Submissions

Author Guidelines

The instructions to authors wishing to publish their research in the Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science are listed below. We ask the authors to recognize that the intent is not to establish a set of restrictive, arbitrary rules, but to provide a useful set of guidelines for authors, guidelines that, in most cases, are also binding on the Editors in their task of producing a sound and respected scientific journal.

 

A. Submission Process.

Manuscripts for the Proceedings should be submitted electronically via electronic mail (email) to:

 

poas@okstate.edu

Include a cover letter containing the address, telephone numbers (Voice and FAX), and electronic mail address of the submitting (corresponding) author.

Prospective authors should note carefully the policy statement “Policies of the Proceedings” on page ii.

The Editors review the MS and carefully select other reviewers as described in “Editorial Policies and Practices” (see p. 194); all referee and editorial opinions are anonymous. Send a resubmitted and/or revised manuscript and a point-by-point response to the reviewers’/Editor’s comments.

All authors should approve all revisions (the corresponding author is responsible for insuring that all authors agree to the changes). A revised paper will retain its original date of receipt only if the revision is received by the Editor within two months after the date of the letter to the author(s).

B. Types of Manuscripts.

A manuscript may be a paper (report), review, note (communication), a technical comment, or a letter to the editor.

Paper (a report; traditional research paper). A Paper may be of any length that is required to describe and to explain adequately the experimental observations.

Review. The Editor will usually solicit review articles, but will consider unsolicited ones. The prospective writer(s) of reviews should consult the Editor; in general, the Editor needs a synopsis of the area proposed for review and an outline of the paper be- fore deciding. Reviews are typically peer- reviewed.

Note (Communication). The objective of a Note is to provide an effective form for communicating new results and ideas and/or describing small but complete pieces of research. Thus, a Note is either a preliminary report or a complete account of a small investigation. Notes must not exceed four printed pages including text, figures, tables, and references. One journal page of standard text contains about 600 words; hence, there is space for presentation of considerable experimental detail. Notes are peer-reviewed.

Technical Comment. Technical comments (one journal page) may criticize material published in an earlier volume of POAS or may offer additional useful information. The author(s) of the original paper are asked for an opinion on the comment and, if the comment is published, are invited to reply in the same volume.

Letter to the Editor. Letters are selected for their pertinence to materials published in POAS or because they discuss problems of general interest to scientists and/or to Oklahomans. Letters pertaining to material published in POAS may correct errors, provide support or agreements, or offer different points of view, clarifications, or additional information.

Abstract. You may submit an abstract of your presentation at the OAS Technical Meeting. For specific instructions, contact the Editor. Even though abstracts are not peer-reviewed, they must align with the policies and scope of the Proceedings. The quality or relevance of work may not be in question, but the printed material is still subject to scientific accuracy.

The same guidelines that apply to manuscripts and notes submitted for peer-review, also apply to abstracts submitted for print. Just as manuscripts and notes are subject to thorough testing, so are comments written in abstracts (supported by data). The Proceedings understands that all disciplines are in a search for a deeper understanding of the world some of which are through creative expression and personal interpretation. Science is a system by which one discovers and records physical phenomena, dealing with hypotheses that are testable. The domain of “science” while working within nature is restricted to the observable world. There are many valid and important questions to be answered but lie outside the realm of science.

C. Manuscript organization.

1. General organization.

For papers (reports), the subsections should typically include the following: Abstract, Introduction, Experimental Procedures (or Methods), Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments (if any), and References. In the case of notes or short papers, you may combine some headings, for example, “Results and Discussion”:

I.     The title should be short, clear, and informative; it should not exceed 150 characters and spaces (three lines in the journal), and include the name of the organism, compound, process, system, enzyme, etc., that is the major object of the study.

II.      Provide a running title of fewer than 60 characters and spaces.

III.      Spell out either the first or second given name of each author. For example, Otis C. Dermer, instead of O.C. Dermer, or H. Olin Spivey, instead of H.O. Spivey.

IV.      Every Paper must begin with a brief Abstract (up to 200 words) that pres- ents clearly the plan, procedure, and significant results of the investigation. The Abstract should be understandable alone and should provide a comprehensive overview of the entire research effort.

V.     The Introduction should state the purpose of the investigation and the relationship with other work in the same field. It should not be an extensive review of literature, but provide appropriate literature to demonstrate the context of the research.

VI.      The Experimental Procedures (or Methods) section should be brief, but adequate for repetition of the work by a qualified experimenter. References to previously published procedures can reduce the length of this section. Refer to the original description of a procedure and describe any modifications.

VII.      You may present the Results in tables or figures or both, but note that it is sometimes simpler and clearer to state the observations and the appropriate experimental values directly in the text. Present a given set of results in only one form: in a table, or figure, or the text.

1. The Discussion section should interpret the Results and how these observations fit with the results of others. Sometimes the combination of Results and Discus- sion can give a clearer, more compact presentation.

IX.     Acknowledgments of financial support and other aid are to be included.

X.     References are discussed below.

2. References

POAS uses the name-year system for citing references. Citations in the text, tables and figure legends include the surname of the author or authors of the cited document and the year of publication. The references are listed alphabetically by authors’ surnames in the reference list found at the end of the text of the article. Below are given several examples of correct formats for citing journal articles, books, theses and web resources. For Additional information regarding the name-year system, consult the CBE Manual [Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, 6th edition]. Abbreviate journal names according to the International List of Periodical Title Word Abbreviations.

If it is necessary to refer to a manuscript that has been accepted for publication elsewhere but is not yet published, use the format shown below, with the volume and page numbers absent, the (estimated) publication year included and followed by the words in press for papers publications and forthcoming for all other forms (CBE 30.68). If the materials are published before the manuscript with that reference is published in POAS, notify the Editor of the appropriate volume and page numbers and make the changes as you revise. Responsibility for the accuracy of bibliographic references rests entirely with the author(s); confirm all references through comparison of the final draft of the manuscript with the original publications. We expect that the only changes in galley proof will be for typographical errors. Any mention of manuscript in preparation, unpublished experiments, and personal communication should be in parenthesis. Use of personal communication should be with written permission of the communicator and should be entered only in the text, not in the Reference list.

Examples of References in CBE Style and Format

Journal Article: 
Miller LF, Chance CJ. 1954. Fishing in the tail waters of TVS dams. Prog Fish-Cult 16:3-9.

Ortenburger AI, Hubbs CL. 1927. A report on the fishes of Oklahoma, with descriptions of new genera and species. Proc Okla Acad Sci 6:123-141.

Books

Books with Authors: Miller RJ, Robison HW. 1980. The fishes of Oklahoma. Stillwater (OK): Oklahoma State University Press. 246 p.

Book with Editors: Gilman AG, Rall TW, Nies AS, Taylor P, editors. 1990. The pharmacological basis of theraputics. 8th ed. New York: Pergamon. 1811 p.

Book with Organization as Author: International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Physical Chemistry Division. 1993. Quantities, units, and symbols in physical chemistry. 3rd. Oxford (UK): Blackwell Science. 166 p.

Chapter in Book with Editors: Hamilton K, Combs DL, Randolph JC.

1985. Sportfishing changes related to hydro- power generation and non-generation in the tailwater of Keystone Reservoir, Oklahoma. In: Olsen FW, White RG, Hamre RH, editors. Proceedings of the symposium on small hydropower and fisheries. Bethesda (MD): American Fisheries Society. p 145-152.

Theses: Knapp MM. 1985. Effects of exploitation on crappie in a new reservoir [MSc thesis]. Stillwater (OK): Oklahoma State University. 84 p. Available from: OSU Library.

Internet: Oklahoma Climatological Survey. 2003. Climate of Oklahoma [online]. Available from: http://climate.ocs.ou.edu. (Accessed August 15, 2005).

D. Review Process.

The Editors review the MS and carefully select reviewers for all submitted manuscripts. All referee and editorial opinions are anonymous. A decision to accept, revise, or reject the manuscript is made by the editor after careful consideration of reviewers’ comments and recommendations.  If a “revise” decision is reached, the authors will be allowed to resubmit a revised version of the manuscript within a given time window. The authors are considered to address all reviewers’ comments and concerns, or provide compelling reasons to explain why they chose not to do so. A point-by-point rebuttal letter is required with each revised manuscripts, which clearly indicates the nature and locations of corrections within the revised manuscript. All authors should approve all revisions, with the corresponding author being responsible for insuring that all authors agree to the changes.

E. Page Charges

The OAS will publish accepted MSs with the implicit understanding that the author(s) will pay a charge per published page. Page charges are billed at the cost per page for the given issue: in 2016, $90 per page for nonmembers of the Academy and $35 for members. All authors are expected to honor these page charges. Billing for page charges and receipt of payment are handled by the Business Manager, who is also the Executive Secretary and Treasurer for the Academy.

Under exceptional circumstances, when no source of grant funds or other support exists, the author(s) may apply, at the time of submission, for a waiver of page charges.

F. Copyright Transfer

Before publication, authors must transfer copyright to the Oklahoma Academy of Science. All authors must sign, or the signing author must hold permission to sign for any coauthors. Copyright for papers reporting research by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties will be transferred to the extent permitted by law.