Instructions for Contributors to Ursus
"Beginning June 8, 2007, all manuscripts for Ursus must submitted electronically using AllenTrack2. To register and submit your manuscript, go to http://ursus.allentrack2.net and follow the directions".
POLICY — Ursus includes a variety of articles on all aspects of bear management and research worldwide. Original manuscripts are welcome. In addition to manuscripts reporting original research, submissions may be based on thoughtful review and synthesis of previously-reported information, innovative philosophies and opinions, and public policy or legal aspects of wildlife conservation. Notes of general interest are also welcome and are published as “Short Communications”. Manuscripts that do not fit a traditional research style are welcome, and may be published under the heading “Perspectives, Essays, and Reviews”.
Many of the papers in Ursus are submitted as part of periodic Conferences of the International Association for Bear Research and Management (IBA). However, unsolicited manuscripts with no connection to Conferences are welcome at any time. There is no requirement that authors belong to the IBA. Invited manuscripts will be clearly identified, but will still be subject to peer review. All manuscripts must be in English.
Two referees, an Associate Editor, and the Editor judge each submitted manuscript on data originality, ideas, interpretations, accuracy, conciseness, clarity, appropriate subject matter, and contribution to existing literature. The Editor makes final decisions regarding manuscript suitability. Failure to meet deadlines established by the Editor and Associate Editors may be cause for rejecting a manuscript, however we often allow delays when authors require them.
Prior publication (abstracts, certain materials of limited distribution, review manuscripts, and some general interest information excepted) or concurrent submission elsewhere precludes publication in Ursus, unless specifically agreed in advance. Authors submitting manuscripts must alert the Editor to any other published or submitted materials that could constitute dual submission.
When submitted manuscripts are based on data collected by other investigators, the authors must clearly acknowledge, in the manuscript introduction and the transmittal letter, the source of the data, the method by which the data were obtained, and whether the Principal Investigator (PI) that collected the data was offered co-authorship. When data were obtained through U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests or similar legal actions and published without the authorization or co-authorship of the PI who collected the data, the original PI may submit a manuscript describing his/her analysis of these data regardless of whether that analysis differs from that submitted by the unauthorized authors. The Editor may reject manuscripts that, in his opinion, are based on data obtained in unethical ways. Exceptions to all policies may be granted by the Editor. Authors must obtain prior permission from the Editor for deviations from these guidelines.
ABSTRACTS — All manuscripts (except Short Communications) should have an abstract of no more than 300 words. The abstract should concisely state the goals, methods, principal results, and major conclusions of the article. Incomplete and uninformative descriptions (e.g., "a new method of analysis was given") should not be in the abstract. Use only well-recognized acronyms (e.g., GIS, DNA), and define them at first use. Avoid detailing results of statistical tests in the Abstract. Supply 8-12 key words for indexing: vernacular and scientific names of principal organisms, geographic area, phenomena and entitles studied, and methods. Place key words below the abstract.
MANUSCRIPT — A detailed guide to manuscript preparation was printed in The Journal of Wildlife Management 51(2), and is available in pdf format by clicking here. Upon acceptance, the final version of the manuscript incorporating Editor and referee comments should be provided on electronically in MS Word format. Do not embed graphics in Word files, but send original graphics files (.EPS or .TIF format) as well as a clean paper original.
COPY — We now encourage electronic submission, and do as much correspondence as we can electronically. Paper copies are still useful however. Use good quality white paper 215 x 280 mm (8.5 x 11 in). Double space throughout, with 3-cm margins. Use Times New Roman font. Do not hyphenate at the right margin; do not justify text. In the top left corner of page 1, type the name, complete address, telephone and FAX numbers, date, and e-mail address of the person who is to receive editorial correspondence. Include a running head and page number on each succeeding page. Keep 1 copy and submit 24 good xerographic copies. Do not fold any copy. An electronic file may also be submitted.
STYLE — In general, follow the CBE Style Manual: a guide for authors, editors, and publishers in the biological sciences, 6th ed. revised and expanded, 1995 (Counc. Biol. Eds., Inc., Bethesda, MD USA 20814), except for specific style items that differ in recent issues of The Journal of Wildlife Management or Ursus. For general guidance, see CBE chapters 3 and 4. For spelling, see Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, unabridged. For numbers, use digits except at the beginning of a sentence. Use a percent sign (%) with digits.
Ursus allows latitude for formatting manuscripts to most effectively convey information. Typically, Methods, Results, and Discussion sections are included in manuscripts that provide analyses of scientific studies. These should be preceded by an introduction (without a heading) that provides the background for the study, and followed by an Acknowledgments and a Literature cited section. A Management implications section may be included when appropriate, but is not mandatory. Contact the Editor if you have questions. Modeling manuscript preparation after articles in a recent issue of Ursus is encouraged.
TITLE — Use no more than 10 words. Use vernacular names of organisms. Include a "running head" (short title) no more than 45 characters long above the title.
SCIENTIFIC NAMES — Do not use in the title, or for names of domesticated animals or cultivated plants. In the abstract or text accompany the first mention of a vernacular name with its scientific name. If a scientific name is mentioned in the Abstract, do not include it again upon first mention in the text. Format scientific names in italics. Reserve use of subspecies names for situations in which the subspecies is an important part of the information conveyed.
MEASUREMENT UNITS — Use metric units. For conversions of trade terms and other terms that may be ambiguous, show English equivalents in parentheses.
REFERENCES — In text the sequence of references named consecutively is by date, secondarily alphabetically. Show page numbers for quotations, paraphrases, and for citations in books or bulletins unless reference is to the entire publication. Cite unpublished reports only if essential. Citations for unpublished reports should usually be included in the text.
LITERATURE CITED — Do not use any abbreviations in the Literature Cited. Use capital letters for authors’ initials, directly followed by periods; do not use SMALL CAPS. Show issue number or month for journals only if pagination is not consecutive throughout the volume.. Format using “hanging indent” and use an extra space between citations. When citing IBA conference proceedings, use the format suggested in the most recent proceedings. Article and journal titles of non-English citations should be in the original language if that can be printed in standard Roman typographic characters; an English translation of the journal title should be added if possible. All non-English citations need to cite the language of publication in parenthesis at the end of the citation.
TABLES AND FIGURES — Tables and figures should be separated from the main text, each on a separate page. Each must be self-explanatory and referenced in text. Preparation for column width (67 mm) is preferred over that for page width (138 mm). Avoid repeating information among tables, figures, and text.
Tables - Start each table on a separate page and continue long tables onto 1 or more pages. Generally, tables should be double spaced throughout with margins of at least 3 cm. and no vertical lines. Avoid unusual abbreviations. Identify footnotes by roman letters or asterisks for probabilities. Percents shown for cursory comparison should have only 1 or 2 significant digits. Do not show percents based on small samples (n <26). Decimal justify numbers.
For electronic copy, Microsoft Excel is preferred. If Microsoft Word is used, please use the table editor rather than tabs.
Figures - Figures should be very high quality. Type figure captions on a separate page, in paragraph form. On the back of each figure, lightly write the senior author's name, figure number, and "Top." Figures will be reduced to 67 mm wide unless they are much wider than high or exceptionally detailed. Best scale is 1.5 times the reduced size. Lettering style and size when reduced should be the same in all figures. Lettering on figures should be in upper and lower case, and should use Arial font. Typed labels are not acceptable. To guard against loss, photographs or offset prints of drawings are preferred over originals. Xerographic copies are acceptable with duplicates of the manuscript. Final figures and electronic files should be submitted with the revised manuscript that incorporates referees’ comments.
Photographs should be unmounted, sharply focused, high contrast prints on glossy paper not larger than 10 x 12.5 cm. The submitted original or copies must be no larger than 215 x 280 mm (8.5 x 11 in). Color is not encouraged, but can be included when necessary. Because the cost of color production is much higher than for black & white, Ursus must deviate from its normal page charge policy (see below): page charges cannot be waived for an article including color graphics.
TRANSMITTAL LETTER — With 2 paper manuscript copies, send a letter to the Editor stating your intent to submit the manuscript exclusively for publication in Ursus. Explain any similarities between information in the manuscript and that in other publications or concurrent manuscripts by the same authors, and furnish a copy of such publications or manuscripts. Authors should also include names, addresses, telephone/FAX numbers, and e-mail addresses of 3 persons who can potentially serve as objective referees for the manuscript and/or have particular knowledge of the subject. Send manuscripts to the Editor, Richard B. Harris, 218 Evans, Missoula, Montana, USA 59801. Inquires are welcome at rharris@montana.com, where electronic copies may also be submitted.
PAGE CHARGES AND REPRINT ORDERS — The IBA, the parent organization of Ursus, is a non-profit, non-subsidized membership organization. As such, it levies page charges for papers accepted for publication to assist financing of Ursus. Page charges are currently $36/printed page double-spaced manuscript page. Invoices for page charges will be sent to authors by the IBA Treasurer when page proofs are returned to them for final editing. Decisions on the acceptability of submissions for ultimate publication are made independently of any page charge issues. Please address any issues regarding page charges to the IBA Treasurer. Invoices for page charges will be sent to authors when page proofs are returned to them for final editing.
Authors may purchase reprints at or near the cost of production and shipping. Authors may order reprints when page proofs are returned to the author for final editing. Reprints are handled by the publisher, Allen Press. Adobe Acrobat (pdf) files are available from the Editor; charges are $40, payable at the time of paying page charges.
POLICY ON REVIEWING PROOFS — It is the responsibility of the primary author of each paper to review the copy-edited manuscript and page proofs carefully for accuracy of citations, formulae, etc., and to check for omissions in the text. It is imperative that the author do a prompt, thorough job of reviewing the returned proofs. It is in the author's power to save himself/herself and the IBA the embarrassment of having to explain mistakes that could have been avoided. Extensive author-induced revisions will be charged to the author, at the discretion of the Editor. Most needed revisions should be made prior to manuscript layout.
