Submissions

I. Instructions for Contributors

A. Submitting, Reviewing, and Processing Manuscripts:

The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society is published in two parts. The first part usually consists of original research papers of five printed pages or more (2.5 double-spaced typed pages equals ca. one printed page). The second part, TORREYA (once a separate journal), usually consists of general, invited, and review papers, original research papers of less than five printed pages, and papers on distribution, floristics, conservation, and environmental concerns, field trips reports, obituaries, book reviews, and other kinds of articles when availability of space in this section allows for quicker publication than would otherwise occur.

IMPORTANT NOTES REGARDING FIGURES:

All figures must be checked for minimum resolution by authors prior to submission. Use the AllenPress veriFig website (click here), login using the password “figcheck” and follow directions on the screen. You will be sent an email verifying the reproducibility of each figure.

(1) File types preferred are JPG and TIF (other file types can be accommodated but are more difficult for us to work with). (2) Line art (B & W drawings) must be at least 600 DPI minimum resolution and half-tones (pictures) 300 DPI minimum resolution. Again, please confirm that your files meet these criteria prior to submission.

Submissions not in the style and format of the journal, or sloppily prepared, will be summarily returned to the authors without review. Detailed instructions for manuscript style are provided in a separate section (“II. Manuscript Preparation”) below.

Publication in the Journal is no longer restricted to members of the Society. Submission is open to all contributors. There are no page charges except under special circumstances (e.g., color plates). You can become a member of the Torrey Botanical Society online or by mailing in a membership form downloaded from this website or obtained from a copy of the journal.

B. Contact Information:
Dr. Brian C. McCarthy, Editor-in-Chief
Department of Environmental and Plant Biology
317 Porter Hall
Ohio University
Athens, OH 45701-2979
tel: (740) 593-1615
email: mccarthy@ohio.edu

C. Manuscripts will be examined by at least two referees and returned to the Associate Editor. The Associate Editor will in turn provide a third independent review and provide additional comments to the Editor who will then make recommendations to the authors regarding revision or rejection. The decision to accept or decline a manuscript is the sole responsibility of the Editor-in-Chief. We attempt to complete the review process within 8-12 weeks.

D. Revised manuscripts should be returned directly to the Editor-in-Chief via PeerTrack. The Editor may choose to solicit an additional review (often when major revisions are requested).

E. Upon notification of acceptance of a revised manuscript, the author will receive a Copyright Assignment Form (CAF). The corresponding author must forward this to all co-authors. CAFs must be printed, signed, and returned immediately to the Editor-in-Chief. The manuscript cannot proceed to publication until all CAFs have been received. This is to comply with the U.S. Copyright Law, as discussed in the Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 105(1):1, 1978.

F. Having been notified of acceptance, the author will also be asked to provide an electronic copy of the final version of the manuscript to the Editor-in-Chief via PeerTrack.

G. An author should receive page proof (not galley) about two to six months after acceptance of paper. Page proofs (PDF) will be sent via email to the corresponding author listed on the front page. Please make sure your email address is correct. Changes or rectification of errors not attributable to the printer will be charged to the author. Failure to return Author’s 1st Proof promptly may delay publication.

H. An order blank for offprints, including a schedule of charges, is sent to the author by the printer, together with the page proof, and should be returned promptly to PeerTrack. Any questions about charges or mailing of offprints should be referred directly to the PeerTrack.

II. Manuscripts Preparation (please follow directions carefully)

In general, the Journal conforms to the standards as posed by Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, 6th ed. (1994). Cambridge University Press. Please consult this reference.

Follow one or more recent published papers in the Journal to understand basic structure and formatting.

A. Style.

Write in simple declarative sentences. Be consistent. One of the most common mistakes is to shift between past and present tense.

B. Scientific Names.

In general, Latin botanical names should be used throughout the text (not common names). With the first usage, provide the full binomial and authority. Binomials should be formatted in italics. Make sure to specify the flora or authority being referenced for the study in the Materials and Methods section.

C. Abbreviations (in text).

For the most part, only widely used abbreviations should be employed (e.g., ATP, RNA, etc.). Sentences should not start with abbreviation of genera. In the title and abstract, do not use abbreviations. Units should be abbreviated whenever possible (e.g., use mg not milligrams).

D. Statistics.

Follow ISO standards for all statistical symbols. Common symbols include P, df, n, r, N, t, F, etc. (use capitalization and/or italics as appropriate for the specific symbol). Use special special symbols when needed. For example, the +/- symbol [not displayable in HTML] is (alt + 241) is a real symbol, not an underlined plus symbol(!).

E. Typescript preparation.

Use Times New Roman 12-point font.
Use 2.5 cm margins [minimally] on all sides.
Left justify text.
Consult recent issues of the Journal for proper placement of main
headings, subheadings, and paragraph headings.
Double space everything including tables, figure legends, literature cited,
and footnotes.
Indicate in the margin the approximate location in the text of the figures and
tables.

F. Order. Arrange manuscript copy in this order, except that some of the subdivisions may not be necessary in a short paper.

Cover Page:
Running head
Title of paper
Author’s name
Author’s institution or affiliation
Name and address for mailing proof
Subsequent Pages:
Abstract
Keywords
Footnotes
Text: { Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusions
Literature Cited

i. Abstract.

Every paper should include an abstract in the format of Biological Abstracts inserted below the author’s name and institution. The abstract should begin with a repetition of the author’s name and address (the latter in parentheses), the title, and a citation in the form of, “J. Torrey Bot. Soc. XXX: 000 000. 20XX. “, after which a short summary should follow. Supply keywords for abstract journals.

ii. Footnotes.

The first footnote credits the source of financial support (if any). This footnote should be attributed to the title. Additional footnotes are attributed to authors. For example, you may wish to provide present address of the author, if different from the address in the heading, or acknowledge individuals who assisted.

Footnotes in the body of the text should be avoided.

Use the footnote function of MS-Word ONLY. This is available via the toolbar as Insert|Reference|Footnote.

iii. Literature cited.

Surnames of the authors cited should be capitalized in Small Caps Font (Note: this is NOT THE SAME AS FULL CAPS), and only initials used for given names. Use ‘hanging indent’ for each citation. Time and effort will be saved by adopting the usage and abbreviations of a recent AIBS Style Manual for Biological Journals or Biosis List of Serials, BioSciences Information Service, Philadelphia.

Examples follow:

a. Journal Articles

Adkison, G. P. and S. K. Gleeson. 2004. Forest understory vegetation along a productivity gradient. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 131: 32-44.

b. Book Chapters

Glenn-Lewin, D. C. and E. van der Maarel. 1992. Patterns and processes of vegetation dynamics, pp. 11-59. In D. C. Glenn-Lewin, R. K. Peet, and T. T. Veblen [eds.], Plant succession: theory and prediction. Chapman & Hall, London, UK.

c. Theses

McCarthy, B. C. 1989. Reproductive biology of Carya ovata and C. tomentosa (Juglandaceae): determinants of flower and fruit production. Ph.D. thesis. Rutgers–The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ.

d. Book

Schwarts, R. J. 1911. The Complete Dictionary of Abbreviations. T. Y. Crowell Co., New York, NY. 179 p.

e. Technical Bulletins or Proceedings

Fosbroke, S. L. C. and K. W. Gottschalk, eds. 2003. Proceedings, U.S. Department of Agriculture interagency research forum on gypsy moth and other invasive species; January 15-18, 2002, Annapolis, MD. General Technical Report NE-300. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station, Newtown Square, PA, USA. 116 p.

f. Website URL

McCarthy, B. C. 2001. Introduction to dendrochronology.
Retrieved August 15, 2004 from Ohio University, Department
of Environmental and Plant Biology.

G. Figures.

Line figures should be prepared as black and white drawings only (avoid half-tone grays which do not reproduce well). Do not use color unless you desire the figure to appear in color. Make sure all axes are labeled, tick marks and scales are correct, and units are provided. Figures will appear exactly as they are submitted. Each figure must appear on a separate page (or file) and be labeled with the figure number. Scale your figure appropriately. The page size of the journal is 5.5 × 8.5 inches. Photographs must have a scale bar indicating magnification. Legends for figures should be typewritten and included with the manuscript on a separate page or pages and not affixed to the figures. Line art must have a resolution of at least 600 dpi and half-tones (pictures) a resolution of at least 300 dpi.

H. Tables.

All tables must prepared using the MS-Word Table function. The typed manuscript of the tables should be double spaced throughout, each table on a separate sheet and in the following format:

Table 1. Title (underline or italic font to indicate italics)
________________________________________________________________________________________

Boxhead (identifying entries in vertical columns)

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