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How to submit a paper to Lutra
Introduction
Here we describ e how we wo uld lik e autho rs to prep are their pape r for Lutr a. Following
these guidelines will greatly increase the chance a paper will be accepted for review and
publica tion. Complying with the style and format also reduces the time required for
editing and speeds up the publication process. Please use a recent issue of Lutra, vol. 4 4
no. 1 or later, for additional information on style and format. A Dutch version of 'How to
submit a paper to Lutra' is available from the editorial board or the VZZ internet site:
http://www.vzz.nl
General information
Lutra is
a
scienti fic journal published by the "Veren iging voor Zoo gdierkunde en
Zoogdierbescherming" (VZZ). The society is dedicated to the study and protection of
native mammals in the Benelux region. Lutra publishes peer reviewed scientific papers on
mam mals across all disciplines, but tends to focus on ecology, biogeography, behaviour
and morpho logy. Although exception s are made in some cases, Lutra generally p ublishes
articles on mam mal species native to Europ e, including ma rine mam mals. Lutra pub lishes
full articles as well as short notes which m ay include novel resea rch methods or
remarkab le
observations
of
mammals.
In
addition
we
publish
book
reviews,
and
compilations of recent literature on mammals. Lutra publishes two issues per year and
these are sent to subscri bers in 15 cou ntries in Euro pe, North A merica, A frica and
Australia. The abstracts are included in the indexes "Biological Abstracts" and "Zoological
Record" and are also available from the VZZ internet site.
Lutra publishes in British Eng lish as well a s Dutch . Since the editorial board wishes
to increase the international accessib ility of the published ma terial, English is preferred
over Dutch. English manuscripts are accompanied by a Dutch summary at the end.
Likewise Dutch manuscripts include a n Engl ish sum mar y. Shou ld you be una ble to
provide a summary in Dutch, the editoria l board
will wr ite it for you. For D utch
man uscripts the text describing figures, tables and photograp hs is in Dutch as well as
English.
Title, authors, abstract and key words
The title of the manuscript should describe the subject of the research. It should be
informa tive, not exceed 15 w ords, and subtitles should be avoid ed.
A number in superscript is used to link the name of an author to the address that
appears directly below . Provide the first names, surnam es and full postal add resses of all
the authors and state both the address where an author was employed during the study
and the p resent add ress if they differ. An e-m ail add ress is only requ ired for the first
author.
A reader should be able to understand the contents of the article from just reading
the abstract. Th e abstract shou ld includ e a descriptio n of the prob lem or the h ypothesis,
the general appro ach of the study, its m ain results, and the most im portant con clusions.
For full articles use 200-250 wo rds. For short notes an abstract is not requ ired, but if
desired it sho uld be 10 0-150 w ords. For E nglish m anuscrip ts the Dutch sum mary h as a
maximum of 400 words for full articles and 250 for short notes. The same restrictions
apply to English summa ries at the end of Dutch manu scripts. The abstract is generally
written in the past tense. You can use numbers in the abstract, especially to specify the
results. In general you should not use P-values or other statistical expressions in the
abstract. The sa me accou nts for citing references.
You may use up to ten different key words or short phrases that best identify the
manuscript. Overlap with the title or abstract is allowed. Key words may be based on the
main subject or species, the study area, materials or methods and variables measured.
Body of the manuscript
The bo dy of a m anuscr ipt shou ld gen erally fo llow th e standa rd scien tific forma t:
introduction, materia ls and method s, results, discussion, and conclusion. When
appro priate you may sub divide the text w ith second or ev en third level h eading s.
The introduction should clearly state what was investigated and why it was
investigated. It should generally include relevant references to other scientific literature
that provide a background for the study. The introduction should lead the reader to the
objective and the approach of the study.
The materials and methods section should include study area(s), dates or duration
of the study, sampling schemes or experimental design, and a section on statistical
analyses. Well know n or previously pub lished procedures should only be mentioned
briefly w ith a refere nce to the o rigina l publ ication o r other r elevant l iteratur e. Please sta te
if laws o r regul ations o n anim al wel fare ap plied a nd ho w these w ere met.
The results should only contain the actual results of the study. Do not interpret the
results in this section. The results are generally written around figures and tables and are
presented in the past tense. Avoid repetition but integrate the most important or
interestin g results i n the text.
The discussion generalises the results and discusses them in relation to the
objectives or hypotheses stated in the introduction. Do n ot repeat the results, only
comment on the most important aspects. It is not necessary to discuss every aspect of
the manuscript, but do indicate the limitations of your study. Cite literature that confirms
or contradicts the results and explain p ossible contradictions. Alwa ys be clear whether
you discuss the results of the present study or those of others. In general, the discussion
should not have an y tables or figures, nor a specific reference to one already presented in
the results section. The conclusion should summarise the main results and describe what
they mean to science or wh at their ma nagem ent implica tions are.
Tables, figures and photographs
Do not use mor e tables and figures than necessary. The tab les, figures and text should
not overlap. In general you should refer to tables, figures and photographs at the end of
a sentence between brackets: (figure 1) or (table 1) or (photo 1). Tables, figures and
photograp hs and their accom panying text should b e self-explanatory, i.e. the reader
should b e able to und erstand them without ha ving to read the main text. You may use
footnotes with both figures and tables. Use tables if you need to show precise numbers
and use figures if you wan t to illustrate a general relationship betw een variables. Figures
can also show a map of the study area, the experimental design or other illustrations that
are useful additions to the text. Use a scale bar to depict the units of measurement or
distance.
In tables, put the treatments that you w ant to compare in rows. In general,
variabl es should b e in colum ns. Do not u se the space ba r to create the colum ns but use
tabs or the table function. Use only horizontal lines in tables. Keep figures as simple as
possible and avo id large areas w ith white space. Use simple sym bols or patterns, all in
black and white. Make a test photo copy of the figures to make sure the quality does not
degrade. Co ntact the editorial board if you need to have a figure printed in colou r (see
‘Submitting a paper’). You may include relevant photographs or slides that are of high
quality. The photographs should be accompanied by a short description and the name of
the photographer. Make sure you obtain permission from the copyright holder.
Tables, figur es and ph otograp hs are either on e or two colu mns w ide. Please
prepar e your table s and figur es in such a w ay that the axis titles rem ain read able. Use
the "times new rom an" font for the axis titles, legend and possible footnote. Axis titles
start with a capital letter and have no point at the end.
Apart from ph otographs that accom pany a ma nuscript you may also submit
photog raphs you think wou ld be suitab le for the cover of a Lutr a issue.
Acknowledgements and references
Briefly state who contributed to the work and how. You may acknowledge the help of
people as well as the sup port of organisations. In a ddition you m ay name the ind ividuals
that reviewe d your m anuscrip t, or thank an onymo us reviewer s.
All literature cited in the pap er should b e listed in the references a nd the reference
list should not include literature not cited in the text. List the references in alphabetical
order by author's surnames and then order them by year of publication. Do not use tabs
in the lay-out of the reference text. Do not use abbreviations for journal names and do
not give page numbers for books. Use "thesis" when you refer to a MSc, BSc or PhD
publication. If you list a pub lication published in a language w ith a different character set
such as Russian or Chinese, please give an English translation, and state the original
language between brackets. Only name the first location if a publisher has offices in more
than one city. Use the full name of the country, but abbreviate United Kingdom and
United States of America: UK and USA. Only refer to a site on the internet if you are
reasonably sure the site concerned has a relatively long life span. Please review the
following examp les.
Jou rna ls
Barandun, J. 1991. Amphibienschutz an Bahnlinien. Natur und Landschaft 66: 305.
Clarke, G.P., P.C.L. White & S. Harris 1998. Effects of roads on badger Meles meles
populations in south-west England. Biological Conservation 86: 117-124.
Erhart, F.C. & G. Kurstjens 2000. Aantalsontwikkeling van de kwak Nycticorax nycticorax
als broed vogel in N ederland in de twin tigste eeuw. Lim osa 73: 41 -52.
Grift, E.A. van d er 1999. M amm als and ra ilroads: im pacts and mana gemen t implica tions.
Lutra 42: 7 7-98.
Haye, M . la, P. Berger s & W. N ieuwenh uizen 200 1. Bescherm ingspla n noord se woelm uis:
maatwerk vereist! Zoogdier 12 (1): 3-8.
Vries, J.G. de 1999. Hedgehogs on the road: from research to practice. Lutra 42: 99-110.
Books
Barrett, G.W. & J.D. Peles (eds.) 1999. Landscape ecology of small mam mals. Springer,
New
York, USA .
Kam, J. van de, B. Ens, T. Piersma & L. Zwarts 1999. Ecologische atlas van de
Nederla ndse wa dvogels. Sch uyt & Co, H aarlem , The Netherla nds.
Reeve, N. 1994. Hedgehogs. T & A D Poyser Ltd, London, UK.
Proceedings
Bertwistle, J. 1997. Performance evaluation of mitigation measures in Jasper National
Park,
Alberta. In : A.P. Cleven ger & K. W ells (eds.). Procee dings of the secon d road s,
rails and the environment workshop: 67-73. Parks Canada, Banff National Park,
Alberta & Columbia Mountains Institute of Applied Ecology, Revelstoke, Canada.
Cleve nger , A.P. 1 998. P erme abil ity of the Trans -Ca nad a Hig hwa y to w ildli fe in Ba nff
National Pa rk: importan ce of crossing structures and factors influencing their
effectiveness. In: G.L. Evink, P. Garrett, D. Zeigler & J. Berry (eds.). Proceedings
of the international conference on wildlife ecology and transportation: 109-119.
FL-ER-69-98. Florida Department of Transportation, Tallahassee, USA.
Repo rts
Bergers, P.J.M. 1997. Versnip pering door railinfrastructuur. Een verkennende stud ie.
Report 262. Instituut voor Bos- en Natuuronderzoek, Wageningen, The
Netherlan ds.
Huijser, M.P., P.J.M. Bergers & C.J.F. ter Braak 1998. Het voorkomen van doodgereden
egels in relatie tot de samenstelling van het landschap. Mededeling 42. Vereniging
voor Zoogd ierkunde en Zoog dierbescherming , Utrecht / Ontsnipperingsreeks deel
37. Rijksw aterstaat Di enst Weg- en Waterb ouwku nde, Delft, The N etherland s.
Shkedy, Y. & B. Shalm on 1997. Evalua ting open landsca pes in the Negev Desert, and the
implications on military activity. Nature Reserves Authority, Jerusalem, Israel. (In
Hebrew with English summ ary).
Theses
Meerburg, B.G. 2001. The effects of nature-oriented ditch management in farming
systems.
MSc thesis. An imal Pr oduction S ystems Gro up, Dep artment o f Animal S ciences,
Wag eningen U niversity, W agening en, The Netherl ands.
Verboom, B. 1998. The use of edge habitats by commuting and foraging bats. PhD
thesis.Wag eningen A gricultura l University, W agening en, The Nether lands.
Vos, C.C. 1999. A frog’s eye view of the landscape. Quantifying connectivity for
fragmented
amphibian populations. PhD thesis. Wageningen University, Wageningen, The
Netherlan ds.
Internet
Anonymous 1999. The world fact book. Central Intelligence Agency, Washington DC,
USA.
Available from the internet, accessed 4 June 2000. URL:
http:// cliffie.nosc.m l./~N AWF B/coun try.htm l
St. Cla ir, C.C ., M. Béli sle, A. De srocher s & S. Ha nnon 1 998. W inter resp onses of for est
birds to habitat corridors and gaps. Conservation Ecology [online] 2 (2): 13.
Available from the internet, accessed 24 February 2000. URL:
http://www.consecol.org/vol2/iss2/art13
Style and format
Write as clea r, concise and simple a s possible an d avoid long or co mplica ted sentences.
The sections materials and m ethods, and results are generally w ritten in the past tense.
Avoid constructi ons tha t use pass ive verb s. Do no t use statem ents such a s "The resu lts
are in table 1" but w rite for example "Ma les had higher bo dy weight than fem ales (table
1)". Fo r further su ggestio ns you m ay wa nt to consu lt other p ublica tions on how to write
scientific paper s.
Reference citations are normally placed at the end of a sentence. If there is only one
author, the surname is followed by the year of publication without a comma:
(Broekhuizen 2000). For two authors the format is: (Broekhuizen & Müskens 2000) and
for three or m ore author s the format is: (B roekhuizen et al. 2000). A ser ies of reference
citations is separated by com ma's. They are first arranged in chronological ord er and then
put in alphabetical order: (Reeve & Huijser 1999, Broekhuizen et al. 2000, Jansman &
Broekhuizen 200 0). If the publication is still in print you should write: (van der G rift, in
press). If you refer to unpublished data or personal comments ask the person for
permission first. Once you have obtained permission cite the person as: (E.S. Bakker,
unpub lished da ta) or (C.P . Doncaster, p ersonal com munica tion).
Please use bold or italic font only when appropriate, e.g. in paragraph headings or for
scientific names. When you name a species for the first time in the text you use the
English or Dutch name, depending on the language of the article, followed by the
scientific name between brackets and in italics: pine marten (Martes mar tes). The
common name of a species is written in small font, unless grammar rules demand
otherwise: e.g. when the sp ecies' name includes the nam e of a person or geogra phic
regio n. Thu s it is ‘ho use m ouse’ in stead of ‘Hou se Mo use’, bu t ‘Pyren ean p ine vo le’,
‘Norway rat’, ‘Asian chipmunk’, ‘European ground squirrel’, ‘Bechstein’s bat’ and
‘Nathusius’ p ipistrelle’. Do n ot underlin e words in the text and avo id foot notes as m uch
as possible.
F o r m e a su r em e n t u n it s u s e t he met ric syste m a ccording t o t he Systè me
Internationale d'unités (SI). For Lutra commonly used statistical symbols have the
following format: d f (degrees of freedo m), F (variance ra tio), n (samp le size), P
(proba bility), r (coefficient of correlation ), sd (standa rd devia tion), se (stand ard erro r), t
(Stud ent t-test statistic),
P2
(chi-squa re test statistic).
Use digits for numb ers from 13 and up , and use word s for numbers up to tw elve.
If a number is pa rt of a measuremen t unit use digits: 7 g or 2.5 km. Also use d igits in
series o f num bers: “The n umb er of cub s was 14, 8 a nd 21 in con secutiv e year s”. If a
number is the first part of a sentence spell it out: "Fourteen anim als lost their radio
transmitter during the course of the study". Use digits in dates, except for the month;
write this in full. Not “1-7-2000” b ut “1 July 2000”. If desired one m ay write dates all in
digits in tables or figures, but the day should always precede the month.
Avoid ab breviation s. Long na mes of orga nisations sho uld be w ritten in full the first
time, followed by an abbreviation b etween brackets: Vereniging voor Zoogd ierkunde en
Zoogd ierbescherm ing (VZZ ). Use only the a bbreviatio n after the first reference.
Use the entire w idth of the pag e; do not pr epare you r manu script in two column s.
Do not hyphenate words at the right margin and use only left justified text. The two
columns and the hyphens at the end of a line first appear in the proof prints. Prepare
your manuscript on A4 sized pages with 2.5 cm margins and double space between the
lines. The first page should show the title, authors and authors' addresses. The page that
follows after that starts with the abstract, immediately followed by the key words and the
body of the m anuscrip t.
Tables and accompanying text should be placed at the end of the manuscript. The
text accompanying figures and photographs follows the tables. The figures and
photo grap hs shou ld be o n separ ate pag es that sho uld al so show the figure or pho to
number and the nam e of the first author.
Submitting a paper
Prepare a letter to the editorial board. In this letter you should state that you submit the
attached man uscript for publication to Lutra an d that the manuscrip t has not been
published or sub mitted elsewhere. W e encourage you to subm it your manuscrip t digitally
(3.5’’ diskette or cd rom) and through e-mail as this speeds up the reviewing process. If
you subm it your ma nuscript on paper p lease include a total of three cop ies. Please
provide the telephone number, fax number and e-mail address of the corresponding
author.
Manuscripts should be sent to the Lutra editorial board: Vereniging voor
Zoogdierkunde en Zoogdierbescherming (VZZ), Redactie Lutra, Oude Kraan 8, NL-6811
LJ Arnhem, The Netherlands. The e-mail address of the editorial board is: lutra@vzz.nl
Send you r manu script in a w idely used p rogram such as W ord 97 or Word Perfect
(version 6.x or earlier). Put your tables and figures in separate files (preferably in Word
or Excel ). If you su bmit y our m anuscr ipt on p aper h ave it pr inted w ith a las er prin ter with
a resolution of at least 600x600 dp i.
There are no page charges for Lutra. An exception is made however for colour
illustrations. The author is advised to contact the corresponding editor for information
concerning costs. Then the author shou ld acquire app ropriate funding. If the author is
unsuccessful, please contact the corresponding editor again. The board of the foundation
"Publ icatiefon ds Lutra " may d ecide to g ive finan cial sup port.
The proced ure for review ing a pa per subm itted to Lutra is a s follows:
1. Subm it your m anuscr ipt.
2. You will prom ptly receive confirm ation of the arr ival of your m anuscrip t. You will a lso
be given the name and address of the corresponding editor responsible for reviewing
and editing your paper.
3. Your paper w ill be reviewed by tw o peers. The corresponding editor bases her/his
decision on whether to a ccept or reject the pap er on the review s of the peers. Unless
the reviewers wish otherwise they will remain anonymous. Very few papers are
accepted without a request for a minor or major revision. You should generally be
inform ed with in two month s after sub mitting your m anuscr ipt.
4. You should promptly inform the corresponding editor whether you intend to carry out
the mino r or ma jor revision of the m anuscript w ithin two m onths.
5. Send the revised manuscript directly to the corresponding editor. If you feel some
suggestions were incorrect or undesirable please explain your views in an
accompanying letter.
6. The corresponding editor will evaluate the changes in the manuscript based on the
original report and your accompanying letter and make his or her final decision.
7. If your manuscrip t is accepted for publication it will be edited for p rinting and you will
receive a pro of print of your m anuscrip t. This may tak e several mo nths. Please check
the proof care fully for typesetting er rors or edito rial mista kes.
8. Togeth er with the proo f you wi ll receive a form con cerning the transfer of copyri ght to
the publish er (VZZ).
9. Close to or shortly after publication you will receive ten reprints free of charge.
The editorial board strongly advises you to have your manuscript critically reviewed by
collea gues b efore yo u sub mit yo ur m anus cript.
Last updated 27 September 2001