EDITORIAL RULES

Preparation and submission of manuscripts

Documents may be submitted in Spanish or English and will be published in the language in which they are submitted. Articles that have been previously published or that have been submitted to other journals will not be accepted. The Editorial Committee will determine each year the cost of final printed pages for publication rights in the regular numbers of Actualidades Biológicas. For 2009, it is $50,000.00 (Fifty thousand Colombian pesos, US$ 20) in the two regular journal numbers. The fee may change at any time. For the updated cost, please contact us at: <revistabiologia@udea.edu.co>, <actubiol.udea@gmail.com>.

Manuscripts will be evaluated by at least two experts in the area; its acceptance for publication will be based upon its scientific merits and its conformity to the instructions for style that are presented below.

All documents of manuscript (text, tables, figures, etc.) must be sent to the Editor (original and one copy) impress on letter size paper by one paper side. Additionally, a magnetic copy (CD) must be sent and identified with the names of the first author, the manuscript`s title and the date. The CD must have three folders: folder "Text" with the text file, folder "Tables" with the table files; and folder "Figures", with the figure files and the file of the legends of the figures.

When submitted studies are the result of investigations of particular biological species that involve voucher specimens, it is imperative that the place (herbarium, museum, or private collection) where the specimens are deposited is clearly indicated. Likewise, the collectors and corresponding collection numbers must be indicated.

Research papers

The manuscript should include the following sequence of sections: the "TITLE" of the manuscript (in English and Spanish); the "First and last names of the authors", uniting last names with a hyphen; the "Institutional, mailing, and e-mail addresses" of each author; the "Abstract" y "Resumen" (in both languages); "Key words" and "Palabras clave" (3-6 key words following each abstract); "INTRODUCTION", "MATERIALS AND METHODS"; "RESULTS"; "DISCUSSION"; "ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS"; and "REFERENCES". Tables and figures (and its legends) must be saved in their respective folders.

Short communications

The same guidelines as for research articles are recommended, but the use of subtitles is not necessary for the following sections: "INTRODUCTION"; "MATERIAL AND METHODS"; "RESULTS"; "DISCUSSION"; and "REFERENCES".

Revisions

All contributions will be peer reviewed and their publication will depend on the opinions of the reviewers and the conformity of the writing style to the guidelines of the journal (at least 50 bibliographical references).

All manuscripts, including submissions to the Forum, should include a title, a list of key words and an abstract, with versions in English and Spanish.

General guidelines

All documents of the text and tables must be salved as a MS-Word file, and each figure as a jpg file. All sections of the manuscripts (except figures) must be written in "Normal" style, "Times New Roman" 12 point font, left justified, on letter size paper (215 X 280 mm or 8.5 X 11 inches ), with 3 cm margins on all sides, double spaced, and only by a paper side. All pages should be numbered consecutively. The last names of the authors appearing in the upper left hand corner, if there are three or more authors, follow the last name of the first author by et al.

Please observe the following rules when preparing the text: 1) one space should always be used between words, after commas, semicolons, colons, parentheses, etc. (do not place double spaces); 2) between paragraphs there should only be one carriage return, including after titles; 3) page breaks or section endings must not be used; 4) the typographic hyphen or dash should be written with the keystrokes ALT + 0151. This is used to: open dialogs, close explicative phrases or inserts, and replace numbers in a list. In the latter case, there should be a space between the hyphen and the text; 5) the hyphen used between words and numbers is that of the keyboard. For example, physical-chemical, 1978-1998 (note that there is no space between the ranges); 6) when italic or bold text is used, recall that the punctuation marks that follow carry the same font style. (Examples: Key words:; Cellular cultures.; Bartenschlager R, Lohmann V. 2000.); 7 ) It must not have any hyperlink in all manuscript.

Tables

Each table should appear on a separate page, and have a complete title and number. Tables must be cited in the appropriate place in the text (table #). Each table must be elaborated or written in "Normal" style and salved as a MS-Word file (Table #.doc) and included in the folder "Tables" of the magnetic copy of the manuscript.

Figures

All numbers, letters, and symbols of the figures must be compressible and readable in 12 point "Arial" font, in such a way that they remain legible when reduced for publication. The size of drawings, photographs, and graphics should be approximately the same as what they will have when published (figures larger than 215 x 280 mm are not accepted). In general, figure sizes used by the journal are 8 and 17 cm width. Each figure should carry a number and legend and should be referred to in the text (figure #). The legends of all the figures should be printed on a separate page that goes at the end of the manuscript. Photographs should be black and white with glossy finish and excellent clarity. Each figure must be salved as a jpg file (Figure #.jpg) with a initial or original resolution at least 350 ppi and each file included in the folder "Figures" of the magnetic copy of the manuscript.

Publication of color photographs, graphics, or drawings will imply an additional cost. The authors should include a letter indicating their willingness to assume the additional cost.

Abbreviations and style

Scientific names of species should appear in italics. It is recommended to write the name in full, together with the author's last name and year, the first time it is employed in the text, but from then on abbreviate the name when possible. The metric systems and its abbreviations should be employed for all measurements (for a reference see http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/) (these rules are in the Actualidades Biológicas home page: <http://matematicas.udea.edu.co/~actubiol/>. Decimals must be used instead of fractions, except in equations. In articles written in Spanish, the decimal point should appear as a comma, while in English it should appear as a period (i. e.: 0,023 and 0.023, respectively); and for thousand, in Spanish it appears as a period, while in English as a comma (i. e.: 10.239,56, 174.239; and 10,239.56, 174,239, respectively) (exception for years: i. e.: 1996; 2005).

References

References in the text must be organized in alphabetical order, based upon the first last name of the first author and then chronologically. When the reference is by two authors, the last names are connected by the word "and" (not use the symbol "&" for "and" and "y"). If a publication has three or more authors, only the last name of the first author should be included, followed by "et al., year" (i. e. "Castro-Vega et al., 1984" ). If there is more than one citation in the sentence, the citations should be separated by comma ",", and the penultimate and last citation should be connected by the word "and", i. e.: "as reported Castro-Vega et al. (1984), Cox and Fox (2005), Monson (2000), and Zárate (1980)". All reference citations in the text should be separated by comma (","), i. e.: "... (Castro-Vega et al. 1984, Cox and Fox 2005, Monson 2000, Zárate 1980)". For two or more articles of different authors, some in same year: "... as previous studies (Baker et al. 2004a, b, c, 2006a, b, Castro-Vega 1984, 2001a, b, Gómez-López and Zarate-Páez 2003a, b, 2005, Pérez-Mora and Paine 2002, Reed et al. 2001, 2003)". Note that one should cite in alphabetical order and then chronological order when there is a group of references by different authors. Different references should be separated by comma ",". In the same way to: "... according to previous studies of Baker et al. (2004a, b, c, 2006a, b), Castro-Vega (1984, 2001a, b), Gómez-López y Zarate-Páez (2003a, b, 2005), Pérez-Mora y Paine (2002), and Reed et al. (2001, 2003)."

References in the section "REFERENCES" should be in alphabetical order, based upon the first last name of the first author and then chronologically. Use the complete journal or book names (no abbreviations) please. You can find a detailed citation and reference guide with examples in: http://matematicas.uedea.edu.co/~actubiol/infoautores. It must not have any hyperlink in all manuscript. Follow the examples below:

1.- Books

1.1.- Books

Author(s). Year. Book's title. # ed. (if it is not the first edition). City: Publishers. p. #. (# = total number of pages)

- in the Bibliography, v. g.:

Lincoln RJ, Boxshall GA, Clark PF. 1998. A dictionary of ecology, evolution, and systematics. 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 298.

- in the Text, v. g.: (Lincoln et al. 1998); "according to Lincoln et al. (1998)"

1.2.- Book by editors:

Author(s), editors. Year. Book's title. # ed. (if it is not the first edition). City: Publishers. p. #. (# = total number of pages)

- in the Bibliography, v. g.:

Merritt RW, Cummins KW, Berg MB, editors. 2008. An introduction to the aquatic insects of North America. 4th ed. Dubuque (IA): Kendall/Hunt Pub Co. p. 1158.

- in the Text, v. g.: (Merritt et al. 2008); "according to Merritt et al. (2008)"

1.3. Book Chapter or Section

Author(s). Year. Chapter's title. In: Editor's names, editors. Book's title. Edition (if it is not the first edition). City: Publishers. p. #-#. (# = initial-final page numbers of the chapter or section)

- in the Bibliography, v. g.:

Hooghiemstra H, Van der Hammen T, Cleef A. 2002. Paleoecología de la flora boscosa. In: Guariguata MR, Kattan GH, editors. Ecología y conservación de bosques neotropicales. Cartago (Costa Rica): Libro Universitario Regional. p. 43-58.

- in the Text, v. g.: (Hooghiemstra et al. 2002); "according to Hooghiemstra et al. (2002)"

1.4.- Book published in several volumes

Author(s). Year-Year. Book's title. Edition (if it is not the first edition). # Volumes (number of volumes). City: Publishers.

- in the Bibliography, v. g.:

Fischer FCJ. 1960-1973. Trichopterorum catalogus. 15 volumes. Amsterdam: Nederlandsche Entomologische Vereeniging.

- in the Text, v. g.: (Fischer 1960-1973); "according to Fischer (1960-1973)"

1.5. Electronic Book

Author(s). Year. Book's title [Internet]. Edition (if it is not the first edition). City: Host or Publishers. Available from: http://www.xxx

- in the Bibliography, v. g.:

Rollin BE. 1998. The unheeded cry: animal consciousness, animal pain, and science [Internet]. Ames (IA): The Iowa State University Press. Available from: http://www.netlibrary.com

- in the Text, v. g.: (Rollin 1998); "according to Rollin (1998)"

2.- Articles

2.1. Article of Printed Journal

Author(s). Year. Article's title. Journal's name (no abbreviations), # of volume if it is available (# of journal): #-#. (# = initial-final page numbers of the article)

- in the Bibliography, v. g.:

Meise CJ, Johnson DL, Stehlik LL, Manderson J, Shaheen P. 2003. Growth rates of juvenile winter flounder under varying environmental conditions. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 132 (2): 225-345.

- in the Text, v. g.: (Meise et al. 2003); "according to Meise et al. (2003)"

2.2. Printed Article in Electronic Version

Author(s). Year. Article's title. Journal's name (no abbreviations) [Internet], # of volume (# of journal if it is available): #-#. (# = initial-final page numbers of the article). Accessed: year Month day. Available from: http://www.xxx

- in the Bibliography, v. g.:

Leng F, Amado L, McMacken R. 2004. Coupling DNA supercoiling to transcription in defined protein systems. Journal of Biological Chemistry [Internet], 279 (46): 47564-47571. Accessed: 2007 Jul 24. Available from: http://www.jbc.org/cgi/reprint/279/46/47564

- in the Text, v. g.: (Leng et al. 2004); "according to Leng et al. (2004)"

2.3. Article of Electronic Journal

Author(s). Year. Article's title. Journal's name (no abbreviations) [Internet], # of volumen if it is available (# of journal): #-#. (# = initial-final page numbers of the article). Accessed: year Month day. Available from: http://www.xxx

- in the Bibliography, v. g.:

Qu J, Chen P, Qu X, Wenping L, Baoguo T, Tingru H. 2005. Purification and biological activities of novel antibacterial peptides from Musca domestica. Electronic Journal of Biology [Internet], 1 (4): 49-55. Accessed: 2008 Jun 14. Available from: http://www.ejbio.com/pps/49.pdf

- in the Text, v. g.: (Qu et al. 2005); "according to Qu et al. (2005)"

3.- WEB Resources

3.1 WEB Page

Name or title of WEB page or Author(s) [Internet]. Updated Year. Host organization or institution. Accessed: year Month day. Avalaible from: http://www.xxx

- in the Bibliography, v. g.:

Convention on Biological Diversity [Internet]. 2009. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Accessed: 2009 Feb 16. Available from: http://www.cbd.int

- in the Text, v. g.: (Convention on Biological Diversity 2009); "according to Convention on Biological Diversity (2009)"

3.2 Document on WEB Page

Name or title of electronic document [Internet]. Document year. Name of the WEB page. Accessed: year Month day. Avalaible from: http://www.xxx

- in the Bibliography, v. g.:

Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety [Internet]. 2000. Convention on Biological Diversity. Accessed: 2007 Jul 07. Available from: http://www.cbd.int/biosafety/protocol.shtml

- in the Text, v. g.: 
(Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety 2000); "according to Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (2000)"

4.- Dissertation/Thesis

Author(s). Year. Title of the dissertation/thesis [dissertation]. [City]: University or Institution. p. #. (# = total number of pages)

- in the Bibliography, v. g.:

Dettmers JM. 1995. Assessing the trophic cascade in reservoirs: the role of an introduced predator [dissertation]. [Columbus (OH)]: Ohio State University . p. 214.

- in the Text, v. g.: (Dettmers 1995); "according to Dettmers (1995)"

5.- Technical Report or Official Document

Author(s). Year. Title of the report or document. City: Institution. Reference of the report or document.

- in the Bibliography, v. g.:

Ford PL, Fagerlund RA, Duszynski DW, Polechla PJ. 2004. Fleas and lice of mammals in New Mexico . Fort Collins (CO): USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station. General Technical Report No. RMRS-GTR-123.

- in the Text, v. g.: 
(Ford et al. 2004); "according to Ford et al. (2004)"