Submissions to Irish Forestry and Guidelines for Authors
Submissions- Only original material, unpublished elsewhere, will be considered for publication in Irish Forestry. Where material has been submitted for publication elsewhere, authors must indicate the journal and the date of submission.
- All submissions must be in MS Word, submitted to the Editor, Irish Forestry at sif@eircom.net (see Guidelines). Authors are requested to keep papers as concise as possible and no more than 12 pages long (including tables and figures).
- Submissions will be acknowledged by the Editor. Authors will be informed if the paper is to be sent for peer review. If peer review is not envisaged an explanation will be provided to authors.
- On submission, authors should indicate up to three potential referees for their paper (providing full contact details for each referee). Choice of peer reviewer rests in all cases with the Editor.
- Peer reviews will be communicated to authors by the Editor. Changes suggested by the reviewer must be considered and responded to. The decision to publish will be taken by the Editor, whose decision is final.
Irish Forestry publishes high quality articles and reviews covering all aspects of research, practice, history, policy and related areas of interest primarily to forestry in Ireland. Since the readership is largely composed of professional foresters, the Journal particularly welcomes general and review papers covering topical issues of relevance to Irish forestry. The Journal also welcomes papers from international authors. The aim of the journal is to provide information that promotes the sustainable development of forests and woodlands. The Journal also seeks to foster tree cultures and traditions. Only original scientific papers, unpublished elsewhere, will be considered for publication in Irish Forestry. However, the Editorial Board may consider reprinting (if the copyright holder permits) a previously published review or general paper, if the contents merit it, especially if the original article is not readily accessible to the majority of our members. Scientific papers will not be reprinted.
Authors must indicate if the material has been submitted for publication elsewhere in the past. PLEASE NOTE that papers will NOT be considered further unless they have been formatted as outlined in the Guidelines for Authors and the English is of a good standard. Authors should use the following guidelines when submitting material for publication in Irish Forestry. Authors are advised to consult a recent issue of the journal to become familiar with layout and conventions.
The recommended format and layout is designed primarily for scientific articles. The authors of reviews and general papers are advised to conform to the format outlined insofar as is possible.
- General format and layout
For the original submission, authors are asked to submit one file only, containing figures, tables etc. Following acceptance of the paper in principle, usually following revision, you may be asked to submit some or all of the figures in a different format (see no 4 below).
Microsoft Word is the preferred software program. If using another program, authors are asked to convert their files to Word before submission. PDF files will not be accepted.
Use Times New Roman 12 size font for all text.
Manuscript should be double-spaced throughout (including title page, abstract, text, references, tables, and legends).
Margins 2.5 cm all around.
Include page and line numbers (consecutive from beginning of document) for the convenience of the reviewers.
Order of sections within scientific papers: (i) title page, containing full email and institute address for first author and the total number of words in article; (ii) abstract page, providing a maximum of five keywords below the abstract, avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts; (iii) introduction; (iv) materials and methods; (v) results; (vi) discussion; (vii) references; (viii) tables; (ix) figure legends; and (x) figures. Some papers may not contain one or more of these sections.
- Word and reference limits
Scientific articles
6,000 words maximum (including title, tables/figures, figure legends, acknowledgements, and references).
Maximum 30 references.
Abstract no more than 250 words.
Review articles
8,000 words maximum (including title, abstract, acknowledgements, references, tables/figures, and figure legends).
Maximum 60 references.
Abstract no more than 400 words.
Other articles
3,000 words maximum.
Maximum 20 references.
No abstract.
In exceptional cases, papers longer than 3,000 words may be permitted, if the Editorial Board believes that the contents merit this.
- References
The following formats are recommended:
- Gallagher, G. and Gillespie, J. 1984. The economics of peatland afforestation. In Proc. 7th Int. Peat Conf., Dublin. Vol. 3: 271-285.
- Kerruish, C.M. and Shepherd, K.R. 1983. Thinning practices in Australia. N. Z. J. For. Sci. 47: 140-167.
- Lavender, D.P. 1984. Plant physiology and the nursery environment: interactions affecting seedling growth. In Forest nursery manual: production of bareroot seedlings. Eds. Duryea, M.L. and Landis, T.D., Martinus Nijhoff/Dr W. Junk Publ., The Hague/Boston/Lancaster, pp 133-141.
- Figures, Tables and measurement units
Figure and table captions and general style should follow recent editions of Irish Forestry. Tables and Figures should have titles and contain sufficient detail in a legend immediately following the title to be understandable without reference to the text.
Tables should be submitted in the same format as the article (Word) and not another format embedded into the document (Excel files are not acceptable). Use the “Insert Table” function when you create tables. Spaces or tabs may create problems when the table is typeset and may result in errors.
For the original submission, picture versions of figures are acceptable. After the paper has been provisionally accepted for publication, you may be asked to submit the figures in other formats, preferably saved as graphic files (.eps, .wmf where possible). To permit reduction, the height of all lettering on figures should be at least 3 mm while symbols should measure at least 2 mm.
The Journal insists on the use of metric units of measurement, specifically SI units.
- Review process
Scientific and review papers will be reviewed by one or more independent referee(s). Other papers will be reviewed by the Editorial Board only, although an external review may be requested if deemed necessary. Contributors must suggest the names and full contact details of three possible reviewers. The reviewers must not be from the same institutions as the authors, and one must be from a country different to any of the authors. The reviewers will be blinded to the authorship of the manuscript. The Editor will make a final decision about the manuscript, after considering the reviewers' comments.
The Journal's Editorial Board does not enter into negotiations once a decision on a manuscript has been made. The Editor's decision is final.
Papers accepted for publication become the copyright of Irish Forestry, but author(s) will be allowed to use the material for scholarly communication.
- Submissions
Submissions, including the names and contact details for the suggested referees, should be sent electronically to: sif@eircom.net.
Irish Forestry - House Style and Layout
Download Irish Forestry - House Style and Layout