Author Instructions
All manuscripts should be submitted via ScholarOne Manuscripts.
Australian Journal of Zoology is an international journal that publishes papers and critical reviews that demonstrate a conceptual advance to any aspect of zoology. The focus is on the Australasian fauna, but high quality papers from any region that have practical or theoretical relevance to any general zoological issue will be considered. All papers are peer reviewed by referees from around the world.
Papers on taxonomy of invertebrates are accommodated in Invertebrate Systematics.
- Publishing Policies
- Peer review
- Authorship
- Licence to publish
- Open access
- Animal experimentation
- Manuscript submission
- Checklist for preparation of manuscripts
- General presentation
- Use of inclusive language
- Title
- Summary text and image for the Table of Contents
- Abstract
- Keywords
- Data Availability Statement
- Conflicts of Interest
- Declaration of Funding
- Acknowledgements
- References
- Units
- New taxonomic names
- Mathematical formulae
- Enzyme nomenclature
- Chemical nomenclature
- Statistical evaluation of results
- Tables
- Illustrations
- Proofs and reprints
Publishing Policies
Australian Journal of Zoology insists on high standards of ethical behaviour throughout the publication process. Our journal editors work within the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Further information on our policies can be found at http://www.publish.csiro.au/zo/PublishingPolicies.
Peer review
Australian Journal of Zoology is a peer-reviewed journal that uses a single-blind peer-review. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible to maintain high-quality peer-review of papers submitted to the journal and works together with the Editors and an Editorial Advisory Board to ensure a thorough and fair peer-review and the highest scientific publishing standards. All submissions undergo preliminary assessment by the Editor-in-Chief, who may reject a paper before peer review when it is outside the journal’s scope or is of insufficient quality. Editors select reviewers and after at least two review reports are received, they make the decision whether to accept/reject or send a manuscript for revision. The final decision is made by the Editor.
Under our single-blind policy, reviewers’ names are not disclosed to the authors. To increase transparency, reviewers may choose to sign their reports. We ask reviewers and authors not to directly contact each other while the manuscript is under consideration, rather keep all communication through ScholarOne with the Editor’s involvement.
Authorship
The conditions around authorship for Australian Journal of Zoology should follow the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), for more information see http://www.publish.csiro.au/zo/PublishingPolicies.
Licence to publish
For details regarding copyright, please see Copyright/Licence to Publish.
Open access
Authors may choose to publish their paper Open Access on payment of a publication fee. See Open Access for more details.
Animal experimentation
Papers reporting work with animals must include a reference to the code of practice adopted for the reported experimentation. Editors should ensure that peer reviewers consider ethical and welfare issues raised by the research they are reviewing, and to request additional information from authors where needed. In situations where there is doubt as to the adherence to appropriate procedures or approval by the relevant ethics committee, editors are required to reject these papers
CSIRO Publishing also follows guidelines provided by the CSIRO Animal Ethics committee.
Manuscript submission
By submitting their paper to the journal, all authors confirm that the content has not been published and is not being considered for publication elsewhere. Abstracts and posters from conferences, where the full data set is not presented and the interpretation of results is not developed, would not normally be regarded as publications. The Editors recognise that grey literature often forms the basis of peer-reviewed publications; if a submitted manuscript includes material that has been disseminated in report form, the authors should explain this in their cover letter. Editors will consider such manuscripts on a case-by-case basis.
The Journal requires that all authors of a multi-authored paper agree to its submission. The Journal will use its best endeavours to ensure that work published is that of the named authors except where acknowledged and, through its reviewing procedures, that any published results and conclusions are consistent with the primary data. It takes no responsibility for fraud or inaccuracy on the part of the contributors.
Research papers
Research Papers are complete reports of original research not previously published, except possibly in the form of a preliminary communication. There are no word/page limitations for research papers.
Review articles
Reviews are generally invited and authors considering submitting a Review should first discuss their proposal with the Editor. Reviews should give a concise, critical overview of a subject of high current interest, in which there have been important recent developments. There are no word/page limitations for review papers.
Opus Reviews
Opus Reviews are a forum for senior researchers to provide both retrospective and prospective accounts of their discipline. These submissions would first be invited and should be sufficiently infrequent to become prestigious.
Short Communications
Short Communications are intended to provide rapid dissemination of concise material that does not fall into the research paper category, but which provides important and scientific insights or makes a major contribution to the scientific debate. They generally should not exceed 3000 words and three graphics. A short abstract (50–100 words) should be provided at the start of the manuscript. Approval by the Editor-in-Chief should be sought before submitting a manuscript.
Perspective
Similar to Review articles in that they critically assess specific topics of board interest, Perspectives explore significant questions, examine the validity of current views in the field, and recommend directions for future research. They also give authors the opportunity to present thought-provoking ideas, develop novel hypotheses, and speculate on controversial topics. Perspectives should provide a clear and balanced discussion that a non-specialist reader can understand.
To submit your paper, please use our online journal management system ScholarOne Manuscripts, which can be reached directly through this link or from the link on the journal´s homepage. If a first-time user, register via the ´Register here´ link, or use your existing username and password to log in. Then click on the ´Author Centre´ link and proceed.
A covering letter must accompany the submission and should include the name, address, fax and telephone numbers, and email address of the corresponding author. The letter should also contain a statement justifying why the work should be considered for publication in the journal, and that the manuscript has not been published or simultaneously submitted for publication elsewhere.
A Table of Contents entry must also be supplied, containing an appropriate graphic and a short (ca. 50 words) text written for interested non-experts, an example of which is shown below:
Fleay’s barred frog (Mixophyes fleayi) is an endangered species in need of periodic monitoring to determine population trends. We conducted capture–mark–recapture at Brindle Creek in Border Ranges National Park, New South Wales. Population modelling suggests the local population has remained relatively stable for up to 10 years.
Authors are advised to read recent issues of the journal to note details of the scope of papers, headings, tables, illustrations, style, and general form. Observance of these and the following details will shorten the time between submission and publication. Poorly prepared and unnecessarily lengthy manuscripts have less chance of being accepted.
If you encounter any difficulties, or you have any queries, please contact:
Australian Journal of Zoology
CSIRO Publishing
Locked Bag 10
Clayton South, Vic. 3169
Australia
Telephone +61 3 9545 8400
Email publishing.ajz@csiro.au
Checklist for preparation of manuscripts
Australian Journal of Zoology typesets all papers directly from the electronic files submitted. This allows us to provide a proof more quickly but the benefits are lost if the manuscript is not prepared to our requirements.
- Type the manuscript double-spaced throughout, including references and figure captions. Type the text unjustified and without end-of-line hyphenation, except in the case of compound words. Add line numbering.
- Type the title and all headings aligned left, with only the first letter of the first word and of any proper name capitalised.
- Main headings (Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments, References) are set in bold roman (not italic) type. Minor headings are set in light italic type.
- Do not indent paragraphs or use a carriage-return (Enter) at the end of lines within a paragraph.
- Do not use initial capitals for vernacular names of species except where the name is based on a proper name (e.g. regent honeyeater, but Port Lincoln parrot; sugar glider, but Leadbeater´s possum).
- Use ´s´ not ´z´ in words such as ´recognise´, ´analyse´ and ´organisation´.
- Use the conventions ´from x to y´, ´between x and y´, ´range x–y´.
- Use single quotation marks.
- Check that all references mentioned in the text are in the References list, and vice versa.
- List references in the text in chronological order, separated by semi-colons. List references in the References list in alphabetical order. In the text, do not use a comma between the author´s name and the date.
- Give journal and book titles in full in the References list.
- Do not use tabs to create hanging indents within the References.
- Spell out numbers less than 10 unless with a unit. Type a space between a numeral and its unit.
- Prepare figures with symbols and letters appropriate for the reduction intended. Use Helvetica, Arial or another sans-serif font in figures.
- Check that stippling and/or symbols in figures are legible at the size likely to be used in the published paper.
- Type tables with the title as a separate paragraph. Put explanatory matter referring to the table as a whole in a headnote, which should be in a separate paragraph from the title, and directly under the heading. Tables should be formatted using table cells, not tab spacing.
- Check that figures and tables are numbered in the order in which they are discussed in the text.
- Suggest a running head for the paper of not more than 50 characters (including spaces).
- Provide a postal address, telephone and fax numbers, and an email address for the corresponding author.
General Presentation
The work should be presented in concise and clear English. The Introduction should not exceed what is necessary to indicate the reason for the work and its essential background. Sufficient experimental detail should be given to enable the work to be repeated. The Discussion should focus attention on the significance of the results.
Supplementary material of a detailed nature that may be useful to other workers but is not essential to the printed paper may be lodged as Supplementary Material with the Journal, provided that it is submitted with the manuscript for inspection by the referees. Such material will be made available from the website and a note to this effect should be included in the paper.
If the paper is one of a series and a part not yet published needs to be consulted for a proper understanding of the paper, a copy of that manuscript should be supplied to assist the referees.
Use of inclusive language
These guidelines should be used to assist in identifying appropriate language, but are by no means exhaustive or definitive. Inclusive language comprises carefully chosen words and phrases that are respectful and promote the acceptance and value of all people. It is language which is free from words, phrases or tones that demean, insult, exclude, stereotype, or trivialise people on the basis of their membership of a certain group or because of a particular attribute. As such, inclusive language should make no assumptions about the beliefs or commitments of any reader, and contain nothing which might imply that one individual is superior to another on any grounds including but not limited to: age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition. We encourage the use of plural nouns (e.g., 'they' as default wherever possible instead of 'he/she'), and recommend avoiding the use of descriptors that refer to personal attributes, unless there is scientific or clinical relevance. For further guidance on inclusive language see Inclusive language | Style Manual. If there are questions about language use and/or publishing with regards to First Nations people, please contact the Journal.
Title
This should be concise and appropriately informative and should contain sufficient keywords to facilitate retrieval by modern searching techniques.
Summary text and image for the Table of Contents
In addition to manuscript files, authors are requested to upload a summary text file and an image file for the online Table of Contents.
This is a three-sentence paragraph of 50 to 80 words written for interested non-experts, such as journalists, teachers, government workers, etc. The text should be free from scientific jargon, and written at the level of an article in a science magazine. Your first sentence should engage the reader, convincing them that this is an important area. The second sentence should introduce the problem addressed in the paper, and state your main discovery. The final sentence should describe how the results fit into the bigger picture (i.e. implications or impact of the discovery).
The image file should be a colour photograph or other image that highlights an important aspect of the work. This image will be used in the online Table of Contents, email alerts and RSS feeds to promote the paper and assist in providing a context for the reader. If a photo credit is required please provide details to your Production Editor. The image should be submitted as a 96 dpi JPEG file and must be no wider than 9 cm and no higher than 4 cm.
Abstract
The Abstract (less than 200 words) should state concisely the purpose and scope of the work and give the principal findings as well as a brief indication of the implications of the results. It should be complete enough for direct use by abstracting services. Acronyms and references should be avoided in the Abstract.
Keywords
A minimum of 8 key words or phrases are required to improve online discoverability of your work. These terms can be repeated from the title if necessary. List the keywords under the abstract, with terms separated by commas.
Data Availability Statement
CSIRO Publishing encourages authors to share the research data underlying their papers to support transparency and reproducibility of research. A Data Availability Statement must be included at the end of the manuscript indicating whether the data used to generate the results in the paper are available and, if so, where to access them. For more information on CSIRO Publishing’s data sharing policy and for examples of what to include in the data availability statement please see https://www.publish.csiro.au/journals/publishingpolicies#6.
Authors can get credit for their work by citing their research data in the reference list of their article. Citations should include at a minimum: all authors, year of publication, title of dataset, record ID, publisher. DOI or URL if available. Examples of how to cite research data:
Wang L, Edwards D, Bailey A, Carr L, Boreham C, Grosjean E, Anderson J, Jarrett A, MacFarlane S, Southby C, Carson C, Khider K, Palu T, Henson P (2021). Well log data analysis and interpretation on the pre-Carboniferous succession in Waukarlycarly 1, Canning Basin, Western Australia. Record 2021/003 [Dataset]. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. Available at http://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/144547
Fiddes S, Pepler A, Saunders K, Hope P (2020) Southern Australia’s climate regions (Version 1.0.0) [Dataset] Zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.4265471
Digital Earth Australia (2021). Wetlands Insight Tool Queensland Wetlands Polygons. Version 1.0.0 [Dataset]. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. Available at http://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/144795
Conflicts of Interest
A ´Conflicts of Interest´ section should be included at the end of the manuscript. It should identify any financial or non-financial (political, personal, professional) interests/relationships that may be interpreted to have influenced the manuscript. If there is no conflict of interest, please include the statement "The authors declare no conflicts of interest".
Declaration of Funding
Under a subheading 'Declaration of Funding' at the end of the text authors are required to declare all sources of funding for the research and/or preparation of the article, and the inclusion of grant numbers is recommended. Authors should declare sponsor names along with explanations of the role of those sources if any in the preparation of the data or manuscript or the decision to submit for publication; or a statement declaring that the supporting source had no such involvement. If no funding has been provided for the research, please include the following sentence: "This research did not receive any specific funding".
Acknowledgements
The contribution of colleagues who do not meet all criteria for authorship should be acknowledged. Anyone included in the Acknowledgements section should have granted permission to be listed. Sources of financial support should be acknowledged in a separate ‘Declaration of Funding’ rather than here.
References
References are cited chronologically in the text by author and date and are not numbered. All references in the text must be listed at the end of the paper, arranged alphabetically; all entries in this list must correspond to references in the text. In the text the names of two coauthors are linked by ´and´; for three or more the first author´s name is followed by ´et al.´. No editorial responsibility can be taken for the accuracy of the references; authors are requested to check these with special care.
Titles must be included for all references. Papers that have not been accepted for publication may not be included in the list of references and must be cited in the text either as ´J. T. Smith, L. M. Jones and A. N. Baker, unpublished data´ or as ´J. T. Smith, personal communication´; the use of such citations is discouraged. Titles of periodicals must not be abbreviated.
References should be in the following formats:
- Journal paper
Harper MJ, McCarthy MA, van der Ree R (2005) The use of nest boxes in urban natural vegetation remnants by vertebrate fauna. Wildlife Research 32, 509-516. - Chapter in a book
Bradley AJ (2003) Stress hormones and mortality in small carnivorous marsupials. In ´Predators with Pouches´. (Eds M Jones, C Dickman, M Archer.) pp. 254-267. (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne) - Whole book
Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2002) ´Model Selection and Multimodel Inference: a Practical Information-Theoretic Approach.´ (Springer: New York) - Report or bulletin
Parkes W, South LE, Connors P (2004) Biology of the wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) under varying degrees of confinement. CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Rangelands Research Technical Paper No. 72. - Thesis
Cooper ML (1999) A genetic analysis of population structure in the southern brown bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus) in Western Australia. PhD thesis, University of Western Australia, Perth. - Web-based material
Goudet J (2001) FSTAT, a Program to Estimate and Test Gene Diversities and Fixation Indices (Version 2.9.3). Available at http://www2.unil.ch/popgen/softwares/fstat.htm [Accessed 15 November 2007]
Units
Authors are requested to use the International System of Units (Système International d´Unités) for exact measurements of physical quantities and where appropriate elsewhere. The double solidus must not be used in complex groupings of units; the negative index form (e.g. g kg-1 h-1) is preferred.
New taxonomic names
This journal complies with the requirements of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. Authors are expected to register all new taxonomic names with ZooBank, the Official Registry of Zoological Nomenclature, after the manuscript has been accepted for publication.
Mathematical formulae
Judicious use should be made of the solidus to avoid two-line mathematical expressions wherever possible and especially in the running text. Each long formula should be displayed on a separate line with at least one line of space above and below. Set up complex mathematics using an equation editor using Times New Roman, Arial and Symbol fonts only.
Enzyme nomenclature
The names of enzymes should conform to the Recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee of the IUB on the Nomenclature and Classification of Enzymes as published in ´Enzyme Nomenclature 1984´ (Academic Press, New York, 1984). If there is good reason to use a name other than the recommended name, at the first mention of the alternative name in the text it should be identified by the recommended name and EC number. The Editor should be advised of the reasons for using the alternative name.
Chemical nomenclature
The nomenclature of compounds such as amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, steroids, vitamins, etc., should follow the recommendations of the IUPAC–IUB Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature. Other biologically active compounds, such as metabolic inhibitors, plant growth regulators, buffers, etc., should be referred to once by their correct chemical name (which is in accordance with IUPAC rules of Chemical Nomenclature) and then by their most widely accepted common name. Where there is no common name, trade names or letter abbreviations of the chemical may be used.
Statistical evaluation of results
The tests should be described briefly and, if necessary, supported by references. Numbers of individuals, mean values and measures of variability should be stated. It should be made clear whether the standard deviation or the standard error of the mean has been given.
The design and conduct of experiments must be sufficiently explained that readers can judge for themselves the validity of the results. Authors should describe how measurements were made and indicate how treatments were assigned to units or blocks, and the number of replicates. When common experimental designs such as randomised block or split-plot designs are used a reference is not necessary, but it is appropriate to cite a reference for little-used methods or designs, in which case the use of these methods should be justified. The experimental design dictates the proper method of statistical analysis and the basis of assessing the precision of treatment means. The precision achieved should be reported by a standard error of the treatment mean or a coefficient of variation. Wherever possible, the assumptions implicit in the analysis should be checked. Ultimately, the statistical analyses should highlight the biological principles embodied in the results.
Tables
Tables must be formatted in cells using the table menu in Word, not spaced using tabs. They should be numbered with arabic numerals and each must be accompanied by a title. A headnote containing material relevant to the whole table should start on a new line. Tables should be arranged with regard to the dimensions of the printed page (22.5 by 17.5 cm) and the number of columns kept to a minimum. Long headings should be avoided by the use of explanatory notes, which should be incorporated into the headnote. The symbol for the unit of measurement should be placed in parentheses beneath the column heading. Prefixes for units should be chosen to avoid an excessive number of digits in the body of the table or scaling factors in the headings. When scaling factors cannot be avoided, the quantity expressed should be preceded by the power of 10 by which the value has been multiplied. For example, the value ´500´ would appear as ´5´ under the heading ´102 × n´ and the value ´0.05´ would appear as ´5´ under the heading ´10-2 × n´. Horizontal rules should be inserted only above and below column headings and at the foot of the table. Vertical rules must not be used. Each table must be referred to in the text. Only in exceptional circumstances will the presentation of essentially the same data in both tabular and graphical form be permitted; in general, the tabular form should be used. Short tables can frequently be incorporated into the text as a sentence or as a brief untitled tabulation. Footnotes in tables should be reserved for specific items in columns.
Illustrations
Electronic submission of figures is required. Colour photographs are accepted, but the journal does not cover the cost of their printing. Please contact the Production Editor if you wish to publish photographs in colour. Photographs and line drawings should be of the highest quality and, if not created digitally, should be scanned at high resolution: photographs at 300 dpi at final size, saved as JPEG files; line drawings at least 600 dpi at final size in black and white format, saved as EPS or TIF files. Colour scans must be submitted in CMYK format for printing purposes, not RGB.
Computer-generated graphs and diagrams should be saved in one of the following formats: Excel; encapsulated postscript (.eps) or Adobe Illustrator (.ai); illustrations created in PowerPoint should be saved in PowerPoint as Windows metafiles (.wmf); CorelDraw files should be saved as EPS or AI files; charts created on a Macintosh computer should be saved in EPS, PS or PICT format. In all cases they must be editable vector graphic files. Unsatisfactory artwork or electronic files will be returned for modification.
Proofs and reprints
Page proofs are sent to the corresponding author for checking before publication. Proofs should be checked and returned by email to the production editor by the date specified. At this stage only essential alterations and correction of typesetting errors may be undertaken. Excessive author alterations will be charged to the author. Reprint order forms and prices are enclosed with the proofs (free reprints are not provided) and should be completed and returned to the production editor with the proofs. Corresponding authors will be sent a free PDF of their paper on publication. There are no page charges.
