Instructions for Authors

We expect authors to conduct themselves in an ethical manner and submit manuscripts that involve their own research, and have not been submitted elsewhere for consideration. Authors are accountable for the legality of their work, and must include pertinent information and permit numbers in their manuscripts; for molecular studies, we expect authors to provide GenBank or EMBL accession numbers for DNA sequence data. We also expect authors to explain any potential conflicts of interest that might have influenced their work. Papers describing new taxa must adhere to the latest rules of the International Code on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN; www.iczn.org).

Papers that appear in Mesoamerican Herpetology are archived in Biotaxa and registered with ZooBank, and also will be available as PDFs on this and other websites (e.g., Zen Scientist); some papers will be linked to the online repository at the EMBL Reptile Database. The copyright of all published papers will belong to the author(s), under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

At the present time we have no author page charges. Please submit all manuscripts to the Managing Editor.

Our Taxonomic Position
At the request of the Managing Editor, the co-chairs of the Mesoamerican Herpetology (MH) Taxonomic Board were asked to provide a "taxonomic position statement" for the journal. After receiving commentary from the members of the Board, the following consensus was reached:

"Most systematists today practice phylogenetic systematics, which represents our current perception of the way life has diversified over time. Our understanding of phylogenetic systematics is in a state of transition, however, as we keep moving from ideas and techniques of the past into those of the present and future. Many phylogenetic paradigms that were readily accepted in the past no longer fit within the modern ideas determined by empirical evidence and theoretical explanations.

Today we recognize the species category as the fundamental starting point of taxonomic inquiry. Anything below the species level is systematically linked to population dynamics consigned to genetically related expressions of individual and geographic variation within a species' genotypic and phenotypic features. Currently, a species is defined as a genetically separate evolutionary lineage, and not by some subjective amounts of inferred genetic distance or phenotypic modification from its taxonomic ancestor. By implication, subspecies are no longer useful as a formal taxonomic category in phylogenetic systematics, because they do not constitute a separate evolutionary lineage or a stage of speciation. We understand that many herpetofaunal species in Mesoamerica have not been properly studied using modern phylogenetic concepts and techniques, and thus some authors would wish to retain the use of subspecies. Mesoamerican Herpetology, however, will not consider manuscripts whose classifications are based on systems utilizing subspecies as a formal taxonomic category, although subspecies can be discussed in a historical context as they retain pertinence in a modern phylogenetic perspective.

Peer Review Process
Manuscripts and longer notes must undergo a peer-review process that generally will involve at least three referees. The corresponding author can suggest the name(s) of one or more reviewers. Referees will have the option of signing their name to a review, or can remain anonymous. All reviews must be objective, and in the event of bias or a conflict of interest a referee must decline from reviewing a manuscript. Brief notes on distribution and natural history will not undergo the typical peer review process, and their acceptance or rejection will be based on the judgment of a Section Editor and the Managing Editor.

Page Proofs
Once final changes to a manuscript have been made and all images submitted, the paper will be typeset. Page proofs then will be sent to the “corresponding author” for approval. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors have examined the document and that all changes and concerns have been addressed, and must return the manuscript to the Managing Editor within a reasonable amount of time.

About the Author(s)
When a paper (not a note) has been accepted for publication, we require a brief biography (125–200 words) and a photograph of the author(s). This information will appear at the end of the paper.

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

Language, style, and format:
Write all notes and manuscripts in English (except for a Spanish Resumen, see below). Use the active voice where possible, the American spelling for words, and write in a clear style and avoid wordiness. For questions or information on grammar or style, we recommend the following publications:

The Chicago Manual of Style. 2010. 16th ed. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Barrass, Robert. 2002. Scientists Must Write: A Guide to Better Writing for Scientists, Engineers and Students. Routledge, New York, New York, United States.

Strunk, W., Jr., and E. B. White. 2000 (or other editions). The Elements of Style. Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, United States.

Mesoamerican Herpetology will maintain the general appearance of some of Eagle Mountain’s publications (e.g., Biology of the Vipers, Biology of the Boas and Pythons, and Conservation of Mesoamerican Amphibians and Reptiles). In converting to a journal style we added an introductory page to each paper, made notable changes to the title page (see below), as well as a few adjustments to the Literature Cited section (e.g., no long dashes, journal names not abbreviated). We expect most papers to include an Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions (optional), Acknowledgments, and Literature Cited sections. We are aware, however, that papers such as checklists, surveys, conservation reports, taxonomic monographs, and treatments of species groups sometimes will not follow this arrangement.

Authors who are not fluent in English are urged to seek editorial advice from an English-speaking colleague. Papers that require extensive editorial attention will be returned to the author(s) for revision.

When preparing a paper, please be aware of the following considerations (in no special order):

Indicate the format used for geographic coordinates.
Be sure that maps are not copyrighted, and provide a scale in kilometers.
Capitalize common names.
Use serial commas (e.g., The diet consists of fishes, earthworms, and anurans).
When indicating temperatures, no space should appear between the number and the degree symbol.
Indicate observations as follows: (A. Anderson, pers. observ.).
Indicate personal communications as follows: (A. Anderson, pers. comm.).
Indicate papers “in preparation” or “unpublished data” as follows: (A. Anderson, unpublished). Do not include this information in the Literature Cited.
Define acronyms when first used in the manuscript: e.g., snout–vent length (SVL).
Begin reference to URLs with “www.” (not “http://”), unless the website requires the use of ""http//".
Use footnotes only when absolutely necessary.
Indicate multiple text references in chronological and alphabetical order, as follows: (Köhler, 1999, 2008; Savage, 2002; Campbell and Lamar, 2004; Solórzano, 2004).
Use letters (a,b,c,...) after the date for multiple references by the same author(s) published in the same year.
Use a comma for numbers with four or more digits, including page numbers in the Literature Cited. Do not use commas for museum specimen numbers.
Use the full name of people listed in the Acknowledgments section (i.e., do not abbreviate the first name).
Make sure that all references in the text and the Literature Cited coincide before submitting a manuscript.
Follow the International System of Units (SI) for measurement abbreviations.
Separate mathematical signs or symbols with a space on each side (P < 0.42), except when indicating a +, −, ±, or ~ before a single value.
Spell out numbers from one to nine, except those that refer to numerical values, scale counts, and when referencing figures and tables. Also, spell out numbers that begin a sentence.
Use an en dash “–” to designate a range of numbers (5–9) or words (snout–vent). Never use an en dash if the first element is preceded by the word “from” or “between” (e.g., from 14.7 to 15.3 cm, not 14.7–15.3). Use hyphens (not en dashes) when indicating the dorsal scale row formula for snakes.
The "mean symbol" often is not available in word processing programs, so you can substitute it with an italics capital x (X); the same goes for foot and inch symbols, and for those you can substitute single or double quotation marks (’, ”). Once a manuscript is accepted for publication, we will insert the appropriate symbols.
Reference figures and tables in the manuscript as follows: (Fig. 1, Table 1). Figures and tables referenced from other publications should appear as follows: (Stafford and Meyer, 2000: fig. 9), Jaramillo et al. (2010: table 3).
Start figure and table legends as follows: Fig. 1 or Table 1. (in bold); the remainder of the legend is not in bold. Use non-Roman numbers for appendices, as follows: Appendix 2.
Submit manuscripts in a Word format (.doc or .docx).
The page size is 8½" x 11" (21.6 x 27.9 cm), with 1" in margins on all sides.
Use Times New Roman, 12-point (left justified), double space the text, and number the pages (except for the tables and figures, and their legends). Larger tables might require a smaller font size.
Place tables and figures at the end of the manuscript, but if the files are large please send them as separate attachments.
We prefer to receive images as JPGs or TIFFs, and figures as Illustrator files. For other formats, please inquire.
Please submit only high-quality images.
Please submit any exceptional images that we might consider for our covers.
We follow Vitt and Caldwell (2014; Herpetology, 4th ed., Academic Press) in using the term crocodylians. These authors stated that "Although the vernacular name crocodilians appears throughout the popular literature, crocodylians is technically correct (the clade is Crocodylia)."

A few particulars on language:

because means “by reason of” or “on account of”––since means “from a specified time in the past.”
farther is a “distance” word––further is a “time” or “quantity” word.
therefore means “for that reason” or “consequently”––thus means “in this (or that) manner or way.”
while means “during the time that” or “as long as”––whereas means “in view of the fact that”
less generally is used in reference to “quantity”––fewer generally is used in reference to “number.”
toward is the more common American spelling (not towards).
Use the word specimens when referring to preserved animals, and individuals for live animals. Authors, however, have the option of choosing the word specimens for animals that were alive when an observation was made, but later were preserved.
When describing the coloration of an animal, pale is a better descriptive word than light.
Foreign words and abbreviations that have been assimilated into English maintain their spelling and diacritical marks and are written in Roman type (e.g., vis-à-vis, amigo, ad infinitum, in vitro, op. cit, i.e., ca., et al., sic, ibid.). If the words have not been assimilated into English, write them in italics (e.g., sensu stricto, sensu lato, incertae sedis, fide, nec, in litt.). One way to verify if the words have been naturalized into the English language is to check the latest edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.
Avoid clichés, slang, and colloquial words or expressions.
Use the word "very" sparingly.
unique means "without like or equal," so there are no degrees of uniqueness.
Use telephonic language throughout, except for the Diagnosis and Description sections in species descriptions, in certain cases in the Materials and Methods section of Major Articles, or when quoting passages from other works (e.g., color descriptions).

Our style:

Over the years, Eagle Mountain Publishing has received numerous manuscripts written by biologists from around the globe. Because English was not the primary language of many of these people, maintaining a level of consistency among the various writing styles, especially when producing multi-authored volumes, often became an arduous task. Because writing is a personal endeavor, when copy-editing papers changes to manuscripts often developed into a delicate balancing act between maintaining a writer’s freedom of expression and our need for presenting information in a clear and concise manner––a prerequisite for good science. Consequently, to maintain a level of consistency in papers that will appear in Mesoamerican Herpetology, when copy-editing manuscripts we will apply the following “in-house” style, unless otherwise instructed by the author(s):

Avoid starting sentences with however when the meaning is “nevertheless,” as better flow usually results with the word in a different position in the sentence.
Sentences that begin with There is, There are, This is, This was, They are, It is, and It was usually can be recast in a more elegant manner.
The words have or has, in the sense of “possession,” sometimes are misused (e.g., On the Pacific, Costa Rica has an irregular coastline.). A country is not a living entity and thus is incapable of possessing anything, so the sentence can be recast to read, “The Pacific coastline of Costa Rica is irregular.” Although animals are living entities, when dealing with descriptions of specimens we prefer not to use has are have in the sense of possession. For example, “This species has a single loreal scale” can be recast to read, “A single loreal scale is present in this species.”
Often we receive manuscripts where authors will split a verb with an adverb (e.g., can usually become vs. usually can become) in some places but not others. For consistency, not only in individual papers but throughout papers that will appear in the journal, we prefer to use the latter style (without splitting the verb), and unless instructed otherwise by the corresponding author of a paper we will copy-edit manuscripts in this manner. In specific cases where this style alters the meaning of a sentence or the sentence is cumbersome to read, we will revert to the former style.

A few specifics:

Authors are not required to format their manuscript, but it should follow the general arrangement of published papers. If you have any questions, please inquire.

Submit a high quality image for the introductory page, along with an expanded caption.
Do not abbreviate the names of states, provinces, departments, or countries.
The Abstract should incorporate all the pertinent information in the paper, but must be concise. Unless relevant to the development of the paper, do not include literature citations.
Use no more than six Key Words, and arrange them in alphabetical order separated by commas. The first word in the string and all proper nouns are capitalized. Do not use words that appear in the title.
The order of the Palabras Claves also is arranged alphabetically, but the sequence of the words might differ from those in English.
We will place the "Citation" information in each paper.

The Literature Cited:

The Literature Cited section can be one of the most frustrating parts of a manuscript to put together, because herpetological journals tend to present this information in their particular style. Instead of explaining the tedious details of our style, we figured that it might be easier to understand by showing some examples. Please do not use a software program to format the Literature Cited. For entries that have been accepted for publication, use “In Press” instead of the year. Also, use the English spelling for the country of publication (e.g., Panama––not Panamá), and "Small Caps" for the names of the authors (Small Caps do not appear in the examples below, because the formatting on the website would not allow it).

Books and “stand-alone” publications

McDiarmid, R. W., J. A. Campbell, and T. S. A. Touré. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Volume 1. The Herpetologists’ League, Washington D.C., United States.

INEGI. 1988. Síntesis Geográfica de Baja California Sur. Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática. México D.F., Mexico.

Savage, J. M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Herpetofauna between Two Continents, between Two Seas. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Seigel, R. A., L. E. Hunt, J. L. Knight, L. Malaret, and N. L. Zuschlag (Eds.). 1984. Vertebrate Ecology and Systematics: A Tribute to Henry Fitch. University of Kansas Museum of Natural History, Special Publication No. 10, Lawrence, Kansas, United States.

Picado T., C. 1931 (reprinted 1976). Serpientes Venenosas de Costa Rica: Sus Venenos, Seroterapia Anti-ofidica. Editorial Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica.

Holdridge, L. R. 1967. Life Zone Ecology. Revised ed. Tropical Science Center, San José, Costa Rica.

Cope, E. D. 1900. The Crocodilians, Lizards, and Snakes of North America. Report of the United States National Museum 1898: 153–1,270.

Book chapters

Stuart, S. N., J. S. Chanson, N. A. Cox, and B. E. Young. 2010. The global decline of amphibians: current trends and future prospects. Pp. 3–15 In L. D. Wilson, J. H. Townsend, and J. D. Johnson (Eds.), Conservation of Mesoamerican Amphibians and Reptiles. Eagle Mountain Publishing, LC, Eagle Mountain, Utah, United States.

Warrell, D. A. 2010. Snakebites in Central and South America: epidemiology, clinical features, and clinical management. Pp. 709–761 In J. A. Campbell and W. W. Lamar, The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemishphere. 2 Volumes. Comstock Publishing Associates, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, United States.

Theses and dissertations

Hollingsworth, B. D. 1999. The Molecular Systematics of the Side-blotched Lizards (Iguania: Phrynosomatidae; Uta). Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California, United States.

Piedra, L. 2000. Estado de las Poblaciones de Cocodrilos (Crocodylus acutus) (Reptilia: Crocodylidae) en Tres Ríos del Pacífico Central de Costa Rica. Unpublished Licenciatura thesis, Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica.

Journals, reports, websites, and miscellaneous publications

Stuart, L. C. 1966. The environment of Central American cold-blooded fauna. Copeia 1966: 684–699.

Pounds, J. A., M. P. L. Fogden, J. M. Savage, and G. C. Groman. 1997. Test of null models for amphibian declines on a tropical mountain. Conservation Biology 11: 1,307–1,322.

Murphy, R. W. 1983. Paleobiogeography and genetic differentiation of the Baja California herpetofauna. Occasional Papers of the California Academy of Sciences 137: iv + 1–48.

Castoe, T. A., C. L. Spencer, and C. L. Parkinson. 2007 Phylogeographic structure and historical demography of the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox): a perspective on North American desert biogeography. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 42: 193–212.

Taylor, E. H. “1939” (1940). Some Mexican serpents. University of Kansas Science Bulletin 26: 445–487.

Dugan, E. A., and A. Figueroa. 2008. Natural History Notes. Masticophis mentovarius (Neotropical Whipsnake). Attempted Predation and Diet. Herpetological Review 39: 471.

Connor, E. F., and D. Simberloff. 1979. The assemblage of species communities: Chance or competition? Ecology 60: 1,132–1,140.

Bolaños-Montero, J. R. 1996. Nacimientos de caimanes en cautiverio. Crocodile Specialist Group Newsletter 15(3): 13.

Wilson, L. D., and J. R. McCranie 1992. Status of amphibian populations in Honduras. Unpublished report to the Task Force on Declining Amphibian Populations, 15 August 1992. 14 p.

Rossman, D. A. 1970. Thamnophis proximus (Say). Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles 98.1–98.3.

Speare, R., and L. Berger. 2000. Global distribution of chytrydiomycosis in amphibians. (www.jcu.edu.au/school/phtm/PHTM/frogs/chyglob.htm; accessed 14 March 2014).

Farallo, V. R., and M. R. J. Forstner. 2012. Predation and the maintenance of color polymorphism in a habitat specialist squamate. PLoS ONE 7(1): e30316. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030316

Frost. D. 2014. Amphibian Species of the World: An Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, United States. (www.research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index/html; accessed 15 March 2014).

Solano Cascante J. C., B. J. Solano Cascante, E. E. Boza Ovideo, J. Vargas Quesada, and D. Sandí Méndez. 2014. Hallazgo del sapo payaso Atelopus varius (Anura: Bufonidae) en La Luchita (Potrero Grande: Buenos Aires: Puntarenas: Costa Rica). Nota informativa / 3 de febrero, 2014. Proyecto Biodiversidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica.

Maddison, W. P., and D. R. Maddison. 2010. Mesquite: A Modular System for Evolutionary Analysis. Version 2.74. (www.mesquiteproject.org).