In print, an article length should NOT exceed 24 pages (if in range 25–32 please contact our office), however a monograph (Acta Botanica Fennica and Acta Zoologica Fennica only) or a supplement length should be within a range of 33–96 pages (if longer please contact our office). To evaluate how many journal pages can result from a manuscript, please first remove the tables and pictures from the file and then perform character count (including spaces) [in MS Word: select 'Word Count' from 'Tools' menu], and divide the obtained number by 4600 (max. number of characters on one printed page of our journal). Some pages should be added to the result depending on how many figures and tables are in the manuscript.

It is the expectation of the editors and the publisher that authors will make the data underlying published articles available. Any impediments to data sharing should be brought to the attention of the editors at the time of submission.

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Use either British or American English consistently throughout the text. Change the defalut language settings for the document accordingly. Write in a clear style. Avoid the use of the passive voice. The pronouns I (we), me (us), and my (our) should preferably be used and thus reflect the responsibility of the author(s) towards the study. The authors bear full responsibility for the quality of the language. If English is not your first language, make sure that the manuscript is checked by a native English speaker, preferably one 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.

Certain elements of the manuscript layout that are requested here — but not present in the printed articles — are necessary to facilitate the typesetting process.

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Tenses [top]

In scientific writing, only two tenses — present and (simple) past — are normally used. 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 (simple) past tense;
• Presentation is given in the present tense;
• Attributions (e.g. Jones (1995) reported that ...) are given in the (simple) past tense.

Dashes [top]

• A hyphen (the shortest "-") is used for example in hyphenation and compound words,
• An en-dash ("–"; indicated in a manuscript with two hyphens "- -") is chiefly used 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.

Numbers [top]

• Always use decimal points, not commas.
• Always use leading zeros in decimal fractions.
• In long numerals (five and more digits), the digits should be 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 should be written out (not 5 but five).

Symbols [top]

• 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 a multiplication symbol is not recommended. If, however, its presence in an equation is required for clarity reasons please use 'x' instead of a dot.
• 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 misinterpretations.

Italicisation [top]

• Latin names of genera and lower taxa (e.g., Salmo trutta).
• Words which are originally not English (e.g., in vitro).
• Ship (vessel) names.
• Titles of books.
• For italicisation of symbols see above.

Units [top]

• Only SI system units should be used (with some exceptions e.g., 1 µm not 10^--6 m).
• In composite units, use numbers in superscript instead of divisions (e.g., 30 m s^--1 not 30 m/s). A unit should be given in parentheses () not in brackets [] or after a comma.
• The above style should be used consistently throughout the entire article (also in figures and tables).
• If units follow axes titles in figures or tables, they should be given in parentheses '()' not brackets '[]' or after commas.

Dates [top]

• Dates should be written according to the following format: day.month.year (e.g., 12 Dec. 1972 or 12 December 1972 or !2.XII.1972, NOT December 12, 1972).
• Months should be written in full (e.g., January), abbreviated (e.g., Jan.) or expressed with roman numerals (January "I", February "II" and so on).
• Years should never be abbreviated (eg. 2003 not 03).

Time [top]

• The 24-hour system should exclusively be used. The day begins at midnight, denoted as 00:00 (0000 hrs), and ends at 23:59 (2359 hrs).

Abbreviations and acronyms [top]

• Each abbreviated word should 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.

Geographic nomenclature [top]

• 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. Use of coordinates (latitude and longitude) is strongly recommended.

Text [top]

• Use exclusively your word processor's NORMAL style settings throughout the entire manuscript (default font size 12 points, no indentation, no boldface, no capitalisation, left justified, without multiple spaces or tabulators, or other unusual formatting).
• Use continuous line numbering.
• Insert a blank line before each element of the text (headings, subheadings, paragraphs, tables and so on)
• Remove section and page breaks from the text.
• Number chapter headings as follows:
  • Chapter headings (Introduction, Material and methods, Results, Discussion and other headings) are numbered decimally starting with "1.". Abstract, References and Acknowledgements, are not numbered.
  • Sub-chapter headings should be numbered e.g.: "1.1.", "1.1.1.", and so on, depending on how many levels of sub-chapters you have in your article.
  • THE NUMBERING OF CHAPTERS AND SUB-CHAPTERS SERVES ONLY EDITORIAL PURPOSES AND WILL NOT APPEAR IN PRINT, HENCE DO NOT REFER TO PARTS OF YOUR OWN ARTICLE USING THESE NUMBERS.
• Use Symbol font for Greek letters.
• Graphics (except for equations) should not be placed within the text file.
• Refer to tables and figures parenthetically.
• Check that the printed version is the same as the one on the diskette (when submitting the final version via mail).
• Title: Never in capital letters or boldface, not centred; short version of the title (max. 50 letters) should also be provided.
• Author: First names in full (other initials, if any) and surnames (James T. Brown, not J. T. Brown) should be given.
• Address: As complete as possible (including e-mail). Each author's affiliation should be identified with numbers in subscript.
• Abstract: Should consist of only one paragraph of up to 150 words. References to literature are not allowed in abstracts.
• Key words (only Annales Botanici Fennici): They are always arranged in alphabetical order.
• Appendices: If there is only one appendix it can be referred to in the text as 'Appendix' without the number. Otherwise, appendices should be numbered.
• Footnotes: They are allowed only in tables (rarely in text).
• Equations: Each equation occupies a separate line. Place an equation's number on the right-hand side e.g.: N = 0.3Wln(a + b) (1). Equations should be referred to as "Eq.", followed by the appropriate number. Please remember that there is only limited space for equations (column width); therefore, if equation is unusually long, it should be split in two or more parts connected with operators. Equations embedded in the text should preferably be written with either MSEquation Editor of MathType.

Tables [top]

• Prepare tables with a word processing programme (i.e. NOT Excel).
• All tables should be prepared with tabulators (without preceding/trailing spaces). However, if you prefer using the table tool of your word-processing programme, do not insert line breaks (¶) and/or preceding/trailing spaces inside cells (i.e. there can be only one line of text within a cell). New table rows should be created by adding new rows of table cells (even if some cells are left empty), not by hitting enter and creating a new lines within existing cells. CR symbols (¶) cannot be preset in any table cell. The number of cells in a table should equal the number of rows multiplied by the number of columns.
• Vertical lines are not allowed.
• Tables should be comprehensible without reference to the main text.
• Do not place tables within the text. They should be placed at the end of the text.
• A TABLE SHOULD NOT BE DIVIDED INTO PARTS OR SECTIONS IDENTIFIED WITH LETTERS. THE PARTS SHOULD BE JOINED OR EACH SECTION OF SUCH A TABLE SHOULD BE PRESENTED AS A SEPARATE TABLE.
• Tables should fit an A4-sized page, preferably in portrait.
• All tables should be referred to in the text in the proper numerical order (e.g., the first reference to Table 2 cannot precede the first reference to Table 1).
• Refer to tables parenthetically; e.g. '... (Table 1)'. 'Table 1 shows ...' type statements should always be avoided.
• IF YOU REFER TO TABLES PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE, THE REFERENCE SHOULD BE FOLLOWED BY 'table' (note that the lowercase t should be used).

Figures and drawings [top]

• All the figures should be concerted to PDF format and placed at the end of the PDF file containing the text and tables.
• Figure captions should be place under respecive figures or at the end of the article, after references.
• Figures should be comprehensible without reference to the main text.
• Figures should be prepared exclusively with black-and-white or grey-scale settings unless they are meant to be printed in colour. Different colours may produce the same shade of grey when printed in black-and-white.
• For preferred figure sizes please see pages of our journal.
• Figures must withstand size reduction.
• Figures, drawings and photographs must always be referred to as "Fig.", followed by a number.
• IF YOU REFER TO FIGURES PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE, THE REFERENCE SHOULD BE FOLLOWED BY 'fig.' (note that the lowercase f should be used) e.g.: Turchin et al. 2003: fig. 3.
• Avoid fancy design (e.g., 3-D).
• Use (greysacale)solid (not pattern) fillings of e.g. bars or areas in computer-generated figures.
• Use the same font in all figures and within a figure. Arial is recommended. Freehand lettering is unacceptable.
• The axes in graphs should always be named and units, if needed, should be given in parentheses.
• Axis title should be placed parallel to the respecive axis.
• Explain all graphic symbols (e.g. squares, triangles and so on) within the figure, not in caption. A legend should be placed under the figure not next to it.
• Relate the size of letters, the thickness of lines (preferably uniform for all figure items), and the size of other parts of a figure, to the size of the figure itself.
• Identify parts of a composite figure with letters, not numbers.
• All figures should be referred to in the text in the proper numerical order (e.g., the first reference to Fig. 2 cannot precede the first reference to Fig. 1).
• Refer to figures parenthetically; e.g. '... (Fig. 1)'. 'Fig. 1 shows ...' type statements should always be avoided when referring to figures presenting results.
• Important: Please avoid presenting data in pie-charts; present these data in tables or bar-charts.
• There is an extra charge for printing of illustrations in colour (inquire at the Editorial Office [sekj@helsinki.fi]).

References [top]

• Referring to literature in the text [top]
  • The references should be verified by the author(s) against the original documents. If an article has not been read by the author(s) but its conclusions found in another publication (secondary source), it may be cited in the text as follows:
    Miller's results (as cited in Ashworth 1996) ...
    In the reference list, however, only secondary source (i.e. Ashworth 1996) can be given.
    
  • Mihok et al. (1985) or (Mihok et al. 1985).
  • Kurtén and Anderson (1980) or (Kurtén & Anderson 1980).
  • (Kurtén & Anderson 1980, Mihok et al. 1985).
  • When referring to more than one publication, arrange them as follows (numbered in order of precedence):
    1. Year of publication (ascending),
    2. Alphabetical order for the same year of publication.
• The reference list [top]
  • Arrange the references as follows (numbered in order of precedence):
    1. Alphabetical order,
    2. Alphabetical order and number of authors (ascending) for publications in which the first author is the same.
    3. Year of publication for publications by the same author or authors.
  • Do not translate titles of non-English publications yourself. If the title was not translated in the original publication, use the original foreign title (for publication written in Cyrillic letters, e.g. in Russian, see below).
  • Use only official abbreviations of journal titles as indicated in the journal itself, the Biological Abstracts or the Scientific Citations Index. In questionable cases provide full titles.
    1. Article in a journal (the journal's title italicised and NOT ABBREVIATED)
       • Mihok, S., Schwartz, B. & Iverson, S. L. 1985: Ecology of red-backed voles (Clethrionomys gapperi) in a gradient of gamma radiation. - - - Annales Zoologici Fennici 22: 257- -271.
       • Cannell, M. G. R., Murray, M. B. & Sheppard, L. J. 1985: Frost avoidance by selection for late budburst in Picea sitchensis. - - - Journal of Applied Ecolology 22: 931- -941.
       • Hytönen J. & Wall A. 1997. Metsitetyjen turvepeltojen ja viereisten suometsien ravinnemäärät [Nutrient amounts of afforested peat fields and neighbouring peatland forests]. - - - Suo 48: 33-42. [In Finnish with English summary].
       • Please note that all the authors (regardless of their number) should be listed.
    2. Chapter in a publication (the publication's title italicised; Publisher's name and location should be give)
       • Gerlach, S. A. 1978: Nematomorpha. - - - In: Illies, J. (ed.), Limnofauna Europaea. 2 ed.: 50- -53.
       • Häninen, H. 1990: Modelling dormancy release in trees from cool and temperate regions. - - - In: Dixon, R. K., Melhdahl, R. S., Ruak, G. A. & Warren, W. G. (eds.), Process modelling of forest growth responses to environmental stress: 159- -165. Timber Press Portland.
       • Please note that all the authors and editors (regardless of their number) should be listed.
    3. Book (the book's title italicised; Publisher's name and location should be given)
       • Anderson, R. M. & May, R. M. 1982: Population biology of infectious diseases. - - - Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
       • Finnish Meteorol. Inst. 1989: Climatological data 1988. - - - Meteorol. Yearb. Finland 88.
    4. Referring to websites should be avoided (the site may not be accessible even in near future or the information it contains may have been altered). As an exception publications available EXCLUSIVELY on the internet (printed version does not exist) can be referred to by their URL (Universal Resource Locator) or DOI (Digital Object Identifier) ONLY.
    5. Article or book printed in Cyrillic
       • Give authors' names both transliterated and in Cyrillic [in brackets]. Only English translation of the title should be given in brackets. If the translation is not given in the publication please provide your own translation. Do not transliterate the title. Give transliterated journal's name or the book publisher's name and place e.g.:
         • Korbut, V. V. [author's name in Cyrillic] 1989: Nest building of hooded crows. 1. Utilisation of different substrata. - - - Zool. Zh. 68: 88- -95. [In Russian with English summary].
         • Abramov, A. L. & Abramov, I. I. [authors' names in Cyrillic] 1956: [Mnium immarginatum (Lindb.) Broth. from Mongolia]. - - - Bot. Zh. 41: 89- -91. [In Russian].
    6. Article in press may be included in the references list. The name of the journal and a year (possibly also the volume number) must be given. "[In press]" should be added at the end of the reference.
    7. Material in preparation, unpublished or submitted CANNOT be included in the reference list, and can only be referred to in the text using author's initial(s) and name followed by "unpubl." or "pers. comm.". [top]