Criteria for Selecting Papers for Review

• Must conform to the FULL house style as specified in the Author Style Guide below. Only papers that conform to the style guide will be considered for review.
• Title of papers must be the same as the one in the Book of Programme & Abstracts for the conference itself.
• High scientific quality with recent knowledge on the topic, exhibited by current references & citations.
• Must meet the deadline for submission. Papers submitted after the deadline WILL NOT be considered. Kindly note that there will be no extension of deadlines. Any numbers of papers received by close of submission deadline will be processed, and qualified ones selected for the next stage of the review.

Manuscript Review & Content Policy

• All manuscripts will be double blind reviewed by professionals in the field of the submission
• Manuscripts that emphasize highest orientation towards climate change issues in Ghana and clear recommendations for policy and development are preferred
• The results of manuscripts should demonstrate high level of innovation and knowledge of practical intervention
• The conclusion should highlight sustainability of outcomes and how replicable the outcomes are
• Final deadline for submitting manuscripts is June 15, 2009

AUTHOR STYLE GUIDE
Avoid rejection by adhering to the following guidelines.

Word count

Do not exceed word counts prescribed to address reviewer comments. All Contributed Papers must be 3000-4500 words in length including all references / bibliography, acknowledgements, table and figure captions as well as plate and photo headings

Common pitfalls

Highlighted text below points to factors that authors need to consider but often do not, so please do study them carefully.

Writing Style

Clarity is everything

• Our audience is the general academic, professional and practitioner reader, so clarity in language and syntax is important, especially for readers who do not speak English as their first language.
• Informal language is not acceptable. And, consider that “ [L]iterary devices, metaphors and the like, divert attention from the substance to the style [and]…should be used rarely in scientific writing” (Day 1998).

Avoid jargon

In general writers (and speakers) should avoid the use of jargon. But because we are targeting a broad and international readership, it is even more important for authors to avoid it.

Abbreviations, acronyms, and initializations

•  Do not begin a sentence with an abbreviation.
•  Use them sparingly. Overuse of these devices makes reading and comprehension difficult. One or two abbreviations for terms particular to your paper or topic used throughout is acceptable, but many more is questionable. The text needs to be understandable to a reader who is not a specialist in the subject matter at hand. Define all abbreviations, initializations, and acronyms at first use, e.g., analysis of variance (ANOVA)

Use active voice most of the time

Use we or I regularly (e.g., “We converted all GIS data to raster format.”, not “All GIS data were converted to raster format.” Or, “Trained technicians surveyed the plots.”, not “The plots were surveyed by trained technicians.”) In particular, your methods should not be written entirely in passive voice.

Tense

•  Past tense: use it in the methods (telling what you did) and results (telling what your results were) sections. Also use it in the Discussion when you refer to your results. This helps the reader differentiate between your findings in this study and findings from other studies (referred to in present tense, see next item).
•  Present tense: use it when you refer to previously published findings.
In general, most of the abstract, methods, and results should be in past tense, and most of the introduction and discussion should be in present tense. “When a…paper…has been published…in a primary journal, …it becomes knowledge. Therefore, whenever you quote previously published work, ethics requires you …treat that work with respect. You do this by using the present tense …The principal exception to this rule is in the area of attribution and presentation. It is correct to say “Smith showed [past] that streptomycin inhibits [present] S. nocolor” (Day 1998).

Organization: IMRAD Format

Papers should be in IMRAD format: introduction, methods, results, and discussion (We recognise exceptions especially in areas of narratives). In general, do not combine sections (e.g., results and discussion) or mix, for example, results in with methods. Do not use outline formatting (i.e., number headings and subheadings). A conclusion section following the discussion is permitted as long as it is not repetitive of material that has been covered previously.

Title

Must remain the same as the original in the book of the conference  programme

Abstract

• An abstract is a miniversion of your paper: 1-2 sentences of introduction (justification for your study), methods, results, and discussion (to include general policy implications if they are not obvious).
• Length should not exceed 200 words and must not be too different from the original abstract in the book of meeting programme. It should not contain literature citations, much data, or meaningless clauses such as “We discuss results…” or “We summarize implications…”

Keywords
Maximum five words or phrases are sufficient and placed at the bottom of abstract.

Acknowledgments

Do not fully spell out first names. Provide the first initial (even if the initial starts a sentence). Authors of the manuscript should be referred to in initials only (e.g., S.T.W. was supported by a Torry Foundation grant.).

References

In-text citations

•  In most cases, enclose citations in text in parentheses.
“Human-modified habitats that look suitable but provide poor reproductive rewards are called ecological traps (Gates & Gysel 1978).” Instead of “According to Gates and Gysel (1978), human modified habitats…”
•  Use an ampersand (&) between author surnames (Gates & Gysel 1978) when the citation is parenthetical.
•  When a citation is not parenthetical use and e.g., “Our results agree with predictions made by Wolf and Rhymer (2001).”
•  For citations with more than two authors use et al. (Hatchwell et al. 1996). Do not italicize et al.
•  List parenthetical citations chronologically (from oldest to newest) and separate entries with a semicolon (Zorenstein et al. 1991; Waddell & Fretwell 2001).
•  Multiple papers by the same author: (Cox et al. 1991, 1992; Chapman 2001, 2002)
•  In press papers: ( In press means the paper being cited has been officially accepted for publication. Provide the year the paper will be published in the text and in the Literature Cited use in press (…in landscapes. Conservation Biology 17: in press).
•  Papers in review: These papers must be cited as unpublished until the paper has been officially accepted and should not appear in the Literature Cited.
•  Unpublished data: (C.S.C. & L.K., unpublished data) for the authors of the article and (R. Fowler, unpublished data; M. E. Soulé, personal communication) for others.
•  Make sure all references cited in text are listed in Literature Cited and vice versa. When text citations do not match contents of Literature Cited publication is delayed.
•  Avoid “in. lit.” citations. Provide the original citations whenever possible.
 Literature Cited section
•  Spell out all journal titles in full. Titles are not italicized.
•  "Submitted" papers, papers in review, and personal communications should not be in the Literature Cited (see above).
•  Remove "Inc.," " Co. ," etc. from reference in text and Lit. Cited: (SAS Institute 1998) not (SAS Institute, Inc. 1998).
•  Conference proceedings and conference abstracts can be cited in Literature Cited only if they have a “publisher” and the location of said publisher can be provided. If not formally published, the publisher is the organization from which a copy can be obtained.
•  Issue number: Do not use an issue number unless every issue in a volume begins with page 1 (i.e., pages in a volume are not numbered consecutively from the first issue to the last, as they are with Conservation Biology ).
•  If there are more than 10 authors, use et al. (e.g., Howard, G., et al.) instead of listing all the authors.
 

Sample citations

•  Institutions as authors: Spell out name of the institution and include location of publisher.
Example: World Wildlife Fund (WWF). 2002. Giant panda home ranges. WWF, Washington , D.C.
or WWF (World Wildlife Fund). 2002. Title of work. WWF, Washington, D.C. How the institution is cited in Lit. Cited needs to match how it is cited in the text: WWF vs. World Wildlife Fund.
•  Journal articles: Christensen, N. D., and J. Eu. 2003. Ecology of cranberry bogs: Ecology 59: 1147–1167, 1178–1187. For a supplement citation: … 13 (supplement 1) : 172–180. If a paper is in press, the “in press” follows the journal title (i.e., Ecology: in press.).
•  Edited books : Cran, B., C. Boy, and L. Shi. 1911. Native forest birds of Guam . Pages 4-8 in T. Wu and L. Lee, editors. Flora and fauna of Guam . 2 nd edition. Tell Books, Ace, Ohio .
•  Reports : Barnes, J., and S. Craig. 2003. Conservation status of riparian areas in southeastern Oregon . General technical report N-24. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Portland , Oregon .
•  Web-based journals : Sandringham , J. 2006. Effects of urbanization of agricultural land on an endemic moth, rosemary pink. Conservation Ecology 3: http://ConservationEcology…./ESA.org. (No access date needed.)
•  Web sources other than journals (e.g., reports): Include the name of the organization sponsoring the Web site and their physical location and an access date. Example: Carne, A. 2003. The art of leaving well enough alone. National Science Teachers Association, Washington , D.C. Available from http:www.nsta.org/art2/scienceandchildren (accessed March 2002).
•  DOI numbers: Boscastle, C. 2006. Tree management in the River Valency Valley . Conservation Today DOI: 23674xxi21.

Supporting Elements (Tables, Figures, Appendices)

Number of elements

Strive for a ratio of no more than 1 supporting element to every 4 pages of text (text includes Literature Cited). Too many supporting elements is one of the most common problems of scientific writing. Publication of raw data, even in an appendix, is usually not vital to the results and conclusions of a study. If a table or figure has only a few data points, incorporate them into the text. Do not put more than one supporting element on a page.

Appendices

Supplementary material associated with the manuscript may be put at the end of the paper as appendix.
 

Content

Tables and figures should be self-explanatory and should supplement (not duplicate) the text. Do not present large amounts of raw data in tables (or appendices). A reader should be able to interpret tables and figures without referring to the text. This means all abbreviations and terms unique to your paper must be defined. Common statistical notations do not need to be defined. Use the same terminology in supporting elements as you did in the text.

Citation in text

Provide a summary or generalization of data and cite supporting elements parenthetically.
•  Incorrect: Perception and tolerance indices are shown in Fig. 2.
•  Correct: Cheetahs were increasingly perceived as a problem on farms, but the level of tolerance of them did not increase (Fig. 2).
•  Spell out the word figure only at the beginning of a sentence; otherwise, abbreviate (e.g., Fig. 1).

Tables

•  Legends need to be informative within 1 sentence, located on top of the Table. A list of column or row headings is not informative or sufficient. Use the legend and footnotes to fully inform readers.
•  Define abbreviations (in footnote) even if they are already defined in text.
•  If there is only one footnote, use an asterisk (*). If there is more than one footnote, use letters ( a , b , c ,). Order footnotes alphabetically left to right and top to bottom.
•  Bold type is not allowed in tables.
•  Do not use grid lines on tables.
•  If you have more than one table with the same data provided for, say, different species, combine the tables if you can. To set entries within a column apart from each other use indentation.
•  Unless an entry is a complete sentence capitalize only the first word of the first entry in a row (exception is proper nouns) and do not use periods.
•  Do not split tables into separate parts (e.g., Table 1a and Table 1b). Make separate tables or combine data
under the same columns or rows.
•  Use indentation to set off secondary (or tertiary) entries within a column (see example below).
Table Example

Table 1. Logistic-regression models built with...a

a Significance level of coefficients...
b Next most parsimonious models at...

Figures

• Carefully adhere to the instructions below and refer to a recent issue of CB. Figures must also be of very high quality and sized so that they can withstand 60% reduction. Jagged type, type that is overlapping or too close together, shadings that cannot be differentiated, and lettering that is too small are examples of unacceptable features.
• Legends: The figure legend should appear on the page with the figure and below the figure.
• In case the figure is unclear for reproducing, you will be asked to supply figures in TIF, JPEG, EPS, or PDF format (at least 300 dpi; 600 dpi is better for figures with lettering).

Graphs
•  Do not use top and right-hand axis lines if they do not have units associated with them.
•  Do not enclose graphs in a square.
•  Label all axes and include units of measure in the label: Number of species/km 2 , Basal area (m 2 /ha).
•  Use of upper and lowercase letters in axis labels: Years since burn, Burned area (%), Burned area (ha), Seed production (seeds/plot).
•  Use a key instead of describing shading or shapes in the legend.
•  Match typeface and type size among figures and make sure axis labels and units are not out of proportion (e.g., very large axis label and very small numbers along the axis).
•  If a figure has more than one part that needs to be specifically identified, use lowercase letters. Make sure if the figure has letter labels they are used or referred to in the legend.
•  If identifiers to be placed along the x-axis are long, slant them for easier reading (no vertical orientation).
•  Significant figures along an axis need to match, i.e., 1.0, 2.5, 2.0 (not 1, 2.5, 2).
•  The label for the y-axis should run vertically to the left of the numbers, and numbers should be horizontally oriented.
•  Labels along both axis lines should be centered.
•  Do not use color on line art (e.g., a graph) that will be published in black and white.
Maps
•  Do not gratuitously include maps of the study area. Descriptions in text are often sufficient.
•  Maps must have a scale.
•  Make sure shadings can be differentiated.

Numbers and Statistical Elements

•  Longitude and latitude (l48 o N, 78 o W) (no periods)
•  Percentages and degrees: use symbols.
•  Fractions may be spelled out (one-half, one-third) unless used with units of measure (0.5 mm or 0.5 years).
•  Use 0 before decimal point.
•  Dates: 6 October 1987
•  Numbered lists: (1)…, (2)…, and (3)…
•  Put a space between numbers and the unit of measure (6 m, 14 mL)
•  p , probability; df, degrees of freedom; SE, standard error; SD, standard deviation, e.g., (SD 2.5) or mean
(SD) = 44% (SD 3) (do not use ±); ? 2 , chi-square; F ; F ST

Variables

Model variables : Whole words used as a model variable are lowercase (e.g., species). Multiple-letter abbreviations that are not complete words are all capital letters (e.g., acceptable, DEM for digital elevation model; unacceptable, PATCH for patch area).
•  Italicize all single-letter variables in equations, except for Greek letters. Variables of more than one letter are not italicized (e.g., RU, meaning reproductive units as opposed to RU , in which R and U are separate interacting terms).
•  Define every variable used in equations.

Scientific Names

•  Common names: all lower case (creeping thistle, tiger); both words capitalized for birds (American Robin) except with hyphenated (Dark-eyed Junco, but Western Scrub-Jay); lowercase for birds of no particular species (e.g., swallows)
•  Scientific names : In the abstract and at first mention in the text, use common name followed by scientific name (genus and species) in parentheses, cane toad ( Bufo marinus ) and Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii )
•  Organisms: Clarkia springvillensis (first use); C. springvillensis (thereafter, even starting sentence); Clarkia spp. or sp. or var. (no italics)

Miscellaneous Style Points

•  Computer applications: Initial cap only (i.e., Partition, ArcInfo) if the name of the program is a word. If the name is not a word, use all caps, e.g., SAS.
•  Footnotes: Avoid footnotes in text. Use parentheses instead.
•  No trademark symbols