African Journals Online
Southern African Forestry Journal

Instructions to authors..../ Instructions aux auteurs....

Southern African Forestry Journal (SAFJ) accepts papers and articles. The former may be scientific, applied or review papers, and the latter in short communications as research or management (application) notes. Study lay-out in a recent Journal before starting your contribution.

Typing. Submit three copies of the text and keep one yourself for checking proofs. Type on one side of the page and use double spacing throughout. Leave 25 mm margins at the left, top and bottom. A4-sized paper is preferred. The title should be followed by the author's name and the address where the work was done,

which should be followed by a synopsis. Where necessary the author's present address should be given at the foot of the first page. All the sheets of the typescript must be numbered consecutively. Capitals, lower case and italics should be used as in recent Journals. If your typewriter does not have italic type, words and letters to be set in italics should be underlined, i.e. Latin names, foreign words and abbreviations of these (c. in vivo, et al., v.), abbreviations used for statistics (F, n, p, r, t) and mathematical symbols in the text and in formulae. Title. Do not give the authorities for scientific names, but it is often desirable to give the family and/or order in parentheses, or an indication of the nature of the organism named. Use common

names only if they are well established and unequivocal.

Synopsis. A synopsis of not more than 200 words must be included in every paper.

Headings. The following sequence of headings will be used: capitals, lower case bold, lower case italics, in the line. Subdivisions must be designated (a), (b) etc. and further subdivisions (i), (ii) etc. Do not number headings unless essential.

Footnotes. These should be avoided if possible. Indicate footnotes by means of numeric superscripts, thus:

Abbreviations. Avoid abbreviations if possible and give full names before using uncommon abbreviations. New abbreviations should be coined only for unwieldy names that occur frequently. Do not use unusual abbreviations in the synopsis. Acronyms should be identified when first used, and capitalised, e.g. South African Lumber Millers Association (SALMA).

Units of measurement. SI units must be used. Use the form g/m2 (grams per square metre) etc. Slope should be recorded in degrees, not percent. Parts per million should be expressed as mg/kg, mg/l or, in the case of two liquids, as µl/l (microlitre per litre). Use units that are appropriate to the scale of the work reported, eg. Ha rather than the S.I. base unit m2 multiplied by some factor of 10. Use mm for DBH values and log and pole diameters.

Numbers. Use figures where a unit of measurement is given, eg. 2 m. but use the word for numbers under 10 or beginning a sentence. Numbers larger than 999 should be divided into groups of three figures, eg. 2 570; 42 500 000; 1,245 105. Separate items in a string of figures with semi-colons. Use decimal fractions.

Where common fractions are unavoidable, type thus: 3_4. Use the comma for a decimal point.

Formulae. Symbols in mathematical formulae will be set in italics, except operators (sin, log, 1n, exp) and constants, which will be in Roman type, and matrices and vectors, which will be set in bold type. The author should indicate characters to be set in Roman type, or, preferably, have formulae typed on a machine which can type in italics. For the information of the printer, letters from the Greek alphabet should be encircled when first introduced, and named in the margin. Centre each type equation at an appropriate place between lines of text, leaving quadruple space above and below. Where two or more equations follow each other, type them left justified (in line) and not alighed above the equal signs. Use the simplest formula that can be made by ordinary mathematical calculation. Type formulae as far as possible in one line, e.g. (a + b)/(x + y) not(a + b) ______(r + y) Fractional exponents must be typed thus:x1_2 or x0.5Superior over inferior notation must be typed thus: xa

Dates and times. In the text write out the month in full, e.g. 17 January 1982, though this may be shortened in tables and figures. Use the 24-hour clock for times of the day, e.g. 06:30.

Punctuation. Use double quotation marks to enclose direct, primary quotations, and single quotation marks for secondary quotations(quotations within quotations). Use italics for new technical terms and to emphasise specific words or phrases. Do not use quotation marks for titles of books, etc., which should be typed in italics. Use three ellipsis marks to indicate the omission of a word or phrase within quoted material, and four to indicate that word shave been omitted from the end of a sentence within quoted material, thus: “The recent survey ... indicated complete recovery....” Consult the Council of Biology Edition Style Manual for further guidance.

Tables and illustrations. Tables and figures should be kept in separate series and numbered in Arabic numerals. The approximate position of each should be indicated in the typescript. It is very important that they should be readily understood without reference to the text. Draw figures in black ink on white board or plastic or tracing paper or feint-ruled graph paper. Photographs of diagrams are also acceptable. Bear in mind, when preparing a figure, that after reduction it must fit the type area (preferably one column) and yet not lose clarity. Aim for a 50% linear reduction. Send the original figures and one copy with your text. Identify each by writing your name and the figure number on the reverse of each. Clearly mark the lettering and labelling on the copies but not on the original. Lettering and labelling on the original will usually be done by the printer. Explanatory material, keys to symbols, etc., should be placed in the legend to the figure, and not in the figure itself. Photographic prints should be unmounted, glossy, with crisp detail and moderate contrast, between one-and-a-half and two times as large as they will appearin the journal. Write your name, the figure number, the orientation of the illustration and appropriate reduction (one or two columns) lightly on the back of the print, using soft pencil. References. References should be cited in the text in the following forms: Swart (1972); Swart (1972 a, b); Swart and White (1973); Swart,1972, 1973); (Swart, 1970; Smith, 1971). Use the first author's name followed by et al. throughout if there are more than two authors (Typstra et al., 1979). List references in alphabetical order at the end of the paper in the following standard forms giving the journal titles in full:

(a) For periodicals

TYPSTRA, T., VERMAAS, H.F., and SENDERSON, R.D., 1979. Dimensional Stabilisation of Wood; Factors Influencing it and the Principle of Treatment. South African ForestryJournal 108: 22-28.

ACOCKS, J.P.H. 1975. Veld Types of South Africa. Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa 40, 128 pp.

(b) For edited symposia, special issues etc, published in a periodical

BOUCHER, C., and JARMAN, M.L., 1977. The Vegetation of the Langebaan Area, South Africa. In: W.R. SIEGFRIED (Ed.) Proceedings of a Symposium on Research in the Natural Sciences at Saldanha Bay and Langebaan Lagoon. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa 42: 241-272.

(c) For books

PEACE, T.R., 1962. Pathology of Trees and Shrubs with Special Reference to Britain. Oxford University Press. 753 pp.

(d) For multi-author books

WICHT, C.L., 1967. The Validity of Conclusions from South African Multiple watershed Experiments. In: SOPPER, W.E., and LULL, H.W., (Eds.). International Symposium on Forest Hydrology. Oxford, Pergamon Press, pp. 749-759. In the case of publications in any other language than the one you

are using the original title is to be retained except where translated versions are cited. A paper may only be cited “in press” if it has been accepted by a journal, and then the journal must be cited in the References. Papers not yet accepted should be cited in the text as “unpublished” and omitted from the References: cite the initials of the author(s) of unpublished works. Cite personal communications thus (W.J. Smith, personal communication, 1979).

ADVICE TO CONTRIBUTORS

Papers should be written with precision, clarity and economy. Use the active voice and first person wherever appropriate. Consult a book on scientific writing before starting your paper. Such style briefs are extremely useful. We recommend the AS & TS Guide for Authors (1974, Associated Scientific and Technical Societies of South Africa) and the C.B.E. Style manual Committee's Council of Biology Editors Stye Manual: a Guide for Authors, Editors and Publisher in the Biological Science (4th edn, 1978,

American Institute of Biological Sciences, and earlier editions). Plan your paper and the writing of it with care. You should clearly define the main object of the work and the conclusions you wish to communicate in your paper. Write with your potential reader in mind and try to imagine yourself in his position. Do not start at the Introduction and work systematically through. Start at the easiest part, usually Materials and Methods. Leave the most difficult parts, usually Discussion and Introduction, until last.Remember that very few people will read the whole of your paper. The parts, in order of importance, are the title, synopsis, data and the rest. Most readers are busy people, who see many hundreds of papers each year. Make it easy for them to extract the essence of your paper in the title, synopsis and figures. Title. The title is the most important part of your paper and determines to a large extent whether readers will decide to read further. It also determines largely how your paper will be indexed and abstracted in the many services now available, and thus where it will be noticed. It should be brief and informative, accurately reflecting the content and significance of your contribution.

Synopsis. The synopsis is the next most important part of yourcontribution. It should state clearly the object of your study, the methods used, the results obtained, and your conclusions. It should serve as an abstract of the paper.

Introduction. The introduction places your work in context. Discuss historical, theoretical and hypothetical background as necessary, motivation and objective.

Materials and methods. Describe precisely, so that anyone may repeat the procedures exactly.

Results. This section should highlight those features of your results that you consider to be most important. Present comprehensive data mainly in figures and tables, but use the latter to present detailed information precisely. Make sure that table headings and figure legends are explicit and contain all the information required by the reader to grasp the significance of the data - remember that many readers will rely on these for their impression of your work. Do not repeat tabular information in figures. The statistical significance of all reduced data must be indicated by relevant measures of variance. Make sure your samples are fully described in the text (e.g. sample size, whether fully random or not) but present only essential results. You should try to use verbal descriptions of result only to draw attention to the significance of data presented in tables and figures, and should certainly not reiterate all the information they contain.

Discussion. The object of the discussion is to relate your findings to those of previous studies and the present state of the subject. If you wish to express opinions on the value, validity and veracity of your own work and that of others, they should be backed by evidence. You may be tempted to extend the discussion more than any other section. Take extra care to make it as precise and concise as possible.

Conclusion(s). In scientific writing conclusions/recommendations were not generally considered appropriate. The more modern trend is to include a summary of the authors thinking as a guide to fellow scientists in future investigations or to practitioners willing to apply the knowledge generated by the study.

Acknowledgements. If warranted, acknowledge your institution, employer, and funding agency, thank those who rendered technical and other assistance, and critics of your drafts. Be brief.

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS AND ACTS

The following national and international conventions and Acts on units of measurement, symbols and sizes should be followed (given in order of preference):

(a) SABS, Metrication in the Timber Industry.

(b) Measuring Units and National Measuring Standards Act,1973 (Act 76 of 1973).

(c) Trade Metrology Act, 1973 (Act 77 of 1973).

(d) ISO, Standards Handbook 2, Units of Measurement.

(e) ISO, 3534-1977, Statistics - Vocabulary and Symbols.

CONCLUDING COMMENT

The style briefs mentioned above and many other sources, such as the International Forestry Review, provide examples of bad writing and how this may be corrected.