Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia

A refereed journal for science in Western Australia

The Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia publishes

• papers and notes dealing with original research carried out in Western Australia into any branch of the natural or physical sciences;

• papers and notes concerning some aspect of natural or physical science of relevance to Western Australian scientists, but not necessarily carried out in Western Australia;

• authoritative overviews of any subject in the natural or physical sciences with the general membership of the Society in mind;

• analyses of controversial issues of great scientific moment in Western Australia

Prospective authors of papers in the last two categories should consult the Honorary Editor for further advice. The Journal also publishes “Letters to the Editor” and a bibliographic summary of recent journal papers and review articles in “Recent Advances in Science in Western Australia”.

Authors are encouraged to submit a list of potential reviewers in Australia or overseas, but choice of reviewers is at the discretion of the Honorary Editor. Publication in the Society’s Journal is available to all categories of members. Submission of a paper is taken to mean that the results have not been published or are not being considered for publication elsewhere. Authors are solely responsible for the accuracy of all information in their papers, and for any opinions they express.

The metric system (S.I. units) must be used. Taxonomic papers must follow the appropriate International Code of Nomenclature, and geological papers must adhere to the International Stratigraphic Guide. Spelling should follow the Concise Oxford Dictionary.

Title page: For full papers and notes, the front page should contain the title of the paper, a list of authors, their addresses, the Abstract, and a list of keywords.The Title itself should begin with a keyword. The Abstract should not be an expanded title, but should include the main substance of the paper in a condensed form. Keywords or phrases should be provided (maximum of eight, or two printed lines).

The text and illustrations: For all manuscripts, the original and three copies must be submitted. They should be printed on opaque white paper with double-spacing throughout and have 3 cm margins. All pages should be numbered consecutively, including those carrying tables and captions to illustrations. Font size of the main text should not be smaller than 10 point. Manuscripts should generally have an Abstract, and Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and References sections. Authors are advised to use the most recent issues of the Journal as a guide to the general format and bibliographic style of the manuscript, and to conform as closely as possible to the style in preparing the manuscript. Authors should maintain a proper balance between length and substance, and papers longer than 10,000 words would need to be of exceptional importance to be considered for publication. Three orders of headings are commonly used in The Journal.All headings should be in “sentence case”. First order headings are bold, centred; second order headings are side headings, bolded, and smaller font than the first order; third order headings are italicised bolded side headings. In the text, referring to illustrations, the word “figure” should be capitalised and spelled out (e.g., Figure 1); it should be capitalised and abbreviated when in parentheses, e.g., (Fig. 1). In composite figures made of several photographs or diagrams, each part should be designated and referred to by a letter (e.g., Figure 2B). Where “that is” and “for example” are abbreviated, they should be italicised and punctuated as follows: i.e., e.g., respectively

Illustrations:The copies of the Figures accompanying the manuscript must be of good quality. High quality illustrations are required, no larger than 300 mm x 400 mm, with sans serif lettering suitable for reduction to appropriate publication size (82 or 168 mm wide). Scale must be indicated on illustrations. Photographs must be good quality prints, not exceeding 168 mm x 252 mm. Colour plates may be published, at the discretion of the Honorary Editor, if these are considered important for clarity or precision of description. Additional printing costs such as those for colour blocks or folding maps may be charged to authors, according to economic circumstances at the time. Please consult the Honorary Editor. It is preferred that Figures be also provided as high quality computer graphic files (e.g. tif, gif, jpg, cdr or eps files) to ensure high quality reproduction.Illustrations, both line drawings and photographs, are to be numbered as Figures in common sequence, and each must be referred to in the text, in consecutive order. In composite Figures made up of several photographs or diagrams, each part should be designated by a letter (e.g. Fig 2B). To avoid risk of damage to the original illustrations, authors should retain the originals until the paper is accepted.

References must be set out as follows, with journal titles spelled out in full:

Paper: Jackson A 1931 The Oligochaeta of South-Western Australia. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 17: 17-136.
Book: Jacobs M R 1955 Growth Habits of the Eucalypts. Forestry Timber Bureau, Canberra.
Chapter in Book: Dell J 1983 The importance of the Darling Scarp to fauna. In: Scarp Symposium (ed J Majer). Western Australian Institute of Technology, Bentley, 17-27.

Supplementary Publications: Extensive sets of data, such as a large Table or Appendix, may be classed as a Supplementary Publication and not printed with the paper but lodged with the Society’s Library (held in the Western Australian Museum, 49 Kew Street, Welshpool, WA 6106) and with the National Library of Australia (Manuscript Section, Parkes Place, Barton, ACT 2600). Photocopies of a Supplementary Publication may be obtained from either institution upon payment of a fee.

Notes: The Society wishes to encourage scientists to publish short notes dealing with original research done in any branch of the natural or physical sciences in Western Australia, or concerning some aspect of natural or physical science of relevance to Western Australian scientists. The objective in publishing Notes is to encourage the dissemination of research findings that might not be enough for a full paper but nevertheless be of interest to other scientists, especially those in Western Australia. In addition, specific aspects of student theses, particular findings of commissioned reports, or isolated observations of significance might be well presented as a one or two page note. Notes will be restricted to a maximum length of two printed pages; notes are particularly sought as these often ensure full use of the pages available in each issue. As for full papers, Notes should generally have an Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion, and References sections, but the exact section organization is flexible. Photographs and figures should be suitable for single column reproduction (82 mm wide) wherever possible. Manuscripts submitted as a Note will be reviewed in the same manner as full articles.

Templates: Templates to aid in preparation of manuscripts and notes can be downloaded in either Microsoft Word 2000 or Rich Text Format:

Electronic processing of manuscripts from disks supplied by the authors is necessary to reduce publication costs. Following acceptance and editing of the manuscript, authors should amend their manuscript and forward one printed copy of the paper and the word-processing file on computer.

Contributions should be sent to:

The Honorary Editor,
Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia
Western Australian Museum,
Locked Bag 49, Welshpool DC, WA 6986

or to:
Dr K Meney, Honorary Editor
c/- Syrinx Environmental P/L12 Monger St., Perth, WA, 6000

Fifty offprints of articles are provided free to members of the Royal Society of Western Australia; cost of offprints (including Notes) is $100 for non-members.