Author Instructions
The Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria is published twice yearly in an online, open-access format through an agreement between the Royal Society of Victoria and CSIRO Publishing.
All manuscripts should be submitted via ScholarOne Manuscripts. Please contact the Editor-in-Chief at editor@rsv.org.au if you encounter difficulties.
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria welcomes the submission of articles presenting original and significant research that are within the journal´s scope.
- Publishing Policies
- Peer review
- Authorship
- Licence to Publish
- Submission
- Manuscript Categories
- Format
- Use of inclusive language
- Animal Ethics
- Authorship, title and layout information
- Text headings and subheadings
- Citations
- Data Availability Statement
- Conflicts of Interest
- Declaration of Funding
- References
- Images
- Supplementary Material
- Charges
- Proofs
- Reprints
- Copyright
Publishing Policies
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria insists on high standards of ethical behaviour throughout the publication process. Our journal editors work within the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Further information on our policies can be found at http://www.publish.csiro.au/rs/PublishingPolicies.
Peer review
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria is a peer-reviewed journal that uses a single-blind peer-review. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible to maintain high-quality peer-review of papers submitted to the journal and works together with the Editorial Board to ensure a thorough and fair peer-review and the highest scientific publishing standards. All submissions undergo preliminary assessment by the Editor, who may reject a paper before peer review when it is outside the journal’s scope or is of insufficient quality. The Editor or an Associate Editor may select reviewers and after at least two review reports are received, an Associate Editor makes a recommendation, or the Editor decides whether to accept/reject or send a manuscript for revision. The final decision is made by the Editor.
Under our single-blind policy, reviewers’ names are not disclosed to the authors. To increase transparency, reviewers may choose to sign their reports. We ask reviewers and authors not to directly contact each other while the manuscript is under consideration, rather keep all communication through ScholarOne with the Editor’s involvement.
Authorship
The conditions around authorship for Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria should follow the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), for more information see http://www.publish.csiro.au/rs/PublishingPolicies.
For details regarding copyright, please see Copyright/Licence to Publish.
Submission
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.
A covering letter must accompany the submission and should include the name, address, 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. In addition, please provide names, addresses and email addresses of three persons not directly associated with the work and outside the author’s institution who could act as referees. Final selection of reviewers is the responsibility of the Editor.
If you encounter any difficulties, or you have any queries, please contact the Editor-in-Chief at editor@rsv.org.au.
Manuscript Categories
As well as original research papers, the journal may publish review articles and short communications. The length of papers considered for publication is not limited but may be rejected by the Editor on a case-by-case basis if considered to be too long.
Format
All manuscripts should be written in clear and concise English. Use 12 point font and double spacing throughout; leave 30 mm margins around the text; number all pages. The Proceedings uses Australian spelling according to the latest edition of the Macquarie Dictionary.
All measurements are to be expressed in Système Internationale (SI) units (e.g. µm, mm, m,km; see http://www.bipm.org/en/si/ for full details) and standard symbols and abbreviations used. When used in a general narrative, and numbers are not a focus of the text (eg as they would be in a statistical report) nor refer to a measurement, spell out up to and including ten. Note: Ma refers to a date (eg 25 Ma) not a time interval, which is written as 25 million years.
Wherever possible fractions should be written in the form x/y.
Geological papers must follow the International Stratigraphic Guide and should cite geological maps in the text with italics for the 1:100 000 series and full caps for the 1:250 000 series. New stratigraphic names should be registered with the Australian Stratigraphic Units Database, and definitions approved prior to publication. The Geoscience Australia stratigraphy webpages (http://tinyurl.com/8wfjqzv) provide a useful guide.
In zoological and botanical papers, the first mention of all species in the text, tables and figures should be followed by the author (authority) and date in brackets (if necessary). For new taxonomic names and taxonomic revisions please adhere to the latest edition of the International Code of Zoological (see http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted-sites/iczn/code/) or Botanical Nomenclature (see http://www.bgbm.org/iapt/nomenclature/code/default.htm).
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).
Authors are advised to note the style of headings, tables and illustrations exemplified in the latest issues of the Journal.
Use of inclusive language
These guidelines should be used to assist in identifying appropriate language, but are by no means exhaustive or definitive. Inclusive language comprises carefully chosen words and phrases that are respectful and promote the acceptance and value of all people. It is language which is free from words, phrases or tones that demean, insult, exclude, stereotype, or trivialise people on the basis of their membership of a certain group or because of a particular attribute. As such, inclusive language should make no assumptions about the beliefs or commitments of any reader, and contain nothing which might imply that one individual is superior to another on any grounds including but not limited to: age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition. We encourage the use of plural nouns (e.g., 'they' as default wherever possible instead of 'he/she'), and recommend avoiding the use of descriptors that refer to personal attributes, unless there is scientific or clinical relevance. For further guidance on inclusive language see Inclusive language | Style Manual. If there are questions about language use and/or publishing with regards to First Nations people, please contact the Journal.
Animal ethics
Papers reporting work with animals must include a reference to the code of practice adopted for the reported experimentation or manipulation and provide details of permits for the study. Editors should ensure that peer reviewers consider ethical and welfare issues raised by the research they are reviewing, and to request additional information from authors where needed. In situations where there is doubt as to the adherence to appropriate procedures or approval by the relevant ethics committee, editors are required to reject these papers.
CSIRO Publishing also follows guidelines provided by the CSIRO Animal Ethics committee.
Authorship, title and layout information
Authors should consult papers published in Volume 134, Number 1, for a guide to the format of manuscripts.
Papers should be organised as follows:
1. A brief title, capitalised and, if possible, beginning with a key word.
2. The name and address of the author(s), with numerical superscripts to distinguish addresses of multiple authors. Names of authors should begin with first name, initials and surname, e.g. James I. Smith.
3. A short abstract of not more than 200 words.
4. Name and email address of corresponding author.
5. Up to 8 key words.
6. The main text. Do not use the heading ‘Introduction’. Within the text up to three grades of headings may be used. See 'Text headings and subheadings'.
7. Acknowledgements. The contribution of colleagues who do not meet all criteria for authorship should be acknowledged. Anyone included in the Acknowledgements section should have granted permission to be listed. Sources of financial support should be acknowledged in a separate ‘Declaration of Funding’ rather than here.
8. Author statements, including Data Availability, Conflicts of Interest and Declaration of Funding statement. For more information see sections following Citations.
9. References. See 'References'.
10. Tables and Figures. Each table with its title should be printed on a separate sheet. A separate sheet should also be used to list captions to figures in numerical order.
Text headings and subheadings
Headings – Centre, and use upper case lettering.
Subheadings – Left justify, and use lower case lettering.
Further subdivisions – Left justify, use lower case lettering and start text on the same line.
Citations
Cite references in the text as Archbold (1998), (Archbold et al. 1998) or (Archbold 1998: 2, fig. 1).
Multiple citations should be arranged alphabetically (Archbold 1998, 2000; Smith & Jones 2004).
Where there are more than two authors for a reference, “et al.” is used, and is not italicised. All references cited in the text and in captions and tables must be listed at the end of the paper. Footnotes in the main text are not allowed.
In taxonomic works, synonymies should be of the same format as the following examples, with a dash preceding authors’ names except in the case of reference to the original description.
Eudendrium generalis Lendenberg 1885: 351, pl. 6. Lendenberg 1887: 16.
Eudendrium generale.—Hartlaub 1905: 515.—Watson 1985: 196-200, figs 40-52.
non Eudendrium generale.—Watson 1982: 89, pl. 10, fig. 3.
Eudendrium lendenfeldi Briggs 1922: 150.—Rosler 1978: 104, 120, pl. 20, figs 1-3.
Note: Plate and figure numbers, etc. originally given in Roman numerals should be transliterated into Arabic figures; this is also the case in the main text and in the references.
Data Availability Statement
CSIRO Publishing encourages authors to share the research data underlying their papers to support transparency and reproducibility of research. A Data Availability Statement must be included at the end of the manuscript indicating whether the data used to generate the arguments or conclusions in the paper are available and, if so, where to access them. For more information on CSIRO Publishing’s data sharing policy and for examples of what to include in the data availability statement please see https://www.publish.csiro.au/journals/publishingpolicies#6.
Authors can get credit for their work by citing their research data in the reference list of their article. Citations should include at a minimum: all authors, year of publication, title of dataset, record ID, publisher. DOI or URL if available. Examples of how to cite research data:
Wang, L., Edwards, D., Bailey, A., Carr, L., Boreham, C., Grosjean, E., Anderson, J., Jarrett, A., MacFarlane, S., Southby, C., Carson, C., Khider, K., Palu, T., and Henson, P. (2021). Well log data analysis and interpretation on the pre-Carboniferous succession in Waukarlycarly 1, Canning Basin, Western Australia. Record 2021/003 [Dataset]. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. Available at http://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/144547
Fiddes, S., Pepler, A., Saunders, K., and Hope, P. (2020). Southern Australia’s climate regions (Version 1.0.0) [Dataset]. Zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.4265471
Digital Earth Australia (2021). Wetlands Insight Tool Queensland Wetlands Polygons. Version 1.0.0 [Dataset]. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. Available at http://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/144795
Conflicts of Interest
A ´Conflicts of Interest´ section should be included at the end of the manuscript. It should identify any financial or non-financial (political, personal, professional) interests/relationships that may be interpreted to have influenced the manuscript. If there is no conflict of interest, please include the statement "The authors declare no conflicts of interest".
Declaration of Funding
Under a subheading 'Declaration of Funding' at the end of the text authors are required to declare all sources of funding for the research and/or preparation of the article, and the inclusion of grant numbers is recommended. Only formal funding sources should be included. Authors should declare sponsor names along with explanations of the role of those sources if any in the preparation of the data or manuscript or the decision to submit for publication; or a statement declaring that the supporting source had no such involvement. If no funding has been provided for the research, please include the following sentence: "This research did not receive any specific funding".
References
Particular attention should be paid to the format of the listed references and their mode of citation in the text. In general, order references alphabetically. Note that for entries beginning with the same surname, one- and two-author entries precede those with multiple (three or more) authors; these multiple-author entries should then be ordered chronologically. Journal titles must be cited in full as they appear on the title page.
- Curtis, N.P., 2001. Germination of Xanthorrhoea australis using treatments that mimic post-fire and unburnt conditions. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 113(2): 237– 245.
- Bergson, H., 1928. Creative Evolution. MacMillan and Co., Limited, London, xv 425 pp.
- Rosen, B.R.&Turnsek, D., 1989. Extinction patterns and biogeography of scleractinian corals across the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary. In Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Fossil Cnidaria including Archaeocyatha and Spongiomorphs, P.A. Jell & J.W. Pickett, eds. Association of Australasian Palaeontologists, Brisbane. pp. 355–370.
For any other type of reference, please see a recent article from the Proceedings.
Personal communications and unpublished data are not to be listed in the reference list but should be mentioned in full in the text (e.g. P. Brown pers. comm. 2002).
Images
The use of images, in particular coloured illustrations, is encouraged. There are no charges for colour illustrations.
All images (photographs, tables, illustrations, graphs) must be supplied electronically:
- as separate files (not embedded in the text)
- with fonts embedded in the file
- as colour, black & white or grayscale
- in TIFF, JPG or high resolution PDF format
- numbered sequentially according to their appearance in the text
- preferably designed for one or two column width
- at a resolution of at least 300 dpi (for photos) and 800 dpi (for line artwork) at final size
- with lines thicker than 0.3 point.
Photographs
Ensure that permission has been gained by the copyright holder of the photograph and include a photographer credit in your caption. If your photograph contains people, please ensure that they have provided permission for their image to be published.
Captions
Refer to images in the text as “Figure 1A, B”, “Figures 1, 2” or “Figures 1-4”, and indicate in a new paragraph in the text where the illustrations should be placed (e.g. Insert Figure 1/Table 1 near here). Captions should be concise and clear and should fully explain the figure. Explain any symbols or abbreviations used in the caption of the figure, or in a legend. If your figure has multiple parts, ensure each part is explained in the caption. If your figure is a photograph, ensure the photographer is credited in the caption.
Captions should be concise and clear and should fully explain the figure. Explain any symbols or abbreviations used in the caption of the figure, or in a legend. If your figure has multiple parts, ensure each part is explained in the caption. If your figure is a photograph, ensure the photographer is credited in the caption.
Please do not supply images embedded in Word documents. These are unsuitable for publication.
If your figure files are too large for upload to ScholarOne please ensure you let CSIRO Publishing know as soon as your paper is accepted and an alternative transfer will be arranged. Note: Figures used in the final paper will be based on what is provided – if the quality is low in the original, it will remain low in the final publication.
Authors are responsible for obtaining prior permission from the copyright holder for the use of figures/images used previously in other publications. Authors may be charged a fee by the copyright holder for such reuse.
Supplementary material
Supplementary material of a detailed nature that may be useful to other researchers, but which is not essential to the published paper, may be submitted separately with the manuscript for inspection by the referees. Such material will be made available online.
Charges
Publishing a manuscript in Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria is free of charge. All authors will receive a PDF copy of their published manuscript which will contain any colour figures submitted with the original manuscript.
Proofs
Page proofs are sent to the corresponding author for checking prior to publication. Proofs should be checked and returned to the Production Editor within 48 h of receipt. At this stage only essential alterations and correction of printer errors may be undertaken.
Reprints
Corresponding authors will be sent a PDF of their paper upon publication. Hard copy reprints may also be ordered before publication by contacting the Production Editor.
Copyright
For details regarding copyright, please see Copyright/Licence to Publish.