Editorial policy:

Original work on all fields of ornithology, without any geographical limitation, is published in Acrocephalus. However, articles covering the south-eastern European and eastern Mediterranean regions are particularly encouraged. The contributions should not have been submitted for publication elsewhere. Review articles, original articles, points-of-view, specialist and scientific comments (Editorial, Forum), short communications, short notes ('From the ornithological notebook'), diploma abstracts and book reviews (New books) are considered for publication. Contributions can be published in English or Slovene. 
 

Submission procedure: 

Articles should be submitted by e-mail to editor-acrocephalus@dopps-drustvo.si. The editor sends an acknowledgement within a few days and informs the authors of the further editorial procedure. Review articles and original articles are peer-reviewed by two referees, and further reviewed by the editor and editorial board. The editorial procedure can therefore be expected to last at least three months. The authors should modify the paper strictly according to the referees’ detailed comments and explain non-accepted comments when returning the manuscript. The editor decides whether the manuscript should be accepted, rejected or additional review is to be made. Points-of-view and short communications are peer-reviewed by one person. Short notes 'From the ornithological notebook' are checked only by the editor, who may consult the members of the editorial board. All papers are edited for correct use of English and Slovene.
 

General remarks:

In general, Microsoft programmes should be used for preparing manuscripts. They should be formatted in single spacing. Please consult the editor about the use of other software. Files larger than 10 Mbytes should be sent by regular mail on DVD ROM. Send fi gures as RGB (8 bits per channel) in TIFF or JPG format with at least 300 dpi resolution. For vector graphics, EPS and CDR are the preferred formats. Colour dependent fi gures (with true colours; e.g. differences in feather colours) should be sent separately by regular mail. Send tables and graphs in XLS format, each table in its worksheet. The associated text should consist of just titles and legends; these should be sent in a separate file. English and scientific bird names should follow SVENSSON et al. SVENSSON, L., MULLARNEY, K., & ZETTERSTRÖM, D. (2009): Collins Bird Guide. 2nd Edition.– HarperCollins, London.. When other scientific names are used this should be clearly stated. Slovene bird names should follow JANČAR et al. JANČAR, T., BRAČKO, F., GROŠELJ, P., MIHELIČ , T., TOME, D., TRILAR, T. & VREZEC, A. (1999): Imenik ptic zahodne Palearktike. – Acrocephalus 20 (94/96): 97−162.

Rarities should be accepted by the national rarities’ committee, if it exists. Exceptionally, if the committee is not operating for more than six months after submitting the rarity, it can be assessed by editorial board and published. 

Format of original articles submitted for publication:

The paper should be headed by the title, names of authors, institution or home addresses as appropriate, and e-mail addresses of all authors.

Abstract and key words should not be longer than 250 words, and should include aims, methods, main results, and conclusions. Do not refer to the main text in abstract, and do not use abbreviations. Key words have to represent the text as much as possible. 

Text should follow IMRAD structure (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion). The scientific name, in italics, should be given in the title (if appropriate), in the first mention of a species in the abstract and in the first mention in the main text.

References should be cited in alphabetical order, and, for the same author, by chronological order. If the author has published more than one work in a year, a small letter is added to the year (e.g. TOME 1990A). In the text, references are cited as SNOW & PERRINS (1998) or (SNOW & PERRINS 1998) as appropriate. More than two authors are cited as (ZEILER et al. 2002). Abbreviations commonly used for journals may be found at http://www.ueb.cas.cz/bp/notice-abbrev.htm. Citing unpublished data should be avoided as much as possible. Citing articles in preparation, but not yet accepted for publication, is not accepted.

Review papers and points-of-view should follow the same rules as original papers. The section names are not so strict and can be adapted as the contents require.

Short communications should also follow the general rules of original papers but the authors are free to determine the structure.

Forum has special rules for publication: An author of the comment is allowed just one comment, to which the author of the original article has the right to reply in the same issue.

Short notes 'From the ornithological notebook': The title is the name of the species. The text should be in a single paragraph. A very short abstract, with two sentences at most, must contain the location with geographical coordinates (UTM, degree, Gauß-Krüger) and date of observation, and should summarize the essence of the note. In the text, references are cited as SNOW & PERRINS (1998) or (SNOW & PERRINS 1998) as appropriate. Short notes must be submitted in separate files, species by species.

Special abbreviations used in text: English: pers. comm., unpubl., own data, in print, in prep.; Slovene: osebno, neobj., lastni podatki, v tisku, v pripravi.

General advice: 

Authors are advised to check the latest issues of Acrocephalus for style and format when preparing the text. Please check the journal’s home page www.ptice.org for further instructions and the Slovene text.