Instructions to authors

Ardeola publishes original papers on all aspects of ornithology (behaviour, ecology, morphology, zoogeography, etc.). Accepted languages are Spanish and English. Ardeola publishes as Articles original papers that should not normally exceed 20 printed pages, although longer articles may be occasionally considered. The Short Notes section accommodates brief reports (three printed pages with one table/figure) where the results of original research or new techniques are presented. Finally, the Forum section publishes papers whose main topic, contents and/or format differ from the normal articles and short notes published by the journal. Its main aim is to serve as a lighter channel for discussion and constructive criticism on papers or research lines published either in Ardeola or elsewhere, as well as to stimulate the publication of new ideas and short revisions on current ornithological topics.

Ardeola also includes a section of Ornithological News, including relevant reports on the Spanish avifauna (biological comments are excluded) and the yearly report of the Rare Birds Committee of the Spanish Ornithological Society. Manuscripts dealing with birds considered as rare bird by the Committee might only include data that have been previously approved by this Committee. The Editor will notify receipt of submitted manuscripts within one month.

Manuscripts

Articles and Forum

The Editorial Board encourages sending manuscripts (Word files for text and figures) via e-mail to the following address: ardeola@mncn.csic.es. Alternatively, send three copies to the Editor (Dr. Juan José Sanz, Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), Calle José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, E-28006 Madrid, Spain). Manuscripts must be typed double-spaced on one face only, in white paper 21.5 x 28 cm, with margins of 3 cm. Manuscripts should be written in the third person. The Editorial Board encourages using Microsoft Word for Windows. Each copy of the manuscript should include: Title page (including the paper title, author/s, address/es), Summary and key words (with a second version in English or Spanish), Text (with the following recommended format: Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion), Acknowledgements and Bibliography. Appendices, Tables, Figures and Figure legends should be presented at the end of the manuscript, in separate sheets. Footnotes will not be accepted. All pages should be numbered at the top right corner.

On first mention, a bird species should be designated by the English name (initials in capitals) followed by the systematic binomial without parenthesis: Great Tit Parus major. Thereafter only one name should be used, preferably the English one. Latin names of genera and species should be in italics. For the Spanish names of birds the official list of the Spanish Ornithological Society should be used (see last issues of Ardeola and in www.seo.org).

Summary.- Standard articles should include English (first) and Spanish summaries of up to 500 words as a series of factual statements under the headings Aims, Location, Methods, Results and Conclusions (as appropriate), should be provided after the title page, along with a list of up to 10 Key words. Authors may also provide a second Abstract (with the same structure) and set of Key words in Spanish. This should appear after the English Abstract and Key words and must be an appropriated translation of the English version. The editorial staff could translate, if needed, the English summary into Spanish for non-Spanish speaking authors.

Bibliography.- References in the text will be cited as follows: Herrera, 1974; Carrascal & Tellería, 1987; Olsson et al., 1992. Only published papers, or definitively accepted ones, should be included in the references. Reference to unpublished works can be made in the main text as "pers. obs.", but should not be included in the Bibliography. Names of journals will be written in full, following these models:

BERNIS, F. 1966. Migración en Aves. Tratado teórico y práctico. SEO. Madrid.

HERRERA, C. M. 1985. Habitat-consumers interaction in frugivorous birds. En, M. L. Cody (Ed.): Habitat selection in birds, pp. 341-365. Academic Press. Orlando.

OLSSON, U., ALSTRÖM, P. & COLSTON, P. R. 1993. A new species of Phylloscopus from Hainan Island, China. Ibis, 135: 3-7.

Figures.- Line drawings and figures should be made with Indian ink or printed in high quality devices (e. g. laser printers) to ensure correct reproduction. They will be numbered with Arabic numerals. Rotulation should be large enough to allow for a reduction in size at least 75% of the original size. The name of the author/s should be lightly written on the reverse of the figure. Do not submit original artwork until the manuscript has been accepted. Photographs (only in black/white) should be in glossy paper.

Tables.- Make them as simple as possible, avoiding vertical lines. Tables will be numbered with Arabic numerals. Each table should include its legend in the same page. Do not include more than one table per page.

Biosketch.- A short text (maximum 100 words in length; 150 for three authors or more) at the end of standard articles describing brief details of the authors and the overall research interests within which the published work has been carried out the research of the authors should be provided. The Biosketch is not intended to replace standard acknowledgments, but rather to provide readers with an outline of the structure and objectives of the research teams, or groups, responsible for the work.

Manuscripts not conforming to these rules may be returned to the author without revision.

Short Notes

Send the manuscripts via e-mail or by surface mail (three copies) to the Editor. Short Notes are composed of Title page (as for Articles), Text (without sections), Summary (in Spanish when the text is in English, or in English when the text is in Spanish), Acknowledgements and Bibliography. All Short Notes should be written in the third person. Title will be provided in both Spanish and English. Instructions for the preparation of Short Notes are similar as for Articles. The Summary should have less than 100 words.

Ornithological News and Rare Birds Committee

The ornithological news refereed to the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands will be sent to D. Blas Molina (SEO/BirdLife, C/Melquiades Biencinto,34, E-28053 Madrid, Spain. e-mail: bmolina@seo.org), while those refereed to the Canary Islands will be sent to D. Juan Antonio Lorenzo (Dept. de Biología Animal (Zoología), Univ. de La Laguna, E-38206, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain). Reports on rare birds will be sent to Dr. Eduardo de Juana (Dpto. de Biología Animal I (Vertebrados), Univ. Complutense, E-28040 Madrid, Spain). Send only one copy of each report.

Gallery proofs and Offprints

Gallery proofs of both text and illustrations will be sent to the corresponding author. They should be returned to the Editor not later than three days after receipt. Papers which are returned to the Editor with unduly time delays will be delayed for publication until the following journal issue. Correct only typo-graphical or printing mistakes. Changes not corresponding with the accepted original text will be charged to the author.

An electronic copy (pdf format) will be supply free of charge to the author/s. Publication of this pdf copy in web pages requires the explicit authorisation of the publisher. Additional offprints can be supplied on payment; order will be required at the time of proof-correction.