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Taprobanica is published (print & online) by the Taprobanica Private Limited, Homagama–Sri Lanka and University of Indonesia, Depok–Indonesia. It publishes original research papers, taxonomic descriptions, notes, observations, essays, opinions and short communications with emphasis on behaviour, conservation breeding, conservation, ecology, geology, palaeontology, evolution, morphology, physiology and systematics. Papers on new techniques or sampling methods and literature surveys are not suitable. Furthermore, specimens of taxa described in Taprobanica as new to science should be deposited in recognised National or International depositories.
All manuscripts must be written in English and submitted via online submission system at http://www.sljol.info/index.php/tapro Manuscripts must be prepared on A4 Size, 8.27 x 11.69 inch (or 21 x 29.7 cm) paper with 1-inch (or 2.54 cm) margins in Microsoft Word document file format, typed with font size, 11 pt. The figures (including graphs) should be submitted in jpg, jpeg, tiff, psd, png or bmp formats as supplementary files and should not be placed on Word Document or merged (or edited with figure numbers etc.) unless requested. Submission of a manuscript to the Journal implies that it has not been submitted elsewhere. If an acknowledgement is not received within 5 working days of submission, please contact the editor-in-chief at thasun.taprobanica@gmail.com
At this time, Taprobanica is not accepting articles on plant ecolocy or plant taxonomy.
Authors must strictly follow journal instructions and adhere to guidelines; otherwise manuscript will be returned before considering for review.
Manuscript must have the following:
Figure legends and Tables should be stand-alone at the end of the text. Do not place any figure (or graphs) on the text.
If the manuscript is deemed suitable for the journal by the Editor, it will be edited by an appointed Section Editor and reviewed by selected peer reviewers. Acceptance will be based on reviewers’ recommendations and appropriateness of the manuscript for the journal. Each manuscript must stand on its own merits and be a substantial contribution to the field.
There are two types of manuscripts:
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
More limited in scope and is usually less than 2000 words (4 or less pages including tables & figures). There are no sections such as introduction, materials & methods, results, discussion; it also does not have an abstract. Contains only limited number of figures, tables and cited literature. The title should be short (maximum 12 words) and in one line. For short communications the appropriate format can be found here:
Sample formats for Short communications
http://www.sljol.info/index.php/TAPRO/article/view/6297/4905
http://www.sljol.info/index.php/TAPRO/article/view/6288/4896
MAJOR ARTICLES
Full-length articles usually contain more than 2000 words (4 or more pages excluding tables & figures). The manuscript must be arranged in a proper format and may be redesignated as a short communication at the discretion of the editor. For new taxonomic descriptions, please refer to the format found here:
Sample format for Major articles
http://www.sljol.info/index.php/TAPRO/article/view/5657/4525
Sample formats for taxonomic descriptions (zoology)
http://www.sljol.info/index.php/TAPRO/article/view/4376/3538
http://www.sljol.info/index.php/TAPRO/article/view/3963/3221
Sample formats and instructions for taxonomic descriptions (Botany)
http://www.sljol.info/index.php/TAPRO/article/view/6285/4893
http://www.sljol.info/index.php/TAPRO/article/view/6282/4890
Text: The title of manuscript, names and addresses of authors, e-mails of corresponding authors should be stated at the beginning of the text. Pages must be numbered with abstract as the first page (lines should not be numbered, spaced, and justified). The abstract, not exceeding 150 words must indicate the scope and importance findings of the paper, highlighting the principal ones and conclusions. There should not be more than six key words. There are no subheadings for introduction which should be brief stating the objective of the study as well as the latest finding in the field.
Measurements must be in metric units and abbreviations must be defined at first use (except for common ones pertaining to measurement, time, or statistical test). Footnotes (other than in tables) are not permitted. Generic and specific names (and nothing else except secondary headings and some statistical abbreviations) are italicised and taxonomic authorship and year should appear when nomenclatural problems are involved and for the first time mentioned in the text.
The discussion section should provide an interpretation and analysis of the results of the study, without repeating information already presented under the Results section. It should relate the new findings to the existing one and include logical deductions. Where necessary, the Results and Discussion can be combined.
Articles will be published using two level subheading styles and should not be capitalised.
Level 1 heading is bolded and reserved for Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Observation(s), Results, Species Account, Results and Discussion, Discussion, Conclusion, Recommendations, Acknowledgements and Literature Cited.
Level 2 heading is italic and bold. More than two levels of subheading are not accepted. The second level can be italicised and underlined.
Acknowledgements: Acknowledgements identify individuals by first name and full surname and do not list titles (Mr. Mrs. Dr. Prof.). Where there is a lengthy acknowledgement surnames can be included followed by initials only. The popular institutions should be abbreviated. Collecting permits, import/export permits, and Institutional Animal Care protocols must be cited in Acknowledgments.
Literature Cited: References in the text must be checked for consistency with references in the literature-cited section. Authors must pay serious attention to references based on the following Journal format. Manuscript will be returned even without reviewing if reference style is not adhered to.
REFERENCES IN TEXT
References to articles by one or two authors must include both surnames in the order they appear in the original publication.
E.g. Dendrelaphis girii is undoubtedly a sister species of D. bifrenalis (Vogel & Van Rooijen, 2011).
References to articles by more than two authors must include the first author's surname, followed by “et al.”
E.g. Approximately 150 morphospecies were recorded for the three years as a whole including 110 endemic species, at least 50 species new to science (Naggs et al., 2005)
The year of article follows the authors, separated only by a comma and a space. References with the same author and year are distinguished by the lower case characters “a, b, c …”, separated only by a comma.
E.g. One hopes that this problem will be solved soon, before complete chaos is installed in higher nomenclature (Dubois, 2006a,c, 2008f, 2009b,c).
Literatures cited in the text are listed in chronological order by first author, separated by a semicolon and a space.
E.g. that species has been recorded from different parts of Sri Lanka (Boulenger, 1890; Wall, 1921; Smith, 1943; Deraniyagala, 1955; Taylor, 1953; Das & de Silva, 2005; Somaweera, 2006; David & Vogel, 2012).
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE CITED
References must include all authors, in the order that they appear in the original publication; "et al." is never used in the literature section. The first author is listed with his or her surname first, initial(s) last. All other authors are listed with initial(s) first, surname last.
E.g. Amarasinghe, A. A. T., U. Manthey, E. Stöckli, I. Ineich, S. O. Kullander, F. Tiedemann, C. McCarthy, and D. E. Gabadage, 2009. The original descriptions and figures of Sri Lankan agamid lizards (Squamata: Agamidae) of the 18th and 19th centuries. Taprobanica, 1: 2–15.
References with the same author and year are distinguished by the lower case characters, “a, b, c …”.
E.g. Dubois, A., 2007a. Phylogeny, taxonomy and nomenclature: the problem of taxonomic categories and of nomenclatural ranks. Zootaxa, 1519: 27–68.
Dubois, A., 2007b. Genitives of species and subspecies nomina derived from personal names should not be emended. Zootaxa, 1550: 49–68.
Dubois, A., 2007c. Naming taxa from cladograms: some confusions, misleading statements, and necessary clarifications. Cladistics, 23: 390–402.
References cited are listed in alphabetical order by first author. Names of journals are not abbreviated and should be in italics. “Volume number: page numbers” are a must.
E.g. Hill, J. E., 1976. Further records of Myotis peshwa (Thomas 1915) (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from the Indian peninsula. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, 73: 433–437.
Editorial:
Kullander, S. O., 2012. Editorial: How embarrassing can it get? Or: Taxonomy undermined. Taprobanica, 4: 1–4.
Book (italic the name of the book):
E.g. Ashton, M., C. V. S. Gunathilake, N. De Zoysa, M. D. Dassanayake, N. Gunatilake, and S. Wijesundara, 1997. A field guide to the common trees and shrubs of Sri Lanka. Wildlife Heritage Trust of Sri Lanka, Colombo: 432.
Edited book (italic the name of the edited book):
E.g. Bambaradeniya, C. N. B. (ed.), 2006. The fauna of Sri Lanka: Status of taxonomy. Research and conservation. The World Conservation Union, Colombo, Sri Lanka & Government of Sri Lanka: 308.
Article/chapter in an edited book / journal supplements (italic the name of the article):
E.g. Bahir, M. M. and K. P. Maduwage, 2005. Calotes desilvai, a new agamid lizard from Morningside Forest, Sri Lanka. In: Yeo, D. C. J., P. K. L. Ng, and R. Pethiyagoda (eds.). Contributions to biodiversity exploration and research in Sri Lanka. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supplement No. 12: 381–392.
Government publication (do not italic the name of the publication):
Deraniyagala, P. E. P., 1957. Ceylon Administration Reports, part IV – Education. National Museums of Sri Lanka, Colombo: E4–E5.
IUCNSL and MENRSL, 2007. The 2007 Red List of threatened Fauna and Flora of Sri Lanka. IUCN Sri Lanka, Colombo: 148.
PhD thesis & proceedings (italic the name of institute & symposium)
E.g. Moody, S. M., 1980. Phylogenetic and historical biogeographical relationships of the genera in the family Agamidae (Reptilia: Lacertilia). PhD thesis, University of Michigan.
Jerdon, T. C., 1870. Notes on Indian Herpetology. Proceedings of the Asiatic Society Bengal: 66–85.
Websites and online publications (do not italic)
E.g. Uetz, P., 2012. The Reptile Database <http://www.reptile–database.org> accessed on 12 September 2012.
Table: (Numbered in Arabic) must appear with a short heading at the end of the text. Location of each table should be indicated in blue in the text as (Table 1), (Table 2), etc.
Figure caption: (Numbered in Arabic) should be at the end of the text. Location of each figure should be clearly indicated in blue colour in the text as (Fig. 1), (Fig. 2) etc. In the figure caption it should be expressed as “Figure”.
E.g. Figure 1: Physoschistura tuivaiensis: A, holotype MUMF 5089, female (46.0 mm SL); B, paratype MUMF 5087, male (40.8 mm SL); C, MUMF 5090 in life (43.7 mm SL).
Taprobanica may publish figures in colour at the discretion of the editors. Sometimes it may be converted into Gray scale. Colour figures will be published free of charge.
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
Authorship implies responsibility and authors expected to have played a significant role in designing and performing the research and in writing the manuscript. Those whose roles were limited solely to providing materials (including financial support), collecting data, or reviewing the manuscript, should be recognised in the Acknowledgments section. Honorary authorships must be avoided. For new taxonomic descriptions maximum number of authors must be five.
The manuscript must not have been previously published nor is it being considered for publication elsewhere.
A cover letter in PDF format should accompany the manuscript as a supplementary file. The submitter’s signature on the document is a must. A sample cover letter is given below. A letter head containing the institutional affiliation of the first author is preferred.
To: The editor-in-chief
Taprobanica, The Journal of Asian Biodiversity
ISSN: 1800-427X
I am submitting my/our manuscript for your journal/on behalf of the co-authors as follows: [add name(s) & address(es) of co-author(s)]. I declare that the material has not been previously published, has not been submitted elsewhere for consideration and will not be submitted elsewhere for publication unless it is rejected by you or withdrawn. I agree with the policies of the journal and its terms and conditions. I am also aware of the transfer of copyright of the article to the Taprobanica Journal. I/We confirm the submitted material is an original output and does not violate any other party’s copy right or intelligent property.
[Signature & the name of the corresponding author]
Submission: Manuscripts (word doc.) and should be uploaded to the online submission system at http://www.sljol.info/index.php/tapro and the supplementary files should include the following: Statement of authorship (pdf.); Figures (jpg, jpeg, tiff, png, bmp, psd); Tables (word doc.). In addition authors are required to provide contact details of two potential reviewers/experts in the relevant field.
Proofs: Minimum three sets of page proofs (in Ms Word and later Acrobat Pdf) will be sent to the corresponding author prior to publication. Proofs should be checked carefully, corrected and returned within the period given, otherwise the manuscript will be deleted automatically and considered as a new submission if authors want to proceed.
Reprints: An electronic PDF of the article and journal will be sent via E-mail free of charge to the corresponding author. In addition, PDFs can be downloaded online at http://www.sljol.info/index.php/tapro
If authors prefer reprints or hard copies of the journal, there is a nominal charge.
All editorial correspondence should be addressed and articles submitted via the online submission system at http://www.sljol.info/index.php/tapro
The Editor-in-chief reserves all rights to the journal.
If you encounter any difficulty during the online submission, please contact Sioux Cumming for assistance scumming@inasp.info or +44 1865 249909
+44 1865 249909.
As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
Copyright of the articles is retained by Taprobanica Journal.
The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.