Instructions to Authors
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Author Instructions & Guidelines 2023 (286 KB)
Taprobanica is a SCOPUS and WEB OF SCIENCE indexed, Open Access, Peer Reviewed journal published online by the Faculty of Mathematics & Natural Sciences, Universitas Indonesia. It publishes original papers on
Biodiversity, Species and their Ecology, Systematics and Evolution, Environmental Biology, Biogeography, Illegal Wildlife Trade and other Threats;
The effects of Climate or Land use Change on Biodiversity and its Management for People and Nature;
Biodiversity Policy and Planning, Management and Enhancement Strategies for Sustainable use of Biodiversity and wildlife.
Papers on new techniques or sampling methods and literature surveys are not suitable. Furthermore, specimens of taxa described in Taprobanica as new to science must be deposited in recognised National or International depositories.
All manuscripts must be written in English and submitted through our website, click Submit tab. Manuscripts must be prepared on A4 Size, 8.27 x 11.69 inch (or 21 x 29.7 cm) paper with 1-inch (or 2.54 cm) margins in Microsoft Word document file format, typed with font size, 11 pt. The figures (including graphs) should be submitted in pdf format as a single file and should not be placed on Word Document or merged (or edited with figure numbers etc.) unless requested. The tables can be submitted either in a separate file (in Microsoft Word document file format) or placed at the end of the manuscript file. Submission of a manuscript to the Journal implies that it has not been submitted elsewhere.
If an acknowledgement is not received within 14 working days of submission, please contact the editorial office Contact Us
Authors must strictly follow journal instructions and adhere to guidelines; otherwise manuscript will be returned before considering for review.
Manuscript must have the following:
Figure legends and Tables should be stand-alone at the end of the text. Do not place any figure (or graphs) on the text.
If the manuscript is deemed suitable for the journal by the Editor, it will be edited by an appointed Section Editor and reviewed by selected peer reviewers. Acceptance will be based on reviewers’ recommendations and appropriateness of the manuscript for the journal. Each manuscript must stand on its own merits and be a substantial contribution to the field.
There are two types of manuscripts:
More limited in scope and is usually less than 2000 words (4 or less pages including tables & figures). There are no section headings such as introduction, materials & methods, results, discussion; it also does not have an abstract. Contains only limited number of figures, tables and cited literature. The title should be short (maximum 12 words) and in one line. For short communications the appropriate format can be found here:
Sample format for Short communications:
Sample format for Short communications
Full-length articles usually contain more than 2000 words (4 or more pages excluding tables & figures). The manuscript must be arranged in a proper format and may be redesignated as a short communication at the discretion of the editor. For new taxonomic descriptions, please refer to the format found here:
Sample format for Major articles:
Sample format for Major articles
Text: The title of manuscript, names, addresses, and ORCID IDs of authors, e-mails of corresponding authors should be stated at the beginning of the text. Pages must be numbered with abstract as the first page (lines should be numbered, spaced, and left aligned). The abstract, not exceeding 150 words must indicate the scope and importance findings of the paper, highlighting the principal ones and conclusions. There should not be more than six key words. There are no subheadings for introduction which should be brief stating the objective of the study as well as the latest finding in the field.
Measurements must be in metric units and abbreviations must be defined at first use (except for common ones pertaining to measurement, time, or statistical test). Footnotes (other than in tables) are not permitted. Generic and specific names (and nothing else except secondary headings and some statistical abbreviations) are italicised and taxonomic authorship and year should appear when nomenclatural problems are involved and for the first time mentioned in the text.
The discussion section should provide an interpretation and analysis of the results of the study, without repeating information already presented under the Introduction or Results sections. It should relate the new findings to the existing one and include logical deductions. The Results and Discussion cannot be combined.
Articles will be published using two level subheading styles and should not be capitalised.
Level 1 heading is bold and reserved for Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Systematics (if any), Discussion, Conclusion (if any), Recommendations (if any), Acknowledgements and Literature Cited.
Level 2 heading is italic and bold. More than two levels of subheading are not accepted. The second level can be italicised and underlined.
Acknowledgement: Acknowledgements identify individuals by first name and surname for Major Articles (initials and surname for short communications) and do not list titles (Mr. Mrs. Dr. Prof.). Where there is a lengthy acknowledgement surnames can be included followed by initials only. The popular institutions should be abbreviated. Grants and funding, collecting permits, import/export permits, and Institutional Animal Care protocols must be cited in Acknowledgments.
Literature Cited: References in the text must be checked for consistency with references in the literature-cited section. Authors must pay serious attention to references based on the following Journal format. Manuscript will be returned even without reviewing if reference style is not adhered to.
References to articles by one or two authors must include both surnames in the order they appear in the original publication.
E.g. Dendrelaphis girii is undoubtedly a sister species of D. bifrenalis (Vogel & van Rooijen 2011).
References to articles by more than two authors must include the first author's surname, followed by “et al.”
E.g. Approximately 150 morphospecies were recorded for the three years as a whole including 110 endemic species, at least 50 species new to science (Naggs et al. 2005).
The year of article follows the authors, separated only by a space. References with the same author and year are distinguished by the lower case characters “a, b, c …”, separated only by a comma.
E.g. One hopes that this problem will be solved soon, before complete chaos is installed in higher nomenclature (Dubois 2006a-c, 2008f, 2009b,c).
Literatures cited in the text are listed in chronological order by first author, separated by a comma and a space.
E.g. that species has been recorded from different parts of Sri Lanka (Boulenger 1890, Wall 1921, Smith 1943, Deraniyagala 1955, Taylor 1953, Das & de Silva 2005; Somaweera 2006; David & Vogel 2012).
References include the names of first three authors, in the order that they appear in the original publication; "et al." is used in the literature section in case of more than four authors. The first author is listed with his or her surname first, initial(s) last. All other authors are listed with initial(s) first, surname last.
E.g. Amarasinghe, A.A.T., U. Manthey, E. Stöckli, I. Ineich, S.O. Kullander, F. Tiedemann, C. McCarthy, and D.E. Gabadage (2009). The original descriptions and figures of Sri Lankan agamid lizards (Squamata: Agamidae) of the 18th and 19th centuries. Taprobanica, 1(1): 2–15.
References with the same author and year are distinguished by the lower case characters, “a, b, c …”.
E.g. Dubois, A. (2007a). Phylogeny, taxonomy and nomenclature: the problem of taxonomic categories and of nomenclatural ranks. Zootaxa, 1519(1): 27–68.
Dubois, A. (2007b). Genitives of species and subspecies nomina derived from personal names should not be emended. Zootaxa, 1550(1): 49–68.
Dubois, A. (2007c). Naming taxa from cladograms: some confusions, misleading statements, and necessary clarifications. Cladistics, 23(4): 390–402.
References cited are listed in alphabetical order by first author. Names of journals are not abbreviated and should be in italics. “Volume number(Issue number): Page numbers” are a must.
E.g. Hill, J.E. (1976). Further records of Myotis peshwa (Thomas 1915) (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from the Indian peninsula. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, 73(3): 433–437.
Editorial:
E.g. Kullander, S.O. (2012). Editorial: How embarrassing can it get? Or: Taxonomy undermined. Taprobanica, 4(1): 1–4.
Book: (italic the name of the book): “Publisher, City: Page numbers” are a must.
E.g. Ashton, M., C. V. S. Gunathilake, N. De Zoysa, M. D. Dassanayake, N. Gunatilake, and S. Wijesundara (1997). A Field Guide to the Common Trees and Shrubs of Sri Lanka. Wildlife Heritage Trust of Sri Lanka, Colombo: 432pp.
Edited book: (italic the name of the edited book)
E.g. Bambaradeniya, C.N.B. (ed.) (2006). The Fauna of Sri Lanka: Status of Taxonomy. Research and Conservation. The World Conservation Union Sri Lanka & Government of Sri Lanka, Colombo: 308pp.
Article/chapter in an edited book/Journal supplements (italic the name of the book): “Pp. Article page numbers" and "Publisher (or Journal), City." are a must.
E.g. Bahir, M.M. and K.P. Maduwage (2005). Calotes desilvai, a new agamid lizard from Morningside Forest, Sri Lanka. Pp. 381–392. In: Yeo, D. C.J., P.K.L. Ng, and R. Pethiyagoda (eds.). Contributions to Biodiversity Exploration and Research in Sri Lanka. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supplement No. 12., Singapore.
Government publication: (italic the name of the report)
E.g. Deraniyagala, P.E.P. (1957). Ceylon Administration Reports, part IV – Education. National Museums of Sri Lanka, Colombo: E4–E5.
IUCNSL and MENRSL (2007). The 2007 Red List of threatened Fauna and Flora of Sri Lanka. IUCN Sri Lanka, Colombo: 148pp.
PhD thesis & proceedings: (italic the name of institute & symposium)
E.g. Moody, S.M. (1980). Phylogenetic and historical biogeographical relationships of the genera in the family Agamidae (Reptilia: Lacertilia). PhD thesis, University of Michigan, Michigan.
Jerdon, T.C. (1870). Notes on Indian Herpetology. Proceedings of the Asiatic Society Bengal, Kolkata: 66–85.
Websites and online publications: (do not italic)
E.g. Uetz, P. (2012). The Reptile Database accessed on 12 September 2012.
Table: (Numbered in Arabic) must appear with a short heading at the end of the text. Location of each table should be indicated in blue in the text as (Table 1), (Table 2), etc.
Figure caption: (Numbered in Arabic) should be at the end of the text. Location of each figure should be clearly indicated in blue colour in the text as (Fig. 1), (Fig. 2) etc. In the figure caption it should be expressed as “Figure”.
E.g. Figure 1. Physoschistura tuivaiensis: (A) holotype MUMF 5089, female (46.0 mm SL); (B) paratype MUMF 5087, male (40.8 mm SL); and (C) MUMF 5090 in life (43.7 mm SL).
Taprobanica may publish figures in colour at the discretion of the editors. Sometimes it may be converted into Gray scale. Colour figures will be published free of charge.
Authorship implies responsibility and authors expected to have played a significant role in designing and performing the research and in writing the manuscript. Those whose roles were limited solely to providing materials (including financial support), collecting data, or reviewing the manuscript, should be recognised in the Acknowledgments section.
Honorary authorships must be avoided. For new taxonomic descriptions maximum number of taxonomic authors must be five, but the main authorship can be more.
The manuscript must not have been previously published nor is it being considered for publication elsewhere.
A cover letter in PDF format should accompany the manuscript as a supplementary file. The submitter’s signature on the document is a must. A sample cover letter is given below. A letter head containing the institutional affiliation of the first author is preferred.
To: The editor-in-chief
Taprobanica, The Journal of Asian Biodiversity
ISSN: 1800-427X
I am submitting my/our manuscript for your journal/on behalf of the co-authors as follows: [add name(s) & address(es) of co-author(s)]. I declare that the material has not been previously published, has not been submitted elsewhere for consideration and will not be submitted elsewhere for publication unless it is rejected by you or withdrawn. I agree with the policies of the journal and its terms and conditions. I/We confirm the submitted material is an original output and does not violate any other party’s copy right or intelligent property.
[Signature & the name of the corresponding author]
Submission: Manuscripts (word doc.) should be uploaded through the website (via Google drive).
The supplementary files should include the following:
Proofs: Minimum three sets of page proofs (in Ms Word, and later Acrobat Pdf) will be sent to the corresponding author prior to publication. Proofs must be checked carefully, corrected and returned within the period given, otherwise the manuscript will be deleted automatically and considered as a new submission if authors want to proceed.
Reprints: We provide free electronic PDFs. If authors prefer reprints or hard copies of the journal, there is a nominal charge.
All articles must be submitted via Website.
The Editor-in-chief reserves all rights to the journal.
If you encounter any difficulty during the online submission, please contact us.
Author Instructions & Guidelines 2023 (286 KB)
Taprobanica is a SCOPUS and WEB OF SCIENCE indexed, Open Access, Peer Reviewed journal published online by the Faculty of Mathematics & Natural Sciences, Universitas Indonesia. It publishes original papers on
Papers on new techniques or sampling methods and literature surveys are not suitable. Furthermore, specimens of taxa described in Taprobanica as new to science must be deposited in recognised National or International depositories.
All manuscripts must be written in English and submitted through our website, click Submit tab. Manuscripts must be prepared on A4 Size, 8.27 x 11.69 inch (or 21 x 29.7 cm) paper with 1-inch (or 2.54 cm) margins in Microsoft Word document file format, typed with font size, 11 pt. The figures (including graphs) should be submitted in pdf format as a single file and should not be placed on Word Document or merged (or edited with figure numbers etc.) unless requested. The tables can be submitted either in a separate file (in Microsoft Word document file format) or placed at the end of the manuscript file. Submission of a manuscript to the Journal implies that it has not been submitted elsewhere.
If an acknowledgement is not received within 14 working days of submission, please contact the editorial office Contact Us
Authors must strictly follow journal instructions and adhere to guidelines; otherwise manuscript will be returned before considering for review.
Manuscript must have the following:
- Manuscript Title (letters should not be capitalised)
- Author(s)’ names
- Author(s)’ full addresses (authors’ job titles/occupations should not be included)
- Author(s)’ ORCID identification numbers
- Corresponding author(s)’ e-mail address
- Abstract (maximum 150 words or 10 lines)
- Key words (4-6) not included in the title or abstract
- Manuscript Text (without line spacing in paragraphs)
- Literature cited
- Tables (should be in ordinary format without any styles)
- Figure legends
Figure legends and Tables should be stand-alone at the end of the text. Do not place any figure (or graphs) on the text.
If the manuscript is deemed suitable for the journal by the Editor, it will be edited by an appointed Section Editor and reviewed by selected peer reviewers. Acceptance will be based on reviewers’ recommendations and appropriateness of the manuscript for the journal. Each manuscript must stand on its own merits and be a substantial contribution to the field.
There are two types of manuscripts:
Short Communications:
More limited in scope and is usually less than 2000 words (4 or less pages including tables & figures). There are no section headings such as introduction, materials & methods, results, discussion; it also does not have an abstract. Contains only limited number of figures, tables and cited literature. The title should be short (maximum 12 words) and in one line. For short communications the appropriate format can be found here:
Sample format for Short communications:
Sample format for Short communications
Major Articles:
Full-length articles usually contain more than 2000 words (4 or more pages excluding tables & figures). The manuscript must be arranged in a proper format and may be redesignated as a short communication at the discretion of the editor. For new taxonomic descriptions, please refer to the format found here:
Sample format for Major articles:
Sample format for Major articles
Text: The title of manuscript, names, addresses, and ORCID IDs of authors, e-mails of corresponding authors should be stated at the beginning of the text. Pages must be numbered with abstract as the first page (lines should be numbered, spaced, and left aligned). The abstract, not exceeding 150 words must indicate the scope and importance findings of the paper, highlighting the principal ones and conclusions. There should not be more than six key words. There are no subheadings for introduction which should be brief stating the objective of the study as well as the latest finding in the field.
Measurements must be in metric units and abbreviations must be defined at first use (except for common ones pertaining to measurement, time, or statistical test). Footnotes (other than in tables) are not permitted. Generic and specific names (and nothing else except secondary headings and some statistical abbreviations) are italicised and taxonomic authorship and year should appear when nomenclatural problems are involved and for the first time mentioned in the text.
The discussion section should provide an interpretation and analysis of the results of the study, without repeating information already presented under the Introduction or Results sections. It should relate the new findings to the existing one and include logical deductions. The Results and Discussion cannot be combined.
Articles will be published using two level subheading styles and should not be capitalised.
Level 1 heading is bold and reserved for Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Systematics (if any), Discussion, Conclusion (if any), Recommendations (if any), Acknowledgements and Literature Cited.
Level 2 heading is italic and bold. More than two levels of subheading are not accepted. The second level can be italicised and underlined.
Acknowledgement: Acknowledgements identify individuals by first name and surname for Major Articles (initials and surname for short communications) and do not list titles (Mr. Mrs. Dr. Prof.). Where there is a lengthy acknowledgement surnames can be included followed by initials only. The popular institutions should be abbreviated. Grants and funding, collecting permits, import/export permits, and Institutional Animal Care protocols must be cited in Acknowledgments.
Literature Cited: References in the text must be checked for consistency with references in the literature-cited section. Authors must pay serious attention to references based on the following Journal format. Manuscript will be returned even without reviewing if reference style is not adhered to.
References in Text:
References to articles by one or two authors must include both surnames in the order they appear in the original publication.
E.g. Dendrelaphis girii is undoubtedly a sister species of D. bifrenalis (Vogel & van Rooijen 2011).
References to articles by more than two authors must include the first author's surname, followed by “et al.”
E.g. Approximately 150 morphospecies were recorded for the three years as a whole including 110 endemic species, at least 50 species new to science (Naggs et al. 2005).
The year of article follows the authors, separated only by a space. References with the same author and year are distinguished by the lower case characters “a, b, c …”, separated only by a comma.
E.g. One hopes that this problem will be solved soon, before complete chaos is installed in higher nomenclature (Dubois 2006a-c, 2008f, 2009b,c).
Literatures cited in the text are listed in chronological order by first author, separated by a comma and a space.
E.g. that species has been recorded from different parts of Sri Lanka (Boulenger 1890, Wall 1921, Smith 1943, Deraniyagala 1955, Taylor 1953, Das & de Silva 2005; Somaweera 2006; David & Vogel 2012).
References in Literature Cited:
References include the names of first three authors, in the order that they appear in the original publication; "et al." is used in the literature section in case of more than four authors. The first author is listed with his or her surname first, initial(s) last. All other authors are listed with initial(s) first, surname last.
E.g. Amarasinghe, A.A.T., U. Manthey, E. Stöckli, I. Ineich, S.O. Kullander, F. Tiedemann, C. McCarthy, and D.E. Gabadage (2009). The original descriptions and figures of Sri Lankan agamid lizards (Squamata: Agamidae) of the 18th and 19th centuries. Taprobanica, 1(1): 2–15.
References with the same author and year are distinguished by the lower case characters, “a, b, c …”.
E.g. Dubois, A. (2007a). Phylogeny, taxonomy and nomenclature: the problem of taxonomic categories and of nomenclatural ranks. Zootaxa, 1519(1): 27–68.
Dubois, A. (2007b). Genitives of species and subspecies nomina derived from personal names should not be emended. Zootaxa, 1550(1): 49–68.
Dubois, A. (2007c). Naming taxa from cladograms: some confusions, misleading statements, and necessary clarifications. Cladistics, 23(4): 390–402.
References cited are listed in alphabetical order by first author. Names of journals are not abbreviated and should be in italics. “Volume number(Issue number): Page numbers” are a must.
E.g. Hill, J.E. (1976). Further records of Myotis peshwa (Thomas 1915) (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from the Indian peninsula. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, 73(3): 433–437.
Editorial:
E.g. Kullander, S.O. (2012). Editorial: How embarrassing can it get? Or: Taxonomy undermined. Taprobanica, 4(1): 1–4.
Book: (italic the name of the book): “Publisher, City: Page numbers” are a must.
E.g. Ashton, M., C. V. S. Gunathilake, N. De Zoysa, M. D. Dassanayake, N. Gunatilake, and S. Wijesundara (1997). A Field Guide to the Common Trees and Shrubs of Sri Lanka. Wildlife Heritage Trust of Sri Lanka, Colombo: 432pp.
Edited book: (italic the name of the edited book)
E.g. Bambaradeniya, C.N.B. (ed.) (2006). The Fauna of Sri Lanka: Status of Taxonomy. Research and Conservation. The World Conservation Union Sri Lanka & Government of Sri Lanka, Colombo: 308pp.
Article/chapter in an edited book/Journal supplements (italic the name of the book): “Pp. Article page numbers" and "Publisher (or Journal), City." are a must.
E.g. Bahir, M.M. and K.P. Maduwage (2005). Calotes desilvai, a new agamid lizard from Morningside Forest, Sri Lanka. Pp. 381–392. In: Yeo, D. C.J., P.K.L. Ng, and R. Pethiyagoda (eds.). Contributions to Biodiversity Exploration and Research in Sri Lanka. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supplement No. 12., Singapore.
Government publication: (italic the name of the report)
E.g. Deraniyagala, P.E.P. (1957). Ceylon Administration Reports, part IV – Education. National Museums of Sri Lanka, Colombo: E4–E5.
IUCNSL and MENRSL (2007). The 2007 Red List of threatened Fauna and Flora of Sri Lanka. IUCN Sri Lanka, Colombo: 148pp.
PhD thesis & proceedings: (italic the name of institute & symposium)
E.g. Moody, S.M. (1980). Phylogenetic and historical biogeographical relationships of the genera in the family Agamidae (Reptilia: Lacertilia). PhD thesis, University of Michigan, Michigan.
Jerdon, T.C. (1870). Notes on Indian Herpetology. Proceedings of the Asiatic Society Bengal, Kolkata: 66–85.
Websites and online publications: (do not italic)
E.g. Uetz, P. (2012). The Reptile Database
Table: (Numbered in Arabic) must appear with a short heading at the end of the text. Location of each table should be indicated in blue in the text as (Table 1), (Table 2), etc.
Figure caption: (Numbered in Arabic) should be at the end of the text. Location of each figure should be clearly indicated in blue colour in the text as (Fig. 1), (Fig. 2) etc. In the figure caption it should be expressed as “Figure”.
E.g. Figure 1. Physoschistura tuivaiensis: (A) holotype MUMF 5089, female (46.0 mm SL); (B) paratype MUMF 5087, male (40.8 mm SL); and (C) MUMF 5090 in life (43.7 mm SL).
Taprobanica may publish figures in colour at the discretion of the editors. Sometimes it may be converted into Gray scale. Colour figures will be published free of charge.
Statement of Authorship:
Authorship implies responsibility and authors expected to have played a significant role in designing and performing the research and in writing the manuscript. Those whose roles were limited solely to providing materials (including financial support), collecting data, or reviewing the manuscript, should be recognised in the Acknowledgments section.
Honorary authorships must be avoided. For new taxonomic descriptions maximum number of taxonomic authors must be five, but the main authorship can be more.
The manuscript must not have been previously published nor is it being considered for publication elsewhere.
A cover letter in PDF format should accompany the manuscript as a supplementary file. The submitter’s signature on the document is a must. A sample cover letter is given below. A letter head containing the institutional affiliation of the first author is preferred.
To: The editor-in-chief
Taprobanica, The Journal of Asian Biodiversity
ISSN: 1800-427X
I am submitting my/our manuscript for your journal/on behalf of the co-authors as follows: [add name(s) & address(es) of co-author(s)]. I declare that the material has not been previously published, has not been submitted elsewhere for consideration and will not be submitted elsewhere for publication unless it is rejected by you or withdrawn. I agree with the policies of the journal and its terms and conditions. I/We confirm the submitted material is an original output and does not violate any other party’s copy right or intelligent property.
[Signature & the name of the corresponding author]
Submission: Manuscripts (word doc.) should be uploaded through the website (via Google drive).
The supplementary files should include the following:
- Statement of authorship (pdf.)
- Figures on a single file (pdf)
- Tables (word doc.)
- In addition authors are required to provide contact details of three potential reviewers/experts in the relevant field.
Proofs: Minimum three sets of page proofs (in Ms Word, and later Acrobat Pdf) will be sent to the corresponding author prior to publication. Proofs must be checked carefully, corrected and returned within the period given, otherwise the manuscript will be deleted automatically and considered as a new submission if authors want to proceed.
Reprints: We provide free electronic PDFs. If authors prefer reprints or hard copies of the journal, there is a nominal charge.
All articles must be submitted via Website.
The Editor-in-chief reserves all rights to the journal.
If you encounter any difficulty during the online submission, please contact us.