Submissions

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Author Guidelines

  • Format should follow that of recent issues of R&A.
  • Manuscripts should be in double-spaced 12-point Times New Roman on US Letter pages. Tables should be in 10-point Times New Roman.
  • Results should be presented in past tense.
  • Standard common names should be provided for all species mentioned in the article. Species specific common names should be captialized (Baird's Ratsnake), common names for groups should not be captitalized (e.g., ratsnakes). Taxonomic authorities may be listed for focal species. The authority and the date are not separated by a comma (i.e., Linnaeus 1758).
  • In-text citations for one author: Joglar (1998), two authors: Schwartz and Henderson (1991), and three or more authors: Hammer et al. (2001). Multiple citations are listed in chronological and then alphabetical order and separated by semicolons (multiple citations by the same author are separated by commas): (Smith et al. 2005; Henderson and Powell 2009; Losos 2009, 2016).
  • All submissions are subject to editing for content, grammar, and style.
  • All original content except travelogues and commentaries is subject to peer review.
  • Photographs and/or other artwork should accompany all submissions. Images should be at least 300 dpi at 7.25″ wide (2175 pixels) for 2-column figures, and 3.5″ wide (1050 pixels) for 1-column figures to facilitate quality reproduction. If this is not possible or practical, please contact an editor.
  • If images or artwork are not that of the contributor, these should be accompanied by documentation that permission for one-time use is granted by the photographer or artist.
  • Images should be titled and numbered with first author’s last name and number (i.e., Smith-fig-01). Captions with corresponding numbers and photographer/artist credits should be appended to the end of the manuscript.
  • Coordinates need to be given decimal degree format to five decimal places (e.g,, 38.95851, -95.24310). Use a negative sign to indicate south and west.
  • In text references to figures should be abbreviated (e.g., Fig. 1). Figure captions labels should be bolded and abbreivated (e.g, Fig. 1)
  • Photograph credits need to be included in figure captions.
  • If authors would like Reptiles & Amphibians to tag them in posts promoting their published articles on Twitter, then Twitter handles should be submitted upon submission.

References and Citations

  • Reptiles & Amphibians welcomes submissions in any of the categories listed below (article, note, profile, travelogue, commentary, historical perspective, focus on conservation).
  • Citations must be in the appropriate format (see below).
  • References in any language using the Latin alphabet (e.g., English, German, French, Spanish) should be listed in the original language with appropriate diacritical marks. English translations are provided only if part of the original title of the work. References in languages using other alphabets should be translated into English with an appended parenthetical annotation as to the original language of the work.

Books

Joglar, R.L. 1998. Los Coquíes de Puerto Rico: Su Historia Natural y Conservación. Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Kruythoff, S.J. 1964. The Netherlands Windward Islands or, The Windward Group of the Netherlands Antilles: A Handbook of Useful Information for Visitor as well as Resident. 3rd ed. De Wit Inc., Oranjestad, Aruba, Netherlands Antilles.

Losos, J.B. 2009. Lizards in an Evolutionary Tree. Ecology and Adaptive Radiation of Anoles. University of California Press, Berkeley, California, USA.

Schwartz, A. and R.W. Henderson. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies. Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, Florida, USA.

Whitaker, R. and A. Captain. 2004. Snakes of India. The Field Guide. Draco Books, Chennai, India.

Book Chapters

Henderson, R.W. and B.I. Crother. 1989. Biogeographic patterns of predation in West Indian colubrid snakes, pp. 479–518. In: C.A. Woods (ed.), Biogeography of the West Indies. Past, Present, and Future. Sandhill Crane Press, Gainesville, Florida, USA.

Ramos Targarona, R., R. Rodríguez Soberón, M. Alonso Tabet, and J. Thorbjarnarson. 2010. Cuban Crocodile Crocodylus rhombifer, pp. 114–118. In: S.C. Manolis and C. Stevenson (eds.), Crocodiles. Status, Survey and Conservation Action Plan. Third Edition. Crocodile Specialist Group, Darwin, Australia.

Rodríguez Schettino, L. 1999. Systematic accounts of the species, pp. 104–380. In: L. Rodríguez Schettino (ed.), The Iguanid Lizards of Cuba. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.

Smith, M.L., S.B. Hedges, W. Buck, A. Hemphill, S. Incháustegui, M. Ivie, D. Martina, M. Maunder, and J.F. Ortega. 2005. Caribbean islands, pp. 112–118. In: R.A. Mittermeier, P. Robles-Gil, M. Hoffmann, C.G. Mittermeier, J. Pilgrim, T. Brooks, and G.A.B. Fonseca (eds.), Hotspots Revisited: Earth’s Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions. CEMEX, Mexico City, Mexico.

Journal Articles (including online journals)

Das, I., B.C. Choudhury, P. Praschag, M.F. Ahmed, and S. Singh. 2019. Three-striped Roofed Turtle. Batagur dhongoka (errata version published in 2019). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T10953A152042542. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T10953A152042542.en.

Hammer, Ø., D.A.T. Harper, and P.D. Ryan. 2001. Past: Paleontological Statistics Software Package for education and data analysis. Paleontología Electrónica 4: 1–9.

Smith, G.R., L. Pieper, and J.B. Iverson. 2008. Leiocephalus carinatus (Northern Curly-tail Lizard). Sap feeding. Herpetological Review 39: 228.

Snyder, G.K. 1975. Respiratory metabolism and evaporative water loss in a small tropical lizard. Journal of Comparative Physiology 104: 13–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02482833.

Theses and Dissertations

Aranda Pedroso, E. 2019. Systematics of Quaternary Squamata from Cuba. Sistemática dos Squamata Quaternários de Cuba. Unpublished Master of Science Dissertation, Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

Holloway, S.E. 1983. An analysis of prey consumption by Ameiva fuscata from Dominica, West Indies. Unpublished Honors Thesis, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.

Mayer, G. C. 1989. Deterministic aspects of community structure in West Indian amphibians and reptiles. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Wong, C. 1994. Studies on the feral macaques of Hong Kong. Unpublished B.Sc. Thesis, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong.

Reports

Knowles, W.C. 1990. Conservation of the St. Croix Ground Lizard, Ameiva polops. Final report, Endangered Species Project, study IIB, job IIB 2. Division of Fish and Wildlife, St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands.

Smith, B.E., O. Davis, and N.S. Bartscher. 2002. Surveys of the lizard Ameiva griswoldi on Antiguan offshore islands III: Summer 2001. Antiguan Racer Conservation Project Report No. 8. Black Hills State University, Spearfish, South Dakota.

Varghese, A.O., A. Josh, and Y. Krishna Murthy. 2010. Rationalization of Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary using remote sensing and GIS. Technical Report No. NRSC-RC-March-2013-TR-628. Regional Remote Sensing Centre, Nagpur, India.

Websites

Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department. 2018. Reptiles. <https://www.afcd.gov.hk/english/conservation/hkbiodiversity/speciesgroup/speciesgroup_reptiles.html>.

Froese, R. and D. Pauly (eds.). 2019. FishBase. <http://www.fishbase.org>.

Frost, D.R. 2020. Amphibian Species of the World: An Online Reference. Version 6.1. American Museum of Natural History, New York. <https://amphibiansoftheworld.amnh.org/index.php>.

Uetz, P., P. Freed, and J. Hošek (eds.). 2020. The Reptile Database. <http://www.reptile-database.org>.

 

Categories of Contributions

 

Articles and Notes

  • Original research, review articles, or reports pertaining to conservation, natural history (including behavior), or husbandry of reptiles and amphibians. Annotated species lists for areas of interest (e.g., reserves or natural areas). Note that husbandry articles should emphasize responsible husbandry and include information about the conservation status of their subjects as appropriate.
  • Format: Articles may include an abstract (optional, but recommended for research articles), body with headers (e.g., introduction, methods, results, discussion — or equivalents for review articles), acknowledgements (citing a permit, if applicable), and literature cited.
  • Notes do not include an abstract and headers in the text are used only if critical for clarification; like articles, all notes must include acknowledgements (citing a permit, if applicable) and literature cited.
  • Introduced species notes and any new geographic records must include verification of the species’ identity by a knowledgeable person who is not an author and a museum accession number for a specimen or photograph.
  • References must be cited in the text.

 

Profiles

  • Profiles feature persons who have made major contributions to herpetology or the conservation of reptiles and amphibians.
  • Articles should provide at least basic biographical information, but should emphasize the subject’s contributions to the field.
  • Format is similar to that for feature articles (except an abstract is not included and headers should refer to section content).

 

Travelogues

  • Accounts of trips to destinations of herpetological interest.
  • Focus on reptiles and amphibians should be evident; however, other relevant content (e.g., biological interests other than reptiles, sites of historical significance, recreational opportunities) may be included.
  • Format is informal (essentially that of an essay). Headers (if used) should refer to section content.

 

Commentaries

  • Editorial essays addressing topical issues pertaining to reptiles and amphibians.
  • Opinions expressed need not reflect those of the editors but must be justified by personal experience or references to appropriate sources of evidence.
  • Controversial issues may be addressed, although the editors retain the right to reject those deemed inappropriate.
  • Format is informal (essentially that of an essay). Headers (if used) should refer to section content.

Focus on Conservation

  • These are articles, either original or which have been published elsewhere (see recent examples for acknowledging the source), that document recent and ongoing projects dealing with the conservation of reptiles and amphibians.
  • Format is informal (essentially that of an essay). Headers (if used) should refer to section content. Illustrations (photographs or artwork) are required.

Submission of Content

We require authors to submit their work using the journal's online submission system.Be sure to include all materials (manuscript, figures, tables, images, sound files, etc.). When filling out author registration data, please include email addresses for all authors. For questions regarding submissions or the online submission system, please contact reptilesandamphibiansjournal@gmail.com. 

Copyright Notice

Copyright is held by the authors. Articles in R&A are made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

Submission Preparation Checklist

All submissions must meet the following requirements.

  • The submission has not been published previously nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  • The submission is in Microsoft Word format.
  • When available, add the digital object identifier (DOI) after the published version of any works cited.
  • When available, provide authors’ ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID).
  • Text is single- or double-spaced, uses 12-point Times New Roman; employs italics (no underlining); and all figures (illustrations, maps, figures, photographs) and tables are placed at the end of the manuscript. Upon acceptance of the manuscript, all figures must be provided as separate high-resolution images.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Guidelines for Authors.
  • If the submission is accepted for publication, all authors agree to the terms in the Reptiles & Amphibians publication agreement (https://journals.ku.edu/R&A/agreement).
  • If applicable, authors have provided their Twitter/X handles to be tagged in posts once their manuscript has been published.

Articles

  • Original research, review articles, or reports pertaining to conservation, natural history (including behavior), or husbandry of reptiles and amphibians. Annotated species lists for areas of interest (e.g., reserves or natural areas). Note that husbandry articles should emphasize responsible husbandry and include information about the conservation status of their subjects as appropriate.
  • Format: Articles may include an abstract (optional, but recommended for research articles), body with headers (e.g., introduction, methods, results, discussion — or equivalents for review articles), acknowledgements (citing a permit, if applicable), and literature cited.
  • Notes do not include an abstract and headers in the text are used only if critical for clarification; like articles, all notes must include acknowledgements (citing a permit, if applicable) and literature cited.
  • Introduced species notes must include verification of the species’ identity by a knowledgeable person who is not an author and a museum accession number for a specimen or photograph.
  • References must be cited in the text.

Notes

  • Original research, review articles, or reports pertaining to conservation, natural history (including behavior), or husbandry of reptiles and amphibians. Annotated species lists for areas of interest (e.g., reserves or natural areas). Note that husbandry articles should emphasize responsible husbandry and include information about the conservation status of their subjects as appropriate.
  • Format: Articles may include an abstract (optional, but recommended for research articles), body with headers (e.g., introduction, methods, results, discussion — or equivalents for review articles), acknowledgements (citing a permit, if applicable), and literature cited.
  • Notes do not include an abstract and headers in the text are used only if critical for clarification; like articles, all notes must include acknowledgements (citing a permit, if applicable) and literature cited.
  • Introduced species notes must include verification of the species’ identity by a knowledgeable person who is not an author and a museum accession number for a specimen or photograph.
  • References must be cited in the text.

Travelogue

  • Accounts of trips to destinations of herpetological interest.
  • Focus on reptiles and amphibians should be evident; however, other relevant content (e.g., biological interests other than reptiles, sites of historical significance, recreational opportunities) may be included.
  • Format is informal (essentially that of an essay). Headers (if used) should refer to section content.

Profiles

  • Profiles feature persons who have made major contributions to herpetology or the conservation of reptiles and amphibians.
  • Articles should provide at least basic biographical information, but should emphasize the subject’s contributions to the field.
  • Format is similar to that for feature articles (except an abstract is not included and headers should refer to section content).

 

Commentary

  • Editorial essays addressing topical issues pertaining to reptiles and amphibians.
  • Opinions expressed need not reflect those of the editors but must be justified by personal experience or references to appropriate sources of evidence.
  • Controversial issues may be addressed, although the editors retain the right to reject those deemed inappropriate.
  • Format is informal (essentially that of an essay). Headers (if used) should refer to section content.

Focus on Conservation

  • These are articles, either original or which have been published elsewhere (see recent examples for acknowledging the source), that document recent and ongoing projects dealing with the conservation of reptiles and amphibians.
  • Format is informal (essentially that of an essay). Headers (if used) should refer to section content. Illustrations (photographs or artwork) are required.

Historical Perspectives

  • Reprints or excerpts of articles published at least 50 years ago.
  • The best submissions will describe conditions or attitudes that contrast sharply with those that prevail today.
  • If the original article was illustrated, please submit high-resolution copies of those illustrations. If the original article was not illustrated, submission of pertinent photographs or artwork is encouraged.
  • In some instances, a biographical sketch of the author is appropriate.

Newsbriefs

Short news items collected by editors from reputable sources or individuals outside the journal.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is held by the authors. Articles in R&A are made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.