Nature in Singapore

INSTRUCTION TO AUTHORS

1.       PUBLISHING IN NATURE IN SINGAPORE

1.1.    Submission of Manuscripts for Consideration for Publication

Nature in Singapore(NiS) is an online, peer-reviewed journal which publishes articles on the natural history, biology, botany, zoology, ecology, and conservation biology of the Republic of Singapore. The journal will also publish articles from outside Singapore that deal with species or taxonomic groups whose natural distributions overlap with Singapore. In particular, articles on new sightings, new records, or rediscoveries of nationally extinct species of animals and plants, as well as the natural history of Singapore, are targeted. Articles on topics outside the stated policy will be accepted at the discretion of the Editor/Editorial Board of NiS.

NiS will consist of a single volume each year, starting with Volume 1 in 2008, the online journal having been established on 1 Oct.2007. There will be no issues, and articles will be uploaded to http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/nis as soon as they are ready for publication.

To expedite publication, authors are advised to strictly adhere to the guidelines in this document. Manuscripts submitted to this journal must be original and must not be submitted elsewhere unless they have been withdrawn or rejected.

It would be preferable, where possible, that representative material or voucher specimens mentioned in articles published in this journal be deposited in the following:

1. a. Herbarium, Singapore Botanic Gardens (SING)
2. b. Herbarium, Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore (SINU)
3. c. Zoological Reference Collection, Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore (ZRC)

All new manuscript submissions should be submitted as soft copies via email to the Editor, Associate Professor Hugh T. W. Tan at hughtan@nus.edu.sg.

1.2.    Provisional Acceptance of the Manuscript

All manuscripts will be sent to one or two reviewers. The Editor decides on provisional acceptance or rejection based on comments submitted by the reviewer(s). The author will receive notification of the decision, together with his returned manuscript and the comments of the reviewer(s).

2.       PRESENTATION OF THE MANUSCRIPT

2.1.    Manuscript Preparation

Manuscripts must be in English. Authors whose native language is not English should have their work reviewed by a person well-versed in the English language before submitting the manuscript. It is not the responsibility of the Editor(s) or reviewer(s) to provide language assistance, and manuscripts may be rejected if poorly written. Manuscripts must be in Microsoft® Word (.doc) word processing software format. They should not be in .docx or .docm formats. All submissions must be in compliance with the Nature in Singapore formatting style. For the convenience of authors, a Template for Authors with the NiS formatting style is provided for the preparation of a manuscript for submission. For more information on the NiS journal formatting style, please download the Style Guide for Nature in Singapore and Raffles Museum Books (For Editors).

2.2.    Special Requirements for Corrected Manuscripts

Once the manuscript is provisionally accepted, it is returned to the author with the recommendations of the referee(s) and Editor. The author(s) must respond to each of the comments and incorporate necessary changes into the manuscript. The author(s) should also provide justification for any disagreement with the recommendations.

The corrected document should be sent back to the Editor via email. The format of the journal should be complied with strictly. Deviation from the format will cause delays in the publication as it will be returned for corrections.

3.       REVISION OF REFEREED MANUSCRIPTS, PROOFS, AND PUBLICATION

3.1.    Submission of Manuscript for Acceptance and Publication

If an author disagrees with the comments of the referee(s), the author is required to provide reasons via email to the Editor. Manuscripts will only be accepted once the author has addressed all of the recommendations or comments of the referee(s), and ensured that the format of the manuscript and illustrations comply with the format of this journal. If the format of the corrected manuscript is not found to be satisfying, the Editor may request the author(s) to re-format the manuscript (also applicable to figures, illustrations, and tables). This would necessarily result in a delay in publication.

3.2.    Proofs

Final proofs in portable document format (PDF) are emailed to authors for correction together with the Agreement for the Transfer of Copyright Form (NiS Form 1). The completed form must be returned (as a scanned copy of the signed document) via email with the corrected proofs. Should the proofs be delayed by a late reply or excessive corrections, the manuscript will be delayed for publication.

3.3.    Notification of publication

The hyperlink to the PDF version of the paper will be sent to the lead or corresponding author immediately upon publication via email for reference.