19 Jan 2024
INSTRUCTIONS TO CONTRIBUTORS
Scope and Manuscript Categories
Current Herpetology is the official English journal of theHerpetological Society of Japan, and publishes Reviews,
Original Articles, and Short Notes dealing largely or
exclusively with the biology and diversity of amphibians andreptiles. We do not accept reports based on a single or a
few observations, simple records of new localities,
descriptive faunal lists, or simple technical reports, suchas primer notes, unless their specific and novel merits areclearly documented, explicitly justified, and supported fromthe perspective of their relevance to significant
scientific/biological topics.
Reviews are usually invited by the Managing Editor. Those
who wish to submit Reviews should consult with the Managing
Editor in advance. Original Articles are full-length reports
usually greater than nine manuscript pages. Short Notes are
more limited in scope and usually fewer than 8 manuscript
pages. Manuscripts may be moved from one category to anotherat the discretion of the Managing Editor. We basically do
not set page-charge, but Original Article exceeding 30
printed pages may be charged. For pages exceeding thislimit, the charge is JPY 7,700 per page. In such a case,authors should contact the editor for negotiation inadvance.
Manuscript Submission
1Submissions of papers from both members and non-members of
the Society are welcome. Authors should submit theirmanuscripts online.

Please connect directly to the site andupload all of your manuscript files following the
instructions given on the screen.
https://www.editorialmanager.com/c-herp
Authors who are submitting a manuscript online for the firsttime should read the Author Manual on the Editorial Manager
site.
Files created by MS Word (for cover letter and main
manuscript), MS Excel or Word (for tables and appendices),
and JPEG or PDF (for figures) are required. The Managing
Editor or an appropriate Associate Editor will assign eachmanuscript to two or three reviewers. Then, the manuscript
will be judged on the basis of its scientific merit.
Manuscript Format
GeneralAuthors wishing to submit manuscripts to Current
Herpetology should carefully consult recent issues of thejournal and instructions given here for the manuscript
format. Manuscripts not following the official format may bereturned to the authors without review.
Main manuscripts should be typed on A4 size format(297×210mm) with 12 point font size. Typing should be
double-spaced with 2.5cm margins on all sides. Words should
not be broken at the end of a line. Each of the following
divisions should be begun on a separate page: title page,2

abstract, main text, references, and figure legends. Except
for the cover letter, tables, figures, and appendices, allpages should be consecutively numbered. Consecutive line
numbers from abstract to references should be alsopresented.
Cover letter
The cover letter should be prepared as a separate file andshould provide the following information.
(1) The title, and name and postal address of thecorresponding author to whom communications regarding themanuscript should be directed with his/her e-mailaddress.
(2) The date of submission, the number of pages of main
manuscript (from title page to figure legends), and thenumbers of tables, figures, and appendices.
Title pageThe title page should show the title, and the name(s),affiliation(s) and address(es) of the author(s) in order.
The title should be brief and informative. It should appear
centered on the top of this page, with the initial letter of
each major word capitalized: e.g.,
Phylogenetic Relationships of Geoemydine Turtles(Reptilia: Bataguridae)
The author's name should be centered, with all letters
capitalized. In the case of more than one author, indicate
the one to whom communications regarding the paper after
publication should be directed, with his/her e-mail address.
Affiliation(s) and address(es) of the author(s) should be3

centered, and in italics with only the initial letter of
each major word capitalized: e.g.,
YUICHI YASUMOTO1*, RENTARO HIRATA2, AND TOMU HIKITA3
1Tropical

Biosphere Research Center, University of the

Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213, JAPAN
2Department

of Information, Teikyo Heisei University,

Uruido 2289, Ichihara, Chiba 290-0193, JAPAN
3Department

of Zoology, Graduate School of Science,

Kyoto University, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8502, JAPAN*Corresponding author.
E-mail address: kamekame@sci.ryudai.ac.jp
Abstract pageThe abstract page should contain an abstract consisting ofless than 250 words, followed by one blank line and by key
words in order. The abstract should state the major pointsof the paper as clearly and concisely as possible without
the need for reference to the text and without citation ofreferences. The word "Abstract" should not be indented, andshould be followed by a colon: e.g.,
Abstract: Monophyly of the batagurid subfamily Geoemydinae
was evaluated ……
The term, "Key words", should not be indented, and should be
followed by a colon and then by up to five key words inalphabetical order, separated from each other by semicolons,that identify the major aspects of the manuscript: e.g.,4Key words: Bataguridae; Geoemyda group; Geoemydinae;
Mauremys group; Phylogeny
Main text
Texts of most manuscripts are efficiently arranged inorder of introduction, materials and methods, results,
discussion, and acknowledgments; however, some manuscripts,
particularly of reviews and short notes, profit by otherarrangements of topics, so the author(s) should use good
judgment in this matter. Italics should be used only for
scientific names of genera, species and/or subspecies, andfor appropriate headings (see below). Commonly used words ofnon-English origins should not be italicized (e.g., et al.,not et al.).
Up to three sets of headings are allowed. The major
heading, all capitalized, should be centered. The subheading
should be centered and italicized, with initial letter of
each major word capitalized. The sub-subheading should be
set at the left margin and italicized, with only the first
letter of the first word capitalized. When only one and two
sets of headings are needed, use the major heading, andmajor heading and sub-subheading, respectively. In theordinary text arrangement of an Original Article (seeabove), INTRODUCTION, MATERIALS AND METHODS, RESULTS,DISCUSSION, and ACKNOWLEDGMENTS should be given as major
headings.
Data Availability
Current Herpetology encourages authors to make all dataand software code on which the conclusions of the article
rely available to readers. Authors are required to include a5Data Availability Statement in their article. The Data
Availability Statement provides information for readersregarding the availability of the data in the article.
We suggest that data be deposited in a public repository
whenever possible. DNA sequence data must be made freely
accessible from a repository such as DDBJ, ENA, or NCBI(GenBank). Video clips are encouraged to be deposited to
MOMO (Make Our Movies Open: http://www.momo-p.com/indexe.html). We also encourage the archiving of all types ofdata by uploading data to relevant publicly accessible
repositories (e.g., Figshare or Dryad). Supplemental files
are cited in the main text as “Table S1”, “Fig. S1”, or“Video S1” etc., and their Digital Object Identifier (DOI)or Uniform Resource Locator (URL) with the repository siteshould be described in the Data Availability Statement.
References
The reference section following the main text should
begin with the major heading, LITERATURE CITED, and list all
and only the publications cited in the manuscript inalphabetical order according to the senior authors'
surnames. When there are several papers by the same seniorauthor with various co-authors, they should be listed inalphabetical order by second and subsequent authors,
regardless of the number of authors. Following are examples
for the format and order of listing of references.
AOKI, R. 2001. Wani To Ryu [Crocodiles and Dragons].
Heybonsha, Tokyo.
FROST, D. R. 2015. Amphibian Species of the World: An Online
Reference, version 6.0. American Museum of Natural
History.
6http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.php(accessed 7 June 2015)
FUKADA, H. 2002. A brief history of the HerpetologicalSociety of Japan. Bulletin of the Herpetological Societyof Japan 2002: 13–17.
GLAW, F. AND VENCES, M. 2007. A Field Guide to theAmphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar. 3rd Edition.
Vences and Glaw

Verlag GbR, Köln.

HIRATE, K. 2000. Species Composition, Sex Ratio, Size
Distribution, and Seasonal Fluctuation of the Sea Turtle
Assemblage in the Eastern Off-shore of the Central Partof Okinawajima. Unpublished master's thesis. Universityof the Ryukyus, Nishihara.
JOBB, G. 2011. TREEFINDER, version of March 2011. Availablevia

http://www.treefinder.de

KAMEZAKI, N. 1989. The nesting sites of sea turtles in the
Ryukyu Archipelago and Taiwan. p. 342–348. In: M.
Matsui, T. Hikida, and R. C. Goris (eds.), Current
Herpetology in East Asia. Herpetological Society ofJapan, Kyoto.
LEVITON, A. E. AND GIBBS, R. H., JR. 1988. Standards in
herpetology and ichthyology. Standard symbolic codes for
institution resource collections in herpetology andichthyology. Supplement no. 1: Additions andcorrections. Copeia 1988: 280–282.
LEVITON, A. E., GIBBS, R. H., JR., HEAL, E., AND DAWSON, C.
E. 1985. Standards in herpetology and ichthyology: Part
I. Standard symbolic codes for institutional resource
collections in herpetology and ichthyology. Copeia 1985:
802–832.
MATSUI, M. 1987. Isozyme variation in salamanders of thenebulosus-lichenatus complex of the genus Hynobius from7

eastern Honshu, Japan, with a description of a new
species. Japanese Journal of Herpetology 12: 50–64.
MATSUI, M., IWASAWA, H., TAKAHASHI, H., HAYASHI, T., AND
KUMAKURA, M. 1992a. Invalid specific status of Hynobius
sadoensis Sato: Electrophoretic evidence (Amphibia:
Caudata). Journal of Herpetology 26: 308–315.
MATSUI, M. AND MIYAZAKI, K. 1984. Hynobius takedai(Amphibia, Urodela), a new species of salamander fromJapan. Zoological Science 1: 665–671.
MATSUI, M., SATO, T., TANABE, S., AND HAYASHI, T. 1992b.
Electrophoretic analyses of systematic relationships andstatus of two hynobiid salamanders from Hokkaido(Amphibia: Caudata). Herpetologica 48: 408–416.
MOODY, S. M. 1980. Phylogenetic and Historical
Biogeographical Relationships of the Genera in the
Family Agamidae (Reptilia: Lacertilia). Unpublisheddoctoral dissertation. University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor.
OTA, H. 1986. Snake really an able hunter?: Predatory
behavior of Japanese striped snake, Elaphe
quadrivirgata, in the field. Journal of Ethology 4: 69–
71.
R Core Team. 2021. R: A language and environment for
statistical computing. R Foundation for StatisticalComputing, Vienna, Austria. Available via
http://www.R-project.org/
TAKENAKA, T. In press. Extinction of the naturalized
freshwater turtle in Chichijima-Island of Ogasawara(Bonin) Islands, South Japan. Bulletin of theHerpetological Society of Japan.

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ZHAO, E. AND ADLER, K. 1993. Herpetology of China.
Contribution to Herpetology, 10. Society for the Studyof Amphibians and Reptiles, Oxford.
In the text, references to papers by one or two authors
should give their surnames; papers with more than two
authors are referenced by the first author's surname
followed by "et al.". Strings of references should be placedin chronological order. When there are two or morereferences published in a same year, they should be arranged
in alphabetical order. Two or more references by the samesenior author (for papers by one or more than two authors)
or by the same senior and junior authors (for papers by two
authors) with the same year of publication should bedesignated by lowercase letters: e.g., (Matsui et al.,1992a,b). See above for example of listing of suchreferences in LITERATURE CITED.
For references that are in the course of publication(i.e., already accepted for publication but not publishedyet), cite "In press" in the place of publication year andleave the place of page numbers blank. References of
unpublished master's theses and unpublished doctoral
dissertations are not encouraged, but are allowed when theircitations are definitely needed (see above for example oflisting of such references in LITERATURE CITED). The othermanuscripts that are neither "In press" nor published should
not be cited either in the text or in LITERATURE CITED. Data
based solely on photos, movies, or other related materials
presented on websites as personal records should not becited unless authors have confirmed the reliability of thespecies identification and any accompanying statements orinterpretations.
9AppendicesDetailed information not essential to the text but
important to subsequent evaluation (such as that regarding
specimens examined) may be placed under the major heading,
APPENDIX, and an appropriate sub-subheading. Wheninstitutional abbreviations are used in APPENDIX, and/or in
the main text, it is recommended, as far as possible, tofollow Leviton et al. (1985) or Leviton and Gibbs (1988)(see
example of references above for detailed information onthese publications) with an explicit statement in APPENDIX(or otherwise, in MATERIALS AND METHODS of the main text):e.g.,
APPENDIX
Specimens examined
Catalogue numbers of specimens deposited in the zoologicalcollection of Kyoto University Museum are preceded by KUZ.
The other acronyms are those suggested by Leviton et al.
(1985).
Geoemyda japonica: Okinawajima, Okinawa Pref., Japan, KUZ
R36720, NSMT H02083-02086; Kumejima, Okinawa Pref., Japan,
KUZ R36721, OMNH-R3334. G. spengleri: Vietnam, NSMT H9999,…….
Use major headings with consecutive Roman numerals, APPENDIX
I, APPENDIX II, APPENDIX III, APPENDIX IV, etc., when two or
more appendices are needed.
TablesEach table should be typed, double-spaced, on a separate
sheet. Its appropriate position in the text should be marked
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in the right-hand margin (usually at the place where thetable is first mentioned). The legend for a table should
follow the table number (e.g., TABLE 1. Measurements ofspecimens of ……) and should be on the same page as thetable. Within the table, only the initial letter of thefirst word should be capitalized (e.g., "Adult males").
Vertical ruled lines should be avoided. Footnotes (indicatedby symbols *, or, *1, *2, *3, etc.) may follow a table when
detailed information is needed.

FiguresFigures will be reduced in size to accommodate into B5
size papers (257×182mm). Each figure should be carefullyplanned to accommodate reduction to a final width of one or
two columns in Current Herpetology; lettering should be>1.5mm high and decimals should be visible when printed in a
hard copy after reduction in size. When several drawings orphotographs are to be reproduced as one figure, they should
be mounted on a single page in the desired (camera-ready)arrangement and each of them should be lettered (A, B, C,etc.). Include a scale of distance or dimension whereappropriate. High resolution figure files (>300dpi) should
be prepared, especially for photographs.
Figure legends, each beginning with a fully capitalized
abbreviation and a consecutive number (e.g., FIG. 1. Dorsal(A) and lateral (B) views of holotype of ……), should betyped in double space and grouped together on a separate
sheet with one line of space between them. Denote in theright-hand margin of the text where each figure should beprinted (usually at the first mention of a figure). In thetext, "Figure" should be also abbreviated, but with only the11initial letter capitalized (e.g., Fig. 1) except when
beginning a sentence.
The author(s) is expected to pay for the cost for color
reproduction of a figure (or figures). The cost can be
defrayed by the Society for the first page, but only when
the author(s) requests exemption and the Managing Editor
decides, on the basis of advice from an Associate Editor
and/or reviewer(s), that the color reproduction is essential
in clarifying points of arguments to readers. Cost of color
reproduction will be charged to the author from the second
page irrespective of its effect in presentation. For pages
including a color figure(s), the charge is JPY 7,700 per
page.
Numerals
Numbers of 10 or larger should be typed as Arabic numerals
except at the beginning of a sentence. Numbers one to nine
should be spelled out unless they precede units ofmeasurement (e.g., 5 mm), are designators (e.g., experiment3), or are separated by a figure dash (e.g., 5-7
individuals). The 24-hour clock is used to indicate times ofday (e.g., 1900 h); dates should be given by day, month,year in this order (e.g., 5 July 2002). Decimals should not
be naked (e.g., 0.5, not .5).
Abbreviations
Weights and measures follow the International System ofUnits (SI), and such abbreviations should be used throughout
the manuscript. Abbreviations used in Current Herpetology
without being defined at first usage include:x̅ (mean), n (sample size), N (chromosome number, but see
below for the use to refer to "north latitude"), no.
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(number), yr (year[s]), mo (month[s]), wk (week[s]), h(hour[s]), min (minute[s]), s (second[s]), P (probability),df (degrees of freedom), SD (standard deviation), SE(standard error), NS (not significant), l (liter), kg(kilogram), g (gram), m (meter), cm (centimeter), mm(millimeter), μm (micron), °C (Celsius), asl (above sea
level; given as, e.g., 100 m asl), °, ′, and ″(degrees,
minutes, and seconds in geography, respectively), N, S, E,
and W (north and south latitudes, and east and west
longitudes, respectively, but only when preceded by values
with appropriate geographical units; e.g., 15°25′15" N,
121°43′07" E).
In figures and tables, names of months can be abbreviatedas: Jan (January), Feb (February), Mar (March), Apr (April),
May (May), Jun (June), Jul (July), Aug (August), Sep(September), Oct (October), Nov (November), Dec (December).
In the text, however, they should be fully spelled.
Other abbreviations, such as SVL (snout-vent length), Myr(million years), and MyrBP (million years before present),
can also be used, but define them at first usage. Do not use
symbols, ♂ and ♀, for male and female, respectively.
Reprints and pdf file
The Society supplies 50 free reprints and high quality pdf
file to the corresponding author of an invited Review, andhigh quality pdf file to each of corresponding authors ofarticles in other categories. Additional reprints can bepurchased in multiples of 10. The Treasurer of the Society
will inquire of the corresponding author about reprint orderwhen the first set of the galley proofs is ready.

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Proofs
Only the first set of the galley proofs will be sent tothe corresponding author. Each proof should be checked
carefully and promptly and should be returned to thehandling editor without delay. The following changes can bemade on the proof: corrections of typographical errors,
addition of publication information for a reference
previously in an "In press" state, and addition of thepresent address of the author due to the change of his/heraddress after acceptance of a manuscript. Other changes may
be charged to the author.

Copyright assignment
If your paper is accepted, the corresponding author will
receive the copyright assignment form for your article. This
form must be signed by all coauthors as well as thecorresponding author.
No systematic distribution of the article, e.g., posting
on a listserv, website, or automated delivery (including
uploading for free access in ResearchGate, Academia, etc.)
is allowed until the Herpetological Society of Japan starts
to permit the author(s) to upload the article in
his/her/their institutional repository or repositories twowhole years after publication.
Open access
After being accepted for publication, some articles are
selected as Open Access Papers by the editorial committee.
Selected articles are uploaded as Open Access Papers without
any charge by the author(s) on BioOne platform(http://www.bioone.org/toc/jche/37/1), and pdf files of the
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Open Access Papers are allowed to be posted on a listserv,
website, or automated delivery, including uploading for freeaccess in ResearchGate, Academia, etc. If author(s) do notwish his/her/their article to be selected for this category,please inform the Handling Editor when the galley proof isreturned to the Editor.
Animal welfare
When reporting experiments on animals, author(s) should
indicate whether the international, national, and/or
institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals
have been followed, and that the studies have been approvedby a research ethics committee at the institution orpractice at which the studies were conducted.
Taxonomic articles
In manuscripts dealing with taxonomic/nomenclatural
topics, each of the scientific names for species andsubspecies appeared in the main context should accompany
full authorship at its first appearance in the text. Whennecessary, use “&” instead of “et” or “and” in eachauthorship. Authorships of scientific names should beomitted in manuscripts of other categories.
New taxonomic names described in articles published in
Current Herpetology will be obligatorily registered in
ZooBank by the Editorial Committee.

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