Guidelines for authors 
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Fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico and 
its companion volumes ( Decapod Crustaceans, Mollusks, 
Cnidaria and Ctenophora, and World Fishes Impor¬ 
tant to North Americans). For species not found in the 
above mentioned AFS publications and for more recent 
changes in nomenclature, use the Integrated Taxonom¬ 
ic Information System (ITIS) (available at website), or, 
secondarily, the California Academy of Sciences Cata¬ 
log of Fishes (available at website) for species names 
not included in ITIS. Common (vernacular) names of 
species should be lowercase. Citations must be given 
of taxonomic references used for the identification of 
specimens. For example, “Fishes were identified accord¬ 
ing to Collette and Klein-MacPhee (2002); sponges were 
identified according to Stone et al. (2011).” 
Dates should be written as follows: 11 November 
2000. Measurements should be expressed in metric 
units, e.g., 58 metric tons (t); if other units of measure¬ 
ment are used, please make this fact explicit to the 
reader. Use numerals, not words, to express whole and 
decimal numbers in the general text, tables, and fig¬ 
ure captions (except at the beginning of a sentence). 
For example: We considered 3 hypotheses. We collected 
7 samples in this location. Use American spelling. Re¬ 
frain from using the shorthand slash (/), an ambiguous 
symbol, in the general text. 
Word usage and grammar that may be useful are the 
following: 
• Aging For our journal, the word aging is used to 
mean both age determination and the aging pro¬ 
cess (senescence). Authors should make clear which 
meaning is intended where ambiguity may arise. 
• Fish and fishes For papers on taxonomy and biodi¬ 
versity, the plural of fish is fishes, by convention. In 
all other instances, the plural is fish. 
Examples: 
The fishes of Puget Sound [biodiversity is indicated]; 
The number of fish caught that season [no emphasis 
on biodiversity]; 
The fish were caught in trawl nets [no emphasis on 
biodiversity]. 
The same logic applies to the use of the words crab 
and crabs, squid and squids, etc. 
• Sex For the meaning of male and female, use the 
word sex, not gender. 
• Participles As adjectives, participles must modify a 
specific noun or pronoun and make sense with that 
noun or pronoun. 
Incorrect: 
Using the recruitment model, estimates of age-1 re¬ 
cruitment were determined. [Estimates were not 
using the recruitment model.] 
Correct: 
Using the recruitment model, we determined age- 
1 estimates of recruitment. [The participle now 
modifies the word we, i.e., those who were using 
the model.] 
Incorrect: 
Based on the collected data, we concluded that the 
mortality rate for these fish had increased. [We 
were not based on the collected data.] 
Correct: 
We concluded, on the basis of the collected data, that 
the mortality rate for these fish had increased. 
[Eliminate the participle and replace it with the 
adverbial phrase on the basis of.] 
Equations and mathematical symbols should be set from 
a standard mathematical program (MathType) and tool 
(Equation Editor in MS Word). LaTex is acceptable for 
more advanced computations. For mathematical sym¬ 
bols in the general text (a, x 2 » rc, ±, etc.), use the sym¬ 
bols provided by the MS Word program and italicize all 
variables, except those variables represented by Greek 
letters. Do not use photo mode when creating these 
symbols in the general text and do not cut and paste 
equations and letters or symbols of variables from a dif¬ 
ferent software program. 
Number equations (if there are more than 1) for fu¬ 
ture reference by scientists; place the number within 
parentheses at the end of the first line of the equation. 
Literature cited section comprises published works and 
those accepted for publication in peer-reviewed journals 
(in press). Follow the name and year system for cita¬ 
tion format in the “Literature cited” section (that is to 
say, citations should be listed alphabetically by the au¬ 
thors’ last names, and then by year if there is more 
than one citation with the same authorship. A list of 
abbreviations for citing journal names can be found at 
website 
Authors are responsible for the accuracy and com¬ 
pleteness of all citations. Literature citation format: 
Author (last name, followed by first-name initials). Year. 
Title of article. Abbreviated title of the journal in which 
it was published. Always include number of pages. For 
a sequence of citations in the general text, list chrono¬ 
logically: (Smith, 1932: Green. 1947; Smith and Jones, 
1985). 
Acknowledgments should be no more than 6 lines of 
text. Only those who have contributed in an outstand¬ 
ing way should be acknowledged by name. For recogni¬ 
tion of other persons or groups, use a general term, 
such as “crew,” “observers,” “research coordinators,” and 
do not include names with these terms. 
Digital object identifier (doi) code ensures that a publica¬ 
tion has a permanent location online. Doi code should 
be included at the end of citations of published litera- 
