Submissions

1. Organizing your submission
To submit, please separate your manuscript and save to the following file types:

• body – from Introduction to end of Literature Cited – (rich-text format)
• tables (each table is an individual file, in rich-text format)
• figures (each figure is an individual image file: GIF, PNG, or JPG)
• equations (each equation is an individual image file: GIF, PNG, or JPG — GIF is best for equations)
• appendices (pdf for text, tables, and figures; other file types are accepted for online resources, models, spreadsheets, etc.)

If you are unable to save in one of these formats please contact the editorial office.

2. Title, Abstract, Key words/phrases, and Acknowledgments
     (Step 3 of the submission process)

Type (or cut and paste) directly into the submission interface.

• Title e.g., Does experimentally quieting traffic noise benefit people and birds
  Only the first word and proper nouns should be capitalized.
• Abstracts
  • Abstracts should be less than 300 words.
  • They should not contain citations.
  • Avoid abbreviations – if used they must be first spelled out.
• Key words/phrases should be listed alphabetically and separated by a semicolon.

3. Body of the manuscript (from Introduction through to the end of Literature Cited)

Note: Figures or tables in the body of the manuscript will generate errors during the submission procedure.

• Headings and subheadings
• Equations, Greek symbols, and statistics
• Text Boxes
• Details of style
  • Within text referencing
  • Spacing, fonts, and page numbering
  • Underlining/italicization
  • Capitalization
  • Footnotes
  • Units
  • Statistics
  • Web (HTML) links
• Literature cited

Headings and subheadings must appear on a line by themselves

Main headings:

• Standard headings should be used preferentially (if appropriate)
• INTRODUCTION, METHODS, RESULTS, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, LITERATURE CITED
• Other headings are permissible
• Use LITERATURE CITED (not Bibliography, References, nor anything else)
• centered on a line by themselves

Secondary headings

• left justified on a line by themselves
• bolded
• lowercase except for the initial letter of the first word
• e.g., General characteristics of movement

Tertiary headings

• left justified on a line by themselves
• italicized
• lowercase except for the initial letter of the first word
• e.g., Field study and simulation model

Equations and Greek characters

Equations

The process of inserting equations occurs in both Steps 4 and 5.

• First, you must indicate where in the manuscript you want the equations (Step 4)
• Next, you must upload the image of the equation (Step 5).

To designate the location of each equation: Insert tags <eqn#> into the text of your manuscript where the equation should appear,
where # = 1,2,3,…,n indicates the sequential number of the equation.

During Step 5, you will be prompted to upload images of your equation(s).
Upload each equation as a separate graphic file named eqn#.gif, where # corresponds to the tags inserted into the body of the manuscript.
Any one equation may be specified any number of times by inserting the appropriate tag in the manuscript in multiple locations.

Greek characters

To include Greek characters in your manuscript please either use the “Insert — Symbol” feature in Microsoft Word,
or
write out the full name of the Greek character and enclose the word in parentheses (e.g., <alpha>, <beta>) within the text of your manuscript (click here for a complete list of Greek characters and the associated full name).

Text Boxes

To set content apart in a Text Box, place <txt#> at the beginning and </txt#> at the end of the content (where # = 1, 2, 3… is the appropriate box number). Put into the body of the manuscript in the approximate desired location.

Details of Style

Within text referencing

• include author plus year of publishing, (Smith 2000)
• separate two references with a comma, (Smith 2000, Green 2002)
• list oldest reference first, (Smith 2000, Green 2002, Brown 2012)
• if two authors give both names, if three authors use ‘et al.’, (Smith and Brown 2000, Smith et al. 2012)
• the same author in two different years- name the author only once (Smith 2000, 2012, Brown 2013)
• the same author in the same year, designate with letters (Smith 2000a)
• direct quotes should include date followed by page number (Smith 2000:197)
• second-hand references (Smith 2000, as cited in Brown 2005)
  Note: Smith 2000 should not appear in Lit. Cited section.

Spacing and Fonts

Single-space all material.
Separate paragraphs with a blank line.
Use a 12-point font (preferably Times Roman).

Underlining/Italicization

Italicize scientific names and symbols for all variables and constants except Greek letters in the text.
Symbols in illustrations should be italics to match the text.
Italics should NOT be used for emphasis.
Do not underline text.

Capitalization

For common names of birds, follow the Ornithological Societies of North America style (AOU checklist), with initial capital letters: Black-throated Green Warbler. For all nonavian taxa, use lowercase for common names.

Footnotes

Avoid footnotes in the body of the manuscript; most footnote material can be incorporated into the text for the benefit of readers and editors.

Footnotes below tables are acceptable; instead of numbers, please use (in order): †, ‡, §, |, ¶, #, ††, ‡‡, §§, ||, ¶¶, ##.

Units

Use the International System of Units (Systeme Internationale: SI) for measurements. Consult Standard Practice for Use of the International System of Units (ASTM Standard E-380-93) for guidance on unit conversions, style, and usage. When preparing text and figures, note in particular that,

1. SI requires the use of the terms mass or force rather than weight;
2. use the solidus (/); for two or more units in a denominator, use negative exponents; and
3. use a capital L as the symbol for litre.

Statistics

Use leading zeroes with all numbers <1, including probability values (e.g., P < 0.001). For every significant F statistic reported, provide two df values (numerator and denominator). Whenever possible, indicate the year and version number of the statistical software used.

Web (HTML) links

Authors may include links to other Internet resources in their article [e.g., the Breeding Bird Survey (http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/bbs.html)]. When inserting a reference to a webpage, please include the http:// portion of the address.

• The Council of Science Editors (CSE) Style Guide, is recommended for details of style.
• Manuscripts are currently accepted in English only.
• Write with precision, clarity, and economy:
  use the active voice and first-person whenever appropriate.
• Use American spellings (e.g., behavior, not behaviour) except when quoting or in citations.

Literature cited – NEW – do not include italics anywhere in referencing or literature cited. In general, use Harvard Referencing System.

• Each citation in the text must be included in the Literature Cited section.
• Every reference in the Literature Cited must be referred to in the text.
• The list should conform in sequencing and punctuation to that found in recent issues of Avian Conservation and Ecology.

• All journal titles should be spelled out completely.
• Insert spaces between author’s initials.
• Last name appears first for first author, initial(s) first for subsequent authors.
• In the titles of articles, the spelling of all words should agree with that used in the original publication.
• Journal articles in press should include the volume number of the journal even if the page range or article number is not known.
• Provide the publisher’s name and location when you cite symposia or conference proceedings; distinguish between the conference date and the publication date if both are given.
• Books and conference proceedings must include publisher information: name, city, state or province (if pertinent), country.
• Conference proceedings must include the city, state/province, country, and year in which the conference was held. Conference dates are typically included, although not required. The editor(s) of the Proceedings should be included, if possible.
• Technical reports and government publications should be cited in much the same way as books. Authors’ names are included if they are provided, otherwise use the department or group name. e.g., Central Valley Joint Venture. 2006. Central Valley Joint Venture Implementation Plan—Conserving Bird Habitat. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sacramento, California, USA.
  and
  Crank, D., W. Bowling, G. Jenkins, and J. McDermott. 2016. Kentucky Elk Report.Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Kentucky, USA. https://fw.ky.gov/Hunt/Documents/20162017Elk Report.pdf.
• Links to online, freely available articles are encouraged. Please use the following format:
  for URL:  https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=lme4
  or
  for DOI: https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v067.i01
• Do not include links to password-protected websites or personal websites. Exceptions to this rule include links to Birds of North America species accounts and links to author’s websites that post a software program that is not available by any other means and is integral to the paper.
• Do not include references to unpublished work that is not publicly available unless the work belongs to an author on your paper.
  • citations for unpublished work that is publicly available should follow the ACE style, e.g.,
    authors or institution. date posted if available. title. site name. publisher (if different from site name). URL or DOI

4. Attachments (tables, figs, etc.)

All tables, figures, appendices, videos, computer simulations, and databases constitute attachments to the body of the manuscript. As such, they must be submitted as separate files. During the submission process you will be required to select your attachment type from a drop-down list, and then type or paste its associated caption – these steps are repeated until you have input the captions for all of your attachments. You will then upload the attachment files, and our software will generate a web page for each attachment based on the file names and captions provided. Do not include captions or titles in the attachment files themselves.

Please see the Equations section below for information on how to format equations.

• Tables
• Figures
• Appendices

Tables (saved as .rtf files)

• The table’s caption is entered separately and should not appear in the table.
• Single spaced
• Row and column entries separated by cell divisions using the table function in word processing software.
  (That is, tabs, spaces, or blank lines to separate information will not work.)
• No horizontal or vertical lines (borders) to separate cells
• No images within tables
• No color
• Use regular font in column and row headings (no bold or italics)
• Do not merge rows, merging across columns is okay
• No bulleted or numbered lists
• Asterisks are reserved to denote levels of significance, not for footnotes
• Superscripted numbers may be used to identify citations within a table
• The footnote symbols should be in the order: †, ‡, §, |, ¶ , #, and then doubled symbols. (See CSE Style Manual).
• Do not include information in tables that is not discussed in the text of the manuscript.

Example Tables:

Figures

• Figures are added during Step 5 of the submission process.
• Ensure all text in a figure is legible on paper when the image is printed 7.5 cm wide.
• Figures must be clear and sharp.
• Use imaging software (Excel does not export graphs well).
• Figures must be in .GIF, .PNG, or .JPG formats.
  • For photos or images with gradients of color use JPG.
  • For images with flat color use GIF or PNG.
• up to 300 ppi and no wider than 2000 pixels (unless given explicit permission by the managing editor).
• the image will be printed 7.5 cm wide (complex figures may be printed at 16cm) – text should be legible, clear, and sharp at that size. Print your figure at 7.5 cm; is it legible, clear, and sharp?
• We may ask you to supply high resolution, print-quality versions of your figures.
• Font must be large, legible, and sans serif; Arial font is best.
• Use a white background
• No title or caption information in the figure. That information is entered elsewhere.
• Initial upper case letters are preferred except where SI requires lower case letters for unit abbreviations (e.g., dbh, ln).
• No border around your figures
• Color figures are encouraged. Please verify they will print well in black-and-white (and that color selection would be distinguishable to people who are red-green color-blind).
• Use shaded or hatched bars in preference to color or black ones.
• Use italic lettering for single-letter variables, constants, and scientific names in illustrations to make them consistent with the text.
• Use bar graphs in preference to pie charts

Example Figures:

Appendices

Appendices are not copy edited nor formatted prior to publication so authors must ensure that their appendix is formatted correctly and references to appendices in the body of the manuscript are clear.

Appendices containing text, tables, and/or figures should be uploaded as PDF, formatted according to the journal’s style.

The top margin of the appendix must be 4 cm.

Enter all title and caption information when asked during the submission process, and upload each appendix as a separate file.

Other appendices

All nontext appendices, such as databases, video, or sound files may be uploaded using an appropriate filetype for the file contents. Appendices should be labeled logically to indicate content (i.e. “Program#.filetype”, “Sound#.filetype”). Captions should describe the attachment fully (by content, file format, usage, software required to run them, etc.) and are uploaded separately during the submission process.

Instructions for submitting a special feature

ACE invites proposals for Special Features within the scope of the journal. Special Features often focus on topics that represent emerging research trends, cross-disciplinary efforts, or significant new developments in an area. Workshops and conference sessions can be good sources for Special Feature proposals. Special Features typically comprise 6-12 papers and should aim to attract between 10-15 submissions.

A Special Feature proposal should contain the following

• Title and names of the guest editor(s)
• Extended abstract describing the focus of the Special Feature, why the topic is important and timely, relevance of the proposed topic to ACE (Maximum 400 words)
• Potential contributors, as well as a strategy for soliciting appropriate submissions
• Qualification(s) of guest editors
• Plan for how article publication costs will be met
• Tentative timeline (from call for papers to final acceptance). If a proposal is accepted, the timeline will be subject to negotiation and agreement with the Editors-in-Chief. Note that the submission window will be restricted to a maximum of 4 weeks.

Guest Editor Team guidelines

• The team should not exceed three guest editors
• A submitted proposal will be evaluated by the ACE editorial board and revision may be required.
• Guest editors are welcome to write an editorial about the topic. Any articles submitted by guest editors will undergo a review by the EICs.

If the Special Feature is approved, the candidate manuscripts should be submitted through the ACE manuscript submission system, indicating the Special Feature to which they are submitting. Manuscripts will follow ACE’s normal peer-review practices. Authors or guest editors are required to cover all publication costs associated with each article in the Special Feature. For enquiries or to submit a proposal for a Special Feature, please contact managing_editor@ace-eco.org.

All items required

• This submission has not been published elsewhere, nor is it at present being considered for publication by another journal.
• The text adheres to the formatting requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines (see About the Journal).
• I understand there is a $800 USD charge to cover the costs of publishing and that there will be additional charges if the manuscript exceeds the stated maximum lengthword limits.
• The text of the paper itself and that of the tables is in Rich Text Format (RTF) without embedded figures, equations, or tables.
• Figures and Equations are .gif, .jpg, or .png format.
• Appendices are in PDF format (if text), videos, databases, or other format are also acceptable (for non-text appendices).
• If present, equations, figures, tables, and/or appendices, are correctly referenced in the text of the manuscript and you have individual files ready for upload.

Permission to Use Copyright Protected Material

If, in your submission, you include any material created or published by someone else you must get permission from the copyright holder. Most publishers have their own forms. Once you have received permission from the copyright holder please send a copy to jrnls@resalliance.org (include your manuscript number in the subject line). If there is a fee involved please also send a copy of your receipt as proof of payment.

If the copyright holder does not have their own permission forms please download and complete this form, have the copyright owner sign it, and return it to us.

Consent and Release for Use of Likeness

If you must include images of recognizable people a Consent and Release for Use of Likeness is required (form). Send a copy of the signed agreement to jrnls@resalliance.org.

All personal information entered in the journal site (including but not limited to names and email addresses) will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.