Submission of your manuscript must be electronic. The main text should be a MS Word document or RTF file and the figures as a PDF file or located at the end of the file. Hard copy will not be accepted. When the manuscript will be finally accepted the illustrations should be provided in TIFF of JPEG formats.

Send manuscripts by email to the Publishing Editors, Dr Yu. Kantor: kantor.yuri1956@gmail.com or Dr. A. Fedosov: fedosovalexander@gmail.com)

Right margins should not be justified.

All text should be in Times New Roman, 12 pt.

Every paragraph starts with indent. There should not be empty lines between paragraphs.

Line spacing of text should be 1.5 line.

All pages of the manuscript must be numbered consecutively, including those carrying references, tables and figure captions, all of which are to be placed at the end of the manuscript.

Illustrations, both line drawings and photographs, are to be numbered as figures in a common sequence, and each must be referred to in the text (e.g., as Fig. 1, Рис. 1 or Figs 1–4, Рис 1–4).

Illustrations and tables should be numbered in accordance with the order they are referred to in the text.

Do not submit high resolution artwork until the final acceptance of the manuscript. 

The first page of the manuscript should have the title, authors’ names and workingaddresses in Russian and English (main language of the manuscript first), email, a running head (in main language) and up to 10 keywords that are not included in the title (in English). 

The title should be concise and include higher classification details where appropriate. The running head should not be longer than 50 characters (including spaces).

The remainder of the manuscript should normally be arranged with the following components: Abstract (in English and Russian, main language of the manuscript first), Introduction, Materials and methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgements, References, and table and figure captions (in English and Russian) (see sections below for more details). Figures, tables and supplementary material can be appended to the manuscript or submitted as one or more separate files.

The Abstract should state concisely the scope of the work and give the principal findings. It should be complete enough for direct use by abstracting services.

The Introduction should explain why the work was undertaken and include essential background information and references.

Materials and methods should provide enough detail to allow the experiments or measurements to be repeated. This section can also include Abbreviations.

Headings for Introduction, Materials and methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments and References should be in normal (non-bold) print in lower case and centered on their own line.

 

For taxonomic papers, the same components (primary headings) as standard papers should be used (see above).

The introduction to a taxonomic paper should ‘set the scene’ and provide a brief overview of what is known about other related taxa (e.g., in the same genus).

For genus-group taxa the following subheadings can be used in the order given: Name; Type species; Diagnosis; Remarks (including discussion on how the taxon differs from similar taxa and, if appropriate, comments regarding included species); Etymology.

Each description of a new species-group taxon should contain the following subheadings in the order given: Name; Reference to figures [in the format (Figs 1 A-B {note the space after 1, when there is reference to several parts of the combined image}; 2C {note the absence of space after 1, when there is the reference ot single part of combined image}; 3 C-D)]; Synonymy (if appropriate); Material examined (Type material and Other material); Type locality; Diagnosis (optional); Description (of at least the holotype and, if more material is available, additional specimens); Remarks; Etymology.

Headings for all taxonomic categories in taxonomic papers should be centered.

The abbreviations ‘gen. nov.’, ‘sp. nov.’, or ‘subsp. nov.’ should be used for indicating a new genus, species, or subspecies. The names of new taxa should be in bold italicthroughout the text, including figure captions. Example: Tus gen nov.; Aus bus sp. nov.; Zus wus gus subsp. nov.

Author and date (in the format Smith, 1902 or Smith et Brown, 1902) should be cited following the first introduction of a genus or species name in the text (other than the abstract). These are not references and should not be included in the reference list (unless they are also cited specifically as references or in a synonymy). Authors’ names and dates should also be used for genus-group and species-group names used in headings.

If a synonymy is provided, it must immediately follow the appropriate centered taxon heading. It must include the reference to the original description. References given (whether to the valid name or synonyms) should include the author, date, page number and any figure numbers, but should exclude the name of the publication, because these details must be given in the list of references at the end of the paper.

Examples of format for species synonymy : 

Xus yus Smith, Brown 1902: 304, pl. 3, fig. 4A; Jones, Smith, 1934: 456; Dick, 1956: 23, pl. 2, figs 6,7. [Example of an available name.]

Wus yus. — Gail, 1978: 56, pl. 4, fig. 5. [Example where genus name has been changed.]

Xus mus. — Hope, 1987: 21, pl. 3, figs 8-10; Freeman, Brown, 2000: 400 (not of Black, 1934). [Example of misidentification.]

Note that the stop and dash is used between the Latin name and author for all combinations other than the original one.

Examples of format for genus synonymy : 
 

Xus Smith, 1902: 303.

Type species (by subsequent designation of Jones, Smith 1934: 456): Xus yus Smith, 1902; Recent, Bolivia.

Wus Gail, Brown, 1978: 56.
Type species (original designation): Xus yus Smith, 1902; Miocene, Chile.

Multiple synonyms should be arranged in order of date of the first application of the name in question and, under each name, the separate references (if more than one is given) should be in chronological order.

The type species, with author and date, should be cited with the synonymy for each genus treated. The mode of designation should also be given.

Type data should be given for each valid species treated, the museum in which the primary type (holotype, syntypes, lectotype or neotype) is preserved should be given or, if the whereabouts of the type are unknown, what steps were taken to ascertain its whereabouts. Designation of a lectotype must be accompanied by an express statement of the taxonomic purpose of the designation.

Material examined 

Concise lists of specimens examined should be presented for each species.

Where type material has been examined then details should be listed under a heading Type material at the beginning of Material examined.

Example of format for type data (see also above)

Type material. Holotype (dissected): ZMMU Lc 17676, Simushir Island, 47°03.4'N, 152°14.8'E, 102-105 m, R/V Gidrobiolog, trawl 68, 1982. Paratype (dissected): MIMB 27916, Lovushka rocks, 48°26.0'N, 153°51.8'E, 490 m, rubbles, 09.07.1993. [Example for new species.]

Type material. Holotype of Sipho (Sipho) esychus shikotanicus. ZIN 27608/1, Shikotan Island, South Kurile Islands, 44°02.2'N, 147°29.2'E, 181-188 m. [Example when primary type of already described species is referred to.]

Information for non-type material should be presented after the heading ‘Other material’ in the following format (items in [ ] are optional):

Other material. Locality, latitude, longitude, depth (if a marine species), [collector, date, habitat information], repository (i.e., museum), registered number (if available) (number of specimens – in parentheses).

Example of format for 'Other material'

Other material. Chukchi Sea, 69°00.27'N, 168°51.6'W, 54 m, R/V Professor Khromov, sta. 20, 14.08.2004, ZIN 60847 (3 spm). Chukchi Sea, 72°18.95'N, 175°29.54'W, 65 m, R/V Professor Khromov, sta. 85 B, 21.08.2004, ZIN 60849 (1 spm).

Collection date should be given in the form 02.08.2001.

For large material examined sections, authors should minimize the information to locality, repository, registered number and number of specimens only, and should summarise the information from label data in distribution maps or in the main text.

Records should normally be arranged geographically from north to south and east to west where practical.

Latitude and longitude data should be given in the format 12°27.45´S, 130°49.33´E.

Diagnoses and descriptions 

Diagnoses and descriptions are published both in English and Russian. For non-Russian speaking authors, the translations in Russian can be done by the editors. We encourage authors to use English as a primary language for new taxa descriptions, the section Remarks are published in primary language only. The ‘telegraphic’ style is preferable for diagnosis and description.

Diagnoses should contain only the distinguishing characters or combination of characters for that taxon.

Comparative comments are to be placed under ‘Remarks’. They should include a comprehensive statement distinguishing the new taxon from related taxa.

Statements about the significance (e.g., biogeographic, evolutionary, conservation) of the new taxa or taxon should preferably be given in the Discussion.

Statistical tests should be described briefly and, if necessary, supported by references. Numbers of individuals, mean values, ranges and measures of variability should be stated. It should be made clear whether the standard deviation or the standard error of the mean has been given.

The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (fourth edition, effective from 1 January 2000) and decisions by the ICZN must be adhered to.

Tables should be placed at the end of the manuscript in a simple MS Word table format without borders to columns and rows within the body of the table, apart from horizontal lines under the column headings. Tabs or spaces should not be used to create a table.

The width of tables (using 10 pt font) must not exceed the maximum width of the page (16 cm). Each table must be accompanied by a title in English and Russian.

Footnotes in the text should be avoided until absolutely essential. When needed, please use the footnote function in MS Word.

Latin names of genera and species and Latin words or abbreviations of Latin words ( et al., sensu lato) should be in italics. The abbreviations e.g., and i.e., are in Roman font with full punctuation.

The first mention in the text of the scientific name of a species or genus, unless they are used in the abstract, should be accompanied by the authority author and date, but subsequent use of these names should omit the author and date. The genus name must be presented in full when first used, but can be abbreviated in a stand way in the subsequent text. In case, if there are multiple genera starting with the same latter are considered in the text they should not be abbreviated.

Numbers in the text should (unless given as actual units of measurement) be spelt out as words if less than 10 and as numerals if 10 or more.

When citing distances and measurements insert a single space between the number and the dimension (e.g., 5 mm, not 5mm). Always add space after ':' and ';' eg ': 10', not ':10'.

References 
References should be cited in the text with the year of publication in square brackets '[]', for example, Shepherd and Cannon [1988] or [Shepherd, Cannon, 1988; Smith, 1992, 1995]. When more than two authors co-author the publication, it should be cited as Shepherd et al. [1972] or [Shepherd et al., 1972]. Authorities of taxa should NOT be included in the references unless otherwise cited as an actual reference in the text or in a synonymy.

References must be listed alphabetically by authors, and then chronologically, at the end of the paper, in the following forms. Papers not cited must not be listed in the references.

Journal article 

Collinge W.E. 1902. On the anatomy of the genus Myotesta, Cllge. Journal of Malacology, 9(1): 11-16.

Note: only use Roman numerals if they are used in the title of the original article. Only proper nouns are capitalized in the article title. Titles of periodicals are italicized and must not be abbreviated. Online-only publications must include a DOI; we encourage authors to provide a DOI for other references if available.

Book 

Habe T. 1964. Shells of western Pacific in color. Vol. 2. Hoikusha Publishing Co, Osaka, 233 p.

Note: the book title is in italics and only proper nouns are capitalized in the book title. Add the country after the locality of the publisher only if the town or city is a minor one.

Book chapter

Habe T. 1952. Atyidae in Japan. In: Kuroda T (Ed.) Illustrated Catalogue of Japanese shells, 20: 137-152.

Kohn A.J., Amalsi K.N. 1993. Comparative ecology of a biogeographically heterogeneous Conus assemblage. In: Wells F.E., Walker D.I., Kirkman H, Lethbridge R. (Eds). The marine flora and fauna of Rottnest Island, Western Australia. Western Australian Museum, Perth, Australia: 523–538.

Note: Use (Ed.) for a single editor.

Monograph series 

Sirenko B.I. 2009. Chapter VII. The prosobranch gastropods (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Prosobranchia) of the Chukchi Sea and Bering Strait, their species composition and distribution. In: Sirenko B.I. (ed.) Ecosystems and biological resources of the Chukchi sea and adjacent areas. Explorations of the fauna of the seas, 64(72): 104-153.

Sowerby G.B. 1842. Monograph of the genus Pecten. Thesaurus conchyliorum, or monographs of genera of shells. 1. Sowerby, London: 45–78.

Online reference 
Huelsenbeck, J.P. & Ronquist, F. (2001) MrBayes 2.01: Bayesian inference of phylogeny. Available online at http://morphbank.ebc.uu.se/mrbayes/. [Accessed on 1 July 2003.]

Figures 
Final figures for publication should be submitted only at the time of final submission following acceptance of the paper.

Electronic copies of figures are required. All illustrations (line drawings, photographs, graphs, maps, etc.) should be numbered in the order that they appear in the text. Composite figures should have items labeled on each figure using capital letters in bold Times New Roman font with a minimal publication size of 3.0–3.5 mm (12-14 pts).

Figure captions 
Format as follows:

FIG. 1. Shells of species of Hydrobia. A, B. Hydrobia xus n. sp., holotype, TMH E3456. C–F. Hydrobia yus (Smith, 1924); C, Vigo, Spain, NHM, 789123; D–F, Crete, NHM, 667788. Scale bars = 1 mm.

or

FIG. 2. Habitats of Aus bus. A. Sampling site near the Murmashi town. B. Mouth of the rivulet flowing in the Tuloma river, 01.07.2008.

Please note the conventions with bolding in the caption.

Print size 
Figures should be able to fit into half a page (76 mm in width) or take the whole page width (160 mm).The maximum printed size of a full-page figure is 160 x 245 mm. Please consider the space for figure captions, so that they fit on the same page as figure.

Line drawings 
Should be scanned at high resolution, at least 600 dpi at final (printed) size, and saved in black and white bitmap format as TIFF files. Fine line drawings with a lot of variable grey shading should be saved in greyscale format as TIFF files at a minimum of 300 dpi.

Black and white photographs intended for reproduction as half-tone plates 
Must be provided electronically at a resolution of at least 300 dpi at final size and saved in greyscale format as TIFF files.

Colour photographs 
Will be used in PDFs only and must be submitted electronically in RGB format at a resolution of at least 300 dpi at final size. In printed version they will be reproduced as black and white photographs. It is author responsibility to be sure that they have adequate contrast and brightness in black and white. Authors are encouraged to provide both colour and greyscale versions of the photos.

Computer-generated figures 
Computer-generated figures (e.g., vector images such as maps, cladograms, statistical plots) must be provided at 600 dpi saved as tiff files. Be sure that the lines are of adequate thickness (at least 3 points).

Lettering (labels) on figures 
Should be in Times New Roman font with only the first letter of any proper names capitalised. The height after reduction (i.e., printing size) should be no more than 3 mm (10 pts) and there should be good contrast with the background. Important features to which attention has been drawn in the text should be indicated. Leader lines should be a minimum width of 0.5 pt at final size.

It is a condition of publication that authors assign copyright of their articles, including abstracts, to Ruthenica, Russian Malacological Journal. This enables us to ensure full copyright protection and to disseminate the article and the Journal, to the widest possible readership in print and electronic formats as appropriate. Ruthenica, Russian Malacological Journal licenses back to the Author(s) the right to use the substance of the Article (including illustrations) in his/her future works, provided that its prior publication in this journal is acknowledged.