Covered in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE)

 

Instructions to Authors

 

Zoology in the Middle East publishes original articles in the fields of zoogeography, faunistics, ecology, environmental protection, taxonomy and systematics in the Middle East. Papers on the animal life of adjacent areas may be considered for publication, if they are related to the Middle East.

The taxonomic focus of Zoology in the Middle East is on vertebrates (Mammalia, Aves, Reptilia, Amphibia, Osteichthyes, Chondrichthyes), insects, arachnids and molluscs. Papers on other animal taxa are considered for publication and are preferrably published as short communicatons.

Original papers, review articles and short communications are accepted in the English language. The layout of the manuscript should follow the standard form as found in the preceding issue of Zoology in the Middle East. Authors are encouraged to submit photographs together with their manuscripts to be considered for publication. Non-native speakers are strongly advised to consult native-speakers prior to the submission of their manuscripts.

Authors are encouraged to submit their manuscripts by email. Thirty compulsory reprints of each article will be sent to the corresponding author at cost price. Page charges will usually be levied on extremely long manuscripts. All manuscripts should be sent to the editorial office (address see below).

1. Manuscript preparation

Papers are published in the English language only. Non-native speakers are strongly advised to consult a native speaker prior to the submission of their manuscripts. Manuscripts which have not been checked by native-speaker may be linguistically improved by the editors even without further consultation with the author(s).

Do not type title, subtitle, names of persons (authors) or any other part of the manuscript entirely in capital letters! For author names you may use Small Caps.

All papers must conform to the latest issue of the "International Code of Zoological Nomenclature".

2. Title and name(s) of author(s)

If the name of a genus or species is included in the title of a paper, it should also give the English trivial name of that taxon (if available). The first surname of the author(s) should be given in full.

3. Abstract

The abstract should be concise, intelligible in itself and should draw attention to the significant contents of the paper and the author's main conclusions. Description of methodology and material, as well as an introduction to the subject of the paper should be avoided. Abstracts should normally not exceed 250 words and should contain no uncommon abbreviations or references to literature.

4. Key words

Up to seven keywords should be suggested by the author. Key words should focus on words which do not appear in the title, but which describe the contents of the paper.

5. Subject matter

Scientific names of animals: Scientific names of genera, species, and subspecies should be given at least once - usually when the respective taxon is first mentioned - including the name(s) of author(s) (spelled out in full!) and the year of publication. The use of parentheses must adhere strictly to the International Code.

Discriptions of new taxa: When the name of a taxon proposed as new to science is given, it must be followed by the abbreviation gen. n., sp. n. or ssp. n. The description must contain the following sections: Material, Diagnosis, Description, and Affinities. Holotype and paratypes must be clearly identified, the museum or institution in which the type material has been deposited, and the catalogue numbers should be given. The designation of "syntypes, "cotypes" or "allotypes" must be avoided.

Geographic names: Exact locality data (preferably including coordinates) should always be given, in order to allow unequivocal identification of the collecting sites. Geographic co-ordinates are given in the general form XX°XX’N, XX°XX’*E (do not use decimal system and do not use seconds). This is above all important for type localities of new taxa. The spelling of geographic names must be consistent throughout the text.

Footnotes and cross-references: Footnotes and cross-references by page must be avoided.

6. References to literature

In both the text and bibliography, the name-year-system must be used. Only those publications referred to in the paper may be included. The author is urged to make sure that all references (Arabic, Cyrillic) should be given in normal English alphabetical order. Titles of journals are spelled out in full.

7. Author's address

This is placed at the end of the manuscript and contains: Title, initial(s) and name(s) of author(s), and address(es) for correspondence. One email address (corresponding author) will be given.

8. Illustrations

Illustrations should include a scaleline to show the fact of magification. Black-and-white photographs, line drawings, maps and graphs are regarded as figures. In the text, figures are referred to as "Fig. 2, Figs 4-7" etc. Authors are encouraged to submit photographs along with their manuscript for illustration. All figures must be submitted as separate files, preferrable as .jpg or .tif files.

9. Submission of manuscripts

The manuscript should be submitted in the final, fully corrected form to the editorial office of Zoology in the Middle East, attention to Dr. Max Kasparek: Email: Kasparek@t-online.de.

10. Evaluation of manuscripts

Manuscripts submitted to Zoology in the Middle East will be evaluated by the editors and referees on the basis of their contents. Manuscripts that do not meet the standards of presentation required in these guidelines may be returned to the author(s) for formal revision before being reviewed. The editors reserve the right to refuse any manuscript submitted, whether on invitation or otherwise, and to make suggestions and modifications before publication. Papers are accepted on the understanding that they have not been and will not be published elsewhere.

11. Proofs and reprints

The author will receive proofs of his (her) paper in electronic format. Corrections should be indicated by the author in different colour or with a “track changes” function. Corrections in the text other than printers' errors must be kept to a minimum. The author may be charged for excessive corrections. 30 compulsory reprints of each paper will be provided at cost price. No PDF files can be provided.

12. Consent-to-publish agreement

The authors will be asked to sign a consent-to-publish form prior to the publication of their paper: an example of the consent-to-publish form may be downloaded as PDF file under: consent-to-publish form.

 

 

The editorial process

To help you better understand the editorial process, the main steps of manuscript evaluation, selection and processing are briefly described here.

 

 

Manuscript submission to the editorial office

Send us your manuscript, preferably by email with figures and photographs in low resolution. One document only with a total size <1 MB. In order to accelerate the editorial process, you may wish to give us the names and contact details of experts in your field, who might be capable and willing to review your manuscript. These experts should have not been involved in the preparation of your manuscript.

 

 

 

Acknowledgment of receipt of manuscript

We will confirm receipt of your manuscript whenever possible within 10 days. However, it may take longer particularly during holday season.

 

 

 

Pre-selection of manuscripts

We exclude those manuscripts from the following peer-review process, which are apparently not suitable for publication in Zoology in the Middle East. We inform you, if this is the case with your manuscript.

 

 

 

Peer-review process

We identify two experts with a relevant expertise for your manuscript. After they have approved to read and evaluate your manuscript, we send it to them. Their recommendations are an important basis for the decision on the acceptance of a manuscript for publication. We ask the referees to let us know their observations and opinions on your manuscript within approximately 6 weeks, but the entire review process may last considerably longer. Please note that it is sometimes very time-consuming to identify proper experts, and that they work on a completely voluntary basis.

 

 

 

Manuscript revision

We inform you about the acceptance or non-acceptance of your manuscript for publication. If accepted, we ask you to take the recommendations of the referees into account, and you can subsequently submit the final version of the manuscript to us. You should send us now your figures in high resolution by email, or your original figures by post. Please note that you should ask an English native speaker to read your manuscript, prior to submitting the final manuscript version to us.

 

 

 

Copyediting and typesetting

We will then copyedit and typeset your manuscript, and send it to you by email for proof-reading. You can make your corrections and amendments directly in the electronic version of the manuscript, provided you use different colours or the track-changes function which allows us to follow all your changes. Together with the proofs, we will send you the consent-to-publish form to be signed and returned to us together with the proofs. Note that publishing in Zoology in the Middle East is free, but we charge for compulsory reprints and exceedingly long manuscripts.

 

 

 

Final proof-reading and language-editing

We will read your manuscript finally once again, and also our language-editor (English native speaker) will check the manuscripts. As we expect from you that you have given your manuscript to a native-speaker before and only minor corrections will thus be necessary at this stage, we will not ask you for approving linguistic and other minor changes to the text.

 

 

 

Publication

Once your manuscript has been published in Zoology in the Middle East, you will get your reprints and/or a specimen copy of the relevant issue.

 

 

 

Kasparek Verlag

Mönchhofstr. 16, 69120 Heidelberg

Fax 06221 / 471858, E-mail: Kasparek@t-online.de