Submissions

Author Guidelines

Aim and scope

Hamadryad was established in 1976 and is a free and open-access journal aimed at publishing novel research and observations on the herpetofauna of South Asia. It includes full-length articles and short notes on the natural history, ecology, taxonomy, aptive husbandry, and conservation of reptiles and amphibians of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

 

Types of submissions

Full-length Articles (< 8000 words)

Experimental research, taxonomic descriptions, annotated checklists, and ecological observations placed in a larger context are suitable for submission as full-length articles. Full-length articles contain the following sections: Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion, Acknowledgements, and References. The text (not including the abstract, acknowledgements, and references) should not exceed 8000 words while the abstract should be limited to 250 words. The manuscript may have up to 5 figures and 2 tables.

Manuscripts will be reviewed by at least two external reviewers after which the editor will take a decision on whether the manuscript is suitable for publication in Hamadryad.

Short Notes (~1000 words)

Articles reporting one or a handful of novel observations are suitable for submission as short notes. These include natural history observations (natural history or field observations that are previously unreported), range extensions, unannotated checklists, etc. New Distribution Records/Range Extensions include new record/s of one or more species for a country or a state/province or a geographical region. New distribution records of poorly known species known from a very few localities/museum vouchers (ideally known from less than 10 localities) can also be considered under this category.

Short notes should be limited to 1000 words and should only contain the body of text, acknowledgements and references sections. The manuscript can typically have a maximum of 2 figures and 1 tables. Multiple images may be compiled as one plate and will be considered as one figure. Short notes will be reviewed by one external reviewer prior to publication.

 

Nomenclatural acts

Taxonomic work must follow the current International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Descriptions of new species must include a designation of a preserved holotype, collection number, exact locality including political units, e.g. district/state, altitude above sea level, and geographic coordinates [e.g. BNHS 2750, adult female, from a plateau near Bhuvero (22.52824°N 74.13162°E; ca. 630 m a.s.l.), Ratanmahal, Dahod district, Gujarat, India, collected on 30 April 2000], detailed description of the holotype and a diagnosis (comparing the new species with all closely related taxa). Measurements must be included, as typically used for the respective taxonomic group, of the holotype and photographs/detailed drawings of the specimen.

For proper registration of a new zoological taxon and a nomenclatural act in zoology, we require two specific statements to be included in your manuscript. In the Results section, the Life Science Identifier (LSID) should be listed under the new or changed species name, for example:

Ophisops agarwali sp. nov.

ZooBank LSID: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:ADEC3028-0FBA-4607-B84B-7C2EB05FE27D

Authors will need to contact ZooBank to obtain a LSID. Please do this as soon as possible to avoid delay of publication upon acceptance of your manuscript. It is your responsibility to provide us with this information so that it can be included in the final paper. After publication, you will need to update the ZooBank registration of the article with year, volume and pages, as otherwise the new taxon will not appear in the database.

Molecular data submitted for publication to Hamadryad must be deposited at a recognized archive, such as the GenBank (National Center for Biotechnology Information, NCBI, USA). Representative voucher specimens should be deposited in scientific collections. Accession numbers for molecular sequences and voucher specimens must be provided in the manuscript.

Policies on voucher specimens

To be published, manuscripts must be in accordance with Hamadryad’s voucher policy, as below. The information here applies to all taxa, unless otherwise noted. Voucher specimens used in the study must be listed in Results. Voucher specimens must have been legally collected. Collecting permit numbers and the issuing agency, where applicable, should be included in Methods, and a statement that specimens were euthanized using approved/accepted/standard methods for the taxonomic group must be included in Methods. Vouchers specimens must be deposited in scientific collections open to the public. Vouchers must be deposited before submission to Hamadryad, and for most taxa, the institutional catalogue number of the vouchers must be included in the manuscript.

For species threatened by extinction or legally protected, or when collecting of specimens is prohibited in the study area and specimens cannot be collected as vouchers, evidence may be provided other than voucher specimens, including photographs or call records (for anurans), if it allows an unambiguous identification of the taxon.

 

Formatting the manuscript

Manuscripts should be written in UK English and submitted as MS Word (.docx) files through the submission portal on hamadryad.org. Tables should be made using the ‘Insert - Table’ function in Word. Figures (graphs and images) should be submitted as high-resolution JPEG, PNG, or PDF files. See below for details of sections and formatting.

1) Sections

1. Title page (see below)
2. Abstract and 5 keywords
3. Introduction (background and objectives)
4. Methods (study area, data collection, analysis)
5. Results (with references to tables and figures)
6. Discussion
7. Acknowledgements
8. References (see below)
9. Tables with legends
10. Legends to figures
11. Figures
12. Appendices

2) Formatting:

1. Standard font – Times New Roman 12
2. Double line spacing (no spacing before and after paragraphs)
3. Line numbering should be continuous
4. Headings, subheadings (Bold, then Italic, then Underline)
5. Tables and Figures should be formatted according to standard specifications
   • In general, tables should have 3 lines (one above and below the heading row, and one at the bottom)
   • Figures should have only x and y axes, and are not boxed, unless for a specific reason

3) Title page

Please include a title page with the title of the manuscript, authors, affiliations and running head as below:

 

Title of manuscript

Authors: First Author^1,*, Second Author^1,2, Third Author³

Affiliations with complete address

¹Insititute A 

²Insititute B 

³Insititute C 

^*Corresponding Author: email address

Running Head: Brief title not exceeding 6-8 words

 

Manuscript revision

After review, when revising the document and making edits, the ‘Track Changes’ function under the Review panel should be activated. We ask that authors also provide a “rebuttal letter” listing the revisions requested by the reviews and summarising the edits made to the manuscript. Please copy reviewer and editor comments into your rebuttal letter, then respond to each comment using a bold or coloured font to differentiate your comments from those of reviewer(s) and editor(s).

 

References

Citations should abide by the following format. Refer to these examples for guidance.

Journal articles

1. Mohapatra, B., Warrell, D.A., Suraweera, W., Bhatia, P., Dhingra, N., Jotkar, R.M., Rodriguez, P.S., Mishra, K., Whitaker, R. & Jha, P. (2011) Snakebite mortality in India: A nationally representative mortality survey. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 5(4), e1018.
2. Whitaker, R. & Whitaker, S. (2012) Venom, antivenom production and the medically important snakes of India. Current Science 103, 635-643.
3. Barve, S., Bhaisare, D., Giri, A., Shankar, P.G., Whitaker, R. & Goode, M. (2013) A preliminary study on translocation of “rescued” King Cobras (Ophiophagus hannah). Hamadryad 36(2), 80-86.

Books and book chapters

1. Whitaker, R. & Captain, A. (2004) Snakes of India. The Field Guide. Draco Books, Chennai, India. 240 pp.
2. Das, I. & Das, A. (2018) A Naturalist’s Guide to the Reptiles of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Prakash Books, New Delhi, India. 176 pp.
3. McDiarmid, R.W. & Altig, R. (2010) Morphology of amphibian larvae. In: C.K. Dodd, Jr. (Ed), Amphibian Ecology and Conservation: A Handbook of Techniques. Oxford University Press, UK, pp. 39-53.
4. Huey R.B. (1982) Temperature, physiology, and the ecology of reptiles. In: Gans C., Pough F.H. (Eds), Biology of the Reptilia, Vol. 12, Physiological Ecology. Academic Press, New York, pp. 25–91.

Websites

1. Uetz, P., Freed, P. & Hosek, J. (eds.) (2020) The Reptile Database. Available from: https://www.reptile-database.org/ (October 30, 2020)
2. Khandekar, A., Roy. P. & Kunte, K. (eds.) (2020) Reptiles of India, v. 1.25. Indian Foundation for Butterflies. Available from: https://www.indianreptiles.org/ (October 30, 2020)

 

In-text Citations

For one author: Whitaker (2006) states that…; (Whitaker 2006)

For two authors: Whitaker and Captain (2004) state that…; (Whitaker and Captain 2004)

For three or more authors: Whitaker et al. (2000) state that…; (Whitaker et al. 2000)

When citing more than one source: Whitaker 2006, 2008, 2012; Captain 2008; Whitaker et al. 2010

 

Ethics

All manuscripts should abide by COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) Guidelines https://publicationethics.org/files/u7141/1999pdf13.pdf. The manuscript should be the original work of the authors and should not be in consideration for publication at any other journal at the time of submission to Hamadryad. All authors should consent to the submission of the manuscript and the order of authorship should have been agreed upon by all parties beforehand. The corresponding author of each manuscript is responsible for ensuring that all authors are in agreement. Conflicts of interest and opposing reviewers should be declared to the editors at the time of manuscript submission.

Work involving invasive procedures on animals should comply by ASIH (American Society for Ichthyologists and Herpetologists) Guidelines <

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/618bf11a71fcdf5398996eda/t/618fbed9a68bdd5cbcc95f78/1636810457669/guidelines_herps_research_2004.pdf>. While specific ethics clearance documents are not required for publication, any documents obtained should be mentioned in the manuscript, as should permissions and permit numbers for the collection/housing of specimens. If the work did not require any permissions, a statement to that effect should be mentioned in the manuscript, for example, “Fieldwork was conducted outside of protected areas and no protected species were harmed during the course of this study."