SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
AFRICAN CONSERVATION TELEGRAPH
PUBLICATION OF THE AFRICA SECTION OF THE SOCIETY FOR
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY

Version 1, August 2004

The African Conservation Telegraph (ACT) is the newsletter for the Africa Section of the Society for Conservation Biology. The aim of the newsletter is to inform readers worldwide on the recent advances and development issues in conservation throughout the continent of Africa. The featuring of crosscutting disciplines enables the newsletter to also function as an information clearinghouse. It is therefore meant to provide appropriate and relevant information to general conservation workers, managers, policymakers, academics and students in the field of conservation. The newsletter will feature articles from both scientific and non-scientific disciplines but with an emphasis on biological conservation and written in a language understandable by a wide audience. Additional information can be found in the maiden version, May 2004.

Contributions on empirical or theoretical work from all disciplines with implications for biological conservation will be accepted as deemed appropriate and relevant for our audience. Short communications on conservation activities (including projects and programs) in Africa as well as short reviews, general stories, and creative writing pieces are also welcome. Articles that have appeared or are about to appear in mainstream and major publications can be summarized in a few words for the newsletter with appropriate acknowledgement of the source. This implies that articles that have been published or submitted for publishing in any form are not welcome, and the sole responsibility of the consequence of any violation will rest on the author only.

There are 3 issues per year (approximately May – June, Sept – Oct, and Jan – Feb). Special issues may be published as well.

The newsletter is free of charge, available electronically online and via the Africa List serve and in hard copy for those registered SCB members with no access to the internet. The newsletter has widely been accepted but not all those who need it have electronic access. Hence, donations to help circulate hard copies to public sector organizations, NGO’s, IGO’s and schools in Africa are most welcome. Alternatively, if you want to download and mail copies to deprived areas in Africa, kindly contact the editor for contact addresses.

Type of Submissions

1. Invited articles: The editorial team at their own discretion will invite short articles. These articles will be meant to introduce projects, concepts, and ongoing discussion as well as cutting-edge issues on conservation science in Africa. Invited articles will not normally exceed 1500 words. Maximum of 2 graphical presentations and 1 table may be included.
2. Contributed general articles: Readers are welcome to submit pieces that provide brief extracts or abstracts of recent research, updates on projects and any conservation-related activity carried out within Africa. Articles will not normally exceed 1000 words. One figure,a table, or illustration may be included.
3. Science, society and development: This section is dedicated to how conservation science could benefit society and vice-versa. We strongly recommend articles on indigenous people, their knowledge and conservation as well as benefit-sharing issues. Conservation science and policy issues, and participatory approaches to conservation are encouraged. Technical and non-technical articles including results of studies with relevance to society will be accepted. A suggested maximum of 700 words will be accepted for papers in this section. Only one table or a figure and not the two will be accommodated for this section.
4. Hot topics: This will accommodate articles that generally explore contentious or controversial issues related to conservation in Africa. The acceptance of articles for this section is subject to high level of ethical scrutiny. There is a suggested allowable 500 words maximum for this section. A single photograph will be allowed and inclusive of cartoon if that communicates the intended message.
5. Letters to the editor: Communications on matters emanating from previous issues of the Newsletter and matters directly related to the Africa Section will be accepted (Maximum 150 words).
6. General: Short communications are for this section, dedicated to general issues that are real or fiction including poetry and short stories in clarifying conservation – related matters will be accepted. Also relevant for this sort of submission would be regional news items. Maximum 200 words suggested.
7. Reviews: Reviews of books or other publications (e.g. electronic media such as CD-roms) that are likely to be of interest or use to the readership. Maximum 500 words suggested.
8. Grants, Funding & Job Opportunities: We will accept submissions by e-mail and will include those that seem timely.
9. Citations for recently published materials: Please send in any suggestions you might have for citations for recently published information (books, journal articles and the like) that might be of general interest to the readership.
10. Announcements: Feel free to submit announcements that are likely to be of interest to the general readership. However, keep in mind the timetable on which the newsletter is published and submit only announcements that will be relevant at the time of newsletter publication. Only announcements that are still two weeks minimum to their deadlines from the date of publishing the issue of newsletter will be published.

Guidelines for submitting articles

1. Only electronic submissions are accepted and in any word processor but preferably MS Word (rtf files). However, clearly typed hard copy submission may be considered for email deficient areas but this may delay publishing.
2. The editor might seek clarification on the content of a submission after an initial review.
3. There are no specific guidelines for writing articles with the exception of the following, (a) where there are citations of, and (b) quotations from other work, and then authors will be required to follow the guidelines for writing articles for the Conservation Biology Journal. Visit http://www.conservationbiology.org/SCB/Publications/ConsBio/Instructions.
4. All articles should be sent to the appropriate person noted below: