Measurements
In general, measurements should be given in units recommended
for the SI (SystËme International d'UnitÈs)
metric system as approved for adoption by the Royal
Society Conference of Editors (see Nature 216: 1272-1274,
1967). However, ëlitreí (and its abbreviation)
and `ml' are acceptable exceptions to this rule. Standard
abbreviations should be used for all units quoted;
A full stop is not used after such abbreviations (cfr.
Table 1). Plural forms like ë36 mmsí are
incorrect and should be presented as ë36 mmí.
Vulgar fractions are not used (e.g. 3.5 mm not 3O mm).
The time of day should be given in terms of the 24
h clock (e.g. 13.00 h not 1.0 p.m.). In indications
of concentrations, the form ëmg m-3 ë is
to be used, rather than either ëmg/m3í
or ëmg per m3í. A space is always used
to separate figures given from the units measured (e.g.
ë20 mmí not ë20mmí, ë20
oCí not ë20oCí), expect in a few
special cases (e.g. 20K, see above).
Decimal values for percentages and large structures
are largely valueless and should be rounded up or down
to three significant figures (e.g. ë87.93 %í
to ë87.9í and ë273.6 mmí to
ë274 mmí).
In making microscopic measurements, remember that these
should always be made through the eyepiece and not
via photographs, a camera-lucida, or drawing tube;
significant errors can arise if this advice is not
followed, especially due to distortions in projection.
Measurements should be rounded so as not to give an
undue impression of accuracy; e.g. ones made by light
microscopy should be given to the nearest 0.5 mm (i.e.
2.4 mm should be rounded to 2.5 mm). Exceptions will
be permitted only where described procedures justify
this.
Language, spelling, and punctuation
Only papers in English are considered. Spellings follow
The Concise Oxford Dictionary (Clarendon Press, Oxford),
but if this is not available Collins Dictionary of
the English Language (W. Collins, Glasgow) is recommended.
Words in other languages, such as bona fide, prima
facie, in vitro, in situ, are printed in italic type
and should be underlined or typed in italic in the
manuscript.
Preference for ë-izeí or ë-iseí
is not consistent between different English dictionaries.
Both can be tolerated provided that the practice is
consistent within the paper.
Common or vernacular names of plants, plant pathogens,
mushrooms, etc., should neither be capitalized nor
placed in quotation marks. Standard lists of common
names, or ones used in quarantine or conservation legislation,
should be used as sources of such names where these
are available (e.g. British Society for Plant Pathology
1984).
Single quotes, i.e. '. . . . . . . .í, should
be used throughout for quotations or to indicate colloquialisms
or doubt; double quotes " . . . . . . . . . ."
should only be used for a quotation within material
being copied.
Hyphens should be used only where two nouns are joined,
and never between adjectives (e.g. ëyellow-greení
not ëyellow greení, ëyellowish greení
not ëyellowish-greení). They are not used
where a prefix is involved (e.g. ëcoevolutioní
not ëco-evolutioní, ëmicroorganismí
not ëmicro-organismí).
A commma (ë,í) is used preceding the final
ëandí in lists including three of more
items (e.g. ëmagnitude, significance, and conservation).
Abbreviations
In general, abbreviations are terminated after a consonant
by a ë.í, while contractions in which the
first and last letters are retained appear without
any final punctuation (e.g. ëProf.í for
ëProfessorí and ëDrí for Doctor
respectively). The individual letters in acronyms,
abbreviations based on the first letters of important
nouns, are not separated by a ë.í (e.g.
BMS not B.M.S. for British Mycological Society); where
acronyms are first used the full wording must also
be given at first usage, unless they can be regarded
as in common use (e.g. BBSRC, FAO, NSF, UK, UNESCO,
USA). Some commonly used abbreviations, acronyms and
contractions used in Mycological Research are given
in Table 2.
Chemical symbols are to be avoided in the text, and
the name of the substance given. Exceptions are in
papers where the chemistry is the main focus, when
a substance is referred to frequently, or when a list
of substances is given (e.g. in the recipe of a culture
medium, composition of a buffer). When a complex substance
is referred to frequently, the systematic chemical
name or full common name should be given at the first
mention together with the abbreviation by which it
will subsequently be denoted, e.g. `zinc ethylene bisdithiocarbamate
(zineb)', `potato dextrose agar' (PDA). Table 2 lists
commonly used abbreviations which DO NOT need to be
defined in your manuscript.
Abbreviations of chemical formulae, and chemical nomenclature
in general follow that in the Biochemical Journalís
current instructions to authors. In tables and figures,
amino acids and sugars can be abbreviated to three-letter
symbols (e.g. Ala, Arg, Asn, Asp, Ara, Fru, Gal, Glc).
For sequences, amino acids can be abbreviated to the
conventional single letter code but this should be
limited to the figures and should not be used in the
body of the text.
At first mention the full systematic name of any enzyme
must be quoted (following the recommendations of the
current edition of Enzyme Nomenclature (Amsterdam:
Elsevier), including the Enzyme Commission (EC) number.
Subsequently, a trivial name or abbreviation can be
used.
Statistical treatment of results
Numerical data which lack statistical analysis can be
valueless and if so will not be published. Data from
a sufficient number of independent experiments or measurements
should be reported to permit evaluation of the reproducibility
and significance of results. When the object is to
determine the value of a quantity or the statistical
characteristics of a population, sufficient information
is usually conveyed by: (1) the number of independent
experiments (the emphasis is on independent - remember
that replicate measurements of the same preparation
or results from pooled samples represent only one independent
estimate); (2) the mean value; (3) the standard error
of the estimate of mean value, as may be appropriate.
It should be made clear whether the standard deviation
or the standard error is used. A convenient form for
inclusion in a table is, for example 236 +/-2.5 (10),
where the number in parentheses represents the number
of values used in calculating the mean. Note that a
ëmeaní is used in expressing continuous
variation, a ëmedianí where there is discontinuous
variation, and a ímodalí (or ëmodeí)
for the common state or figure (whether the distribution
is skewed or not).
When any significance is claimed, the test of significance
used should be stated and an estimate of the probability
given. Statistical tests appropriate for a normal distribution
will be assumed unless stated otherwise. Many people
misuse statistical tests unwittingly; beware particularly
of the distinction between continuous variables (where
N could take on all possible values in some numerical
interval) and discontinuous variables (where N may
have only a finite number of values, for example because
data is ranked in groups of ëundiseasedí,
ëslightly diseasedí, and ëheavily
diseasedí). Each author should critically assess
the statistical value of the data being included before
submission for publication, where possible in consultation
with a professional statistician.
Where complex statistical transformations are used,
a brief non-technical explanation of the purpose and
outcome of the test should be included for non-specialist
readers.
Specimen examined: Great Britain: England: South Devon
(V.C. 3): Slapton, Slapton Ley National Nature Reserve,
ëThe Causewayí, 20(SX)/821442, alt. 10
m, on thallus of Parmelia sulcata on Salix sp., 25
June 1974, D.L. Hawksworth 3762 (IMI 186831 - holotype
of Cornutispora lichenicola).
Living cultures are most appropriately preserved in
a metabolically active state, for example by freeze-drying
(lyophilization), in liquid nitrogen, or in ultra-low
temperature freezers (-130 oC or lower). This is particularly
important for plant pathogenic and genetical strains
that may lose some properties over time when maintained
by methods involving repeated subculturing. Cultures
can also be dried for deposit in reference collections,
for example onto card with the aid of an appropriate
glue (Rossman & Simmons 1999).
Authors who are not fungal taxonomists should always
ensure that the identities of cultures or other specimens
they use are checked by appropriate specialists, who
should be acknowledged in the paper. Names allocated
to strains in the major collections of fungal cultures
are generally reliable, but this is not always so and
embarassing situations have arisen. The identities
of strains may not have been checked recently, and
contamination during shipment or subculturing is not
unknown. Extreme caution is needed when using dried
material in long-established herbaria or other reference
collections which may not have been rechecked for decades.
Scientific names
All scientific names, regardless of rank, will be italicized
when published; they must be underlined or printed
in italic in the manuscript (e.g. Fungi, Ascomycota,
Sordariales, Chaetomiaceae, Chaetomium globosum). Names
used in a colloquial or vernacular sense (e.g. ëfungií,
ëascomycetesí, ëpenicilliaí)
are not italicised even when based on a scientific
name and do not start with a capital letter. Specific
names are always started with a lower-case letter,
even when based on the name or a person. When repeating
the name of a species, a single-letter abbreviation
of the generic name is used (e.g. C. globosum), unless
ambiguity results or the full generic name is not nearby
in the paper, when the generic name should be repeated
in full. Abbreviations such as Asp. for Aspergillus
and Alt. for Alternaria may only be used at the Editorís
discretion to avoid possible confusions. For scientific
names other than those in the principle ranks, an abbreviated
term denoting the rank should be included and is given
in normal type (e.g. Penicillium subgen. Furcatum,
Cladonia uncialis subsp. biuncialis).
The authorities of scientific names of fungi and their
hosts should only be given in taxonomic papers where
they have been verified. They are not required in experimental,
pathological, ecological, and other non-taxonomic works,
and will not be included in the titles of papers. Where
author citations are used, they must follow the internationally
accepted standard (Brummitt & Powell 1992, Kirk
& Ansell 1992). The date of publication may be
added after an author citation in taxonomic works;
these dates are not placed in brackets as they are
not cited in the reference list presented (e.g. Penicillium
expansum Link 1809). When it is desirable to indicate
that a name is sanctioned, the date appears after the
publishing author and no date is given after the name
of the sanctioning author (i.e. P. expansum Link 1809
: Fr.; note the space either side of the ë:í).
The abbreviations of coauthors are linked by ampersand
(e.g. Encoelia fascicularis (Alb. & Schwein.) P.
Karst. 1870). Remember that when infraspecific taxa
are referred to, author citations appear only after
the infraspecific epithet and not after the species
name; the only exception is where that epithet repeats
the specific name, in which case the species name but
not the infraspecific epithet has a citation (i.e.
Penicillium thomii var. flavescens Abe and not P. thomii
Zaleski var. flavescens Abe, but P. thomii Zaleski
var. Thomii).
For further guidance on the use of author citations
in mycology see Korf (1996).
Strict adherence to the current International Code of
Botanical Nomenclature (Greuter et al. 1994) is required
for authors introducing new or changing scientific
names. In addition to the provision of a Latin diagnosis
(for examples see Stearn 1992), a full description
in English is required. The Latin diagnosis should
be as short as is compatible with avoiding ambiguity,
and not be a translation of the full English description.
Illustrations will be expected of all newly described
species. Full locality and host or substrate information
should be provided, together with dates of collection
or isolation and the name of the collector. This information
follows the Latin diagnosis, and the place in which
the name-bearing type (holotype) is preserved must
also be indicated; if not a species or infraspecific
name will not be validly published. It is the policy
of Mycological Research to require that type material
is deposited in institutional collections accessible
to bona fide researchers, for example national herbaria
(or service collections of fungus cultures where the
type is kept metabolically inactive by lyophilization
or in liquid nitrogen). Collections where material
is deposited can be referred to by their internationally
accepted acronyms (see under Voucher Specimens and
Cultures, above).
Synonyms and citations
In formal taxonomic presentations, synonyms should be
listed in order of date, and grouped so that homotypic
(obligate, nomenclatural) synonyms occur together.
Each should appear on a new line, with any over-run
indented, and the type details can be placed immediately
after the appropriate name or under a heading Specimens
examined at the end of the account of that fungus.
The place of publication of scientific names given in
the body of the paper must be abbreviated. Journal
titles should be abbreviated following the latest edition
of either the World List of Scientific Periodicals
or Botanico-periodico-huntianum (BPH; Lawrence et al.
1968, Bridson & Smith 1991). Titles of books should
follow the abbreviations used in the second edition
of Taxonomic Literature (Stafleu & Cowan 1976-1988)
and its supplements; abbreviations for some of the
most frequently cited fungal works are also given in
Hawksworth (1974). Where actual dates of publication
differ from those printed on works the printed dates
are placed in quotation marks within square brackets.
Indications of why any listed names are invalid with
a reference to the appropriate paragraph in the Code
(Greuter et al. 1994) can also usefully be appended,
and if any have not been checked in the original this
should be indicated by adding ënot seení
or ën.v.í (i.e. non vide). Examples of
various citations are:
Penicillium digitatum (Pers.) Sacc., Fung. Ital. no.
894 (1881).
Monilia digitata Pers., Syn. meth. fung.: 693 (1801)
: Fr., Syst. mycol. 3(2): 411 (1832).
Penicillium expansum Link, Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin
Mag. Neusten Entdeck. Gesammten Naturk. 3: 16 (1809).
Penicillium lineatum Pitt, Gen. Penicillium: 485 (1980)
[ë1979í].
Penicillium marneffei Segretain, Capponi & Sureau,
in Segretain, Bull. trimest. Soc. mycol. Fr. 75: 416
(1960) [ë1959í]; not seen..
Penicillium thomii var. flavescens Abe, J. gen. appl.
Microbiol., Tokyo 2: 50 (1956); nom. inval. (Art. 36.1).
Keys
Strictly dichotomous keys are preferred as they are
most familiar to non-specialists. The features mentioned
in each couplet must match, and hosts or substrates
only mentioned as supporting evidence. Generic names
need not be repeated in keys to species within a genus.
The keys should be laid out as follows, and will generally
be printed at full page-width:
1 Cleistothecial walls and conidia remaining hyaline;
orange or reddish pigments produced on Czapek yeast
extract agar or malt extract agar after 7 days
2
Cleistothecial walls or aleuroconidia becoming
brownish at maturity; no pigments, greyish brown or
greenish brown pigments produced on Czapek yeast extract
agar or malt extract agar after 7 days ruber
2(1) Ascospores 3-3.5(-4) mm wide; hyphae usually lacking
crystalline encrustations pilosus
Ascospores (4-)4.5-5 mm wide; hyphae usually
with abundant crystalline encrustations . . . . . .
. . purpureus
Other forms of keys, including synoptic or tabular keys, may be included at the discretion of the Editor, but usually only where a dichotomous key is also provided.
Reference list citations
Incorrect punctuation and citation details in the reference
list wastes the time and effort of Editors and authors
and the journalí