Folia Malacologica

Instructions for Authors

Folia Malacologica is published quarterly as an international journal devoted to all aspects of malacology. Papers are submitted with an understanding that they have not been published elsewhere and are not being considered for publication elsewhere (exception: abstracts published in connection with conferences). Acceptable language for publication is English.

It is assumed that all people listed as authors of submitted papers meet both basic authorship criteria: (1) they contributed substantially to study planning, data collection or interpretation of results; and (2) wrote or critically revised the paper. It is also assumed that all people listed as authors are aware of it and have agreed to be listed. On the other hand, it is assumed that no person who meets the authorship criteria has been omitted. Moreover, all people who are not listed as authors but contributed substantially to the study reported in submitted paper or assisted in its writing (e.g. language professionals) should be mentioned in the acknowledgements, with their agreement. Finally, all sources of funding for the study reported in the submitted papers should be revealed.

Acting against the above rules, especially every discovered case of scientific misconduct (ghostwriting, guest authorship, etc.), will be treated seriously by Editors. They will inform scientific bodies and/or employers of dishonest authors about it.

All submitted papers are initially evaluated by Editors according to the following criteria: compatibility of paper topic with journal policy, paper originality, importance and timeliness. The papers with insufficient priority are rejected. The other papers are sent to at least two expert referees for peer review. Peer referee identities are kept confidential, but author identities are known to referees. The existence of a paper under review is not revealed to anyone other than peer referees and editorial staff. Final decision is made by Editors after receiving all referee opinions. The authors are informed about paper acceptance or rejection within two-three months.

Papers may be submitted electronically by Folia Malacologica web page (www.foliamalacologica. com) or to one of the Editors. Please submit a manuscript of a paper with tables, figure captions and figures. Do not send original illustrations until the manuscript has been accepted for publication. Final version (revised after the review process) accompanied by original illustrations must be submitted as a file on computer disk (IBM PC-compatible format) as an MS Word or WordPerfect file, with software used clearly indicated. The disk copy should include all parts of the manuscript, including tables and computer-generated figures. While preparing the final copy on disk, use the following conventions: use tab commands, not spaces for paragraph indents. All character attributes should appear in the file just as they will in the final printed paper (consult recent issue for internal style conventions), i.e. items to be set in capitals and small capitals, bold, italic (use italic font instead of underline), subscript and superscript should be formatted as such. All these attributes should be done using standard word processor's commands, avoiding procedures that are not convertible. The entire text file, including references, should be justified to the left, including headings, subtitles etc. Any effects that cannot be achieved by the word processor should be clearly marked by hand on the printed copy submitted with the disk.

Papers must conform to the following layout:

1. Title page. This should include title, authors, institutions, address of the corresponding author (including telephone and fax numbers and e-mail address, as applicable), key words, running head and abstract. The title should be concise but informative and, where appropriate, should include the names of families and/or higher taxa covered in the paper. When submitting a paper with multiple authors, one author must accept the responsibility for all correspondence.

2. Abstract. The abstract should be informative, concise, and in a form that is fully intelligible in conjunction with the title. It should not exceed 200 words and should not include citation of references or reference to figures and tables in the text. Names of new taxa and indication of taxonomic acts (synonymies, new combinations, lectotype designations etc.) should be included.

3. Table of contents. For larger papers (over 100 manuscript pages) authors are requested to submit a "Table of Contents".

4. The standard arrangement for the main papers is a follows: Abstract, Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgements, References. In justified cases authors may depart from the above scheme.

5. Generic and specific names should be italicized. Use SI units and appropriate symbols. The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature must be strictly followed. Papers including new taxonomic decisions on previously described taxa (synonymies, new combinations, lectotype designations etc.) must include bibliographic data of the original description of the taxon (including page number).

6. Footnotes and cross references should be kept to a minimum.

7. References. References in the text should be cited in small capitals: SNAILSTONE (1999); (SNAILSTONE 1999) or SNAILSTONE & SLlUGWATER (1999: 303); for references with more than two authors use the form: CLAMSHELLll et al. Multiple references of various authors and references of the same author should be arranged in chronological order: (SNAILSTONE 1802, CLAMSHELL 1841, 1853, 1857, VELLIGERSSON 1919, 1922, ABALONE 1999).

In the reference list references should be listed alphabetically with book titles given in full and journal titles abbreviated according to international bibliographic standards. Each two references in the list should be separated by a blank line.

ABALONE B. B. 1999. Love story of an octopus. Ann. Zool. 917: 223-228.

MUSSELSKY K., ACHATINOFFI. I. 2023. Hepatopancreas rediscovered. Proc. Malac. Soc. London 115: 71-93.

SNAILSTONE J. M., VELIGRSSON C. D., SLUGWATER A. W. 1962. Why are slugs slow? In: OYSTERFRIEND O. D. (ed.). Physiology of Mollusca. Vol. 35. Clarendon Press, New York, pp. 1125-1300.

8. Authors of scientific names. Author of any generic and specific name appearing in non-taxonomic papers should be cited when the name first appears in the text. In taxonomic papers authors and dates of taxonomic names should be cited as appropriate. Authors of taxonomic names must not be set in small capitals. Names with one author are cited: Corpus delicti Snailstone, 1856 orLyropupa protostrator (Slugdom, 2002), names with two authors are cited: Corpus odoratum Hennessy et Glenlivet, 1815 or Lyropupa sapiens (Glamour et Squalor, 2015).

9. Tables should be kept as simple as possible. They should be printed on separate sheets, numbered consecutively and be self-explanatory.

10. Illustrations are referred to as "Fig., Figs" in the text (not as plates or photos). Figure captions should be typed on a separate sheet, numbered consecutively, and grouped to correspond to plates. All illustrations should be marked on the reverse with author's name, title of a paper, figure number(s); top and bottom should be indicated. Illustrations should be mounted in plates in the arrangement desired in the printed work; after reduction they should fit (with their respective captions) within the plate size of 17.6´22.0 cm. Lettering and numbering must be done before submission. Black-and-white line drawings. half-tone illustrations and electronic files of images in standard formats are accepted. Drawings submitted must be high quality prints or originals. Photographs are best submitted in their final size. Original illustrations will be returned to the author upon request after publication.

11. Page proofs. Only one set of page proofs will be sent, and authors are charged for any major author-generated alterations.

12. Reprints. Authors will receive 50 reprints free, further reprints may be ordered at extra cost at the proof stage.

13. Publications costs. Authors who have institutional budget or grant support are expected to pay charges (please, check current price with the Editor). Authors who are unable to pay page charges (or are only able to make partial payment) may ask for a waiver when submitting manuscripts.