Journal of Arachnology (JoA)

Instructions to Authors
Purchasing Immediate Web Access for Your On-line Paper
Editors and Editorial Board
Undelivered and Back Issues

The Journal of Arachnology (ISSN 0160-8202), ia a publication devoted to the study of Arachnida. It is published three times each year by the American Arachnological Society. Subscriptions accompany society membership or may be purchased by institutions. Learn about Membership here.

JoA On-line

All issues are available on-line. Anyone can access the table of contents of any issue or any issue older than one year. Issues that have been published within the most recent year are only available to members unless the authors have purchased an open-access option.

AAS Members can access restricted papers by typing in the username and password provided on the back cover of the most recent issue of the Journal.

Browse Contents of On-line issues here.

Search within On-line Issues.

Google searches both webpages and also pdf files that contain text (i.e., pdf that is not simply an image of text).
Please note that all JoA pdf files are searchable.

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Instructions to Authors back to top

Revised October 2012

General: The Journal of Arachnology publishes scientific articles reporting novel and significant observations and data regarding any aspect of the biology of arachnid groups. Feature
articles and short communicationsmust be scientifically rigorous and report substantially new information. Submissions that are overly narrow in focus (e.g., local faunal lists, descriptions of a
second sex or of a single species without additional discussion of the significance of this information), have poorly substantiated observational data, or that present no new information will not be considered. Book reviews will not be published.

Manuscripts must be in English and should be prepared in general accordance with the current edition of the Council of Biological Editors Style Manual unless instructed otherwise
below. Use the active voice throughout. Authors should consult a recent issue of the Journal of Arachnology for additional points of style. Manuscripts longer than three printed journal pages (12 or more double-spaced manuscript pages) should be prepared as Feature Articles, shorter papers
as Short Communications. Review Articles will be published from time to time. Suggestions for review articles may be sent to the Managing Editor. Unsolicited review articles are also welcomed. All review articles will be subject to the same review process as other submissions.

October 2012 Instructions to Authors pdf

Submission: Submissions must be sent electronically in Microsoft Word format (not PDF) to the Managing Editor of the Journal of Arachnology:

Douglass H. Morse, Managing editor
Hermon Carey Bumpus Professor of Biology Emeritus,
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Box G-W, Brown University
Providence, RI 02912 USA

Telephone: 401-863-3152;
Fax: 401-863-2166;
E-mail: d_morse@brown.edu

The entire manuscript should be submitted as one Word document. Figures, included in the Word document, should be at low resolution for the initial review.

The Managing Editor will acknowledge receipt of the manuscript, assign it a manuscript number and forward it to an Associate Editor for the review process. Correspondence relating to manuscripts should be directed to the Associate Editor and should include the manuscript number. If the manuscript is accepted, the author will be asked to submit the final copy electronically to the Associate Editor. Submission of final illustrations is detailed below. Authors are expected to return revisions promptly. Revised manuscripts that are not returned in a reasonable time period (no longer than six months for minor revisions and one year for major revisions) will be considered new submissions.

Voucher Specimens: Specimens of species used in your research should be deposited in a recognized scientific institution. All type material must be deposited in a recognized collection/institution.

Voucher Specimens: Specimens of species used in your research should be deposited in a recognized scientific institution. All type material must be deposited in a recognized collection/institution.

Feature Articles

Title page.—The title page includes the complete name, address, and telephone number of the corresponding author; a FAX number and electronic mail address if available; the title
in sentence case, with no more than 65 characters and spaces per line in the title; each author’s name and address; and the running head.

Running head.—The author’s surname(s) and an abbreviated title should be typed in all capital letters and must not exceed 60 characters and spaces. The running head should beplaced near the top of the title page.

Abstract.—Length: # 250 words for Feature Articles; # 150 words for Short Communications.

Keywords.—Give 3–5 appropriate keywords or phrases following the abstract. Keywords should not duplicate words in the title.

Text.—Double-space text, tables, legends, etc. throughout. Three levels of heads are used.

The first level (METHODS, RESULTS, etc.) is typed in capitals and centered on a separate line.
The second level head begins a paragraph with an indent and is separated from the text by a period and a dash.
The third level may or may not begin a paragraph but is italicized and separated from the text by a colon.

Use only the metric system unless quoting text or referencing collection data. If English measurements are used when referencing collection data, then metric equivalents should also be included parenthetically. All decimal fractions are indicated by a period (e.g., 20.123). Include geographic coordinates for collecting locales if possible, using one of the following formats: 0°129320S, 29°529170E or 0.2089°S, 29.8714°E.

Citation of references in the text: Cite only papers already published or in press. Include within parentheses the surname of the author followed by the date of publication. A comma separates multiple citations by the same author(s) and a semicolon separates citations by different authors, e.g., (Smith 1970), (Jones 1988; Smith 1993), (Smith & Jones 1986, 1987; Jones et al. 1989). Include a letter of permission from any person who is cited as providing unpublished data in the form
of a personal communication.

Citation of taxa in the text: Include the complete taxonomic citation (author & year) for each arachnid taxon when it first appears in the abstract and text proper. For Araneae, this information can be found online at http://research.amnh.org/iz/spiders/catalog/. For example, Araneus diadematus Clerck 1757. Citations for scorpions can be found in the Catalog of the Scorpions of the World (1758–1998) by V. Fet, W.D. Sissom, G. Lowe & M.E. Braunwalder. Citations for pseudoscorpions can be found at http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/catalogues/pseudoscorpions/. Citations for some species of Opiliones can be found in the Annotated Catalogue of the Laniatores of the New World (Arachnida,Opiliones) by A.B. Kury. Citations for other arachnid orders can be found in Catalogue of the Smaller ArachnidOrders of the World by M.S. Harvey.

Literature Cited section.—Use the following style and formatting exactly as illustrated; include the full unabbreviated journal title. Personal web pages should not be included in Literature Cited. These can be cited within the text as (John Doe, pers. website) without the URL. Institutional websites
may be included in Literature Cited.

Carico, J.E. 1993. Trechaleidae: a ‘‘new’’ American spider family. Pp. 305. In Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Arachnology, Panama 1983. (W.G. Eberhard, Y.D. Lubin & B.C. Robinson, eds.). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.

Huber, B.A. & W.G. Eberhard. 1997. Courtship, copulation, and genital mechanics in Physocyclus globosus (Araneae, Pholcidae). Canadian Journal of Zoology 74:905–918.

Krafft, B. 1982. The significance and complexity of communication in spiders. Pp. 15–66. In Spider Communication: Mechanisms and Ecological Significance. (P.N. Witt & J.S. Rovner, eds.). Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.

Platnick, N.I. 2011. The World Spider Catalog, Version 12.0. American Museum of Natural History, New York. Online at http://research.amnh.org/iz/spiders/catalog/

Roewer, C.F. 1954. Katalog der Araneae, Volume 2a. Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Bruxelles.

Footnotes.—Footnotes are permitted only on the first printed page to indicate current address or other information concerning the author. All footnotes are placed together on a separate manuscript page. Tables and figures may not have footnotes.

Taxonomic articles.—Consult a recent taxonomic article in the Journal of Arachnology for style or contact the Subject Editor for Taxonomy and Systematics. Papers containing original descriptions of focal arachnid taxa should be listed in the Literature Cited section.

Tables.—Each table, with the legend above, should be placed on a separate manuscript page. Only horizontal lines (no more than three) should be included. Tables may not have footnotes; instead, include all information in the legend.

Illustrations.—Original illustrations should be sent electronically as part of the Word document when the manuscript is aubmitted. Distribution maps should be considered figures and numbered consecutively with other figures. (Authors wishing to submit figures as hard copies should contact the
Editor-in-Chief for specifications.) At the submission and review stages, the resolution standards should be low as long as editors and reviewers can view figures effectively. Final illustrations must be submitted to the Editor-in-Chief, typically by e-mail or on a CD, to ensure that the electronic versions meet publication standards and that they match the printed copy. All figures should be 10–18 cm (4–7 inches) wide and no more than 23 cm (9 inches) high. The resolution should be at least 300 dpi (or ppi) for halftone or color figures and 1200 dpi for line drawings. A Guide to the Digital Art Specs for Allen Press is available as a PDF online at: http://allenpress.com/resources/library.

At the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief, a figure can be rendered in color in the online version but in monochrome in the journal’s printed version, or in color in both versions if warranted by the figure's context and content. Most figures will be reduced to single-column width (9 cm, 3.5 inches), but large plates can be printed up to two-columns width (18 cm, 7 inches).

Address all questions concerning illustrations to the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Arachnology:

Robert B. Suter, Editor-In-Chief,
Biology Department,
Vassar College,
124 Raymond Ave.
Poughkeepsie, NY 12604-0731, USA

Telephone: 845-437-7421;
E-mail: suter@vassar.edu

Legends for illustrations should be placed together on the same page(s) and also with each illustration. Each plate must have only one legend, as indicated below:

Figures 1–4. A-us x-us, male from Timbuktu. 1, Left leg; 2, Right chelicera; 3, Dorsal aspect of genitalia; 4, Ventral aspect of abdomen. Scale = 1.0 mm.

The following alternate Figure numbering is also acceptable: Figures 1a–e. A-us x-us, male from Timbuktu. a. Left leg; b. Right chelicerae; c. Dorsal aspect of genitalia; d. Ventral aspect of abdomen. Scale = 1.0 mm.

Assemble manuscript.—The manuscript should appear in separate sections or pages in the following sequence: title page, abstract, text, tables with legends, figure legends,
figures. Send entire manuscript, including figures, as one Microsoft Word document.. Note: please downsize the figures if the document is too large to conveniently send by e-mail.

Supplemental materials.—Authors may submit for online publication materials that importantly augment the contents of a manuscript. These may be audio files (e.g., .mp3, .m4a, .aif, .wav), video files (e.g., .mov, .m4v, .flv, .avi), or Word documents (e.g., .doc, .docx) for large tables of data. Consult with the Editor in Chief if you are considering submitting other kinds of files. Audio and video files should be carefully edited before submission to eliminate leaders, trailers, and other extraneous content. Individual files may not exceed 10MB; no more than five files may be included as supplemental materials for a manuscript.

Supplemental materials will be considered by reviewers and therefore must be submitted at the time of manuscript submission. Supplemental materials are published online at the discretion of the editors.

Page charges, proofs and reprints.—Page charges are voluntary, but non-members of AAS are strongly encouraged to pay in full or in part for their article ($75 / journal page). The author will be charged for excessive numbers of changes made in the proof pages. Hard copy or PDF reprints are
available only from Allen Press and should be ordered when the author receives the proof pages. Allen Press will not accept reprint orders after the paper is published. The Journal of
Arachnology also is available through www.bioone.org and www.jstor.org. Therefore, you can download the PDF version of your article from one of these sites if you or your institution is a member. PDFs of articles older than one year will be made freely available from the AAS website.

Short Communications back to top

Short Communications are usually limited to three journal pages, including tables and figures (11 or fewer double-spaced manuscript pages including Literature Cited; no more than 2 amall figures or tables). Internal headings (METHODS, RESULTS, etc.) are omitted. Short communications must
include an abstract and keywords.

Cover Artwork back to top

Authors are encouraged to send quality photographs (preferably in color) to the editor-in-chief to be considered for use on the cover. Images should be at least 300 dpi.

Immediate Web Access to Your Accepted JOA Articles back to top

Once your article is accepted, you will have the opportunity to purchase immediate open access to it on the AAS website. This means that anyone will be able to download your article as a pdf from the AAS website as soon as it is published there (usually just before the paper issues are mailed). Normally, JoA articles are embargoed for a year. For a reasonable price, you can make your article more available and help the AAS defray costs the society pays for on-line publication (pdf costs from Allen Press).

For paying by personal check:

Please send an email to the AAS website administrator, Jan Weaver: weaverjc@missouri.edu, alerting her that you have chosen this option. Include first author's name and the title of the article.
Download a pdf of the payment form and send it to the AAS treasurer: Dr. Karen R. Cangialosi, AAS Treasurer, Department of Biology, Keene State College, Keene, NH, 03435-2001, USA.

For paying on-line:

Please send an email to the AAS website administrator, Jan Weaver: weaverjc@missouri.edu, alerting her that you have chosen this option. Include first author's name and the title of the article.
Use the on-line order option below to pay for immediate access. If you are unfamiliar with PayPal, you can visit this link for instructions

Article Type

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Non--Member
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Feature article

Short Communication

Editors and Editorial Board back to top

Editor-in-Chief: Robert B. Suter
Department of Biology, Vassar College
124 Raymond Avenue, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604, USA
Telephone: 845-437-7421;Email: suter@vassar.edu

Managing Editor: Prof. Douglass H. Morse
Hermon Carey Bumpus Professor of Biology, Emeritus, Department of Ecology & Evolutionay Biology
Box G-W, Brown University Providence, RI 02912, USA
Telephone: 401-863-3152; Fax: 401-63-2166; Email: d_morse@brown.edu

Associate/Subject Editors

Araneae Systematics Subject Editor: Dr. Matjaz Kuntner
Institute of Biology, Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Novi trg 2, P.O. Box 306, SI-1001 Ljubljana, SLOVENIA
Telephone: Slovenia +386-1-470-6338 Fax: Slovenia +386-1-425-7797
Email: kuntner@gmail.com

Non-Araneae Systematics Subject Editor: Dr. Mark Harvey
Senior Curator, Department of Terrestrial Invertebrates, Western Australian Museum
Francis Street, Perth, Western Australia 6000, AUSTRALIA
Telephone: Australia: (08) 9427 2737; International:+ 61 8 9427 2737
Fax: Australia: (08) 9427 2882; International: + 61 8 9427 2882
E-mail: mark.harvey@museum.wa.gov.au

Morphology and Physiology Subject Editor : Dr. Jason Bond
Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University
152 Funchess Hall, Auburn AL 36849, USA
Telephone: 334-844-8713; Fax: 334-844-9234; E-mail:jbond@auburn.edu

Behavior Subject Editor: Dr. Elizabeth Jakob
Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Tobin Hall, Amherst, MA 01003
Telephone: 413-577-0707;E-mail: ejakob@psych.umass.edu

Ecology Subject Editor: Ass. Prof. Stano Pekar, PhD.
Institute of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University
Kotlarska 2, 61137 Brno, Czech Republic
Telephone: +420 532 146 325; FAX: +420 532 146 213; E-mail: pekar@sci.muni.cz

Editorial Board

Alan Cady -- Miami University (Ohio)
Jonathan A. Coddington -- Smithsonian Institution
William Eberhard -- Universidad de Costa Rica
Rosemary Gillespie - University of California, Berkeley
Charles Griswold -- California Academy of Sciences
Marshal Hedin -- San Diego State University
Herbert W. Levi -- Harvard University
Brent Opell -- Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
Norman I. Platnick -- American Museum of Natural History
Ann L. Rypstra -- Miami University, Ohio
Paul Selden -- University of Kansas
Matthias Schaefer -- Universitaet Goettingen (Germany)
William A. Shear -- Hampden-Sydney College
Petra Sierwald -- Field Museum
I-Min Tso - Tunghai University (Taiwan)

Undelivered and Back Issues back to top

Contact for Undelivered Issues

Jeffrey W. Shultz
Department of Entomology
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742 USA
Voice: (301) 405-7519, FAX: (301) 314-9290
E-mail: jshultz@umd.edu

Contact for Back issues, download a pdf of presently available issues here

Jim Carrel
209 Tucker Hall
University of Missouri - Columbia
Columbia MO 65211 USA
Telephone: 573-882-3037 E-mail: carrelj@missouri.edu

Page last updated January 22, 2012