Submissions

Author Guidelines

GUIDE FOR AUTHORS

BIOTROPIA, The Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Biology, is a scientific publication of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) – Southeast Asian Regional Center for Tropical Biology (BIOTROP). It publishes articles in the broad areas of tropical ecosystems and environmental impacts, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, and biotechnology.

Since 2012, BIOTROPIA has been indexed by SciVerse SCOPUS (Elsevier), CrossRef, DOAJ, and Google Scholar.

Articles published in the journal are papers reporting results of original research, short communication in which advances in knowledge of significance are briefly announced, and reviews on specific topics not available elsewhere in up-to-date form.

Submission of paper is taken to imply that it has not been submitted to other journals and that, if accepted, will not be published elsewhere. All papers submitted for publication in BIOTROPIA are evaluated by subject matter experts and go through editorial revision. Authors may suggest names of potential reviewers. BIOTROPIA uses anonymous reviewing, in which the identities of authors and reviewers are kept confidential.

 

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

BIOTROPIA publishes the following article types:

• Full Research article
  A full research article is expected to present an original research focus with clear articulation of its significance, a scientifically acceptable methodology, and critical analysis and discussion of the findings. The components of the article consist of Title, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgment, and References (see Manuscript Format in details). The article should be typed in A4 size paper and within 15 pages or 4,000 – 5,000 words (including figures and tables). The article should be written in standard English, typed in Times New Roman font at 12-point size, one and a half spaced with margins on all four sides of 2 cm on a standard A4 paper. Please refer to the Research Article template available in the OJS of the BIOTROPIA Journal.

 

• Short communication
  This differs from a full paper on the basis of scope or completeness, rather than quality of research. It may report significant new data arising from problems with narrow, well- defined limits, or important findings that warrant rapid publication before broader studies are complete. It should neither exceed 1,500 words (approximately 6 pages of typescript) nor be divided up into conventional sections. Please refer to the Short Communication template available in the OJS of the BIOTROPIA Journal. When submitting a Short Communication, authors should make it clear that their work is to be treated as such.

 

• Review article
  

  A review article summarizes previously published studies and the current state of understanding on a topic rather than reporting new facts or analysis. The article should be typed in A4 size paper and within 20 pages or 4,000–8,000 words (including figures and tables, excluding references). The article should be written in standard English, typed in Times New Roman font at 12-point size, one and a half spaced with margins on all four sides of 2 cm on a standard A4 paper. Please refer to the Review Article template available in the OJS of the BIOTROPIA Journal. When submitting a Review Article, authors should make it clear that their work is to be treated as such.

  A review article must be written by at least three authors to ensure objectivity. At least one author must have an h-index of 10 or higher. The article must include a minimum of 100 references, and DOIs should be provided where available. The references may include the authors’ own works (such as articles or books), but these must not exceed 10% of the total references. A systematic review should focus only on identifying research gaps and providing future perspectives on the selected topic.

 

Submission Declaration
Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously, that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere including electronically in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the copyright-holder.
Corresponding/First   Author   should   fill   out   the   enclosed manuscript declaration form and sign it together with all the rest of the author(s) before sending the form to BIOTROPIA. Please note that the publication process will not be performed until the manuscript declaration form has been provided by the Author(s). The form can be accessed here.

 

English Language Editing

The language of the manuscripts is English in passive form. Author(s) are not required to have their manuscripts edited by a professional English language editor during the submission process; however, the Author(s) need to ensure that the language quality of the manuscript is not lower than 85% when being checked with Grammarly application.
Manuscript with checking result of more than 85% shall be processed to the next stage. However, if the checking result is lower than 85%, the Editorial Board shall assess the content of the manuscript. If the content of the manuscript is scientifically significant, the manuscript shall be given back to the Author(s) for language improvement through proofreading process by professional language editing service or editor assigned by the Editorial Board and the Author(s) later need to provide BIOTROPIA with a certification from the same language institution when done together with the edited version of the manuscript. All editing costs will be borne by the Author(s). Nevertheless, if the content of the manuscript is not   scientifically significant, the manuscript shall be rejected.

Manuscript in the Microsoft Word file should be submitted to BIOTROPIA Open Journal System (OJS) address at: http://journal.biotrop.org/index.php/biotropia.  

The manuscript declaration form should also be sent to BIOTROPIA OJS as supplementary file. 

 

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

Overview of Manuscript Sections for Research Article and Short Communication
Manuscripts for Research Article and Short Communication submitted to BIOTROPIA should be divided into the following sections (in this order):

• Title
• Abstract
• Keywords
• Introduction
• Materials and Methods
• Results and Discussion
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgments
• References

 

Title
The title should:

• provide the title of the article, maximum of 14 words
• list the full names, institutional addresses, email addresses and contact number for all authors
• indicate the corresponding author
• indicate a running title

Structure for institutional address of authors:

• for university:
  name of department/study program, name of faculty, name of university, city with postal code, country

• for institution:
  name of center/division/laboratory, name of institution, city with postal code, country

 

Abstract
The Abstract of the manuscript should not exceed 350 words and consists of Introduction (i.e., the context and purpose of the study), Methods (i.e., the main methods and experimental design), Results (i.e., the main findings) and Conclusion (i.e., brief summary and potential implications). Please minimize the use of abbreviations and do not cite any reference in the abstract.

 

Keywords
Three to five keywords represent the main content of the article. Keywords should be arranged alphabetically.

 

Introduction
The Introduction section should be written in a way that is understandable to other researchers without specialist knowledge in that area and must clearly state - and, if helpful, illustrate - the background to the research and its aims. The section should end with a brief statement of what is being reported in the article. Standard chemical symbols and abbreviations may be used in the text, but full term should be given at the first mentioned. Units of measurements should be spelled out except when preceded by a numeral. If no-metric measurement units are used, the metric equivalent should be mentioned. The complete scientific name of every organism must be cited when it is first mentioned in the text. The generic name may be abbreviated thereafter, except when there are references to other genera with the same initial. The use of common names must be accompanied by the correct scientific name on first use. Example:

1. Sourgrass (Paspalum conjugatum)
2. conjugatum
3. Paspalum conjugatum and Pinus merkusii

 

Materials and Methods
The materials section should explain in detail the materials used in the study, the sources, measurements, and quantity used.
The methods section should include a clear description of the design of the study, including population and sampling, and the type of analysis used, to enable replication.
For studies involving human and animal participants, a statement detailing ethical approval and consent should be included in the methods section. 
If a study requires a specific plant or animal species, a certificate verifying that the specimen is precisely the intended species must be provided.

 

Results and Discussion
The Results and Discussion should be incorporated into a single section. Each result must be followed by its discussion. This section may be broken into subsections with short, informative headings.

 

Conclusion
The Conclusion section should clearly state the main conclusions of the research and explain their importance and relevance. Summary illustrations may be included.

 

Acknowledgements
Acknowledgments must be given to anyone who substantially contributed to the conception, design, and data acquisition analysis and interpretation related to the research, or who was involved in drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content, but who does not meet the criteria for authorship. Please also include the source(s) of funding for each author, and for the manuscript preparation. Authors must describe the role of the funding body, if any, in design, in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; and in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. Please also acknowledge anyone who contributed materials essential for the study. If a language editor has made significant revision of the manuscript, proper acknowledgment is also recommended.

Authors should obtain permission to acknowledge from all those to be mentioned in the Acknowledgments section.

 

References

References cited in the text should be presented according to the CBE (Council of Biology Editors) Style Manual, latest edition. The list of References should be given at the end of the paper, immediately following the section on Acknowledgment, if any. The references cited from journals should be within the past ten years. The journal's name should be written in its abbreviation style. Each reference must be completed with DOI number, if any.

If the reference consists of more than seven authors: the first six authors are listed, all subsequent authors except the last are omitted and replaced with an ellipsis and then the name of the last author is listed.
For example:
Bastos MR, Mattos MCC, Meschiatti MAP, Surjus RS, Guardieiro MM, Ferreira JCP, …, Sartori R. 2010. Ovarian function and circulating hormones in nonlactating Nelore versus Holstein cows. Acta Sci Vet 38(2):776.

If the same author published multiple works in the same year: the sequence is determined by the publication time, earliest to latest. If it cannot be determined, the references are put in alphabetic order by article title.

If the title of the reference is not in English, the original title should be written, then followed by the translation version in English.
For example:
Mirleau-Thebaud V, Dayde J, Scheiner JD. 2017. Influencia de la compactación del suelo y laboreo de conservación en el sistema radical de Helianthus annuus L. [The influence of soil compaction and conservation tillage on sunflower's (Helianthus annuus L.) below ground system]. Phyton 86:53-67.

 

Examples of BIOTROPIA reference style

Article within a journal
Andrade CC, Young KI, Johnson WL, Villa ME, Buraczyk CA, Messer WB, Hanley KA. 2016. Rise and fall of vector infectivity during sequential strain displacements by mosquito-borne dengue virus. J Evol Biol 29:2205-18.
Zhang J. 2016a. Coinfection with type 1 and type 2 PRRSV. Vet Rec 178(12):288-90.
Zhang J. 2016b. Porcine delta corona virus: Overview of infection dynamics, diagnostic methods, prevalence and genetic evolution. Virus Res 226:71-84.

 Article within a journal supplement
Meharena HS, Fan X, Ahuja LG, Keshwani MM, McClendon CL, Chen AM, … Taylor SS. 2016. Decoding the interactions regulating the active state mechanics of eukaryotic protein kinases. PLoS Biol. Suppl:1-23.

 In press article
Voong LN, Xi L, Sebeson AC, Xiong B, Wang JP, Wang XZ. Insights into nucleosome organization in mouse embryonic stem cells through chemical mapping. Cell, in press.

 Published abstract
Rijsdijk KF, de Louw PGB, Meijer HJM, Claessens LPAM, Florens FBV, Baider C, … de Boer EJ. 2016. Restoring and conserving the remains of the ecosystem of the Dodo: Lessons from a 4200 year old multitaxic bone bed [Abstract]. Island Biology 2016:279-80.

 Article within conference proceedings
Cao H, Guo W, Qin H, Xu M, Lehrman B, Tao Y, Shugart YY. 2016. Integrating multiple genomic data: Sparse representation based biomarker selection for blood pressure. In: Rowles T, editor. BMC proceedings 2016. Genetic analysis workshop 19. p. 283-8.
Tran Q, Gao S, Vo NS, Phan V. 2016. Repeat complexity of genomes as a means to predict the performance of short-read aligners. In: BICOB 2016. Proceedings: 2016 Apr 6-4; Las Vegas. Winona (US): International Society for Computers and Their Applications (ISCA). p. 135-42.

Book chapter, or article within a book
Faith DP. 2016. The PD phylogenetic diversity framework: Linking evolutionary history to feature diversity for biodiversity conservation. In: Pellens R, Grandcolas P, editors. Biodiversity Conservation and Phylogenetic Systematics. Cham (ZG): Springer International Publishing. p. 39-56.

Complete book
Reddy PP. 2016. Sustainable intensification of crop production. Singapore (SG): Springer Singapore.

Monograph or book in a series
O'Toole D, Sondgeroth KS. 2016. Histophilosis as a natural disease. In: Histophilus somni. Edited by Inzana TJ. Cham (ZG): Springer International Publishing. p. 15-48. [Compans RW, Honjo T, et al. (Series Editors): Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, Vol. 396].

 Book with institutional author
Food and Agriculture Organization. 2016. The State of Food and Agriculture 2016 (SOFA): Climate change, agriculture and food security. Rome (IT): Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Dissertation
Ayloo S. 2016. Molecular and cellular approaches toward understanding dynein-driven motility [Dissertation]. Retrieved from University of Pennsylvania Repository. (Paper AAI10124524).

 Electronic Journal Article with DOI
Morzillo AT, Kreakie BJ, Netusil NR, Yeakley JA, Ozawa CP, Duncan SL. 2016. Resident perceptions of natural resources between cities and across scales in the Pacific Northwest. Ecol Soc [Internet]. [cited 2016 Nov 30]; 21(3):14. Available from:   http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol21/iss3/ art14/doi: 10.5751/ES-08478-210314

 Electronic Journal Article Non DOI
Hamzah A, Hapsari RI, Wisnubroto EI. 2016. Phytoremediation of cadmium-contaminated agricultural land using indigenous plants. Int J Environ Agric Res [Internet]. [cited 2016 Dec 20]; 2(1):8-14. Available from: http://www.ijoear.com/Paper- January-2016/IJOEAR-JAN-2016-2.pdf

 Webpage
Michigan State University [Internet]. 2016. Just add water: New discovery in plant-disease mechanism. Rockville, US: ScienceDaily; [updated 2016 Nov 23; cited 2016 Dec 10]. Available from: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/ 2016/11/161123140238.htm

 Webpage with Personal Author
Cowie S [Internet]. 2016. 'The Pantanal is national heritage': Protecting the world's largest wetlands. London (UK): The Guardian.com; [updated 2016 Nov 12; cited 2016 Dec 22].  Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/nov/12/pantanal-conservation-wetlands- brazil-paraguay-bolivia

 

Preparing illustrations and figures
Illustrations should be embedded in the text file for clarity purposes. However, we also require authors to submit separate JPEG files of the illustrations and figures for printing purposes with minimum size of 3 MB as supplementary file, so that the clarity of illustrations and figures can be maintained during the printing process. Each figure should include a single illustration and should fit on a single page in portrait format. If a figure consists of separate parts, it is important that a single composite illustration file be submitted which contains all parts of the figure. There is no charge for the use of color figures.
Graph should not contain gridlines.
All figures and tables should be embedded in text, not being placed after references section.

 

Figure legends
The legends should be included in the main manuscript text file at the end of the document, rather than being a part of the figure file. For each figure, the following information should be provided: Figure number (in sequence, using Arabic numerals - i.e. Figure 1, 2, 3 etc.); short title of figure (maximum 15 words); detailed legend, up to 300 words.

Please note that it is the responsibility of the author(s) to obtain permission from the copyright holder to reproduce figures or tables that have previously been published elsewhere. 

 

PROOFS

Proofs will be sent by email to the corresponding author who is expected to proofread the article carefully. The corrected proof should be received by the administration within three working days.

 

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION AND PUBLICATION FEE

There is no charge for the submission and publication. Four off- prints are given free of charge to the identified recipient Author(s). Please note that we will not give the journal unless a request from the Author(s).

Submission Preparation Checklist
As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the required items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

Privacy Statement
The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purposes or to any other parties.

How to Cite BIOTROPIA
Master J, Tjitrosoedirdjo S, Qayim I. 2016. Abiotic factor influencing mantangan (Merremia peltata) invasion in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park. BIOTROPIA 23(1):21-7.

Download this guideline in PDF version of these guidelines.