Note: there has been a recent change (March 2010) in the NSIS rules governing page charges. Effective immediately page charges will be waived whenever at least one author is a member in good standing of the Institute. This overrides the statement in the Page Charges section below.

A Portable Document Format (PDF) version of the Instructions to Authors is also available in both English and French.

Instructions to Authors

The Proceedings of the Nova Scotian Institute of Science publishes papers in English or French. Manuscripts must be typewritten double-spaced with 4 cm margins. Disk copies in Word or WordPerfect are preferred, but must also be accompanied by three paper copies of the manuscript. An abstract of no more than 200 words, free of formulae, must be included at the beginning of the paper, followed by key words or phrases. This should be followed by an introduction, methods, results or observations, discussion and references. In some cases a combination of these sections may be more effective. Underline only material to be set in italics, and use capital letters only when the letters or words should appear in capitals in the printed paper. Layout and style should follow that used in recent volumes. Each page of the manuscript should be numbered, the first page carrying only the title, authors' names and affiliations and any necessary footnotes. Spelling should follow that of Webster's Third New International Dictionary. Abbreviations, nomenclature, and symbols for units of measurements should follow international recommendations. SI units should be used whenever possible. Use day-month-year sequence for dates. Do not use periods after abbreviations. Photographs should be mounted on Bristol board ready for reproduction. Prints must be of high quality on glossy paper with no space between those mounted in groups. Color illustrations will be accepted at the discretion of the Editor. The cost of color reproduction is borne fully by the authors who must submit a statement accepting this responsibility. References are to be collected at the end of the paper and referred to in the text by inclusion of the author's name and year of publication. The list of references should be consistent with the following examples:

Periodicals
Nielsen KJ, Franz DR (1995) The influence of adult conspecific and shore level on recruitment of the ribbed mussel Geukensia demissa (Dillwyn). J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 188:89-98

Books
Cushing D, Walsh J (1976) The ecology of the seas. WB Saunders Company, Toronto

Papers from books or symposium proceedings
Lee GF (1975) Role of hydrous metal oxides in the transport of heavy metals in the environment. In: Krenkel PA (ed) Heavy metals in the aquatic environment. Pergamon, Oxford, p 137-147

Personal communication
Smith AJ (2001) (Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture, Halifax) Personal communication

Tables

Tables should be numbered consecutively in bold-faced Arabic numerals and must have brief titles that are self-explanatory; each table must be typed on a separate page.

Illustrations

Illustrations are to be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals. Captions should be self-explanatory and typed on a separate page. Two paper copies of each are required even when they are embedded in an electronic file. All lines in drawings must be of suitable thickness to reproduce well when published in the Proceedings. Similarly, letters and symbols in drawings should be at least 2 mm high when reduced to the size used in the Proceedings.

Page Charges

Page Charges. Currently a charge of $25 per page is levied to help defray the cost of publication. This amount is charged to the institution or a contract supporting the research reported in the published paper. In no case will acceptance of the paper be dependent upon payment of the page charges.

Authors are responsible for editing the galley proofs. Orders for reprints, in addition to the 15 supplied gratis to the corresponding author, must be received when the galley proof is returned.

Papers should be submitted electronically to the Editor: nsis@dal.ca