Never submit a manuscript to more than 1 editor.

Hard copies are NOT required unless electronic submission is impossible. In that case, manuscripts may be submitted - one hard copy and an electronic file on disc - by post.

PROCESSING

On acceptance, titles of manuscripts are added to 'Forthcoming publications' on the Inter-Research Web site. The first, or corresponding, author receives a paper or electronic proof. Printing errors must be carefully corrected. At this stage, stylistic changes are not acceptable without compensatory payment. Tables of contents for each issue appear on the Web shortly before publication. Abstracts and .pdf versions of full articles are added on the day of publication.

For each article published in MEPS a free copy of the journal volume or number will be mailed to the first, or corresponding, author. Orders for offprints must be made when returning the proof (use the form provided).

PREPARATION

To facilitate and accelerate the production process, please make sure that the ms conforms to the IR style. For the appropriate format please refer to recent issues of MEPS. Poor mss incur extra costs and delays; this applies particularly to figures and tables. If a ms requires excessive changes, we may have to return it, or charge you for the extra work involved in copy editing, typesetting and proofreading. To avoid this, please bring your ms in line with the following guidelines:

Cover page

'A novel method for the production of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) specific to an envelope protein (28kDa) of white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) of shrimp and detection of WSSV by MAb-based antigen-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay'
(236 characters, 37 words)

vs.

'Detection of white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) of shrimp by means of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) specific to an envelope protein (28 kDa)'
(137 characters, 22 words).

Provide a running head with 3 to 6 words; e.g. 'Detection of shrimp WSSV'.

Authors and addresses: If a ms has several authors from different institutions,

• use superscript numerals for identification;
  
• provide a full valid street address or PO Box for each institution;
  
• use * to refer to footnotes that identify the corresponding author and provide her/his e-mail.
  

Key Words: Supply 3 to 8 key words, listed in order of importance; these may be composites (e.g. 'environmental assessment', 'population dynamics'), but they should not be phrases or sentences.

Text

Headings: Our main headings are in capital letters. Subheadings are bold type lower case, usually centered. Further subheadings can be used and you need not worry about details as long as their order is clear; they should be kept short and in the same style as described under 'Title'. We do not accept solitary subheadings, i.e. any section must contain at least 2 subheadings, or none at all.

Verbosity: Please eliminate verbiage; examples (verbiage underlined) with improved versions:

• 'Numerous studies in recent years, such as those by Miller (1995) and Smith (1998), have shown that low salinities enhance oyster recruitment'.
• 'Low salinities enhance oyster recruitment (Miller 1995, Smith 1998)'.

• 'Nevertheless, it seems likely that fur seal lactation success could be influenced by ...'
• 'Fur seal lactation success may depend on ...'.

Abbreviations: Define unusual abbreviations and acronyms in the 'Abstract' (if used there) and at first mention in the main text, and thereafter use only the abbreviation / acronym.

Lists of items in the text should be run-on with numerals in parentheses; e.g. 'This study on mussels was conducted to: (1) assess their distributional range, (2) determine their population density, (3) collect specimens for culinary experiments'.

Equations and units: Use standard SI units. Relations or concentrations (e.g. mg per l) must be given as 'mg l^-1' (not mg/l); this applies to text, tables and graphs (e.g. axis labels). Variables are usually italicised (except for Greek letters). Italicisation should be consistent in text, figures and equations, and kept the same whether the symbols are in normal, superscript or subscripted text. Leave one blank space on either side of '=', '>', ± etc. where these denote equalities or inequalities.
Example: 'p < 0.05, r² = 0.879' (not 'p<0.05, r²=0.879')
but: 'we studied organisms of size <0.5 µm'

Acknowledgements: Do not give first names in full, only initials (with period and space), e.g. 'We thank M. A. Smith and R. F. G. Miller'. Authors of the current ms should be given as initials only, e.g. 'We acknowledge a grant to M.A.S. from ...'.

Figures and tables

These should be self-explanatory; they must be referred to in correct numerical order in the text. Please prepare them very carefully; poor figures are a principal source of delay and additional work in the production process. High quality laser printouts, photographic prints (i.e. created by a camera), and electronic files in standard formats are acceptable.

Legends: Table legends should be given above each table; figure legends should be supplied as a list, and not placed with the individual figures. Captions should be brief and precise; they should not contain text in bold or italic, except for species names. If a figure or table provides data on biological species, its legend should begin with the full Latin name of that species. Example:

• 'Fig. 3. Crassostrea gigas and Mytilus edulis. Larval growth rates (mm d^-1; mean ± SD) at (a) 20°C and (b) 25°C'

Literature cited

Periodicals: Use standard abbreviations according to 'BIOSIS Serial Sources'. You may download a list of journal abbreviations from http://www.int-res.com/journals/misc/journallist.txt or use the bibliographic database software 'EndNote' to import the list and obtain styles for IR journals at http://www.endnote.com/support/enstyles.asp. Example:

• Blackburn N, Fenchel T (1999) Influence of bacteria, diffusion and shear on micro-scale nutrient patches, and implications for bacterial chemotaxis. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 189:1-7
  

Books: Please write the title of the book in lower case, and give the publisher and place of publication. In the case of book series, give the series editor as well. Examples:

• Zar JH (1999) Biostatistical analysis, 4th edn. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ
  
• Carpenter (2003) Regime shifts in lake ecosystems: pattern and variation. In: Kinne O (ed) Excellence in ecology, Book 15. International Ecology Institute, Oldendorf/Luhe
  

Papers from books, conference reports, symposium proceedings, etc.: Please give the title of the cited chapter, the editor(s) and title of the volume, the publisher and place of the publisher (not the location where the conference was held), and the pages of the chapter. The date of the cite must be the year of publication (not the year in which the conference was held). Example:

• Levin LA, Tolley D (2000) Influences of vegetation and abiotic enviromental factors on salt marsh invertebrates. In: Weinstein MP, Kreeger DA (eds) Concepts and controversies in tidal marsh ecology. Kluwer Acedemic Publishers, Dordrecht, p 661-707
  
• West TL, Amrose WG (1992) Abiotic and biotic effects on population dynamics of oligohaline benthic invertebrates. In: Colombo G, Ferrari I, Ceccherelli VU, Rossi R (eds) Marine eutrophication and population dynamics. Proc 25th Eur Mar Biol Symp. Olsen & Olsen, Fredensburg.

Certain conference proceedings/symposiums may be cited as a journal.

• Bambach RK, Knoll AH, Sepkoski JJ Jr (2002) Anatomical and ecological constraints on Phanerozoic animal diversity in the marine realm. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99:6854-6859
  

Dissertations: Please write the title in lower case, 'MS / PhD thesis / dissertation' (no spaces or periods in 'MS' or 'PhD'), and give the university and its location. Example:

• Eve TM (2001) Chemistry and chemical ecology of Indo-Pacific gorgonians. PhD dissertation, University of California, San Diego, CA

Inter-Research and International Ecology Institute mailing address:

Nordbünte 23 (+21, 26, 28, 30)
21385 Oldendorf/Luhe
Germany

Ethics
Research published in IR journals must have been conducted in accordance with institutional, national and international guidelines concerning the use of animals in research and/or the sampling of endangered species.

Copyright
Scientific publications appearing in IR journals have been rigorously refereed, carefully quality-improved, and professionally selected by our editorial staff. These publications, and all parts thereof, are therefore protected by copyright. This covers the exclusive rights of the publisher to reproduce (by any means, including photographic or electronic), to distribute (including via photocopies, reprints, or electronic means), and to store (on microfilm, in electronic data bases, on video disks, etc.) this material.
The acceptance regulations of a manuscript for publication automatically include the consent of the author(s) to transfer the copyright to the publisher. Permission for exceptions to these rules must be obtained in writing from the publisher at the time of manuscript submission. In the USA, photocopies may be made for personal or in-house use beyond the limitations stipulated under Section 107 or 108 of U.S. Copyright Law.

Disclaimer
Publisher, editors, reviewers and authors do not accept any legal responsibility for errors, omissions or claims, nor do they provide any warranty, express or implied, with respect to information published in IR journals.

This page was last updated on 28 April 2005.