A Guide for Contributors to Flora Neotropica


INTRODUCTION, continued

General Principles


1. The area covered by FLORA NEOTROPICA includes the entire Western Hemisphere continental land mass between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, together with adjacent islands, the West Indies and the Galapagos Archipelago. Extralimital taxa should in general be excluded. This would apply especially to subordinate elements of large genera that are chiefly extratropical as, for instance, in Castilleja. When the subordinate elements are mainly neotropical, a few extralimital ones may be reasonably included.

2. Monographs may be published in English, French, Portuguese, or Spanish, along with any necessary quotations in other languages. Proposals of new taxa must be accompanied by Latin diagnoses. For correct spelling, consult the dictionaries selected by the editors and listed here in Appendix III.

3. Authors are asked to keep in mind that the monographs should be as useful as possible, not only to professional botanists but also to ecologists, agronomists, foresters, conservationists, and others in related fields. Authors are therefore urged to provide high- quality keys and illustrations as well as detailed information on geographical distribution, habitat, and actual or potential uses of the taxa.

4. Monographs may be at the ordinal, familial, subfamilial, tribal, or generic level. Ordinarily, at least 50 species should be included in treatments of a group of phanerogams below the familial level. Exceptions to this limit must be approved by the OFN Board.

5. Monographers are urged to consult as much authentic plant material as possible, especially type material and material from the tropical herbaria. It is particularly important to consult the larger Latin American herbaria (e.g., BA, COL, EAP, IJ, INPA, LPB, MEXU, MG, PMA, QCA, R, RB, SP, USM, VEN) and to consult local herbaria in the taxon's distribution area. Naturally, material from the major worldwide herbaria (e.g., A, B, BM, CAS, F, G, GH, K, MO, NY, P, S, U, US, W) should be examined.

6. Plant names employed in FLORA NEOTROPICA must conform to the rules of nomenclature as set forth in the most recent edition of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN).

7. Monographs are published as they are accepted, without regard to order of taxonomic or hierarchical sequence. Manuscripts submitted for publication will be peer-reviewed by at least two scientists before acceptance.

8. Manuscripts should be sent to the Executive Director of OFN. A title page with appropriate authorship and a table of contents should accompany the manuscript, along with a black/white photograph and brief biographical sketch of the author(s).

9. If previously published material is being used (e.g., illustrations, tables, extensive portions of text), permission, in written form, must be obtained by the monograph author from the copyright owner. This permission must accompany the manuscript when submitted for publication.

10. It is the author's responsibility to submit a grammatically correct manuscript. It is recommended that the manuscript be read for grammar and clarity of thought by at least two colleagues fluent in the language in which it is written before submission.

11. Students writing theses intended for publication in FLORA NEOTROPICA must follow the Guidelines from the onset of their thesis preparation.


Style of Monographs


The text must include the following headings, as appropriate, in the sequence indicated below:

ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
HISTORICAL SURVEY
MORPHOLOGY AND ANATOMY
KARYOLOGY
PALYNOLOGY
CHEMOTAXONOMY
PHYLOGENY AND EVOLUTION
DISTRIBUTION AND DISPERSAL
FLORAL BIOLOGY
ECOLOGY
CONSERVATION
USES
TERMINOLOGY
SYSTEMATIC TREATMENT
DOUBTFUL NAMES AND EXCLUDED TAXA
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
LITERATURE CITED
NUMERICAL LIST OF TAXA
LIST OF EXSICCATAE
INDEX OF LOCAL NAMES
INDEX OF SCIENTIFIC NAMES

The major headings should be centered and capitalized. When subordinate headings of the above are needed, they should be centered as follows:

MORPHOLOGY
Stem
Leaves
Inflorescence


Abstract


Authors should provide a one-page abstract of their monograph. This abstract should be translated into one of the Latin languages or English, depending on the language in which the monograph was written. New genera, species, or combinations should be noted in the abstract. The abstract should begin as follows:

Brako, L. (The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 10458-5126, U.S.A.). Phyllopsora (Bacidiaceae). Flora Neotropica Monogr. 55: 1-67. 1991. A taxonomic monograph of ....


Introduction and other Preliminary Topics


Preceding the Systematic Treatment, authors must provide general remarks on the delimitation and scope of the group (taxon) treated, a short historical account of the study of the group, a discussion of general morphology, anatomy, karyology, chemotaxonomy, pollination, etc. (in as far as information is available); a consideration of the taxonomic position, phylogeny, and evolution of the group; and an account of its general distribution and ecology. General information on conservation status and uses (ethnobotany, medicinal and industrial uses of plants, etc.), when relevant, should also be provided. It is furthermore recommended that authors include a short glossary of technical terms used in the descriptions of the taxa.

Examples of chapters and headings are given above. Appropriate illustrations, tables, and diagrams should supplement the text, to show diagnostic features (e.g., diagrams of flowers, fruits, etc.).


Please follow the links below for more information.

OFN Homepage

GUIDELINES
-- Introduction
-- General Principles
-- Systematic Treatment
-- Preparation of Manuscripts
-- Appendix I: Geographic Sequence in the Citation of Herbarium Specimens
-- Appendix II: General Abbreviations and Contractions
-- Appendix III: Reference Works