Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 
A refereed journal for science in Western Australia 
Instructions to Authors 
The Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia publishes (after refereeing) 
• papers and notes dealing with original research done in Western Australia into any branch of the natural or physical sciences; 
• papers and notes concerning some aspect of natural or physical science of relevance to Western Australian scientists, but not 
necessarily done in Western Australia; 
• authoritative overviews of any subject in the natural or physical sciences with the general membership of the Society in mind; 
• analyses of controversial issues of great scientific moment in Western Australia 
Prospective authors of papers in the last two categories should consult the Honorary Editor for further advice. The Journal also 
publishes "Letters to the Editor" and a bibliographic summary of recent journal papers and review articles in "Recent Advances in 
Science in Western Australia". 
Authors are encouraged to submit a list of potential reviewers in Australia or overseas, but choice of reviewers is at the discretion 
of the Honorary Editor. Publication in the Society's Journal is available to all categories of members. Submission of a paper is taken to 
mean that the results have not been published or are not being considered for publication elsewhere. Authors are solely responsible 
for the accuracy of all information in their papers, and for any opinions they express. Fifty offprints are provided free to members of 
the Royal Society of Western Australia; cost of offprints (including Notes) is $100 for non-members. 
Manuscripts. The original and three copies must be submitted. They should be printed on opaque white paper with double¬ 
spacing throughout and have 3 cm margins. All pages should be numbered consecutively, including those carrying tables and 
captions to illustrations. Illustrations, both line drawings and photographs, are to be numbered as figures in common sequence, and 
each must be referred to in the text, in consecutive order. In composite figures made up of several photographs or diagrams, each part 
should bo designated by a letter (e.g. Fig 2B). To avoid risk of damage to the original figures, authors should retain the original figures 
until the paper is accepted. The copies of the figures accompanying the manuscript must be of good quality. Authors are advised to 
use the most recent issues of the Journal as a guide to the general format and bibliographic style of the manuscript, and to conform as 
closely as possible to the style in preparing the manuscript. Authors should maintain a proper balance between length and substance, 
and papers longer than 10000 words would need to be of exceptional importance to be considered for publication. Electronic process¬ 
ing of manuscripts from disks supplied by the authors is necessary to reduce publication costs. Following acceptance and editing of 
the manuscript, authors should amend their manuscript and forward one printed copy of the paper and the word-processing file on 
computer. Preferred format for manuscript files is a doc or rtf file. Templates (rtf and Word2000 format) for manuscripts are available 
on the Royal Society of Western Australia web page (http://www.ecu.edu.au/pa/rswa/instructions.htm). 
Notes. Tire Society wishes to encourage scientists to publish short notes dealing with original research done in any branch of the 
natural or physical sciences in Western Australia, or concerning some aspect of natural or physical science of relevance to Western 
Australian scientists. Tlie objective in publishing Notes is to encourage the dissemination of research findings that might not be 
enough for a full paper but nevertheless be of interest to other scientists, especially those in Western Australia. In addition, specific 
aspects of student theses, particular findings of commissioned reports, or isolated observations of significance might be well presented 
as a one or two page note. Notes will be restricted to a maximum length of two printed pages; notes are particularly sought as these 
often ensure full use of the pages available in each issue. Tliey should generally have an Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results and 
Discussion, and References sections, but the exact section organization is flexible. Photographs and figures should be suitable for 
single column reproduction (82mm wide) wherever possible. Manuscripts submitted as a Note will be reviewed in the same manner 
as full articles. Templates (rtf and Word2000 format) for notes are available on the Royal Society of Western Australia web page (http:/ 
/www.ecu.edu.au/pa/rswa/instructions.htm). 
The Title should begin with a keyword. The Abstract should not be an expanded title, but should include the main substance of 
the paper in a condensed form. The metric system (S.I. units) must be used. Taxonomic papers must follow the appropriate Interna¬ 
tional Code of Nomenclature, and geological papers must adhere to the International Stratigraphic Guide. Spelling should follow the 
Concise Oxford Dictionary. Keywords or phrases should be provided (maximum of eight, or two printed lines). 
References must be set out as follows, with journal titles spelled out in full; 
Paper Jackson A 1931 The Oligochaeta of South-Western Australia. Journal of the Royal Society of Western 
Australia 17: 17-136. 
Book: Jacobs M R 1955 Growth Habits of the Eucalypts. Forestry Timber Bureau, Canberra. 
Chapter in Book: Dell ] 1983 Tlie importance of the Darling Scarp to fauna. In: Scarp Symposium (ed J Majer). Western 
Australian Institute of Technology, Bentley, 17-27. 
Illustrations. High quality illustrations are required, no larger than 300mm x 400mm, with sans serif lettering suitable for 
reduction to appropriate publication size (82 or 168 mm wide). Scale must be indicated on illustrations. Photographs must be good 
quality prints, not exceeding 168mm x 252mm. Colour plates may be published, at the discretion of the Honorary Editor, if these are 
considered important for clarity or precision of description. Additional printing costs such as those for colour blocks or folding maps 
may be charged to authors, according to economic circumstances at the time. Please consult the Honorary Editor. It is preferred that 
figures be also provided as high quality computer graphic files (e.g. tif, gif, jpg, edr or eps files) to ensure high quality reproduction. 
Supplementary Publications. Extensive sets of data, such as a large Table or Appendix, may bo classed as a Supplementary 
Publication and not printed with the paper but lodged with the Society's Library (held in the Western Australian Museum, 49 Kew 
Street, Welshpool, WA 6106) and with the National Library of Australia (Manuscript Section, Parkes Place, Barton, ACT 2600). 
Photocopies of a Supplementary Publication may be obtained from either institution upon payment of a fee. 
Contributions should be sent to: 
The Honorary Editor, Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 
Western Australian Museum, Locked Bag 49, Welshpool DC, WA 6986 
