For first submissions, manuscripts should use a layout that is clear and accessible to the reviewers. The mandatory sections include: Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgements and References.
To facilitate reviewing and the editing process, heading numbers and numbered lines are requested. These will not be present in the final published article.
It is highly recommended that the manuscript be written as short and succinct as possible. As a guideline, the main manuscript should not exceed the total length of 16 journal pages (incl. references, tables and figures). To evaluate how many journal pages can result from your manuscript, first remove the tables and pictures from the file and then perform a word count and divide that number by 500 (the average number of words per journal page). In total, the word count should not exceed 8250 words. However, It is possible to submit a manuscript exceeding 16 journal pages (e.g., review papers), but a solid justification is required and written in the cover letter to the subject editor. The final decision and the length of the submitted manuscript will be determined by the subject editor.
Referring to websites should be avoided. If, however, an essential publication is available EXCLUSIVELY on the internet (printed version does not exist) it can be referred to by its URL (Universal Resource Locator) or DOI (Digital Object Identifier) ONLY. Its accessibility in the foreseeable future in an unchanged form must be verified and guaranteed. If online-only publications cannot be found when an article is sent to print, the references may be replaced with "unpublished data".
Use either British or American English consistently throughout the text. Write in a clear style and avoid the use of the passive voice. The pronouns I (we), me (us), and my (our) should preferably be used. If English is not your mother tongue, make sure that the manuscript is checked by a native English speaker, preferably familiar with the nomenclature used. All manuscripts will be thoroughly checked by someone proficient in English, and returned for further corrections if found to be linguistically inadequate.
When sending a revised or a final version manuscript, use short, meaningful filenames always ending in appropriate extensions added by the programme with which files have been created. Acceptable graphic file formats are listed in the Figures section and in the instructions that can be downloaded directly below. As a reference, a PDF file of an entire article should also be sent.
Please note that the copyrights to the article (including the illustrations) remain with the authors until they are transferred to the publishing board by signing the Transfer of Copyrights provided along with the proofs.
The first or appointed author will receive proofs of the article. Errors caused by editorial or linguistic alterations will be corrected free of charge. Other substantial corrections, especially if they alter the final layout, may be corrected for a fee. We do not assume responsibility for misinterpretation of illegibly marked corrections. The proofs with both attached forms (filled in) should be returned to the Editorial Office exclusively by mail within 48 hours of their arrival. Errors found after the proofs had been returned may not be corrected.
In scientific writing, only two tenses are normally used: present and past (simple). So-called, "perfect tenses" (e.g., present perfect) should be avoided. Thus, there are the following "tense" rules that should be observed:
- Established knowledge (previous results) should be given in the present tense.
- Description of methods and results in the current paper should be in the past (simple) tense.
- Presentation (e.g., "Fig. 1 shows the studied plant") is given in the present tense.
- Attributions (e.g., Jones (1995) reported that ...) are given in the past tense.
- A hyphen (the shortest "-") is used for example in hyphenation and compound words.
- An en-dash ("–"; indicated in a manuscript with two hyphens "--") isused chiefly as a minus in subtraction (5 – 2 same as five minus two; NOTE: spaces before and after the dash) or in ranges of values or dates (2–5 same as from two to five; NOTE: no spaces before and after the dash).
- An em-dash (the longest "—"; indicated in a manuscript with three hyphens "---") is chiefly used for the separation of an explanatory and digressive element of a sentence or in references.
- Always use decimal points, not commas.
- Always use leading zeros in decimal fractions.
- In long numerals (five and more digits), the digits are marked off in groups of three by spaces (not commas!), starting from the left, e.g., 15 369.
- Numbers from 1 to 10 (also ordinals) in a text must be written out (not 5 but five).
- Numbers are never italicised.
- One-letter symbols (normal, in subscript or superscript) representing numerical values (mathematical or statistical variables) must always be italicised.
- Multi-letter symbols (normal, in subscript or superscript) representing numerical values (mathematical or statistical variables) are never italicised.
- Vectors are set in boldface italic.
- Matrices are set in boldface but not italics.
- Usage of multiplication symbols is not recommended.
- Other symbols (abbreviations) are not italicised.
- Check that the same symbol does not have multiple meanings (e.g., P = phosphorus and P = significance level or N = nitrogen and N = amount of samples or repetitions).
- Improper typesetting of symbols may result in ambiguities or misinterpretations.
- The rationale behind the testing should always be presented and comparisons clearly identified.
- It should be proven that the data can be tested with the tests used (e.g., normality should be tested).
- If some data were excluded from the analyses it should be explained why.
- Sample sizes (n) should always be given.
- Numbers after a "±" sign should be identified (e.g. SE, SD or CI).
- When reporting results of statistical testing please give names of tests used, their symbols and numerical outcomes, degrees of freedom (commonly in superscript to a test symbol) and probability levels at which tested differences can be considered significant. These levels should preferably be given as exact p values rather than p < 0.001, p < 0.01, p < 0.05. Merely labelling differences as significant or non-significant (including such labels as ns, < 0.05, *, etc.) without indicating test results and sample sizes is not acceptable. For example: one-way ANOVA: F2,44 = 1.82, p = 0.170 or two-way ANOVA main effect of species: F1,15 = 108.6, p < 0.0001.
- Latin names of genera and lower taxa (e.g., Salmo trutta).
- Words which are originally not English (e.g., in vitro).
- One-letter symbols expressing numerical or statistical values in the text and equations (e.g., p, n, U-test, t-test, r).
- Each abbreviated word must end in a full stop (e.g., Professor = Prof., Volume = Vol. species nova = sp. nov.).
- There is no punctuation used in acronyms unless the English grammar rules dictate otherwise.
- Only units conforming with the SI system are to be used (with some exceptions e.g., 1 um not 10–6 m).
- In composite units, negative superscripts should be used instead of a division (e.g., 30 m s–1 not 30 m/s).
- If units follow axes titles in figures or tables, they should be given in parentheses "()" NOT brackets "[]" or after commas.
- Dates should be written according to the following format: day.month.year.
- Months should be written in full (e.g., January), abbreviated (e.g., Jan.) or expressed with roman numerals (January as "I", February as "II", etc...).
- Years should never be abbreviated (e.g., 2003 not 03).
- The 24-hour system should be used exclusively. The day begins at midnight, denoted as 00:00, and ends at 23:59.
- Since papers published in Boreal Environment Research do not concern animal or plant taxonomy, Latin names of species should be given without authors' names.
- Always use internationally recognised and existing names. In questionable cases, refer to the Times Atlas of the World or Merriam-Webster's Geographic Dictionary to make sure that a name you intend to use is listed in their indexes, and its spelling is correct. Usage of coordinates (latitude and longitude) is strongly recommended.