Ardea

Guidelines to authors

ARDEA welcomes manuscripts reporting significant new findings in ornithology, including sound descriptive work. Emphasis is on studies covering the ecology, life history, and evolution of birds. All submissions should be in English and are subject to peer review by at least two independent referees and a corresponding editor. The editor reserves the right to reject without review. Editorial correspondence should be addressed to the managing editor Popko Wiersma (ardeajournal@gmail.com).

Manuscripts - Only electronic submissions are accepted, as single files including all Tables and Figures (file format: Word for Windows or RTF). Submission implies that the work is not being considered for publication elsewhere and that it has been approved by all authors. Articles should not exceed 12 pages in print (c. 750 words per page, excluding Tables and Figures). Printing costs for articles exceeding 12 pages will be charged to the author. Short notes should not exceed 5 pages in print, including no more than two tables or figures. Manuscripts, with line numbers, should be structured as follows: Title (short and concise, plus a proposal for a ‘running head’), Names of authors, Addresses of authors, Abstract (max 300 words), Key words (max ten), Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgements, References, Samenvatting (only for native speakers), Tables, Figure captions, Figures and_ Supplemental Material_. ARDEA offers the possibility to add End Notes to your paper for extended statistical information that would otherwise clutter the text. The abstract should reflect both content and emphasis of the paper. The introduction should be restricted to scope, purpose, and the rationale of the study. Limit the information on methods to what is essential to judge whether the findings are valid.

Units and abbreviations should conform to the S.I. system where possible. Details of statistical analysis to be included are type of test, value of the relevant test statistic, sample size and/or degrees of freedom and probability level. Commonplace statistical abbreviations such as ANOVA, SD, SE, df, t-test, Χ2, F, P, n, r, rs should be used. A post-fix to the test statistic symbol is preferred to present the degrees of freedom, e.g. x23, F12,34.

References - Cited literature should be restricted to published papers. Only papers that have been accepted for publication may be incorporated, with the notation ‘in press’ (and the journal in which it will appear). Unpublished data, manuscripts in preparation and unpublished papers should be noted as ‘pers. comm.’ or ‘unpubl. data’. References in the text should be in order of publication, e.g. (Dawson & Grick 2005, Minton et al. 2007). In the reference list the literature cited should be in alphabetical order by the first word of the family name (e.g. van Eerden under V). Please use the following system.
Articles in journals:
Hanssen S.A., Folstad I. & Erikstad K.E. 2006. White plumage reflects individual quality in female eiders. Anim. Behav. 71: 337-343.
Books:
Greenstreet S.P.R. & Tasker M.L. (eds) 1996. Aquatic predators and their prey. Fishing News Books, Oxford.
Chapters in books and proceedings:
Bazely D.R. & Jefferies R.L. 1996. Trophic interactions in arctic ecosystems and the occurence of a terrestrial trophic cascade. In: Woodin S.J. & Marquiss M. (eds) Ecology of arctic environments. Blackwell Science, Oxford, pp. 183-205.

Illiustrations and graphics - Figures do not need to be definitive, because they will be redrawn by our graphical department. However, figures need to be clear enough for referees and editors to review. Submission of illustrative photos supporting the text (as separate jpg or tiff) is encouraged. Figures and photos should be numbered in sequence of reference in the text.

Colour illustrations - Colour illustrations that support the information given in the paper are welcomed. They will be depicted in colour in the online pdf of the paper, however, for colour print in the paper copy of Ardea, financial support of the author(s) is required. One page containing colour illistrations costs €138,- to print. An invoice will be sent to the authors after acceptance of the manuscript.

Tables - Tables should be concise and self-explanatory. Avoid landscape formats whenever possible. Tables that contain important information but are not indispensable to follow the reasoning in the text are placed in online appendices that can be downloaded from the Ardea website.

Accepted papers - The text of accepted manuscripts is edited to enhance communication between author and reader. Proofs are provided as a PDF. In the proof stage only essential corrections can be made, and any additional alterations are charged to the author. Corrected proofs should be returned within one week. Corresponding authors receive an electronic version of the final publication (PDF).

Open Access - Authors can publish their paper without access restrictions (Open Access). The current Open Access processing charge is €600, which will be charged after acceptance of the manuscript.