Editorial guidelines

For editors and conference organizers (Proposals submission)

Nature and Evolution: Proceedings (NEP) publishes volumes derived from conferences, workshops, and symposia proceedings. The volumes are composed of chapters referred to as original research, and reviews in the form of full and short papers. However, short papers should not exceed 30% of the entire volume. Other paper typologies like posters, demos, etc. will be listed in the proceedings volume, but they will not be indexed as individual documents. For those who are organizing a conference and are interested in publishing their proceedings in NEP, feel free to complete this proposal form and send it to nep.proceedings@colnes.org.

In exceptional situations, proceedings of past events can be considered.

For authors (chapters preparation)

1 Aims and scope

NEP is a book series oriented to (not limited to) the fields of biology, zoology, evolution, and plant science.

2 Before you submit

2.1 Editorial policies

NEP ensures the publication of high-quality content derived from transparent and trusted research practices. NEP follows all the guidelines and best publication practices defined by the Committee of Publication Ethics (COPE).

2.1.1 Authorship

NEP demands that all authors listed in the chapters have taken real responsibility during the research process and manuscript creation. We encourage the corresponding authors, project leaders, or institutions to avoid adding people who did not contribute to the research output (Gift authors) or to exclude people who did contribute and its name is not finally included (Ghost authors). To prevent this, it is strongly recommended to decide the authorship before project writing.

Before considering a paper for possible publication, a decision needs to be made regarding the definition of the ‘corresponding author’ and the ‘order of authors’. The corresponding author will play an administrative role since he/she will be contacted by the Editorial Office during the manuscript evaluation, production, and post-publication processes.

2.1.2 Conflict of interest

A Conflict of Interest (COI) takes place when authors have personal, academic, or financial relationships with third parties that could influence the content of research work submitted for publication.

At the time to submit a book or chapter, authors are requested to complete the COI Statement by which all potential interests are declared, if applicable. Through this statement, the following issues might be declared:

  • Direct or indirect resources are received by any institution to complete the research work.
  • Financial relationships with entities that supported the performance of the research work. 
  • Patents and copyrights, whether pending, issued, licensed, and/or receiving royalties related to the research work.
  • Personal relationships with people who can influence the research content.

These are some examples of COI statements: 

  • [Author name] has received [state the received benefits] from [Institution name or equivalent].
  • [Author name] has [type of relationship] with [Institution name or equivalent].

If there is no conflict of interest, the authors must declare:

  • The author(s) declare that there is no conflict of interest.

2.1.3 Research data, reproducibility, and transparency (If applicable)

The authors are encouraged to share the data behind the research work. The NEP policy is to make all scientific data of open access since we follow the Guidelines on Open Access to Scientific Publications and Research Data defined by the European Commission.

The data sharing process can occur in the following ways:

  • Depositing data in a public repository. The Registry of Research Data Repositories can be of help to selecting a platform to host the data. The link(s) to access the data should be included in the manuscript.
  • Data as supplementary material. During the submission stage, authors can submit supplementary files containing relevant data to share. These files will be available during the peer-review process and will be also published together with the paper's main text. 
  • Data on request. Before the publication process, authors may be asked for research data at the request of the editors or reviewers.   

Citations to research data should appear in the full text in the reference section. Authors need to follow the Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles to provide the correct citation and referencing of the data.

2.1.4 Statement of data consent (If applicable)

To make science more transparent, open, and reproducible, NEP encourages its authors to submit a data statement; which will be publicly available. These are some examples:

  • The (Name/type of data) generated during the development of this study has been deposited in (Repository name) and it is accessible at (Data URL).
  • The (Name/type of data) generated during the development of this study has been included in the manuscript. 
  • The (Name/type of data) generated during the development of this study has been published as supplementary material. 
  • The (Name/type of data) generated during the development of this study cannot be freely available due to (reasons) but they might be requested to (contact information).
  • The (Name/type of data) generated during the development of this study cannot be freely available due to restrictions imposed by (Name of the restrictor).
  • No data have been generated during the development of this study.

2.1.5 Open access and copyright

All chapters published by NEP are of open access, meaning they are freely available without any kind of subscription or restriction. Chapters are published under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license, which permits the sharing and adaptation of the material as long as appropriate credit be given, a link to the license be provided, and all changes are indicated. More information about this license can be found here.

2.1.5 Publication fees

There is no fee or charges applied for volume processing and/or publication in NEP.

3 Book and chapter preparation

3.1 Book structure

Frontmatter:

  • Title page (mandatory)
  • Foreword (optional)
  • Preface (optional)
  • Acknowledgments (optional)
  • Dedication (optional)
  • About this book (mandatory)
  • Table of contents (mandatory)

Parts: 

  • Chapters structure

Back matter:

  • About the author (for monographs) (optional)
  • About the editor (for thematic volumes) (optional)
  • List of contributors (for thematic volumes) (optional)
  • Appendixes (optional, if applicable)
  • List of abbreviations (optional, if applicable)

3.2 Chapter structure

  • Title page
  • Abstract (mandatory for proceedings)
  • Keywords (mandatory for proceedings)
  • Text structure
  • Funding (if applicable)
  • Acknowledgments (if applicable)
  • References 
  • Appendixes (if applicable) 

3.3 Text

  • All chapters should be submitted in Word format.
  • Text line spaced at 1.5, plain font 10-point Times New Roman.
  • The sections should be numbered (eg.: 1., 2., 3., 4., etc.), as well as all the subsections (1.1., 1.2., 1.1.1, 2.1, 2.2., etc.).
  • All pages should be numbered consecutively.
  • The chapter should not include personal information about the authors (eg.: names, affiliations, emails, etc.).

3.4 Additional files

  • Conflict of interest statement (if applicable)
  • Statement of data consent (if applicable)
  • Figures in JPG, TIFF, or PNG formats

3.5 Language

NEP accepts contributions in the English, Spanish, and Portuguese languages. Please consider the following issues:

  • To assess the quality of your manuscript, ensure that the content is professionally edited. 
  • For chapters in English, both American and British spelling is accepted; however, only one of them can be adopted throughout the chapter.
  • Non-native English authors are encouraged to find support from native English colleagues or use professional English editing services.

3.6 Abstract 

Abstracts should contain between 150 to 200 words and they will be mandatory for the chapters derived from proceedings. In the case of monographs, abstracts will be optional, but we encourage authors to include abstracts in the chapters. For those chapters written in NEP and Portuguese languages, an English abstract will be required.

3.7 Keywords

Please provide 3 to 6 keywords that represent the content of the chapter. The usage of keywords will be mandatory for the chapters derived from proceedings. In the case of monographs, the abstracts will be optional. For those chapters written in Spanish and Portuguese languages, an English abstract will be required.

3.8 Tables

  • Submitted as editable text and not as a picture.
  • Cited in consecutive numerical order using Arabic numerals (eg.: Table 1, Table 2, etc.).
  • Placed next to the text where it is cited.
  • Contained data should not appear elsewhere in the manuscript.

3.9 Figures

  • Use Arial or Helvetica fonts.
  • Cited in consecutive numerical order using Arabic numerals (eg.: Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.).
  • For the peer review purpose, low-quality figures can be accepted; however, for the publication purpose, high-quality figures of at least 300 dpi are required.
  • Figures should be submitted both in the main text and as separate files using JPG, TIFF, or PNG formats. Figures submitted as separate files should be named according to their numerical order in the text (eg.: Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.).

3.10 Abbreviations

Non-standard abbreviations in the field should be defined at first mention in the text. Please avoid abbreviations in the title, abstract, and keywords.

3.11 Footnotes

Footnotes can be used to provide additional information to the text, tables, and figures. They should be numbered consecutively throughout the manuscript.

3.12 References

NEP follows the reference style of the American Psychological Association (APA 6th edition).

3.12.1 In-text citations

Citations in text must appear in the reference list and vice versa. Here are some examples:

Smith (2004) considers …

Smith and Kim (2004) consider …

Smith et al. (2004) consider …

... a technique widely employed in previous studies (Smith, 2004; Smith & Kim, 2004; Smith et al., 2004).

3.12.2 Reference list 

Journal article

Osman, M. (2010). Controlling uncertainty: A review of human behavior in complex dynamic environments. Psychological Bulletin, 136(1), 65-86. doi:10.1037/a0017815

Book

Berkman, R. I. (1994). Find it fast: How to uncover expert information. New York, NY: Harper Perrenial.

Book chapter

Baker, F. M., & Lightfoot, O. B. (1993). Psychiatric care of ethnic elders. In A. C. Gaw (Ed.), Culture, ethnicity, and mental illness (pp. 517-552). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

Conference paper

Bowden, F.J., & Fairley, C.K. (1996, June). Endemic STDs in the Northern Territory: Estimations of effective rates of partner change. Paper presented at the Scientific Meeting of the Royal Australian College of Physicians, Darwin.

Website

Atherton, J. (2005). Behaviour modification. Retrieved from http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/behaviour_mod.htm

Thesis

Rahman, M. (2013). Using authentic materials in the writing classes: Tertiary level scenario. (Unpublished master's thesis). BRAC University, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

In case you are referencing sources not displayed above, we recommend you to visit this website for more examples. 

3.13 Funding

In case the research has received funds, please declare the following: This research has received funds by [Institution name or equivalent] (grant number).

3.14 Appendices

Appendices should be placed after references. Whether these are in a table or figure format, they must be numbered consecutively.

4 Post-submission

For those conference organizers who wish to use the editorial management system of this series, they will need to adhere to our peer review procedures. Once a chapter is submitted, the Volume Editor in coordination with the Series Editor will check its relevance to the series, completeness of metadata and content, such as technical quality and presentation. At this stage, the editors might reject the chapter if he/she considers it not suitable for peer review. 

When the Volume Editor moves the chapter to the peer review phase, two external reviewers of considerable expertise in the field and, who are willing to collaborate, will be assigned. Reviewers perform voluntary work; nevertheless, they are asked to consider timeliness, confidentiality, possible conflict of interests, and ethical behavior.

Once the review process is completed, the Volume Editor in coordination with the Series Editor makes a final decision, which can be one of the following:

  • Accepted
  • Considered with minor revisions
  • Considered with major revisions
  • Rejected

When the chapters are ‘considered with minor revisions’, ‘considered with major revisions’ or ‘rejected’, the author(s) will receive the comments resulting from the evaluation process. Those authors whose chapters are accepted in their current form may receive comments regarding the series’s guidelines to publish the final version.

The review process is closed when, after all the required review rounds, the author(s) addresses all the comments raised by the reviewers and/or editors.

5 After acceptance

5.1 Proofreading

Once the chapter is ready for publication, authors will receive proofs to check the completeness of the text. Authors are asked to revise the entire content structure, author(s) information, numbering of figures and tables, references, as well as other issues. Please note that this is a critical stage as, after proofreading, the chapter will be published without further changes.