Suggested format for taxonomic papers published in the journal of nematology.

Taxonomic papers often show a wide diversity in style and format when published. This is due in part to the nature of the organisms, but more so to the absence of specific guidelines for preparation and publication of such papers. Presently many problems and frustrations are faced by authors, reviewers, and editors because of the lack of a taxonomic guide or format. Consequently, the Systematics Resources Committee of the Society of Nematologists was asked to develop a format to serve as a guide in preparing and publishing taxonomic papers. This presentation should be useful to that end. The Rank 1 subheading SYSTEMATICS (Table 1) is required for revisions and taxonomic papers containing other studies of equal rank, e.g., phylogeny, morphology, cytogenetics. Rank 4 subheadings, which identify the specimens described, generally are followed by measurements (or table reference to measurements) which lead into a paragraph or paragraphs of description. The subheading Measurements is not used in this format. It is strongly recommended that measurements include range, mean and standard deviation (SD). Measurement abbreviations (~m, mm) may or may not be included in the description; but if omitted, the following statement must be added at the end of MATERIALS AND METHODS: "All measurements are in micrometers (#m) unless otherwise specified." In addition, when data is presented in tabular form, measurement abbreviations should be specified in or at the end of the title of each table