STYLE MANUAL FOR WATSONIA

The purpose of this manual is to outline general editorial policy and to provide guidelines about points of style for authors intending to submit manuscripts to Watsonia. The editors receive manuscripts which often require a great deal of work in order to bring them into line with Watsonia format, and this can, under certain circumstances, result in a delay in publication. We would, therefore, urge all potential contributors to take great care in the production of their manuscripts in order to ensure a swift passage through the editorial process.

General Policy

1) Scope. Authors are invited to submit papers and notes, in English, concerning British and Irish vascular plants, their taxonomy, biosystematics, ecology, distribution and conservation, as well as topics of a more general or historical nature.

A paper will have an Abstract and the text will exceed approximately 1000 words (i.e. at least, 1 printed page of Watsonia). A note will usually comprise less than 2000 words and will not have an Abstract; a manuscript of less than 2000 words, received without an Abstract, will be treated as a note.

2) Manuscripts and all figures must be submitted in duplicate. Text must be typewritten on one side of A4 paper, with wide margins (at least 2.5 cm on left and right) and double-spaced throughout. Authors should provide a day-time telephone number and, if possible, a fax number or/and e.mail address.

If the journal is pressed for space, manuscripts of more than 25 typescript pages may be held over until space becomes available; the editors will try to ensure that the delay will be no more than one issue of Watsonia.

If a paper is accepted for publication, if possible, please include a disc copy of the final revised version together with an identical hard copy print-out (this may be used for setting if the disc version is unreadable).

Manuscripts in electronic format

· Disc copy should be PC-compatible using any major word-processing package (Microsoft Word is preferred). If you are not sure your text will be readable include an ASCII version.

· Put Latin names and titles in references in italics rather than underlining (see item 12)

· Type text without end of line hyphenation, except for compound words.

· Be consistent with punctuation and insert only a single space between words and after punctuation.

· Include a list of special characters you have used e.g. Greek or maths.

· If your software cannot produce Small Caps for Authors names in References use Upper and Lower case rather than all Upper case.

· The name of the word-processing package (including version number) used and any file names (including extensions) should be noted on the disc or in accompanying documentation.

· Please package floppy discs in such a way as to avoid possible damage in the post and mark envelopes ‘MAGNETIC MEDIA’.

· If files are to be sent as email attachments please contact the Receiving Editor SBRC@globalnet.co.uk beforehand.

3) Format should follow that used in issues of Watsonia 21 onwards. See also Points of format below.

4) Acceptance. All papers and notes submitted to Watsonia are subject to confidential review of their soundness and significance.

Neither the Botanical Society of the British Isles nor the editors take responsibility for the views expressed by authors in materials accepted for publication in Watsonia.

5) Editing. Manuscripts submitted to Watsonia are edited in order to improve communication between authors and readers. Editing may sometimes be extensive, in which case the edited manuscript will be returned for the author’s consideration. When major changes are required, acceptance of a paper will be delayed until an acceptable revision is submitted.

Manuscripts that do not conform to the guidelines set out here may be returned to the authors for correction before being sent to a referee.

Each author will receive first proofs which must be corrected and returned promptly to the editor responsible for the paper. In the case of joint papers, first proofs go only to the nominated senior author.

6) Copyright and offprints. Authors and artists are required to sign the society’s copyright assignment document. In the cases of papers and notes written and/or illustrated by more than one author (and artist), each author and artist must sign the copyright assignment document. In return, the society will give 25 offprints free of charge.

Additional offprints may be purchased in multiples of 25 at the current price. These must be ordered at first proof stage.

Points of format

1) Title - this should be a concise statement of the contents of the paper or note, and when the subject is a genus or species, the authority should be stated. Authors should take particular care when using geographical terms in titles, ensuring that usage reflects accurately the distribution of the taxa involved, or the regions discussed (see Localities below). Localities (e.g. vice-county names) should not be abbreviated within the title.

2) Authors’ names - authors should use all their initials, unless they never do so.

3) Authors’ addresses - only one per author, including a post code if relevant, and the name of the country if outside the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Correspondence addresses (including E-mail) can be indicated if required. For notes, separate addresses should be given for all authors.

4) Abstract - an abstract must be provided for a paper (see Scope above). Please write an informative, concise summary of the work, which should not merely be a repetition of sentences extracted from the introductory and concluding paragraphs of the paper. All new taxonomic names should be listed here, with authorities, and be signalled as such in the conventional manner (comb. nov., stat nov., sp. nov., etc.). No references should be cited in the Abstract. Authors should avoid phrases such as “The results are discussed.”

5) Keywords - these follow the Abstract, and are required only for papers. Please provide not more than five keywords, which should indicate the paper’s principal topics.

The five keywords should not duplicate words in the paper’s title, but can include alternative words including vernacular names. County and vice-county names should not be employed as keywords. A keyword must not be abbreviated. A keyword may comprise two words, e.g. seed morphology, Rubus fruticosus, Cornish Heath. For example:

title - ‘The status of Bupleurum fruticosum L. (Apiaceae) in the British flora’

keywords - Umbelliferae, Shrubby Hare’s-ear, England, seed morphology, palaeoecology.

6) Plant names. Authors are recommended to follow D. H. Kent’s List of vascular plants of the British Isles (1992), or the current issue of C. A. Stace, New Flora of the British Isles, for Latin names of species and subspecies of vascular plants occurring in Britain and Ireland. E. J. Clement & M. C. Foster, Alien plants of the British Isles (1994), may also be used as a “standard” work for Latin names.

When one of the above “standard” works (e.g. Kent’s List ...) is explicitly followed, the authorities for names may be omitted (including, e.g., in tables and lists of associated species). Names not in the stated “standard” work should always, when first cited, be followed by the authority (e.g. Adenanthos sericea Labill.).

Vernacular names. While the scientific (Latin) name of each plant always has precedence, authors are encouraged to use the familiar, English vernacular names of plants, at least in the introductory paragraph and in captions to botanical illustrations.

Tables of species should comprise only the Latin names. The editors recommend that authors consult the above “standard” sources for vernacular names, and also the following:

J. G. Dony, S. L. Jury & F. H. Perring, English names of wild flowers (1986, 2nd ed.)

D. Davies & A. Jones, Enwau Cymraeg ar blanhigion Welsh names of plants (1995)

M. J. P. Scannell & D. M. Synnott, Census catalogue of the flora of Ireland (1987, 2nd ed.).

Authors should state which source(s) they have followed.

Cultivar names should include at least the generic name (unless this is clear from the context), and the cultivar epithets should be enclosed in single quotes (e.g. Crocosmia ‘James Coey’; Lonicera nitida ‘Ernest Wilson’).

Family names should also follow the “standard” sources, especially Kent’s List ... or Stace’s New Flora ... - the alternative names for families, if deemed necessary, can be included in Keywords.

Authors should take particular note of the following names.

Apiaceae (= Umbelliferae), Asteraceae (= Compositae), Brassicaceae (= Cruciferae),

Fabaceae (= Leguminosae), Lamiaceae (= Labiatae), Poaceae (= Gramineae).

For family names not in Kent’s List ... or Stace’s New Flora ..., authors are recommended to follow R. K. Brummitt, Vascular plant families and genera (1992. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew).

It is recommended that when the subject of a paper or note is a taxon or taxa representing a single family that the family name is stated once towards the beginning of the Introduction, and it should be included in the Abstract. When the family name is not included in the Title, it should be used as a Keyword.

Authorities, when required, should be abbreviated in accord with the recommendations in R. K. Brummitt & C. E. Powell, Authors of plant names (1992. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew). If in doubt, please give the authorities in full.

Latin plurals (e.g. Rubi, Hieracia) should be avoided especially in the titles of papers, and when such words are used they are not printed in italics. When Latin plurals are employed in a title, the generic name in singular form must be included in Keywords. The preferred form of such plurals is e.g. Rubus spp.; Rubus species....... species of Rubus.

7) Localities. Authors are reminded to be particularly careful when they use geographical terms and country names, especially when devising a title for a paper or note. Be as precise as possible, because precision will aid readers and mean that papers are accurately cited by abstracting journals and correctly indexed on computer data-bases.

When the subject of a paper or note is restricted to a part of the British Isles, use the appropriate, correct country/island/regional names - for example, ‘The status of Bupleurum fruticosum in southern England’; ‘Native populations of Lloydia serotina in Wales’; ‘Conservation of the cowslip (Primula veris L.) in Northern Ireland’; ‘Corynephorus canescens (L.) Beauv. (Poaceae) on the west coast of Scotland’.

When vice-counties are cited, include the standard numbers preceded by v.c. (plural v.cc.); the numbers of Irish vice-counties are prefixed v.c. H., or v.cc. H.

See also under Abbreviations below (note 14).

8) Numbers - whole numbers from one to twelve (1–12) inclusive are written out in full unless they are vice-county numbers, or are followed by a unit of measurement or are part of a formal taxonomic description; whole numbers from 13 onwards to be in arabic numerals. Authors should avoid using numerals at the start of a sentence.

+ may only be used in descriptions, keys and tables.

Circa (= about) is abbreviated to c.

Fractions should be decimalized when possible: 11∙5 , not 11½.

9) Units - use only metric units and their approved abbreviations (e.g. mm, not millimetre), unless there is a special reason (e.g. when quoting).

10) Dates - sequence to be day month year, with no commas - 2 November 1951. When a sequence of years is required, use the form 1956–1957, 1989–1990 (years in full).

11) Capitals - use for proper nouns only (e.g. Lesser Spearwort, but spearwort), and when required by codes of nomenclature (e.g. Latin family and generic names, cultivar names). Note their restriction to proper nouns and the word Flora (when it refers to a book rather than vegetation) in book and journal titles (see Citation of references below).

12) Italics & bold Use italic and bold fonts on typewriters or word processors only in the following circumstances:

ITALICS:

a) Latin plant names at genus level and below

b) when using ‘et al.’; note that all other Latin words or abbreviations go in roman typeface

c) authors’ addresses

d) book, thesis and journal titles

e) collectors’ names and numbers in the citation of specimens (q.v.)

f) any text which needs emphasis.

BOLD:

a) volume numbers in references (Watsonia 22: 1–4)

b) names of new taxa (including e.g. sp. nov. etc.) in abstracts and in the protologue, only; the names are in Roman bold, not in italics (e.g. Pinguicula grandiflora Lam. forma chionopetra E. C. Nelson forma nova).

c) herbarium acronyms (LIV) - see note 20 below.

d) vice-county numbers in Plant Records (58, Cheshire: Great Wood...)

e) main head.

13) Quotations - double quotation marks (“) are used when quoting passages from books, papers, herbarium labels or manuscripts, and for a quotation within a quotation; single quotation marks (‘) are used only to denote cultivar names (see 6 above, for Cultivar names), and a chapter title when cited in the text.

14) Abbreviations are followed by a full stop (.), but contractions are not (except for abbreviated author’s names). For example

abbreviations: Rev., c., var., f., cf., etc., p., v.c., ed. - N.B. also eds.

contractions: Mr, Dr, pp

Abbreviations and contractions should be employed sparingly in other contexts - see Points of the compass below. Give the names of topographic features and places in full - do not abbreviate e.g. River to R., or Lake/Lough/Loch to L.

15) Points of the compass. Use ‘northern’, ‘south-eastern’, etc. when using the adjectival form; in certain very well-established cases, e.g. North America, the noun may be used.

Points of the compass can be abbreviated to N., E., W., S., N.N.W., etc. (N.B. full stops are required).

16) Citation of references. In the text use ‘et al.’ if the number of authors exceeds two; in the reference list, cite in full up to four authors, but use ‘et al.’ if there are more than this. When citing references in the text use a semi-colon to separate articles where authorship changes, e.g. (Bloggs 1957, 1971; James 1967; Nelson et al. 1985).

Journal, thesis and book titles should be underlined and must not be abbreviated. The name of the publisher, followed by the place of publication, separated by a comma must be given for all books (e.g. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge).

Only proper nouns and the word ‘Flora’ (when it refers to a book rather than vegetation) need be capitalised.

Papers from periodicals -

Burtt, B. L. (1948). On Erigeron bonariensis L. Kew bulletin 3: 369–372.

Nelson, E. C., McClintock, D. C. & Small, D. J. (1985). The natural habitat of Erica andevalensis in south-western Spain. Kew magazine 2: 324–330.

When there is no volume number (e.g. in a newspaper) give the date of the issue in brackets, or for annual publication, the year in bold.

Small, D. J. (1994). Planting time has arrived. Amateur gardening (17 September): 10.

Viney, D. (1994). Erica spp. in North Cyprus. Yearbook of the Heather Society 1994: 25–26.

Books, unpublished theses & reports, and chapters/papers in books –

Unpublished

Nelson, E. C. (1971). Ecology of Erica vagans L. in Fermanagh. Unpublished B.Sc. thesis; University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. [NB state degree and university’s name.]

Mountford, J. 0. & Sheail, J. (1982). The impact of drainage on life in Romney Marsh. Unpublished C. S. T. Report No. 633, I. T. E. Project 718. Nature Conservancy Council, Huntingdon.

Published

Perring, F. H. & Walters, S. M., eds. (1962). Atlas of the British flora. Thomas Nelson, London. [NB lower case f.]

Stace, C. A. (1991). New Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. [NB upper case F.]

Tutin, T. G. (1980). Molinia Schrank, in Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. Flora Europaea 5: 254. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Wilmott, A. J. (1949). Intraspecific categories of variation, in Wilmott, A. J., ed. British flowering plants and modern systematic methods pp. 28–45. Botanical Society of the British Isles Conference Report No.1. B.S.B.I., London.

17) Unpublished data and Personal communications. On occasions unpublished data received from co-workers are cited.

Data that are not included in any written document (i.e. are not in a thesis or report) should be cited as a dated personal communication as follows - (A. N. Other, pers. comm., 1992). The year must be included.

If the data were included in a letter, the following form may be used - (A. N. Other to A. Person, in litt. 27 January 1994), or (A. N. Other, in litt. 27 January 1994). The full date should be cited.

Data extracted from an extant but unpublished report or thesis should be cited as above (see Citation of references).

18) Description of new taxa. Authors must observe the relevant, current editions of the codes of nomenclature - International code of botanical nomenclature (I.C.B.N.), and the International code of nomenclature of cultivated plants (I.C.N.C.P.).

The sequence of each description should be as follows

New name with author (NB - see section on Bold above)

Basionym, with author(s) and bibliographic sources, as required by the I.C.B.N., if relevant.

Synonyms with author(s) and bibliographic sources; list any synonyms in chronological order, each on a new line. The author (abbreviated, see Plant names above) and place of publication (in full) of each synonym should also be given.

Diagnosis (or description) in Latin (see below).

Description in English.

Holotypus: use the Latin form - holotypus, isotypi (sing. isotypus), etc. - when citing type specimens. Authors are reminded that types must be deposited in a recognized botanical institute, and that the designation of specimens which are held in private herbaria as types is contrary to the I.C.B.N. For the sequence of items within this section see below Citation of specimens.

Commentary - discussion as required.

Other specimens - authors may list selected, authenticated specimens (paratypes) other than the holotype and isotypes.

This sequence should also be followed in revisions and monographic studies. Authors of new taxa are reminded that the I.C.B.N. allows names to be validated by the use of a short diagnosis in Latin; it is not necessary to provide a full description in Latin.

19) Keys. The format of dichotomous keys should follow that used in Watsonia 18: 258–259.

Couplets are separated by ½ space - the layout and basic format is as follows

1. Flowers with bracteoles 2

1. Flowers without bracteoles 3

[½ space]

2. Petals pink, flower fetid 17

2. Petals white, flowers not fetid 3. loricata

20) Citation of specimens. Use the following sequence when citing a specimen in full:-

Place (e.g. county, vice-county number, locality with habitat), date, collector’s name with initials & number, herbarium acronym (in round brackets) For example:

Leics., v.c. 55, Botcheston Bog, in bog pools, 12 July 1939, A. R. Horwood 2219 (LTR).

Acronyms must follow the form given in the current edition of Index Herbariorum (8th ed.).

When there is no acronym provided in Index Herbariorum, Kent & Allen’s British and Irish herbaria

(1984) may be consulted. Private herbaria are cited in bold as follows - herb. R. C. Palmer (i.e.

herb.#R.#C.#Palmer) - or, if the person is the collector or author of the article, as follows -

herb. R.C.P. (i.e. herb.#R.C.P.) [N.B. spacing between initials].

Cases where the specimen was collected by one individual and numbered by another, should be cited as, e.g. E. F. Cooper (A. Fryer 1469).

Illustrations and tables

1) Tables, figure legends & appendices should be typed on separate sheets and attached at the end of the manuscript. Authors should note that figures and tables should be able to stand alone without reference to the rest of the paper or note; care must therefore be paid to figure and table titles and accompanying information.

2) Figures and maps should be drawn in black ink and identified in pencil on the back with their number and the author’s name. They should be drawn no more than three-times final size, bearing in mind they will normally be reduced to occupy the full width of a page. Maps should also have either grids or north indicated, and scale-bars are essential. Lettering should be done with transfers or high-quality stencilling, although graph axes and other more extensive labelling are best done legibly, in pencil, on a xerox copy and left to the printer.

Computer-generated figures. Authors are advised to consult the Honorary Receiving Editor about computer graphics before submitting computer-generated figures in final form. For maps produced using Alan Morton’s DMAP software please save files in windows metafile format (*.wmf); if using this software please make sure Alan Morton is included in the acknowledgments. All figures must be very clearly printed, in black only, on white paper, using a laser printer, and any lettering should be in Times Roman.

3) Botanical illustrations. Illustrations of plants should be drawn in black ink, and (except for magnified details) should be drawn at life-size, or slightly enlarged, within the dimensions allowed for Watsonia. Scale-bars are essential on plant illustrations, and care should be taken to indicate accurately the magnitude of any magnification. The final size of reproduction will be determined by the Honorary Receiving Editor when the paper is ready for press.

Authors may apply for financial support from the BSBI towards the cost of employing an artist to provide high-quality botanical illustrations (but not diagrams or maps) for papers published in Watsonia. Grants, if approved, will be paid only after the paper, including the commissioned illustrations, has been accepted for publication. Applications for grants should be made to the Honorary Secretary before an artist is commissioned.

4) Photographs can be accepted if they materially assist in the understanding of the article. Glossy, high-quality black-and-white prints should be submitted. Colour prints and transparencies will only be considered where the use of colour is absolutely necessary and the pictures are of a high standard.

December 2002