All manuscripts should be submitted via ScholarOne Manuscripts.
The Rangeland Journal publishes original work that makes a significant contribution to understanding the biophysical, social, cultural, economic, and policy influences affecting rangeland use and management throughout the world. Rangelands are defined broadly and include all those environments where natural ecological processes predominate, and where values and benefits are based primarily on natural resources.
Papers may present the results of original research, contributions to theory, practice or policy, or new conclusions reached from the review of a topic. Their structure need not conform to that of standard scientific articles but writing style must be clear and concise. All material presented must be well documented, critically analysed and objectively presented. All papers are peer-reviewed.
All authors are expected to ensure that their papers meet these requirements before submission, both for scientific content and for correctness in presentation of text, references and illustrations. Submitted papers that do not conform to these editorial requirements may be returned without consideration.
- Licence to publish
- Open access
- Correspondence
- Submission of manuscripts
- Title
- Summary text for the Table of Contents
- Abstract
- Keywords
- Botanical names
- Animal experimentation ethics
- Headings
- Abbreviations
- Tables
- Illustrations
- Photographs
- References
- Footnotes
- Proofs
- Offprints
Licence to publish
For details regarding copyright, please see Copyright/Licence to Publish.
Open access
Authors may choose to publish their paper Open Access on payment of a publication fee. See Open Access for more details.
Correspondence
When you submit a manuscript, please supply us with your telephone number, fax number, and email address, as well as your postal address; we may need to contact you urgently.
Submission of manuscripts
To submit your paper, please use our online journal management system ScholarOne Manuscripts, which can be reached directly through this link or from the link on the journal´s homepage. If a first-time user, register via the ´Register here´ link, or use your existing username and password to log in. Then click on the ´Author Centre´ link and proceed.
Papers should be typed with double spacing and include line numbers to assist in the editing process. All pages should be numbered consecutively, including the bibliography, figure captions, tables and appendices. The Journal also requires electronic copies of all accepted manuscripts with all figures in separate files from the text and in MS Word, EPS, XLS, WMF, BMP or TIF format.
A covering letter must accompany the new submission and should include the name, address, fax and telephone numbers, and email address of the corresponding author. The letter should also contain a statement justifying why the work should be considered for publication in the journal, and that the manuscript has not been published or simultaneously submitted for publication elsewhere. Suggestions of possible referees are welcome.
If you encounter any difficulties, or you have any queries, please contact:
Editor
Dr John Milne
The Rangeland Journal
James Hutton Institute
Aberdeen AB24 2TZ
United Kingdom
Email JohnMilne5@aol.com
Title
This should be short and informative and should contain the keywords used in the text; a short running title should also be provided.
Summary text for the Table of Contents
This is a three-sentence paragraph of 50 to 80 words written for interested non-experts, such as journalists, teachers, government workers, etc. The text should be free from scientific jargon, and written at the level of an article in a science magazine. Your first sentence should engage the reader, convincing them that this is an important area. The second sentence should introduce the problem addressed in the paper, and state your main discovery. The final sentence should describe how the results fit into the bigger picture (i.e. implications or impact of the discovery).
Abstract
A brief and informative abstract should be provided. It should not exceed 300 words and should be suitable for direct use by abstracting agencies.
Additional Keywords
Up to six keywords selected from the CAB Thesaurus (or an equivalent reference volume) and that do not already occur in the title should be listed at the end of the Abstract.
Botanical names
Authorities should be quoted at first mention of each name. Alternatively, a reference can be given to the nomenclature being followed.
Animal experimentation ethics
Where an experiment has involved the use of captive animals, the animal experimentation ethics committee approval number should be given in the acknowledgements.
Headings
The hierarchy of headings is: upper and lower case bold left flush; upper and lower case italic left flush; upper and lower case italic indented; and upper and lower case italic on the same line as the text. Only words to be set in italics should be underlined. It would be helpful if authors could indicate the weight of heading by use of ringed capital letters in the margin; that is, A for first order, B for second order and so on.
Abbreviations
SI units should be used throughout; Imperial equivalents are not required. Numbers referring to units of measurement (e.g. 10 mm) are never spelt out; if it does not refer to a unit of measurement then numbers fewer than ten are spelt out. Figure is abbreviated to Fig. both in the text and figure captions, except when it is the first word of a sentence.
Tables
These must be self-explanatory, typed on separate sheets, numbered consecutively and carry an appropriate title. The same material should not be presented in both tabular and graphical form. If material can be presented in either form then the graphical form is preferred. Vertical rulings should not be used in tables.
A table of mean yields should always present an estimate of the variation, usually the standard error of the mean (s.e.m.) or the standard error of difference between two means (s.e.d.). Please do not use spaces to align columns in tables.
Illustrations
Authors are encouraged to prepare their illustrations electronically (both line diagrams and photographs). Please use either a draw or chart/graph program such as Illustrator, Excel, Sigmaplot, Harvard Graphics, or Cricket Graph and save the files in one of the following formats: encapsulated PostScript (EPS) (preferred), Illustrator (preferred), Excel (provided the Excel files have been saved with the chart encapsulated), or as pictures in a Word file.
Authors unable to prepare electronic illustrations should submit lettered line drawings and lettered and mounted photographs that comply with the instructions below. These must be of high quality as they will be scanned for publication.
Line drawings. Original line drawings may be produced using computer graphics with laser printing, or drawn with black ink on white board or on drawing or tracing paper, and with regard to the size of the printed page (17.5 by 22.8 cm). The dimensions must not exceed 30 by 50 cm. If originals are larger than this they should be photographically reduced and high-quality bromide prints used as originals. Lettering should be in sans-serif type (Helvetica preferred) with the first letter of the first word and any proper names capitalised. The x-height of inscriptions after reduction should be 1.2-1.3 mm (capitals 2 mm). Thus, for the preferred reductions of graphs to 30, 40, or 50% of original linear dimensions, the initial x-height of lettering should be 4, 3, or 2.5 mm, respectively. Symbols and grid marks should be the same respective sizes, and curves and axes should then be 0.8, 0.7, or 0.6 mm thick, respectively. Proportionately smaller sizes of type, symbols, grid marks and curve thicknesses should be used for lesser reductions. The following symbols should be used: 
. Grid marks should point inwards; legends to axes should state the quantity being measured and be followed by the appropriate SI units in parentheses.
Photographs
Photographs must be of the highest quality with a full range of tones and of good contrast. Before being mounted, photographs must be trimmed squarely to exclude features not relevant to the paper and be separated from neighbouring photographs by uniform spaces that will be 2 mm wide after reduction. Lettering should be in a sans-serif type and contrast with its background; thus, white lettering should be used on darker backgrounds. The size of lettering should be such that the final height after reduction is 1.5-2 mm. A scale bar must be inserted on each photomicrograph and electron micrograph. Important features to which attention has been drawn in the text should be indicated.
Suitable electronic formats for photographs are TIFF and EPS at a required resolution of 300 d.p.i. Colour photographs are accepted; however, the journal does not cover the cost of their printing. Please specify to the editor if you wish to publish photographs in colour. Electronic files of colour figures or photographs should be saved in CMYK colour rather than in RGB colour as this is required for our printing purposes. Authors should note that colour may change when converted to CMYK from RGB colour, and hence may not be a true reproduction of the hard copies provided.
References
In the text a reference should be cited by the author´s name and date. Where there are three or more authors the first author´s name is given followed by et al. An alphabetical list of references should be provided at the end of the text giving surnames of authors, initials, year of publication (in parentheses), title of paper, name of journal (in full), volume number and first and last page numbers. Authors should check the most recent issue of the Journal to familiarise themselves with the conventions used for citing references to books, periodicals and other literature.
Footnotes
In general, avoid the use of footnotes. Working this material into the text itself is the preferred option. If they must be used, indicate them by superscript numbers in the text, and type them all double-spaced on a separate page. Never use footnotes to cite references.
Proofs
These will be sent to authors to enable them to check for the correctness of the typesetting. Excessive alterations made after page proofing may be charged to the author.
Offprints
Authors can order offprints on the appropriate form sent with the proofs.
