Beginning with the issues published in 2015, changes to the trim size and format of both Herpetologica and Herpetological Monographs have necessitated changes to the Instructions for Authors. The more significant changes are summarized below, but prospective authors should consult the new guidelines in their entirety as available on the Herpetologists' League (HL) website:
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Published pages other than the title page will have running heads—the left running head lists the author surname(s), whereas the right running head provides an abbreviated title. Authors should supply an appropriate right running head on the title page of their manuscript (up to a maximum of 70 characters, including spaces).
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Authors are encouraged (but not required) to provide an open researcher and contributor identifier (ORCID) that permanently distinguishes each author from all others (especially those with similar names).
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Standard English names should be capitalized and, with some exceptions, treated as plural nouns (please see online version of the Instructions for Authors for examples).
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The format for secondary and tertiary subheadings has changed. Secondary subheadings are centered but not italicized, and tertiary subheadings are bolded rather than italicized.
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Minor changes to the format of in-text citations and entries in the Literature Cited section are being implemented to save space and editing time. Please consult the details and examples provided in the online version of the Instructions for Authors.
HL will no longer print a hard-copy version of the complete Instructions for Authors. Instead, any inquiries about specific requirements for manuscript content, format, or style will be directed to the .pdf version of the Instructions available online. Manuscripts submitted after 1 September 2014 that do not adhere to the new Instructions for Authors will be returned for revision without review.
We thank the members of HL, and all prospective authors, for their patience and understanding during this transition.