The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society (JTBS) is published quarterly and may contain two peer-reviewed sections. The first section consists of papers on original research in any area of plant biology, including floristics, distribution, conservation, and environmental concerns, with an emphasis on research done in, and about plants of, the Western Hemisphere. The second section, Torreya (once a separate journal), contains original research from the Torrey Range. The Torrey Range is defined as including all counties within a 50-mile radius of New York City, including southeastern New York (Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties), all of northern New Jersey south to Mercer and Monmouth Counties, and Fairfield County, Connecticut. The Journal may also include field trip reports, obituaries, announcements, and book reviews.
I. Manuscript Submission, Reviewing, and Processing
A. Submission to the Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society
Publication in JTBS is not restricted to members of the Torrey Botanical Society. However, we encourage you to enjoy the benefits of membership in the Society. One of the benefits is Open Access status at no charge for articles published by current members. Please notify the Editor-in-Chief of your membership status in your submission cover letter. Authors who are not current members may pay $25 per page for Open Access status. There are no page charges for publication in JTBS; however, see Section H below for the fee structure for color figures.
All manuscripts must be submitted through the PeerTrackTM submission and peer review management system. Assignment of copyright is done during the submission process. Detailed instructions for manuscript preparation are provided in Section II below.
B. Contact Information
Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Carolyn Copenheaver, Virginia Tech; ccopenhe@vt.edu
Managing Editor: Ms. Kathryn Hollandsworth; jtbsmanaging@gmail.com
C. Peer Review Process
Submitted manuscripts will be assigned to an Associate Editor (AE) and examined by at least two reviewers. The AE will then evaluate the reviewers’ comments and provide their recommendations to the Editor-in-Chief (EIC). The EIC will then make the decision whether to accept the manuscript pending revision or reject it. The editors attempt to complete the review process within 8 to 12 weeks of submission.
D. Revised Manuscript Submission
Revised manuscripts should be returned to the EIC via PeerTrack using Microsoft Word (not PDF). Upon resubmission, the EIC and AE will make a determination as to whether an additional outside review is needed. If not, they will examine the revised manuscript and the author’s response to reviewers’ comments to see if publication is warranted.
E. Final Manuscript Acceptance
The EIC will notify the corresponding author as to whether the revised manuscript is accepted for publication.
F. Page Proofs
The corresponding author should receive page proofs as a PDF by email about one month after acceptance of the paper. Authors must respond to all copy editor queries and return proofs to the EIC within 72 hours. Failure to return proofs promptly may delay publication.
G. Color Figures
Color figures are encouraged, and will appear in the electronic version of the Journal free of charge. The print version of JTBS allows authors one color figure at no charge. The cost of additional color figures will be billed to the author at the rate of $200 each. The cost of printing multiple color figures may be waived at the discretion of the EIC. The Managing Editor will invoice authors for costs associated with printing of color figures; payments should be submitted to KnowledgeWorks Global, Ltd. as indicated on the invoice.
H. Final Copy of Paper
The EIC will send the corresponding author a PDF of the published paper.
II. Manuscript Preparation
In general, JTBS conforms to the standards as posted by the most recent edition of the Chicago Manual of Style Online https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html. Refer to recently published papers in JTBS to understand basic structure and formatting. Use Times New Roman 12 point font throughout; use 1-inch (2.5-cm) margins on all sides; left-justify text; and double space all text, including tables, Figure Legends, Literature Cited, and footnotes.
A. Scientific Names
In general, Latin botanical names should be used throughout the text, with Latin and Greek words in italics. With the first usage, provide the full name and authority. Check spelling and standardized author abbreviations in the International Plant Names Index (IPNI) at https://www.ipni.org. As appropriate, specify the flora or taxonomic reference used in the study in the Materials and Methods section.
B. Taxonomic Treatment
Nomenclatural paragraphs should be formatted using hanging indentation. Journal and book titles should be abbreviated using the standard form abbreviation in IPNI.
Specimen citations collectors and collection numbers should be in italics; use collector initials for type specimens and where the collector’s last name could be confusing. Consult the Index Herbariorum for herbarium acronyms. This reference and those cited solely in the nomenclature are not included in the Literature Cited section. Do not use “!” for specimens examined, but “, n.v.” for those not seen. For newly described taxa a short, formal diagnosis in English is preferred. Verify that all descriptive information and measurements are consistent between the text, key, and figure. An example of a specimen citation follows:
Reference Specimens of H. subsquamosa Examined. AUSTRALIA. New South Wales, Oaky Creek, 37 km NE of Boorowa, on Reids Flat Rd., on eutrophic siliceous rocks in a river bed, 14 Aug. 1991, H.T. Lumbsch s.n. & H. Streimann ¼ Lecanoroid Lichens Exs. No. 22 (NY, isotype of H. australis). BRAZIL. Rio de Janeiro, on rock, A.F.M. Glaziou s.n. (NY, possible isotype of Lecania subsquamosa Mu¨ll.Arg.). USA. Arkansas. Franklin Co., Ozark National Forest, Boston Mountain Ranger District, Shores Lake, on sandstone, 17 Oct. 2005, R.C. Harris 51781 (NY). Pope Co., Ozark National Forest, Kings Bluff, on sandstone, 7 Nov. 2002, W.R. Buck 43047 (NY).
Source: Curtis & Lendemer, JTBS 149:79-85
Keys must be dichotomous and indented. Couplets should be numbered (not lettered), the couplet followed by a space, a series of periods, and a space before the destination. The couplets should be parallel and written with the structure preceding the descriptors.
C. Abbreviations and Symbols
For the most part, only widely recognized abbreviations should be used without explanation (e.g., ATP, RNA, etc.). Sentences should not start with an abbreviation (including for a genus). Do not use abbreviations in the title. Units of measure should be abbreviated whenever possible. Use special symbols when needed. Follow ISO standards for all statistical symbols.
D. Manuscript Order
Arrange your submission as follows. See sections a through i below for further elaboration on each element.
Cover page:
Running head
Title
Authors’ names, affiliations, addresses. Provide current addresses in a footnote if different from the addresses in the heading.
Corresponding author’s email
Abstract
Key words
Acknowledgements
Text: Begin each section on a separate page. Some sections may not be necessary.
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusions
Literature Cited
Figure Captions
Tables
Appendices
Figures: See Section k below.
a. Running head
Please provide a short title that will appear in the journal as a running head.
b. Abstract
Every paper must include a one-paragraph abstract consisting of one to two sentences pertaining to each of the major sections of the manuscript. Do not use abbreviations in the abstract.
c. Key words
Below the abstract, supply up to six key words separated by commas and arranged alphabetically. Words in the title are indexed and do not need to be repeated as key words.
d. Acknowledgments
The acknowledgments should credit the source(s) of financial support, if any, and may include other acknowledgments if desired.
e. Headings
The Introduction has no heading. Other first-level headings are indented, upper and lower case, followed by a period, with the text continuing on the same line. First-level headings are bold; second-level headings are small caps; and third-level headings are italicized.
f. Literature Citations in the Text
Do not use a comma to separate author and date (e.g., Sipe and Yamulla 2021). When more than one paper is cited at a time, list them in ascending chronological order and separate the citations with semicolons (e.g., McCarthy and Evans 2000; Koenemann 2021). Use et al., italicized, for more than two authors (e.g., Leicht-Young et al. 2007).
g. Table and Figure Citations in the Text
Abbreviate references to figures (e.g., Fig. 1; Figs. 3, 4). References to tables should be spelled out (e.g., Table 2; Tables 5–7).
h. Literature Cited
Use hanging indentation for each citation. List citations alphabetically by author last name; one author before two, and then chronologically. For three or more authors (i.e., those that appear as “et al.” in the text) list citations in chronological order. First author should be listed surname first, followed by initials; secondary authors should be listed with initials first (see examples below). Authors’ names should be in upper and lower case small caps. Do not abbreviate journal titles.
Journal Articles
Rudolph, A. and D. LeBlanc. 2020. Growth-climate relationships of Acer saccharum (Aceracae) along a latitudinal climate gradient in its western range. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 147: 232–242.
Articles in Online Journals with No Page Numbers: Provide Article Number
Campbell, G., C. H. Callado, W. S. da Costa, J. de B. C. Marques, S. Pireda, and M. Da Cunha. 2022. Growth ring response in Paratecoma peroba (Record) Kuhlm. of seasonal semideciduous forest in Southeast Brazil. Dendrochronologia 72: 125924.
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 and Hall, London, UK.
Books
Barton, A. M., A. S. White, and C. V. Cogbill. 2012. The Changing Nature of the Maine Woods. University of New Hampshire Press, Durham, NH. 304 pp.
Theses
Eisen, K. E. 2020. Species interactions affect the distribution and evolution of multiple floral traits in California native wildflowers. Ph.D. thesis. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. 255 pp.
Proceedings
Fei, S., P. J. Gould, M. J. Kaeser, and K. C. Steiner. 2008. Distribution and dynamics of hayscented fern following stand harvest. pp. 308–326. In D. F. Jacobs and C. H. Michler, eds. Proceedings: 16th Central Hardwood Forest Conference; April 8-9, 2008, West Lafayette, IN. General Technical Report NPS-P-24. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station, St. Paul, MN.
Technical Bulletins
Hanley, T. A., B. T. Bormann, J. C. Barnard, and S. M. Nay. 2014. Responses of southeast Alaska understory species to variation in light and soil environments. Research Paper PNW-RP-598. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland, OR. 17 pp.
Websites
Seiler, J., E. Jensen, A. Niemiera, and J. Peterson. 2021. Jack pine. https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=100. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
i. Figure Captions
Provide a list of figure captions in the manuscript after the Literature Cited.
j. Tables
Tables must be prepared using the MS-Word Table function. Tables should be double spaced throughout. Begin each table on a separate page. Format tables following these examples: https://www.torreybotanical.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/table-examples-JTBS.pdf
k. Figure Preparation
Each figure must submitted as a separate file with the figure number in the file name. Figures will appear exactly as they are submitted. The page size of the journal is 5.5 × 8.5 inches (i.e., one column = 6.7 cm wide; 2 columns = 13.8 cm wide). Preferred file types are JPEG and TIF (other file types may be accommodated). Grayscale figures (e.g., line drawings and maps) must be 1200 DPI minimum resolution and half-tones (images) must be 300 DPI minimum resolution. Scan line drawings as grayscale, not as line art. Please see Section I.G. above about charges for color figures in the print version. Label all axes and include units. All maps, microscope images, and photos or drawings of plant parts, must include a scale bar. Figure captions are included in the manuscript after the Literature Cited and should not be affixed to the figures.
l. Supplemental Data
Supplemental data can be published electronically as a separate PDF. There is no charge for posting these files. Contact the EIC for instructions.