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see also Guidelines for proposals
All contributions submitted for publication in Taxon must be written in English; they must in the first place be sent to the Editor in chief of Taxon (Botanisches Institut der Universitaet Wien, Rennweg 14, 1030 Wien, AUSTRIA.), with the exception of book reviews and items for the `News and notes' section, which may be sent directly to the respective column editors.
Typescripts are to be submitted as one original plus two front-and-back photocopies. Authors may be asked to modify or rewrite their texts to accommodate reviewers' suggestions and to conform with the requirements of Taxon. They should be prepared to provide the final version of their text (following review and editing) both on paper and on electronic support. Page charges (US$ 50 per page) are billed for each printed page in excess of 6, published by one author in a single issue of Taxon (the first 6 pages in each issue being free). For personal members of IAPT and for staff of supporting institutional members the number of uncharged-for pages is 12, and for surplus pages a reduced rate (US$ 25) applies. For the purpose of page charge billing, the status or affiliation of the first of two or more co-authors shall count. Reprints can be ordered when the corrected proof is returned.
By submitting a contribution for publication, authors tacitly agree to assign the copyright to the publishers of Taxon, such assignment to take effect as soon as the author receives written confirmation of acceptance of the manuscript. Rejected manuscripts will be discarded, except for original artwork and photographs, which will be returned.
Nomenclature proposals
Detailed guidelines for proposals to conserve and/or reject names have been published separately (Nicolson & Greuter in Taxon 43: 109-112. 1994) and differ in some respects from those that follow. Proposals to amend the International code of botanical nomenclature (the Tokyo Code, Regnum Veg. 131) are to follow instructions published by Greuter & al. (in Taxon 44: 249-250. 1995). All proposals will be reviewed both by the Editors and the Nomenclature Editor, and may be modified so as to conform to the rules and requirements of botanical nomenclature.
Points of view
Challenging new ideas, or new challenges to extant ones, may be presented in contributions to the 'Points of view' column. Editorial requirements are the same as for main articles (below) except that no summary is required. Tables, illustrations and literature cited should be kept at an absolute minimum, the ideal length of such contributions being 2-4 printed pages. Publication of dissenting or supporting views by others will be actively encouraged by the column editor. No reviews will usually be called for, the main criterion for acceptance being the interest and timeliness of the topic rather than the scientific rigour of the argument.
Main articles
Taxon publishes papers dealing with systematic botany in its widest sense. The emphasis is on articles of a general nature: taxonomy, systematics of higher categories, evolution, methodology, bibliography, biography, history, nomenclature, typification, palaeobotany, palynology, biosystematics, molecular botany, chemotaxonomy, numerical taxonomy, and related subjects, all in so far as concerned with systematics. All typescripts will be sent for review to experts in the field. Main articles will be published either as "feature papers" in the general section or in one of the columns 'Methods and techniques' or 'Nomenclature'.
Preparation of typescripts
Consult the most recent issue of Taxon and follow current format. Provide an English summary. No footnotes will be allowed except for the authors' addresses, which must be given in full. Keep title and subtitles short and informative. Only two subtitle categories are allowed, both italicized: the primary ones standing alone, the secondary ones being followed by a period and a dash (double hyphen), with the subsequent text running on.
All scientific names, irrespective of rank, as well as book and journal titles cited in the running text, must be italicized. Personal names must not appear in all capitals. Use "&" between double authors, both in author citations in scientific plant names and when citing literature, and use "& al." for multiple (two or more) additional co-authors or co-editors except in the 'Literature cited' section where all names must be given. A single blank must always follow after a period, colon, semicolon, or comma (except within numerals and standard abbreviations such as e.g., i.e., i.a. and l.c.): "Brown, A. J." not "Brown, A.J."; "32: 120-130" not "32:120-130"; and between numerals and units of measure: "2 mm" not "2mm"; "5 %" not "5%".
Abbreviate authors of scientific plant names in conformity with Brummitt & Powell, Authors of plant names (Kew, 1992); book titles in synonymies, as in or by analogy to Stafleu & Cowan's, Taxonomic literature (ed. 2 and supplements) but with capital initial letters; journal titles, both in synonymies and under 'Literature cited', in conformity with Lawrence & al., Botanico-periodicum-huntianum (Pittsburgh, 1968) and, except for the altered Cyrillic transliteration system, its Supplement (Pittsburgh, 1991). Titles in foreign languages must be cited in original and not in English translation; if they (and the authors) appear in non-Latin script they are to be transliterated following ISO standards (ISO-1 for Cyrillic script).
When citing specimens, the following format is required: Country. Political subdivision: locality, altitude, date, collector(s) and number (herbarium abbreviations). Useful conventions for citing Linnaean specimens can be found in Jarvis & al. (Regnum Veg. 127. 1993). Names of new taxa must be followed immediately by the holotype indication, then by the (Latin) description or diagnosis in a separate paragraph. In synonymies, homotypic names shall forma single paragraph, in chronological sequence, with the respective type indication at the end of each such paragraph.
In typing or printing, double-space all material, including summary and literature cited. Do not divide words at the ends of lines. Provide margins of at least 3 cm on all sides of the page. Number each page consecutively.
Figures and tabular material
Figures should be designed to fit the full page width after reduction (12.6 cm), and including caption they may occupy up to the full page length (19.9 cm). It is mandatory that the scale(s) be included on the illustration itself. Original figures should be mounted separately on solid white paper, to be mailed flat, never folded or rolled. All illustrations must be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals. They should be cited "Fig. 1" or "Fig. 1-4" in sequential order. The legends should be appended at the end of the manuscript. Tables must have an appropriate heading and must bear consecutive Arabic numerals. They should be cited "Table 1", etc.
Photographs should be sent in triplicate. Do not mount on the same plate line illustrations (drawings, maps, graphs, or diagrams) and half-tones (photographs). Plates comprising several figures or photographs should have drawn-in letters or numbers for reference. Photographs, especially those of herbarium specimens, must be of exceptional quality, good contrast, and submitted as close to Taxon page size as possible, avoiding "landscape” orientation .
Normally only previously unpublished illustrations are acceptable. If circumstances require the reproduction of copyright material, the authors are responsible for obtaining written permission from the copyright holder (a signed permission to accompany the submitted typescript).
Literature cited
Only cite articles or books already published or in press, not mere typescripts (e.g. unpublished theses) nor papers "in preparation". Full references must be given, including city of publication (but not publishers) for books. Each reference in the text must also be listed under 'Literature cited' and vice versa. Book and journal titles must be italicized, except for scientific names normally in Italics which appear in Roman type. Titles quoted in full (e.g. of books) should have only those words capitalized for which the rules of orthography require capital initials (proper names in English, nouns in German etc.). Examples of correct citations are found in any current issue of Taxon.
Proofs
Proofs will be sent to the first author, unless the contrary has been specified. They must be processed immediately and returned by air mail or fax. Authors who anticipate being absent are urged to give forwarding orders or to give notice of temporary addresses (with dates). Corrections not returned within two weeks cannot usually be taken into consideration.
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Taxonomy. This page last updated 03 May 2005
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