Guide to Authors

Please note that Écoscience follows recommendations from this reference:

Council of Science Editors - Style Manual Committee, 2006. Scientific Style and Format: The CSE manual for authors, editors and publishers. 7th Edition. Reston, Virginia

1. A call for papers

Écoscience, a quarterly scientific journal published at Université Laval, covers the entire spectrum of disciplines in ecology, focusing on papers dealing with patterns and processes at different scales in both time and space and with different levels of biological organization.

Specifically, Écoscience publishes, in English or in French, original work in evolutionary and behavioral ecology, ecophysiology, population and community ecology, landscape and ecosystem ecology, numerical ecology, dendroecology, and paleoecology. Articles include original research reports, brief communications, and review articles. The journal also publishes book reviews and a section is reserved for scientific correspondence pertaining to published articles.

Articles: research reports of broad scope that are original contributions to science (manuscript of about 20 pages with double spacing).

Notes: brief reports of new observations or of important findings that deserve publication before broader studies are completed (manuscript of about 8 to 10 pages with double spacing).

Reviews: critical appraisal of broad areas of investigation or re-search in ecology which have rapidly developed in recent years.

Commentaries: opinion on topics recently published in Écoscience or essays on topics of general interest in ecology.

Authors should send their manuscript by electronic or regular mail in a word-processing format and in pdf (acts as the hard copy) to the following address:

Écoscience
Pavillon Charles-Eugène-Marchand
1030 avenue de la Médecine
Local 0165
Université Laval
Québec (Québec)
G1V 0A6, Canada

E-mail: ecoscience@ecoscience.ulaval.ca

In a letter accompanying the submitted manuscript, authors must mention the address as well as the phone and fax numbers and e-mail address of the author for correspondence. They must also confirm that their manuscript is not under consideration for publication elsewhere and will not be submitted elsewhere while under review by Écoscience. Authors can suggest potential referees. Those submitting an article previously rejected by or withdrawn from Écoscience should mention the manuscript number assigned to the previous submission.

2. Manuscript preparation

2.1 General
Presentation of the manuscript must conform to the "Guide to Authors" in order to be published. The text must be type written, double-spaced, on one side of white paper, 21.5 cm x 28 cm (letter) or A4 format, with margins at least 2.5 cm wide. All pages should be numbered, including the title page. Authors' name(s) should appear in the upper left corner on each page, followed by a condensed running title describing the article (e.g., Forbes, Richardson & Baker: Female morph ratios and density).

Use of the standard fonts Times and symbol are recommended. Throughout the text, words to be set in italics should be underlined. Avoid bold words and symbols as much as possible. Capital letters should be used for the first letter of words only where relevant. The first line of each paragraph must be indented.

The lines of the manuscript must be numbered in one continuous sequence.

2.1.1 Language
Manuscripts must be in English or in French. American and British spelling conventions are accepted but the same one should be use throughout the text.

2.1.2 Headings
Limit the level of headings (sub-titles) to two or three levels maximum. Headings must be brief.

2.1.3 Use of common names
Écoscience follows a widespread nomenclature custom that uses capitals only for the part of the common name that is an established proper name (e.g.: European bison; mule deer).

2.1.4 Use of units and symbols
Units used in the text should follow the SI Unit system. Composed units should be written without ‘/’. For exemple, μmol/m2/s should be μmol·m-2·s-1. If special, non-SI units and symbols are used, they must be defined the first time they occur in the abstract and in the text.

2.1.5 Use of abbreviations
Abbreviations are not recommended except those of the derived SI Unit system.

Exception: abbreviation of the words year (y), day (d), and hour (h) are required. Acronyms are accepted but need to be spelled out the first time they are used. No period is needed between capitals: e.g., USA, ANOVA.

2.1.6 Use of numbers
This rule has been revised according to the Scientific Style and Format (7th Edition). Numerals are used  throughout the text (including 0-9) except in the following cases.

Numbers are only spelled out:
1- when a number begins a sentence.
2- when 2 numbers are adjacent (exemple, ....three 50-ml vials.)
3- when used in a more general used or in dedicated expression (exemple: at one time; zero-based budgeting, two-way anova; the one and only)

For numbers consisting of 2 to 4 digits, run the numerals together (i.e., set them close with no extra spaces).

For numbers of more than 4 digits, groups of 3 digits are commonly set off to aid in comprehension, but practice has varied from on country to another.

To avoid potential confusion about the meaning of the comma, the following style is recommended. Use a period (not a comma) to mark the decimal point. For number exceeding 4 digits to the rights or left of the decimal, use thin spaces (not commas) between groups of 3 digits in either direction from the decimal point.

2.1.7 On statistics
Use of standard statistics symbols (e.g., χ2 for Chi-square, n, P) is required. Authors must specify if they present standard error (SE) or standard deviation (SD) at first mention.

Example: "...no significant difference in the recovery of damaged plants (nonsprouters: 58.0 ± 38.8%; resprouters: 76.2 ± 30.8%; mean ± SD) or the level of mortality (nonsprouters: 21.0 ± 9.2%; resprouters: 10.2 ± 10.6%) between regenerative strategies (P > 0.05; t-test)..."

2.2 Organization
Manuscripts should be presented as follows: title page, abstract, keywords and nomenclature, text, acknowledgements, literature cited, tables and appendices, and figures.

2.2.1 Title page
The title must be concise and representative of the content. Expressions such as "Contribution to..." or "Study of..." should be avoided. Authors should appear in the definitive order of publication, with the address of each at the time of the study. Footnotes are used to indicate address changes.

An e-mail address is needed for the author for correspondence.

A condensed running title should appear in the upper left corner of the page.

2.2.2 Abstract
Authors must submit an abstract in the language of the text. They are invited to provide a translation if possible. The abstract should have about 200 words and should be as concise as possible. Present it in one paragraph and do not use abbreviations.

2.2.3 Keywords
Up to six keywords in alphabetical order and separated by comas should follow the abstract to facilitate indexing.

2.2.4 Nomenclature
All Latin binomials mentioned in the text should refer to one or a few nomenclature books which cite the authors who described the species, for accurate and complete indication of the name of a taxon. This is done instead of adding the author at the end of every Latin binomial to save space and to ease the reading of the article. These nomenclature books should be cited after the keywords in a section called Nomenclature, in chronological order.

Nomenclature: Kartesz, 1994.

The complete citation should be included in the "Literature cited" section:
Kartesz, J. T., 1994. A Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Canada and, Greenland, 2nd Edition. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon.

2.2.5 Introduction
Limit the introduction to the scope, purpose and rationale of the study, the definition of the problems and the reasons for or perspective of the work. A brief literature review should give only the guideposts to guide the reader and place the study within a more general context.

2.2.6 Methods
The "Methods" section describes the framework needed to answer the questions raised in the purpose of the work. Limit the information to what is necessary for judging whether the findings are valid. Methods should include items such as:

a) brief description of the study area, geographical location, habitat, etc;
b) nature of biological material (but the exact location of rare and endangered species should not be given);
c) relevant field procedures, equipment and techniques (but refer to literature for techniques already published, giving only the adaptations);
d) when appropriate, a complete list of abbreviations used in the text;
e) hypotheses underlying the choice of statistical analyses with references to literature cited; and
f) the brand name of commercially available equipment or chemical products (with company, town, province or state, and country in parentheses);
g) the name of computer software used for statistical analysis (with version, company, town, province or state, and country in parentheses). This information can be omitted from the text when it is included in the "Literature cited" section.

2.2.7 Results
The results should be presented as comprehensively as possible while keeping in mind to answer only the questions raised in the purpose of the work. Whenever possible, findings should be exposed following the logical sequence of the study and methods, so as to avoid repeating information that should be clearly presented in tables and figures.

2.2.8 Discussion
The discussion should focus on the main contributions of the study, interpreting the findings, and comparing them to other studies. The discussion is a synthesis, an interpretation, exposed in broadly applicable generalizations and principles. In addition, the way in which the findings agree or contrast with other published
work should be expressed. The scope, significance, and general conclusions of the study should end the discussion.

2.2.9 Acknowledgements
Authors should acknowledge only people (or organizations) who have substantially contributed to the scientific and technical
aspects of the research, granted financial support, or helped improve the quality of the manuscript. Do not use acronyms to name organizations or research funds.

2.2.10 Literature cited
Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all elements appearing in the "Literature cited" section. References should be cited in the text by the name of the author and the year of publication. For instance, a text by D. M. Pete and D. H. Mann published in 1994 would be cited as: Pete and Mann (1994) or (Pete & Mann, 1994) depending on sentence construction. Consecutive citations must be separated by a semicolon. The phrase "et al." should be used only when there are more than three authors. An article not accepted for publication will be followed by the mention "unpubl. data" in parenthesis and will not be listed in the "Literature cited" section.

In the bibliography, all references should be listed alphabetically
according to the first author's name. Those in a given year with the same author(s) must be chronologically indentified by a, b, c, etc. Indent after the first line of each reference. Authors must ensure that references cited "in press" have been accepted for publication. All the names of journals or publishing organizations
must be written in full.

Journal articles
Constabel, A. J. & V. J. Lieffers, 1996. Seasonal patterns of light transmission
through boreal mixedwood canopies. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 26: 1008-1014.

Lawton, J. H., 1990. Species richness and population dynamics of animal assemblages. Patterns in body size: Abundance space. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B, 30: 283-291.

Books
Pimentel, D. (ed.), 1993. World Soil Erosion and Conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Zar, J. H., 1998. Biostatistical Analysis, 4th Edition. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Chapter in book
Ehleringer, J. R., 1993. Carbon and water relations in desert plants: An isotopic perspective. Pages 7–20 in J. R. Ehleringer, A. E. Hall & G. D. Farquhar (eds). Stable Isotopes and Plant Carbon–Water Relations. Academic Press, San Diego, California.

Thesis
Lavoie, L., 1994. Évaluation régionale de la stabilité des forêts au Québec nordique. MSc thesis, Université Laval, Québec, Québec.

Haywood, A., 2002. Growth of advanced European beech trees in the transformation phase in the southern Black Forest. PhD thesis. Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg.

Reports
Achuff, P. L., 1991. Non-native plant management in Western Region National and Historic Parks: Issue analysis and recommendations, phase II. Report to the Canadian Parks Service, Western Region Office, Calgary, Alberta.

Parsons, G. L., G. Cassis & A. R. Moldenke, 1991. An annoted list of insects and other arthropods at the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest, western Cascade Mountains, Oregon. USDA, Forest Service General Technical Report PNW-GTR-290, Eugene, Oregon.

Institutional publications
Malcolm, S. B. & M. P. Zalucki (eds), 1993. Biology and conservation of the monarch butterfly. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, no. 38, Sciences Series, Los Angeles, California.

FAO, 1991. Food balance sheets. Food & Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, Rome.

Papers in conference proceedings
Davidson, N. C. & P. R. Evans, 1988. Prebreeding accumulation of fat and muscle protein by arctic-breeding shore birds. Pages 342-352 in H. Ouellet (ed.). Acta XIX Congressus Internationalis Ornithologici. Volume I. University of Ottawa Press, Ottawa, Ontario.

De Smet, K. D. & M. P. Conrad, 1991. Management and research needs for Baird's sparrow and other grassland species. Pages 83-86 in G. Holroyd, G. Burns & H. C. Smith (eds). Proceedings of the Second Endangered Species and Prairie Conservation Workshop. Provincial Museum of Alberta Natural History, Occasional Paper, no.15, Alberta.

Article with DOI
Torgersen, T. & B. Branco, 2008. Carbon and oxygen fluxes from a small pond to the atmosphere: Temporal variability and the CO2/O2 imbalance. Water Resources Research, 44: W02417, doi: 10.1029/2006WR005634

Website
Canadensys. Canadensys, Montréal, Quebec. Online [URL] http://www.canadensys.net/ (Accessed on 22 September 2011).

2.2.11 Tables and appendices
All tables and appendices should be numbered with Roman numerals, following the order they are cited in the text. The title must be concise and clear. Vertical lines should not be used.

Authors will be charged $60 for each table exceeding three per article.

2.2.12 Figures
Figures should be numbered with Arabic numerals. The maximum finished size of a one-column illustration is 8.5 × 23 cm and that of a two-column illustration is 17.5 × 23.5 cm.

The asked format is vector-based EPS except for photographs which need to be in TIFF (see section 2.14.1 for figure preparation details).

On the hard copy of the figures, the name of the first author and manuscript number should appear in one corner. Figure captions must be typed with double spacing on a separate sheet. Avoid typing on a figure or photograph.

Geographic coordinates should always appear on maps.

If abbreviations are used to unburden the figure, they must be spelled out in the legend or the legend must refer to the text or a table where they are explained.

Black and white photographs should be well contrasted and very clear. Color photographs will be accepted, any cost related to color use will be charged to authors.

Authors will be charged $60 for each figure exceeding three per article.

2.2.13 Figure preparation
On acceptance of your manuscript, you will need to supply the editor with a high quality version of your figures. Here’s a few tips on producing an acceptable figure.

Encapsulated PostScript
Graphics and illustrations are requested in vector-based EPS format. Vector-based EPS images are not made up of pixels, but instead graphic descriptions of lines, fills, text, etc. Line weight must be set to 0.25 pt. Use 9 pts Times (Mac), Times New Roman (PC) and symbol (Mac/PC) fonts. Axis titles must be in bold typeface. Do not create outline
with the text. This will be done later in the editing process.

If the software you are using for you graphics and illustrations does not have an option to produce EPS files, you can still save your image as an EPS file using a PostScript printer driver. Adobe offers a free PostScript printer driver on their web site (http://www. adobe.com) With the PostScript printer driver selected as the printing device, and the postscript output option set to Encapsulated postscript EPS, you will be able to create a vector format EPS file. If you have a multi-page document, save each figure separately or select ‘current page’ in the print diologue before printing each figure to EPS.

TIFF images
Photographs and other images that are not graphics or line illustrations are accepted in TIFF format. The resolution of the file must be at least 300 dpi at the finished size of the figure. Color images must be saved in CYMK. If you must write over a TIFF image, send both the original image without writing and the finished version.

2.14 Equations
Equations should be centered on the page and typed with triple-spacing. Each should be identified by a number in square brackets placed flush with the right margin. In the case of particularly long equations that may run on two lines once set, indicate where the cut should be made.

3 Evaluation

All manuscripts are under the responsibility of an Associate Editor and are evaluated by two scientists of known competence in the relevant field. Authors must suggest three to five potential referees. The corresponding author will receive a letter from the Editors with requests for revisions, if need be, in light of the reviewers' comments and recommendations by the Associate Editor.

Authors are allowed a maximum of 2 months to submit a revised version. Revised manuscripts that do not meet this delay will be treated as new submissions and will be subject to further review. When submitting a revised version, authors must justify the changes they made in a letter accompanying one standard copy and an electronic version of the manuscript.

Throughout the evaluation process, fax and e-mail will be used as often as possible to speed up the process.

Authors will be able to track the evaluation stage of their manuscript on our web site at http://www.ecoscience.ulaval.ca

4 Publication

4.1 Copyright
When a manuscript is accepted for publication, an exclusive copyright is shared between the author and the journal. You will be asked to sign a form in which the author(s) agree not to publish the work elsewhere without the written consent of both the author(s) and the journal (exception made for government workers subject to restrictions from their employer). Articles are protected by copyright. This includes translation rights and the right to reproduce and distribute all of the articles printed in the journal and published in electronic format. Written permission from the journal will be needed to reproduce the article, printed or in electronic format.

4.2 Proofs and reprints
After acceptance of the manuscript and type setting, the author for correspondence will receive the proofs for verification in a PDF format. At this stage, it is strongly recommended to read the article very carefully and to report any corrections to be made. It is the final stage before publication and no additional change can be made afterwards. Proofs must be returned promptly within 2 d following receipt. Corrections that imply major changes compared to the accepted version will be charged to the authors at a rate of $5 per line.

Reprints may be ordered when the proofs are sent to the author for correspondence for verification. Costs for delivery will be charged to authors. Prices are given in Canadian dollars.

Reprints are all side-wire stapled: They are in the same size and format as the journal and all are without cover.

4.3 Publication fees
A fee of 60$CND per page will be charged to the author(s) following the publication of their manuscript. Three tables and/or appendix and three figures are free of charge. An additionnal 60$CND fee per item (table/appendix or figure) in excess of three will be charged.

Color figures are accepted in Écoscience, and any costs related to color use will be charged to the author.

This policy applies to articles, notes, commentaries, and reviews.

4.4 Cover photograph
Authors whose manuscript has been accepted for publication are invited to submit color photographs for publication on the cover of Écoscience. Color slides or digital photographs representing a particular aspect of the paper to be published are welcome. Please note that authors will receive no compensation in the event that their photoghaph is chosen.

Digital photographs need to be at least at a 300 dpi resolution at the finish size of 25 cm (height) x 19 cm (width). This usually results in a large (14 mb) TIFF file. Do not extrapolate small resolution images to get the 300 dpi.
For any additional information, please contact:

Joanie Corbin
Managing Editor

Écoscience
Pavillon Charles-Eugène Marchand
1030 Avenue de la Médecine
Local 0165
Université Laval
Québec (Québec) G1V 0A6
Canada

Phone (418) 656-3188
Fax (418) 656-2346

e-mail: ecoscience@ecoscience.ulaval.ca

5 Manuscript checklist

On first submission, send:
-A single PDF file containing the complete text and figures of the manuscript;
-A separate PDF file containing the letter to the Editor, including names and addresses of three to five potential referees;
-An MS Word or RTF file of the complete text of the manuscript, including figure legends, references, and tables. (LaTex files are not accepted).

Upon acceptance, send:
-A single PDF file containing the corrected text and figures of the manuscript;
-A separate PDF file containing the letter to the Editor;
-An MS Word or RTF file of the complete text of the manuscript, including references and tables;
-Figures in vector-based EPS format for graphics or photographs in TIFF.