Information For Authors
Instructions for Authors of Manuscripts for the
Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society
Subject matter
The Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society (NHBSS) publishes articles and notes by anyone on natural history including ecology, taxonomy, systematics, biogeography, evolution and geology, and conservation, natural resource management or related fields, of relevance to Thailand or Southeast Asia. Contributors do not have to be members of the Siam Society.
Types of contributions
Letters (up to 2 pages) concerning an issue of relevance to the contents of the NHBSS may be submitted by anyone. They should be clearly written and concise. Letters may be edited, but authors will be notified if any changes are desired.
Conservation news and events (1/2 to 15 pages) are news, or reports of meetings, symposia, expeditions, research or conservation projects, government actions, and other happenings of interest.
Commentary (up to about 20 journal pages) may analyze issues or controversies of interest to readers, and express opinions or recommendations. Commentary-type articles should be authoritative, logical, and based on factual information insofar as possible.
Reviews (up to 50 pages) are summaries of particular subjects or topics provide new perspectives and insight.
Research articles (5–50 pages) constitute the majority of pages of the NHBSS. Research may be experimental, descriptive, or theoretical, but in any case the significance of the findings should be discussed and related to previous work in the literature.
Notes (1–4 pages) are brief reports of research findings or observations of special interest.
Book reviews (usually 1–2 pages) may cover any publications of interest to readers, especially those dealing with Thai natural history or conservation.
Organization and style
The Title should be succinct and carry only essential information. A Running head, or shortened version of the title, should be supplied for the header on right-hand pages.
The list of authors should include only those who have contributed to the research or writing of the paper; honorary or administrative personnel should not be included, but should be mentioned in the Acknowledgements section.
Research articles will normally be organized into the following sections:
Abstract. A concise statement of the objectives, findings and significance of the paper.
Keywords. Up to 6 words or phrases that identify the subject of the paper which can be used for indexing.
Introduction. A discussion of background information, a brief description of the reasons for carrying out the research, and specific objectives of the study or hypotheses to be tested. The NHBSS is not a specialized scientific journal, and its contents should be comprehensible to generalists and also the educated laymen who make up most of the membership of the Siam Society. Although technical methods and analysis may be intended to satisfy scientific requirements, the importance and general significance of the paper should be explained in language accessible to non-specialists, in both the Introduction and Discussion.
Study Area (if relevant). The location of the study area in polar coordinates (degrees and minutes) should be given, as well as habitat description etc. A map is often useful to show the location of the study area. All place names and legends on maps must be completely readable and clear. Maps that are simply photocopied or reproduced exactly are usually not acceptable. The smallest lettering on a map should not be less than about 1 mm high after reduction. Geographic coordinates must be given in the margins of all maps in degrees, minutes and seconds (DMS).
Study animals or subjects. Describe in as much detail as possible the species of animals or plants involved in the study.
Methods. Methods and procedures used in the research should be described, usually under subheadings. This includes analytical and statistical methods.
Results (or Observations). These should be described in detail, with the aid of graphs, charts, tables and figures. Graphs and charts are labelled as figures, and each must have a complete legend with description. Tables should be typed Microsoft Word format whenever possible, but very large or detailed tables may be done in Excel format.
Discussion. The Discussion should give the significance of the Results or Observations in relation to other findings in the literature. The Discussion must not simply repeat the results, but summarize the most salient or important findings. The Discussion should also indicate any weaknesses in the study and emphasize what is not known and remains to be studied in the future. As stated above, the Discussion should not all be highly technical, but should be understandable in general terms by non-specialists.
Conclusions (optional). In lengthy papers, it is useful to reiterate the main findings and significance of the study. This section may also be used for making special recommendations.
Acknowledgments. This section is used for giving thanks to individuals and institutions that helped implement the study, and acknowledging the support of sources of funding.
References. References cited in the text are listed here, in the general format used by the American journal Ecology. The hanging indent is used for formatting references, and authors' names are converted to small caps. Examples of common reference types are given below.
Round, P. D. 1993. Brambling, Fringilla montifringilla, a new species of bird for Thailand. Nat. Hist. Bull. Siam Soc. 41: 140–141.
Lekagul, B., and P. D. Round. 1991. A Guide to the Birds of Thailand. Saha Karn Bhaet Co., Bangkok. 457 pp.
Rundel, P. W., and K. Boonpragob. 1995. Dry forest ecosystems of Thailand. Pages 93–123 in S. H. Bullock, H. A. Mooney and E. Medina (eds.), Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, UK.
Other headings and subheadings may be used if appropriate in papers in special fields. For example, taxonomic papers may follow the style of the discipline of the author, but must still include an Introduction and a Discussion section.
Notes are usually not divided into sections. If written without an abstract, the first paragraph of a Note should contain a brief statement of the subject of the report, general findings and significance; later paragraphs should provide the details and a brief discussion.
The editors reserve the right to alter manuscripts in the interests of clarity, brevity, and proper English usage. Manuscripts requiring significant changes will be returned to the authors for approval.
Manuscript preparation
Manuscripts should be typed double-spaced, on size A4 pages, in 12-point Times New Roman font. Leave at least 3 cm of right margin for comments. Do not justify the right margin; leave it "ragged right."
The first page should contain the title, a suggested running head, authors’ names, the abstract, key words, and the authors’ addresses. Do not underline or italicize any words or headings accept for scientific names of species. Do not type references cited in the text in all CAPS; use the text format menu to convert them to Small Caps.
Tables are typed (preferably in Microsoft Word format) in order on separate pages following the References, with a descriptive title at the top of each. The text file containing the manuscript should be submitted in Microsoft Word or compatible format, with references, tables, and figure legends at the end.
Figures
Line drawings, graphs and charts should be prepared and lettered neatly. They must be scaled so that all lettering will be large enough (1–2 mm high) after reduction to normal page width. All figures (including maps, graphs, charts and photos) should be numbered consecutively and identified by the first author’s name if sent as separate files. Figures should be submitted in high resolution with TIFF format, if it is not possible, JPEG or other formats are also acceptable, and copies of these (preferably with reduced files) should be pasted in the manuscript text file on pages following the tables, to enable reviewers to see them.
Charges
Printing costs are not usually charged to authors, unless the color figures are excessive in quantity. Authors receive 30 offprints free of charge; joint authors must share them. Up to 70 additional offprints (total 100) may be ordered at the time of printing. A portable document format (pdf) file for personal use will be provided to the corresponding author free of charge.