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Electronic Contributors

Information for Contributors

Susan Q. White, Ken G. Grimes, Stephan M. Eberhard (editors, 2006)

Scope Manuscripts Units References Illustrations Offprints

Scope

Contributors from all fields of study related to speleology will be considered for publication. Suitable fields include Earth Sciences, Speleochemistry, Hydrology, Meteorology, Conservation, Biospeleology, History, Major Exploration (Expedition) Reports, Equipment and Techniques, Surveying and Cartography, Photography and Documentation.

Comprehensive descriptive accounts of the exploration and morphology of individual caves will be welcomed, but simple trip reports and brief cave descriptions are not adequate. Papers overall should not exceed 20 printed pages in length. Contributors intending to write at greater length or requiring any advice on details of preparation are invited to correspond with the Editors.

All manuscripts will be read by referees. "News and Views", "Short Notes" and "Letters to the Editor", expressing a personal view or giving a preliminary report of interesting findings, are welcomed, and will be given preference for speedy publication.

Manuscripts

Submitted manuscripts should initially be in printed form. Manuscripts should be typed, double spaced, on one side of the paper. Do not use multiple columns - this manuscript is for the editors and referees use and does not have to look like the final production.

The title should be upper case bold and the author's names and addresses should follow. A brief and explicit summary of the notable aspects of the paper, headed abstract, should precede the main text. Acknowledgements should be placed at the end of the text before the references.

Once authors have dealt with referees comments, they are requested to submit a copy of their final manuscript by email or on a CD-ROM or floppy disk as well as hard copy. Disks may be either IBM or Macintosh format. If sending text as a word processing document (Microsoft Word etc.), please also send a copy as plain text on the same disk. Illustrations and tables are best sent in separate files, not embedded in the main document.

There are separate instructions concerning electronic layout.

The address for postal correspondence is:

Helictite Editorial Office
123 Manningham St
Parkville, Victoria, 3052
AUSTRALIA

The Editors may be contacted by email.

A facsimile service is also available:
Australia (03) 9328 4154
International +61 3 9328 4154

Units

The S.I. system (Australian Standard AS 1000) should be used unless citing historical data, in which case the original units should be quoted and appropriately rounded metric equivalents added; 100 feet (30 m).

References

References should be listed alphabetically at the end of the manuscript and cited in the text by the author's name and the year of publication, e.g. "(Gray, 1973)". Where there is more than one reference to the same author in one year the letters a, b, c, etc. should be added. If there are more than two authors, they should all be named at the first citation and in the reference fist, but the first name followed by et al. should be used in subsequent citations. References should be checked particularly carefully for accuracy. If journal titles are abbreviated, follow the "World List of Scientific Periodicals", which is available in most large libraries.

The following examples illustrate the style:

GRAY, M.R., 1973: Cavenicolous spiders from the Nullarbor Plain and south-west Australia. J. Aust. ent. Soc. 12: 207-221.

VANDEL, A., 1965: Biospeleology. The Biology of the Cavernicolous Animals. Pergamon, London. pp. xxiv, 524.

WIGLEY, T.M.L and WOOD, I.D., 1967: Meteorology of the Nullarbor Plain Caves. In: J.R. DUNKLEY and T.M.L. WIGLEY (eds), Caves of the Nullarbor. A Review of Speleological Investigations in the Nullarbor Plain Southern Australia: 32-34. Speleological Research Council, Sydney.

Illustrations

For papers that have a geographical location we will provide a small location map in a standardised style (typically a map of Australia with a dot, rectangle or arrow - see recent issues for examples). Figures and photographs should not duplicate information in tables or other material. Photographs should be relevant to the text with sharp focus.

Figures and plates should be numbered in a single sequence and specifically referred to in the text. All illustrations should be designed to fit within a full page print area of 170 x 258 mm and ideally should be a column width (80 mm) or double-column width (170 mm). Captions should be typed on a separate sheet (or supplied at the end of the text file).

Fold-outs or colour photographs and maps will be subject to negotiation, and the authors may be asked to make a contribution to the production costs.

Electronic submissions: Most computer drawn figures, digital images and photographs can be handled. Use GIF, TIF or PNG for line drawings and JPG for photographs, at 300 dpi resolution or better. Separate instructions concerning electronic layout and appropriate file formats are available here.

Paper submissions: Photographs should be supplied as clear black and white prints. Figures should be supplied as Laser prints or drawn in Indian ink on white card, heavy paper or tracing material and lettered using stencils or stick-on lettering. Oversize originals may be supplied, but allowance for reduction must be made when choosing letter sizes and line thickness. Ink-jet prints should be enclosed in plastic to reduce the risk of water damage in transit. Figure numbers should be marked lightly in pencil on the margin or back of each illustration. An arrow and the word "top" should be used if orientation is not obvious.

Offprints

An electronic PDF of the paper, and five free offprints will be supplied after publication. Additional offprints can be arranged at the author's expense. The number required should be stated when submitting the manuscript.

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