General instructions:

❏Follow the standard structure of a scientific paper (do not merge results with discussion). 

❏Apply an automatic spell checker, and provide the total number of words at the foot of the first page.

❏Attach sharp photographs at 300 DPI and illustrations at 600 DPI (we accept JPG, TIFF, PNG and Photoshop). Labels: Helvetica 10 points. (Check our Figures Guide)

❏Upload your manuscript and attach a scanned letter signed by all coauthors indicating: a- the document is original and all coauthors agree with its publication; b- our ethical requirements are met, c- authors agree to pay for excess pages fee if required, and d- names and e-mail addresses of three possible objective reviewers. The submission system will confirm reception of files after completing the submission process, if no message is received within 24 hours, please contact biologia.tropical@ucr.ac.cr

Manuscript characteristics:

❏It presents original information on biology and/or conservation of tropical organisms

❏Detailed field study (typically conducted over a period of one year or more) or an in depth laboratory study

Introductory section:

❏In the title, use capital letters to start proper names and proper nouns. The title is short and includes, in parentheses, Order and Family (botanical papers: only Family).

❏Taxonomic authority (Author, year) for each taxon only appears the first time each taxon is mentioned in the text (never in the title). Genera in binomial names are written in full only the first time they are used in the Abstract, main text, Resumen and key words.

❏The address for correspondence is short but complete; if there are several, they must be numbered. Include valid e-mails for all coauthors. Do not include phone/fax numbers.

❏The Abstract (350-450 words) must describe the importance of the problem being addressed, sample size, sampling dates, how the study was performed, the salient results and what the authors concluded. It must be a single paragraph.

❏Key words (five to seven) are separated by commas and should be more general than the title or abstract

❏The Introduction summarizes recent findings and ends with the objective of the study

Material and Methods section:

❏Present only the information required to repeat the study. Previously published methods are referenced and briefly described.

❏Do not include a map for just one study site; instead, provide its geographic coordinates. A map is appropriate for studies with various sampling locations.

❏If specimens were collected, these should be deposited in at least one institution (list their respective catalogue number in the Materials and Methods section).

❏When relevant to the results, equipment specifications should include model number and manufacturer. For chemical products only specify manufacturer.

❏Mathematical formulas include a description of each component.

❏The meaning of acronyms is explained in full the first time (but avoid acronyms if possible).

❏Use the International System of Units and their abbreviations, except that decimals are indicated with a period, thousands and millions with a space, eg. 12 523 235.15

❏When not followed by units, integers from zero to ten are written in full (one, two etc., not 1, 2 etc.).

Results:

❏Quantitative data are evaluated with appropriate statistical tests, which are reported after each result and in parentheses. Example: “Height and speed were positively correlated (Spearman, p< 0.05)”.

Tables and Figures

❏Avoid isolated figures by grouping related photographs and illustrations (See Figures Guide in our website). Symbols and scales appear within the figure (never as a footnote). Labels: Helvetica 10 points.

❏Avoid very long or very short tables (half a page is a good size), and the use of vertical and horizontal lines in them. All symbols and abbreviations appear only in the footnotes. No bold font, or words fully written in upper case.

Discussion:

❏This section compares your results with previously published data. No tables or figures are included here.

Acknowledgments:

❏Only persons who gave very significant assistance are mentioned. “Dr.”, “Prof.”, “Mrs.”, among others, are not used, only names.

Resumen and Palabras clave:

❏The Resumen starts with the title of the article in Spanish. The Resumen contains the same information and sections as the Abstract in Spanish.

❏The Palabras clave correspond to the key words, but written in Spanish.

Staff at Revista de Biología Tropical will translate the Abstract and key words for authors who do not speak Spanish. Please send a note to the Editor.

References

❏Present the list of references and citations within the text in APA 6th Edition format. We recommend the use of the following free reference managers: zotero.org or mendeley.com

Examples of references:

Journal Article

Torres, J. R., Infante-Mata, D., Sánchez, A. J., Espinoza-Tenorio, A. & Barba, E. (2017). Atributos estructurales, productividad (hojarasca) y fenología del manglar en la Laguna Mecoacán, Golfo de México. Revista de Biología Tropical, 65(4), 1592-1608.

Book

Hanson, P. E. & Nishida, K. (2016). Insects and other arthropods of tropical America. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Book chapter

Pardini, R., da Rocha, P. L. B., El-Hani, C. & Pardini, F. (2013). Challenges and Opportunities for Bridging the Research–Implementation Gap in Ecological Science and Management in Brazil. In P. H. Raven, N. S. Sodhi & L. Gibson (Eds.), Conservation Biology : Voices from the Tropics (pp. 75-85). Oxford, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

❏Only cited publications appear under References and vice versa. Unpublished papers are mentioned in the text as in this example: (J. Smith, unpublished).