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GUIDANCE FOR AUTHORS Editor Selection criteria Categories The criteria for selection are scientific excellence, originality and Papers published in Letters will be categorised by subject, Professor Brian Charlesworth interest across disciplines within biology. Papers are assessed by the which include Publishing Editor Editorial Board for suitability before full peer-review. Their • animal behaviour • molecular Fiona Pring recommendations are passed to the Editor. The Editor is responsible for all editorial decisions and he makes these decisions based on the • biomechanics • neurobiology reports received from the referees and the Editorial Board. • community ecology • palaeontology Editorial Board • evolutionary biology Publishing format • pathogen biology Brian Charlesworth, Editor Jessica Gurevitch • evolutionary developmental Biology Letters are published regularly online and in bimonthly print • phylogeny School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University biology Kathryn Arnold Daniel Haydon issues. Along with all Royal Society journals, we are committed to • physiology Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, University of Glasgow Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, University of Glasgow archiving and providing perpetual access. Although the printed • biology Phoebe Barnard Joan Herbers version of Biology Letters is limited to 2500 words, there is the Global Change Research Group, Kirstenbosch Research Centre Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University • global change biology • population ecology Andrew Biewener Toby Johnson facility for Electronic Supplementary Material (ESM). Contents of the • marine biology • population Concord Field Station, Harvard University Roslin Institute, Roslin Biocentre ESM might include details of methods, derivations of equations, Daniel Blumstein Lukas Keller Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University Zoologisches Museum, Universität Zürich large tables of data, DNA sequences and computer programs. of California, Los Angeles Thomas Kocher However, the printed version must include enough detail to satisfy Electronic Submission details Lindell Bromham Hubbard Center for Genome Studies, University of New Hampshire School of Botany and , Australian National University Hanna Kokko most non-specialist readers. Supplementary data up to 10Mb is The Royal Society’s electronic-submission and peer-review service John Brookfield Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki placed on the Society's website free of charge. Larger datasets must provides Biology Letters authors with the facility to submit their Institute of Genetics, University of Nottingham Alun Lloyd papers online. The service allows you to upload files in a reliable and Rob Brooks Department of Mathematics, North Carolina State University be deposited in recognised public domain databases by the author. School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University Johanna Mappes user-friendly way, using a Web-based system. When your paper is of New South Wales Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä Conditions of publication received, an immediate acknowledgement is sent that details how Richard Byrne Chris Margules School of Psychology, University of St Andrews Sustainable Ecosystems, CSIRO Articles must not have been published previously, nor be under you can track your contribution online. Josep Call Charles Nunn consideration for publication elsewhere. The main findings of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Primatology, Max Planck Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Leipzig Clive Catchpole Sarah Otto article should not have been reported in the mass media. Like many School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia journals Biology Letters employs a strict embargo policy where the Tom Cavalier-Smith John Pannell Department of Zoology, University of Oxford Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford reporting of a scientific article by the media is embargoed until a For full submission guidelines and access to all journal content please Tracey Chapman Mark Rausher specific time. 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Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Mammal Laboratory Department of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, University of St Andrews Tom Daniel Paul Schmid-Hempel Biology Department, University of Washington Experimentelle Oekologie, ETH Zürich Laurent Duret Richard Shine Laboratoire Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, CNRS Department of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney The Royal Society is an independent scientific academy For further information on the Society’s activities, please Hans Ellegren Tom Smulders founded in 1660 and self-governing under Royal contact the following departments on the extensions Avdelningen för Evolutionsbiologi, Uppsala Universitet School of Biology, University of Newcastle Richard Fortey Paul Sniegowski Charter. 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Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology, University College London Section of Evolution and Ecology, UC Davis Jacques Gauthier Wilfried Thuiller Research Support (UK grants and fellowships) Division of Vertebrate Paleontology, Yale University Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, CNRS The objectives of the Royal Society are to Research appointments: 2547 Research grants: 2539 Publishing Editor: Fiona Pring AIMS AND SCOPE • recognise excellence in science Conference grants: 2540 (tel: +44 (0)20 7451 2654; fax: +44 (0)20 7976 1837; Launched as an independent journal in 2005 Biology Letters is a primarily • support leading-edge scientific research and its [email protected]) online, peer-reviewed journal that publishes short, high-quality articles from Science Advice across the biological sciences. The scope of Biology Letters is vast: publishing applications General enquiries: 2585 Editorial Coordinator: Louise Gardner high-quality research in any area of the biological sciences. 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