I

April 1990

Asiatic Herpetological ResearchVol. 3, pp. 137-140|

Guidelines for Manuscript Preparation and Submission

Summary
Manuscripts must:1) be written in English.

2) be of letter quality (typewritten on bond paper).
3) include camera ready figures (if any).
4) include complete and accurate literature citations.
5) include complete and accurate localities with latitude and longitude.

6) include a camera ready map illustrating regions discussed (when applicable).

Manuscripts failing to meet these criteria will be returned for correction.

Purpose and Content
Asiatic Herpetological Research publishes articles concerning but not limited to Asianherpetology. The editors encourage publications from all countries in an attempt to create
an open forum for the discussion of Asian herpetological research.
Articles should be in standard scientific format and style. The following sections should
be included:Title.

The title should reflect the general content of the article in as few words as possible.

A poor title may cause readers to read no further.

Names and Addresses. The names and addresses of all authors must be complete enoughto allow postal correspondence.

The abstract should briefly summarize the nature of the research, its results, andthe main conclusions. Abstracts should be less than 300 words.

Abstract.

Key Words. Key words provide an index for the filing of articles. Key words provide the1) Taxonomy (e.g. Reptilia, Squamata,following information (when applicable):
Gekkonidae, Gekko gecko ).
2) Geography (e.g. China, Thailand). 3) Subject (e.g.
taxonomic validity, ecology, biogeography). The order of taxonomy, geography, andsubject should be observed.

Manuscripts must be in English and spelling must be correct and consistent. Use
Webster's New International Dictionary for reference. For clarity, use active voicewhenever possible. For example, the following sentences in active voice are preferable toText.

those in passive voice.

Active voice:"Lizards were extremely common on the site."and "The three snakes examined were female."

Passive voice:"Lizards were observed to be extremely common on the site."and were found to be female."and "Three snakes were examined

Abbreviation. Do not abbreviate unless the full phrase has already appeared. Scientificnames may be abbreviated only if they have appeared fully in the same paragraph. Never
begin a sentence with an abbreviation of a scientific name.

© 1990 by Asiatic Herpetological Research

Asiatic Herpetological ResearchVol. 3, p. 138

April 1990

Standard Format

Manuscripts following standard format should include introduction, methods, results,and discussion sections. While other formats are acceptable, the editors encourage the useof standard format.
Introduction. The introduction typically states the significance of the topic and reviews
prior research.

Methods. This section should clearly state where, when, and how research was carriedout. Include sample sizes. Protocols designed by other investigators must be properly
cited. Research materials and their manufacturers should be listed. The reader must beable to replicate the methods of the author(s).
Results. This section states the results and their significance to the investigation.

Figuresand tables may be used to clarify, but not to replace, results statements in the text.
Statistics should be used when applicable. Large amounts of data should be avoided, orincluded as an appendix at the end of the article.
Discussion. The discussion is a synthesis of the introduction and the results. No newinformation should be discussed unless it was presented in the results section. Newfindings should be discussed in relation to prior research. The author(s) should feel free topresent several possible interpretations of the results. The editors particularly encouragesuggestions of future research in Asian herpetology.
Section Headings

Level 1: text is bold andcentered Level 2: text is italic and centered. Level 3: text is italic and at the beginning of
the first paragraph. Authors should take this style into account when writing manuscripts.
Articles will be published using three section heading styles.

Statistics
Statistics must be accompanied by sample sizes, significance levels, and the names ofany tests. Investigators should pay careful attention to independence and applicability oftests, and randomness of samples. One of the most frequent examples of nonindependence
is the use of multiple, paired t-tests instead of analysis of variance (ANOVA). In general,
multiple tests on the same data set are not valid. Descriptive statistics are inmany cases more appropriate than inferential statistics.
References
Accurate and standard references are a crucial part of any article. This is especially
important when dealing with publications from many different countries. The reader must
be able to precisely identify any literature cited. References in the text must be checked forconsistency with references in the literature cited section. All references cited in thetext must be in the literature cited section. The literature cited section may
not contain any references not mentioned in the text.
Articles containing
inaccurate or inconsistent literature citations will be returned for correction.

References In Text
1) References to articles by one or two authors must include

both surnames in the order

References to articles by more than two
they appear
authors must include the first author's surname, followed by "et al."2) The year of article follows the authors, separated only by a space.
3) References with the same author and year are distinguished by the lower case charactersin the original publication.

a, b, c,...

Asiatic Herpetological Research

April 1990

Vol. 3, p. 139

4) References cited in text are listed in alphabetical order by first author.

For example, "My results also incorporate literature records (Marx et al. 1982; Marx and Rabb
1972; Mertens 1930; Pope 1929; Wall 1909, 1910a, 1910b, 1910c).

References In Literature Cited

must include all authors, in the order that they appear in the original
publication; "et al." is never used in a literature cited section.
2) The first author is listed surname first, initial(s) last. All other authors are listed
1) References

initial(s) first, surname last.

3) References with thesame author and year are distinguished by the lower casecharacters, "a, b, c, ..."
4) References cited are listed in alphabetical order by first author.

5) Names of journals are not abbreviated.

See below for examples:
Journal article.
1987. Energetics and performance during nest emergence and the hatchling frenzy inloggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta ). Herpetologica43(3):307-315.

Dial, B. E.

Journal article from a journal that uses year instead of volume.
Gatten, R. E. Jr.

1974.

Effect of nutritional state on the preferred body temperatures of turtles.

Copeia 1974(4):912-917.

Journal article, title translated, article not in English.
Ananjeva, N. B. 1986. [On the validity of Megalochilus mystaceus (Pallas, 1776)]. Proceedingsof the Zoological Institute, Leningrad 157:4-13. (In Russian).

Note that for Acta Herpetologica Sinica, the year must precede the volume number. Thisbetween the old and new series, and between 1987, Vol. 6 numbers 1-4
and 1988, Vol. 6 numbers 1-2.

is to distinguishCai, M., J. Zhang, and D. Lin.

1985. [Preliminary observation on the embryonic development ofHynobius chinensis Guenther]. Acta Herpetologica Sinica 1985, 4(2): 177-180. (In Chinese).

Book.
Pratt, A. E.

1892.

To the snows of Tibet through China. Longmans, Green, and Co., London.

268 pp.
Article in book.
Huey, R. B. 1982. Temperature, physiology, and the ecology of reptiles. Pp. 25-91. In C. Gans
and F. H. Pough (eds.), Biology of the Reptilia, Vol. 12, Physiological Ecology. Academic
Press, New York.

Government publication.
United States Environmental Data Service.
1968.
Environmental Data Service, Washington, D. C.

Climatic Atlas of the United States.

Abstract of oral presentation
Arnold, S. J.

1982.

Are scale counts used in snake systematics heritable?

SSAR/HL Annual

Meeting. Raleigh, North Carolina. [Abstr].

Thesis or dissertation.

Moody, S. 1980. Phylogenetic and historical biogeographical relationships of the genera in theAgamidae (Reptilia: Lacertilia). Ph.D. Thesis. University of Michigan. 373 pp.

Anonymous, undated.
Undated. Turpan brochure. Promotion Department of the National Tourism
Administration of the People's Republic of China, China Travel and Tourism Press, Turpan,Anonymous.

Vol. 3, p. 140

Asiatic Herpetological Research

April 1990

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.

Figures and Tables

Each table should be
Figures and tables should be referenced in order in the text
instructions
for Figures.
aSeeforonsheet.
below
doubleseparate
typewritten,
spacedPlatesAll figure plates submitted must be of publication quality, and should ideally be cameraready.

All text in figures

must be of typeset quality.

Times Roman typeface ispreferred.
If typeset quality lettering is not possible for the author(s), Asiatic

Research

will accept figure plates without lettering.

Herpetological

The following instructions must be

followed precisely:
1) Carefully label figures in pencil,

on the back, or attach a photocopy or an additional

sheet with instructions.
2)

Do not submit figures with poor type or handwriting on the face of the figure.

Substandard figures will be returned for correction. In order to avoid wasted effort, please
follow the above instructions carefully.
Figure Legends
Figure legends should be typed on a separate sheet. Legends should explain the figure
without reference to the text. A figure and legend should make sense if separated from therest of the article. For example:

FIG. 2.

Lateral view of live Psammodynastes pulverulentus holding a prey lizard (AnolisNote buccal tissue surrounding the enlarged anterior maxillary and dentary teeth of thecarolinensis ).
snake.

Copyright
Asiatic Herpetological Research reserves the copyrights to all material published therein,

except that excluded by permission of the editors. Any material under a prior copyrightsubmitted to Asiatic Herpetological Research must be accompanied by the written consentof the copyright holder.

Submission of Manuscripts
Authors should submit letter quality, double spaced, single-sided manuscripts both inEnglish and in the original language on 21.5 x 28 cm (8.5 x 11 inch) white bond paper.
If possible, include a computer diskette containing the manuscript. Macintosh diskettes
with Macwrite, Write Now, Microsoft Word, or text files, or MS/PC DOS diskettes with
Word Perfect, Wordstar, Microsoft Word, RTF, or ASCII files are preferable.
Computerized manuscripts should include italic, bold, and centered text only. Additional
formatting is not necessary or desirable.

Manuscripts will be reviewed. The editors will attempt to choose reviewers whose
research knowledge most closely matches the content of the manuscript.
Asiatic Herpetological Research requests $25 US per printed page from authors withfunds available. Please indicate if funds are available.