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General aims

The Journal is published quarterly by the BCSS, in March, June, September and December. The editorial aim is to include within each issue a balanced range of articles covering a broad spectrum of cacti and other succulent plants. It is intended that each issue should contain a range of articles designed to appeal to all levels of enthusiast, from beginners, through to experienced collectors.

General notes

The Editor will consider for publication any article that deals either directly or indirectly with cacti and other succulents.

Articles sent to the editor for consideration should be accompanied by all of the illustrations that are available to the author. The decision over the number of illustrations to be published with each article lies with the Editor, based upon space and suitability, although authors' wishes will be considered at all times.

The Editor is happy to work with authors if they feel that some improvement to the text may be required, and may also be able to find suitable illustrations from other sources, if deemed necessary or appropriate.

Long articles may, with the authors' agreement, be serialized.

When submitting articles for consideration please provide as many means of contact as possible, i.e. postal address, telephone number, email address, fax number, etc.

Up to 20 free copies or reprints of each article are available to the author.

Scheduling

While the Editor will endeavour to publish all accepted articles as soon as possible, authors are advised that it is not always possible to publish articles in the next published issue of the Journal. In order to achieve the required variety and balance in each issue it may be necessary to hold some articles over to the following or even later issues of the Journal. The number of accepted manuscripts in hand at any given time will also influence the likely publication date of other articles. Under any circumstances, any article accepted for publication in the Journal is unlikely to appear in print in less than 4 months from the date of acceptance. If, for any reason, it is important that an article is published by a certain date, the author should make this known to the Editor when the article is submitted, and efforts will be made to accommodate such requests.

Preferred text formats

These are the ways that you can submit text, in order of preference:

1. Text or word-processor files

This is the preferred format, even for short pieces. The Journal is prepared preliminarily in Microsoft Word, and then laid-out in QuarkXpress, so either of these formats is ideal. Text files produced on most other popular word processing software packages are acceptable, but please specify the software package and version number if possible, so that our job is made a little easier. If you are at all unsure (that is, you think you may be using some particularly obscure software) please add a file saved in ASCII or RTF format (all word processing software packages give you the option to do this). Text files can be emailed to the Editor, or supplied on floppy disc, CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. Please always include a printed copy of the manuscript with any material sent to the Editor, in case there should be any conversion problems.

The Journal is prepared on IBM PC compatible machines, so if you use an Apple Macintosh PC please be sure to submit your file(s) on a PC formatted disk (IBM PS/2 [DOS]) - these are accepted by the Mac, but a Mac formatted disk in a PC is unreadable.

2. Typed copy

Typed copy is acceptable. In order to avoid spending time re-keying articles supplied as typed copy, we can scan the text into the computer. This is possible only if it is supplied as a good quality copy, free from hand-written corrections or amendments. If, once typed, you spot errors that need correcting, please do this on a separate copy of the manuscript, leaving the original as 'clean' copy suitable for scanning.

3. Hand-written manuscript

Illustrations

For the best results, good quality transparencies are preferred. Photographic prints are acceptable, but must be of good quality. High resolution Image files from digital cameras are also acceptable.

The simple rule of thumb for illustrations that are to be used for publication is 'the original is best'. Copied transparencies or prints will be of inferior quality.

Transparencies

For the best reproduction quality, transparencies should be exposed on fine grain film, ideally within the range of 25 to 100 ASA - the lower the better (i.e. slow film). For scanning purposes transparencies have to be removed from their mounts, so they are best supplied in easy to open and easy to re-seal mounts (preferably not glass mounts, in case of breakage), or alternatively in small individual envelopes or plastic bags. Please make sure that all transparencies are clearly identified with name and/or number.

Photographs should be sharp (in focus), and without extraneous or distracting objects within frame. Illustrations will be selected and sized, and the image cropped, by the Editor, based upon a range of factors including quality, suitability and space. It is not possible to guarantee the placing of any illustrations alongside particular parts of the text, but specific requests to achieve this will be borne in mind during the page layout process.

Prints

Photographic prints can be used, but they offer poorer results than transparencies. Once again, best results are achieved if slow film is used.

All illustrations will be returned to the author. The utmost care will be taken with all illustrations, and the chances of damage are minimal, but the BCSS can offer no guarantee that illustrations will be returned in perfect condition after they have been used for publication.

Digital images

Image files from digital cameras are acceptable. Images should be taken on the highest quality settings on the camera. The larger the file size in Mb (megabytes), the better quality the final pictures will be. Most cameras output JPG files, and these are suitable, as are those in TIF format. Files should be supplied in their original format, and without image manipulation software being used. Options for compression of JPG files should not be used, since this results in some loss of digital information from the files.

Image files produced by scanning transparencies or prints on a desktop scanner (whether it be a flatbed scanner or a dedicated transparency scanner) are discouraged. Such files result in much poorer quality images. It is far better for reproduction and printing purposes if the original transparencies or prints can be supplied to the Editor, to be scanned on professional equipment at the reprographics studio used by the Society.

Digital images should be supplied to the Editor on a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.

The quality of a digital image file from the best digital camera is not as good as the result that is achieved by the professional scanning of a transparency.

Line drawings and artwork

Drawings, sketches, maps etc should be in black ink on white paper (or drafting paper). If text is to be incorporated within an illustration but you are wary of doing it yourself, please indicate the position and wording on a photocopy of the original and we will do the rest.

Maps, charts or graphs created on software packages should be submitted in the original file format, along with versions saved in both TIF and EPS formats if possible, but a 'clean' printed copy should also be provided in case of data access or conversion problems. In some instances it may be necessary to recreate a chart or graph from scratch, so a copy of the data series used should also be included.

Colour artwork can be reproduced; the best quality will result from scanning the original, but a good quality transparency will usually suffice.

Captions

Please number all illustrations supplied for consideration, and provide suggested captions for each. If you are supplying more illustrations than are needed, please indicate which are the most important to be used, or those which you prefer.

Please remember that all work on the BCSS Journal is undertaken by volunteers, so if authors take careful note of these Guidelines it will help to make the job easier.

Point of contact:

All articles submitted for consideration, or editorial queries, should be addressed to:

Roy Mottram, Whitestone Gardens, Sutton, Thirsk, North Yorkshire YO7 2PZ