is unreliable, or who are likely to be out of contact and cannot have their e-mail checked regularly, should nominate an alternative person to receive and correct the proofs; they should do this when submitting their final typescript. Alterations to the text, other than typesetting errors, may be charged to the author. Proofs should be checked carefully; it is the corresponding author's responsibility to ensure they are correct.

Corrected proofs must be returned by e-mail,fax or first-class post/airmail within 3 days of receipt to:
Journal of Applied Ecology
Wiley-Blackwell
John Wiley & Sons
9600 Garsington Road
Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1865 476477.
Fax: +44 (0) 1865 714591
E-mail: penny.baker@wiley.com

The editors reserve the right to correct the proofs, using the accepted version of the typescript, if the author's corrections are overdue and the journal would otherwise be delayed.

Early View publication
The Journal of Applied Ecology is covered by the Early View service. Early View articles are complete, full-text articles published online in advance of their publication in a printed issue. Articles are therefore available as soon as they are ready, rather than having to wait for the next scheduled print issue. To register to receive an e-mail alert when your Early View article is published, please go to http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/email_alert.pdf

Early View articles are complete and final. They have been fully reviewed, revised and edited for publication, and the authors' final corrections have been incorporated. Because they are in their final form, no changes can be made after online publication. The nature of Early View articles means that they do not yet have volume, issue or page numbers, so Early View articles cannot be cited in the traditional way. They are therefore given a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), which allows them to be cited and tracked before allocation to an issue. After print publication, the DOI remains valid and can continue to be used to cite and access the article. More information about DOIs can be found at http://www.doi.org/faq.html

Offprints
The corresponding author will receive a PDF offprint of their article free of charge at the time of publication within an issue of the journal (i.e. once the article is paginated). Printed offprints may be ordered using the Offprint Order Form supplied with the proofs (see form for charges), provided that the form is returned promptly (i.e. at the time of proof correction). Order forms should be returned to C.O.S. Printers Pte Ltd, 9 Kian Teck Crescent, Singapore 628875; Fax: +65 6265 9074; E-mail: offprint@cosprinterscom. Printed Offprints are normally dispatched by surface mail within 3 weeks of publication of the issue in which the paper appears. Please contact the publishers if offprints do not arrive: however, please note that offprints are sent by surface mail, so overseas orders may take up to 6 weeks to arrive. The PDF offprint is e-mailed to the first author at his or her first e-mail address on the title page of the paper, unless advised otherwise; therefore please ensure that the name, address and e-mail of the receiving author are clearly indicated on the manuscript title page if he or she is not the first author of the paper. A copy of the Publisher's Terms and Conditions for the use of the PDF file will accompany the PDF offprint and the file can only be distributed in accordance with these requirements. Authors can also nominate up to three colleagues whom they would like to receive a complimentary PDF offprint.

Author material archive policy
Please note that unless specifically requested otherwise, Blackwell Publishing will dispose of all hard copy and electronic material 2 months after publication. If you require the return of any material, please inform the editorial office or production editor when your paper is accepted for publication.

Specifications

FIGURES
Figures should appear above their respective legends on separate pages at the end of the paper. Legends should provide enough details for the figures to be understood without reference to the text. Information (e.g. keys) that appear on the figure itself should not be duplicated in the legend. In the full-text online edition of the Journal, figure legends may be truncated in abbreviated links to the full screen version. Therefore, the first 100 characters of any legend should inform the reader of key aspects of the figure.

Figures should be drawn to publication quality and to fit into a single column width (7 cm) wherever possible. To make best use of space, you may need to rearrange parts of figures. Please ensure that axes, tick marks, symbols and labels are large enough to allow reduction to a final size of c. 8 point, i.e. capital letters should be c. 2mm tall. Figures should not be boxed and tick marks should be on the inside of the axes. Lettering should use a sans serif font (e.g. Helvetica, Arial) with capitals used for the initial letter of the first word only. Bold lettering should not be used. Units of axes should appear in parentheses after the axis name.

Electronic artwork should be submitted as TIFF files (for half-tones) or EPS files (for vector graphics), if possible. These are standard formats when exporting from graphics packages such as CorelDraw, Excel, Freehand and Illustrator.

Photographs should have good contrast. Where photographs are used together to make one figure, they should be well matched for tonal range. Photographs submitted electronically should be saved at 300 d.p.i. in TIFF or BMP format at the final reproduction size.

For full instructions on preparing your figures, please refer to our Electronic Information for Authors at http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/bauthor/illustration.asp

Colour photographs or other figures may be allowed, but it is the policy of the Journal of Applied Ecology for authors to pay the full cost for their print reproduction (currently £150 for the first figure, £50 thereafter). If no funds are available to cover colour costs, the journal offers free colour reproduction online (with black-and-white reproduction in print). If authors require this, they should write their figure legend to accommodate both versions of the figure, and indicate their colour requirements on the Colour Work Agreement Form. This form should be completed in all instances where authors require colour, whether in print or online. Therefore, at acceptance, please download the form and return it to the Production Editor (Penny Baker, Wiley-Blackwell, John Wiley & Sons, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK. E-mail: penny.baker@wiley.com). Please note that if you require colour content your paper cannot be published until this form is received.

TABLES
Tables should be constructed using 'Tabs' rather than spaces or software options. Units should appear in parentheses after the column or row title. Each table should be on a separate page, numbered and titled, and included at the end of the paper before the figures.

REFERENCES
References in the text should be separated by a semi-colon. Papers with more than three authors should be abbreviated: (Manel et al. 1999). Work with the same first author and date should be coded by letters: (Thompson et al. 1991a,b). References should be listed in chronological order within the text. The references in the list should be in alphabetical order with the journal name in full. The format should be as follows:

Begon, M., Harper, J.L. & Townsend, C.R. (1996) Ecology: Individuals, Populations and Communities, 3rd edn. Blackwell Science, Oxford.
Tuyttens, F.A.M. (1999) The consequences of social perturbation caused by badger removal for the control of bovine tuberculosis in cattle: a study of behaviour, population dynamics and epidemiology. PhD thesis, University of Oxford.
McArthur, W.M. (1993) History of landscape development. Reintegrating Fragmented Landscapes (eds R.J. Hobbs & D.A.Saunders), pp. 10-22. Springer Verlag, Berlin.
Hill, M.O., Roy, D.B., Mountford, J.O. & Bunce, R.G.H. (2000) Extending Ellenberg's indicator values to a new area: an algorithmic approach. Journal of Applied Ecology, 37, 3-15.

References should be cited as 'in press' only if the paper has been accepted for publication. Work not yet submitted for publication or under review should be cited as 'unpublished data', with the author's initials and surname given; such work should not be included in the Reference section. Any paper cited as 'in press' or under review elsewhere must be uploaded as part of the manuscript submission as a file 'not for review' so that it can be seen by the editors and, if necessary, made available to the referees.

We recommend the use of a tool such as EndNote or Reference Manager for reference management and formatting.
EndNote reference styles can be searched for here:
http://www.endnote.com/support/enstyles.asp

Reference Manager reference styles can be searched for here:
http://www.refman.com/support/rmstyles.asp

CITATIONS FROM THE WORLD WIDE WEB
The Journal of Applied Ecology accepts that authors may sometimes wish to cite information available from the world wide web in similar ways to the citation of published literature. In using this option, authors are asked to ensure that:
(i) fully authenticated addresses are included in the reference list, along with titles, years and authors of the sources being cited, and the most recent date the site was accessed;
(ii) the sites or information sources have sufficient longevity and ease of access for others to follow up the citation;
(iii) the information is of a scientific quality at least equal to that of peer-reviewed information available in learned scientific journals;
(iv) hard literature sources are used in preference where they are available.

It is likely that official web sites from organisations such as learned societies, government bodies or reputable NGOs will most often satisfy quality criteria.

SCIENTIFIC NAMES
Give Latin names in full, together with the naming authority at first mention in the main text. Alternatively, where there are many species, cite a Flora or check-list. Do not give authorities for species cited from published references. Latin names following common names should not be separated by a comma or brackets.

MAKERS' NAMES
Special pieces of equipment should be described such that a reader can trace specifications by writing to the manufacturer; thus: 'Data were collected using a solid-state data logger (CR21X, Campbell Scientific, Utah, USA).' Where commercially available software has been used, details of the supplier should be given in brackets or the reference given in full in the reference list.

UNITS, SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS
Authors should use the International System of Units (S.I., Systeme International d'Unités; see Quantities, Units and Symbols, 2nd edn (1975) The Royal Society, London). Use 'L' for litre not 'l' to avoid confusion with 'one'. Use the negative index for units, e.g. number of insects g^-1 dry wt (also note there is no period for wt). Probability values should be denoted as P. Mathematical expressions should contain symbols not abbreviations. If the paper contains many symbols, they should be defined as early in the text as possible, or within the Materials and Methods.

MATHEMATICAL MATERIAL
Mathematical expressions should be carefully represented. Wherever possible, mathematical equations and symbols should be typed in-line by keyboard entry (using Symbol font for Greek characters, and superscript options where applicable). Do not embed equations or symbols using Equation Editor or Math Type, or equivalents, when simple in-line, keyboard entry is possible. Equation software should be used only for displayed multi-line equations, and equations and symbols that cannot be typed. Suffixes and operators such as d, log, ln and exp will be set in Roman type: matrices and vectors will be set in italic. Make sure that there is no confusion between similar characters like l ('ell') and 1 ('one'). Ensure that expressions are spaced as they should appear. Equations should be identified as eqn 1, eqn 2, etc.

NUMBER CONVENTIONS
Text: Numbers from one to nine should be spelled out except when used with units, e.g. two eyes but 10 stomata and 5 °C, 3 years and 5 kg.
Tables: Do not use excessive numbers of digits when writing a decimal number. The level of significance implied by numbers based on experimental measurements should reflect, and not exceed, their precision; only rarely can more than 3 figures be justified. Be consistent within tables.

 

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