A short guide to publishing in
European Journal of
Soil Science
EJSS
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ejss
Step One
Make sure the topic is relevant – EJSS is an international journal for original research papers or reviews
on basic soil science
Remember to: Check journal website and read author guidelines Look at an example of a paper in the journal Follow the author guidelines carefully when you prepare your
manuscript
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ejss
Step Two
Ask yourself “is my paper topic suitable and relevant?”
Including: Are the experimental design and analysis of data adequate and
appropriate? Is the information new or novel? Is it of international interest? Does it improve the understanding of soil processes? Is the statistical analysis of your data adequate and properly interpreted? Have you taken advice from colleagues or a professional statistician? Has your work been submitted or published elsewhere? Is your work too applied for EJSS? If so consider Soil Use and
Management – go to: wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/sum
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ejss
Step Three – make sure your manuscript is not too long – word limit is about 6500 words for normal articles – reviews can be longer is not too short is not too descriptive contains good English– non-English speaking authors should obtain help from a native English speaker or go to:http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/bauthor/english_language.asp
follows the formatting style of the Journal
Further checks you should make:
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ejss
More details on manuscript preparationMore details on manuscript preparation
remember, you should consult the detailed description of what to do in guidelines to authors or
Style file at:http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/specialarticles/ejsauthortemplate.doc
or sample paper at: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/ejs510.pdf
submit manuscripts electronically through the ScolarOne website at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ejss as a Word 2003 file.
if you have any problems contact:[email protected]
the following slides highlight some of the key presentational problems that you should check on
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ejss
EJSS presentational styleEJSS presentational style
Presentation is very important: check that you are using the correct font throughout and
follow exact instructions for titles, running head , names of authors and addresses etc
use Roman font for normal text and SI units, symbols for chemical elements and
compounds use Italic font for Latin expressions, names of plants and animals and titles of
scientific journals and books and Scalar variables
use Bold lower case Roman for vectors and BOLD CAPITALS for matrices refer to full guidelines for all further details
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ejss
EJSS presentational styleEJSS presentational style
Units of measurements- make sure you follow the full instructions for these. For example
adhere to SI standards (see Tables 1 – 3, on the full instructions) make sure you use the following:
– Gas concentrations: µmol mol-1, or µl l-1; and nmol mol-1 or nl l-1 NOT ppb. or ppbv.
– Time: SI unit is the second(s), but for longer time periods use: minutes, hours, days, weeks and years written in full.
– Numbers: Integers from one to ten are written in full; larger integers are as arabic numerals: 11, 12, …. At beginnings of sentences write all numbers in full.
– Grouping of digits: separate large numbers by spaces and in groups of three digits, e.g. 1 500 000
you should also check the correct use of litre, percentage, parts per million (ppm), and M for molar
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ejss
Also make sure that you:
number your equations
check the correct use of statistics (refer to full guidelines for sources of additional information on this or get expert guidance)
provide Tables separate from text, one per page
provide Figures in the format requested, number each one and put captions on a separate page
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EJSS presentational styleEJSS presentational style
CitationsCitationsCheck these very carefully
in research papers use no more than 30–40 references
the text cite by author(s) and year; in the text use Smith & Jones (2001), and Smith et al. (2002) for more than two authors
where several references appear together – arrange chronologically and then alphabetically
for websites – check that it still exists and then cite it together with date accessed
in the reference list – give name(s) and initial(s) of author(s), but if 6 list only first 6 names followed by et al.
Note that Works 'In press' must have been accepted
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Finally: authorship and copyright
provide a covering letter indicating that each author has participated in the research and that all authors have seen and agreed to the submitted version.
you must be very clear that your paper has NOT been published previously in any language and has not been submitted to any other journal
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