RSBL_5_1_cover.qxp 1/13/09 8:39 PM Page 2 GUIDANCE FOR AUTHORS Editor Selection criteria Categories The criteria for selection are scientific excellence, originality and Papers published in Biology 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 • marine biology 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 • molecular evolution reports received from the referees and the Editorial Board. • community ecology • neurobiology Editorial Board • conservation biology • palaeontology Publishing format • pathogen biology Brian Charlesworth, Editor Joan Herbers Biology Letters are published regularly online and in bimonthly print • evolutionary biology School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University Kathryn Arnold Toby Johnson issues. Along with all Royal Society journals, we are committed to • evolutionary developmental • phylogeny Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, University of Glasgow Roslin Institute, Roslin Biocentre archiving and providing perpetual access. Although the printed biology Phoebe Barnard Lukas Keller • physiology Global Change Research Group, Kirstenbosch Research Centre version of Biology Letters is limited to 2500 words, there is the Zoologisches Museum, Universität Zürich • genome biology • population ecology Andrew Biewener Hanna Kokko facility for Electronic Supplementary Material (ESM). Contents of the Concord Field Station, Harvard University Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki • global change biology • population genetics Daniel Blumstein Alun Lloyd ESM might include details of methods, derivations of equations, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles Department of Mathematics, North Carolina State University large tables of data, DNA sequences and computer programs. Lindell Bromham Johanna Mappes Electronic Submission details School of Botany and Zoology, Australian National University Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä However, the printed version must include enough detail to satisfy The Royal Society’s electronic-submission and peer-review service John Brookfield Chris Margules most non-specialist readers. Supplementary data up to 10Mb is Institute of Genetics, University of Nottingham Sustainable Ecosystems, CSIRO provides Biology Letters authors with the facility to submit their Rob Brooks Daniel Mennill placed on the Society's website free of charge. Larger datasets must School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales papers online. The service allows you to upload files in a reliable and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Windsor be deposited in recognised public domain databases by the author. Richard Byrne Charles Nunn user-friendly way, using a Web-based system. When your paper is School of Psychology, University of St Andrews Primatology, Max Planck Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Leipzig Josep Call Sarah Otto received, an immediate acknowledgement is sent that details how Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia Conditions of publication you can track your contribution online. Clive Catchpole John Pannell Articles must not have been published previously, nor be under School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford Tom Cavalier-Smith Andrew Rambaut consideration for publication elsewhere. The main findings of the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh article should not have been reported in the mass media. 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