Publishing criteria [PDF]

Tropical Conservation Science was acquired by SAGE Publications in August 2016.

For submission instructions please see the new TCS web site at SAGE.

The criteria for selection are:

• Scientific rigor and excellence
• Originality of research topic
• Potential interest to a wide spectrum of tropical conservation scientists

Attention should also be paid to:

Length: Each article should be of the length required to contain all useful and relevant information, and no longer. Because there are no page charges and because TCS is an electronic journal, we encourage authors to submit figures in color, as a way to stress the relevance of the data they present, and also color photographs of the landscapes and organisms investigated. Statistics: If necessary, referees may ask that the article be sent to a reviewer who is a specialist in statistics.
Ethics: Any ethical concern should be incorporated in the reviewer's report. For example, issues regarding animal welfare, human subjects or conservation concerns.

Submission of referee reports

This should be an open report with a section on "Comments to the Editor" and in which the referee should also indicate his/hers editorial recommendation (accept as is, accept with minor revision, accept with major revision, and reject).

An additional section of the report should be termed "Comments to the Author". Here, the referee is free to express general and specific comments/suggestions and other information regarding the manuscript as a whole and for each section.

Note: TCS is the process of designing and implementing a system of electronic submission of manuscripts. This will expedite the process of evaluation of manuscripts by referees.


Refereeing Policy

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Anonymity: It is the policy of TCS that the names of referees are not known to the author, unless otherwise requested by referees in their report.

Confidentiality: When agreeing to referee an article, all referees also agree to keep the article confidential, and not to redistribute it without permission from the TCS.

Conflicts of interest: Where referees have a conflict of interest (e.g., competing professional interest or a personal involvement that could bias judgment) this should be acknowledged upon invitation to referee.

Speed of refereeing: TCS would like to keep time from submission to publication as short as possible. Therefore, we ask referees to report back within 20 days of receiving the manuscript. In certain instances, an extension may be granted by the Editorial Office.

If referees are unable to report, it is requested that the Editorial Office is informed promptly so that the evaluation process is not delayed. Where referees find they are unable to review the assigned manuscript, the Editor welcomes suggestions of other referees competent to conduct the review.

Resubmissions: For some manuscripts, the authors will be requested to submit a revised version. In these cases, one or more of the original reviewers will be sent the revised paper and invited to review it and comment on the authors' replies to their comments on the original version. This allows the reviewers and the editorial office to determine if changes were made to the manuscript from the previous version.


Research ethics

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Articles will be accepted only if they are considered ethically sound based on the judgement of the reviewers and the Editor.

Human subjects

For studies involving human subjects, the research should be conducted according to the principles expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki (see below)

• http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/index.html
• http://ohsr.od.nih.gov/guidelines/Helsinki.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Helsinki#Principles

The Authors should confirm that informed consent was obtained from all subjects. See excerpt from the Declaration of Helsinki below:

"In any research on human beings, each potential subject must be adequately informed of the aims, methods, anticipated benefits and potential hazards of the study and the discomfort it may entail. He or she should be informed that he or she is at liberty to abstain from participation in the study and that he or she is free to withdraw his or her consent to participation at any time."

Animal subjects

Articles describing work with animals will be accepted only if the procedures used are clearly described and conform to the legal requirements of the country in which the work was carried out and to all institutional guidelines. A brief statement identifying the institutional and/or licensing agency approving the study must be included in the methods section.




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