Instructions to authors

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Aims and Scope (see more details in Desneux & Biondi, 2018, Entomologia Generalis 37(1), 1–5)

Entomologia Generalis welcomes high-quality contributions from the field of basic and applied ecology of arthropods, insects and mite pests, as well as their natural enemies and pollinators. Articles published in Entomologia Generalis should not be descriptive, but should bring novel findings on topics of current importance.

Entomologia Generalis fully complies with the open access requirements of UKRI, Wellcome, and NIHR. Where required by their funder, authors retain the right to distribute their author accepted manuscript (AAM), such as via an institutional and/or subject repository (e.g. Europe PMC), under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence for release not earlier than the date of first online publication.

Article types

  • Original Research Articles
    Such articles are high quality research articles on advances in knowledge on fields covered by the journal (see scope). They should bring valuable and original insights in key research areas and they are expected to have a broad and rapid impact on the scientific community working in the fields of entomology and ecology of arthropods.
  • Review Articles
    They should provide significant developments in the field of entomology and ecology of arthropods. Although review papers are usually solicited by members of the editorial board, non-solicited review articles may be considered for publication in Entomologia Generalis.
  • Letters and Short Notes
    Short notes are short documents providing original research results, mini-reviews, perspectives or letters, which report novel findings addressing topics of major importance and that need to be made available to the scientific community quickly.
  • Comments
    The journal also publishes comments and rebuttals on papers previously published in Entomologia Generalis. Such documents should first be discussed with the editors and are not to be submitted directly to the journal.

Article length

Word counts given below include the abstract (250 words maximum), text, acknowledgments, references (30 references accounting for 900 words), tables and figures (half page table or figure accounting for 450 words and full-page figure or table accounting for 900 words).

  • Research article: maximum 7000 words.
  • Review articles: maximum 13000 words.
  • Letters and Short notes: maximum 3000 words.
  • Comments: maximum 2500 words.

Manuscript Formatting

  • Manuscripts should be submitted in MS word format i.e. .doc or.docx.
  • Acceptable files: main document: .doc and .docx; tables: editable tables at the end of the main document as doc and .docx; figures: jpg, tif, pdf or any vectorized file format.
  • Page and line numbering (MS Word numbering option) must be used continuously throughout the entire manuscript.
  • Please use double-line spacing for the text.
  • 12-point Times Roman should be used throughout the whole manuscript.
  • Page format should be set up at 2.5 cm margins in left and right sides as well as top and bottom of the page.
  • The text of the entire manuscript must be left justified.
  • Use tab stops or other commands for indents, not spaces.
  • Up to three levels of headings are accepted.
  • Use the MS equation editor or MathType for equations.
  • Figure legends must be numbered and provided at the end of the main document. Make sure to cite each table and figure at least once in the main text using the wording Fig. and Table
  • Tables should be prepared using the table function in MS Word, do not use not spreadsheets.
  • Genus and species names must be written in italics. Spell out the genus name only at the first mentioning in the main text and also when appearing at the beginning of a sentence throughout the manuscript.
  • Abbreviations can be used pending they are defined at first time they appear, abbreviations should be used consistently throughout the manuscripts.
  • Sentences with personal reference to the authors (I, We, Our) should be avoided, passive voice is preferred.
  • Footnotes are not allowed in main text, still they can be used in Tables.

Language

  • All contributions should be written in either American or British English language. The English type should be consistent throughout the entire manuscript.
  • Authors for whom English is a second language should have their manuscript edited before submission, either by a professional service or with the help of a native English speaker. Manuscripts with poor English not understandable for reviewers will be returned to authors without review. Accepted manuscripts may still have to be polished for English before final publication; Schweizerbart Science Publishers can provide such service at reasonable costs.

Manuscript structure

Title page (page 1)

  • Title: must be concise and informative. For organism names, please give the common or latin name but no authority or order and family. Do not use capital letters for the first letter or each word of the title.
  • A short title (max. 45 characters) must be added below the full title.
  • Author(s) name(s): Include first the given name, the initial(s) of the middle name(s) then the family name. Check that all names are accurately spelled.
  • Authors shall provide their affiliation(s) and full address(es), a valid e-mail address and telephone number(s).

Abstract (page 2)

  • Provide an abstract of up to 250 words. The abstract should be self-explaining and should summarize the conceptual framework and aim of the work, the main results and conclusions. Moreover, it should not contain any undefined abbreviations or unspecified references. All Latin names should be provided with the correct authority and if applicable with (Order: Family).

Keywords (page 2)

  • Provide a minimum of 5 keywords which can be used for indexing purposes. Avoid words already present in the title and include the family of the most important organism(s) in the paper (e.g., those referred to in the title).

Main body for Research Articles (starting page 3)

  • Divide your manuscript into clearly divided sections following strictly the order: Introduction, Materials and methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments, References, Figure legends, Tables (one per page), Figures (one figure per page or one figure panel per page). Sections should not be numbered.
    - Each heading should appear on its own separate line.
    - Subsections (subheadings) can be used only in Materials and methods and Results sections. Subsections should have a brief title and no more than two sublevels are allowed.
  • Introduction: Provide an adequate background, formulate the hypothesis(es), state the objectives of the work. Avoid a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.
  • Material and methods: Provide clear details to enable the work to be reproduced or expanded. Methods already published should be indicated by reference(s), and mostly relevant modifications should be described.
  • Results: Be clear and concise. Do not repeat and/or list all the data presented in figures and/or in tables, but mention and describe the significant and striking ones. Ideally, the results should have subsections matching those of the Material and methods section.
  • Discussion: The text should explore and discuss thoroughly the significance of the results. Do not repeat the results and do not list studies from other authors without deep integrative text legitimating the citations. Do not over-speculate on results.
    Combining Results and Discussion sections is not accepted in Entomologia Generalis. Ideally, the main conclusions of the study should be presented in a short paragraph at the end of the Discussion section.
  • Acknowledgements should be given as a brief statement following the Discussion section. They may refer to any technical, scientific or linguistic help received for the work by colleagues, and/or by professionals and/or by the editor(s) and anonymous referees. Authors should use this section to acknowledge any funding, citing the funding source, the project title/acronym and grant number (if any).
  • Citation in the text. Cite references in the text by family name of the first author and year in parentheses, and use the format provided here as template. Examples: “Several studies supported this hypothesis (Abbott 1991; Smith et al. 2001; 2002a; 2002b; Thompson et al. 2010). The samples were analyzed using the procedures by Heimpel et al. (2012) and modified by Peterson (2015). Plant belonging to the Rubus genus are considered the main hosts for this insect (Wang & Lee 2016).”
  • Reference list. The list of references should only include works that are cited in the text and that have been published, in press or accepted for publication. Personal communications and unpublished works are generally not accepted in the text and thus should not be given as references. Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last names of the first author of each work. List multi-author publications of the same first author in chronological order. When authors cite multiple papers authored by the same first author and published in the same year, the year should be followed by a letter, using “a” for the first cited paper, “b” for the second and so on. Ideally, the names of all authors should be provided, the usage of “et al” in long author lists (longer than six authors) can also be used. We strongly recommend authors to use the APA 6 reference style to format references. EndNote users can download the EndNote style file here: www.schweizerbart.de/resources/downloads/style-files/endnote_style_schweizerbart_apa6.ens. Authors not using EndNote shall follow the APA 6 reference formatting style. If possible, please also supply the Endnote reference file.

    Sample references

    • Journal Article:
      Ito, L., Omori, T., Yoneda, M., Yamaguchi, T., Kobayashi, R., & Takahashi, Y. (2018). Origin and migration of trace elements in the surface sediments of Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands. Chemosphere, 202, 65–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.03.083
    • Book:
      Aitken, C. G. G., & Taroni, F. (2004). Statistics and the Evaluation of Evidence for Forensic Scientists. J. Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/0470011238
    • Book chapter:
      Wantzen, K. M., Callil, C., & Butakka, C. M. M. (2011). Benthic invertebrates of the Pantanal and its tributaries. In W. J. Junk, C. J. Silva, C. N. Cunha, & K. M. Wantzen (Eds.), The Pantanal: Ecology, biodiversity and sustainable management of a large neotropical seasonal wetland (pp. 127–141). Sofia, Moscow: Pensoft.
    • Thesis:
      Králík, M. (2004). Paleodermatoglyphics. Analysis of fingerprints on ancient ceramics: theoretical basis, methodological issues and practical recommendations. PhD thesis, Masaryk University in Brno.
    • Web:
      Haq, B. U. (2018): Jurassic Sea-Level Variations: A Reappraisal. GSA Today. https://doi.org/10.1130/GSATG359A.1
    • Other:
      Rivaldería, N., Expósito, N., Gómez-Herrero, F. J., Juanino, R. M., Cruz, R., Hernández-Hurtado, L. E., . . . Alonso-Rodríguez, C. G. R. (2017). Diferencias intra e interpoblacionales en la frecuencia de apar-ición de los distintos tipos de deltas (o trirradii) dactilares. XX Congreso Sociedad Española de Antropología Física.
  • Tables should be presented following the list of references, they must be numbered and provided with a concise heading.
  • Figures should be presented at the end of the manuscript, they should be provided with an explanatory short heading. A main figure may be divided in several subfigures that need to be named with capital letters in round brackets, likewise to be repeated in the legend. All figures should be ready for reproduction with clear lettering in a suitable size and of excellent quality.

Article Processing Charge (APC); optional Open Access

  • For all accepted papers an APC charge of € 790.– (plus taxes, if applicable) will apply.
  • Furthermore we offer a flat Open Access fee of € 1690.– + taxes for a CC-BY-NC Open Access license. The Open Access license fee includes the above-mentioned APC charges as well as color publishing charges.
    Please indicate, if you opt for Open Access publication of your article against the mentioned fees.

Manuscript submission

  • Submission of a manuscript implies that (i) the work described has not been published before, (ii) it is not under consideration for publication anywhere else, (iii) its publication has been approved by all co-authors. The publisher will not be held legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.
  • Authors should submit their manuscript as a single MS word document (including all tables and figures) AND as a matching single pdf file to https://ms.schweizerbart.de/submit/entomologia First time author have to register to the journals submission system (link see above).

Submitted documents will be considered for publication and forwarded to the referees only when they fully meet all above mentioned preconditions.

December 21, 2023