Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
1). Why publish in Ecological Archives?
a) You save page charges on the print article since there are no charges associated with publishing in Ecological Archives for files under 10 MB.
b) Access is completely unrestricted, meaning readers of the print version will be able to access these files regardless of whether they are subscribers.
c) Digital appendices in Ecological Archives provide a major avenue to concise papers. For Ecology papers, submissions longer than 20 manuscript pages that do not make use of digital appendices have a very high probability of being rejected and returned to authors for shortening; submissions longer than 30 manuscript pages that do not make use of digital archives are almost certain to be returned for shortening.
d) The online version of your published paper will have direct links to your archives (just a mouse click away).
2). What is HTML and why do you insist on it?
HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language which is a coded format language for creating platform-independent hypertext documents online. To see what the code looks like open your browser and under the "View" menu select "source" or "page source". The information encompassed by angle brackets are known as "tags" and provide the instructions for formatting. For example, the <i> and </i> tags around this word are what make the word italic. Our policy is to require clean HTML documents for reasons of broadest availability, compatibility, and longevity. For authors unfamiliar with HTML, a tutorial can be found at <http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp>.
3). How do I use the templates?
The template page tells you how to download the templates to your computer. Once you have downloaded the templates the files can be opened for editing with a text editor like Notepad or Wordpad or an HTML editor like Dreamweaver, InDesign, BBEdit, Frontpage, GoLive, etc. If working with the templates seems too daunting, you are welcome to send your files to us in their original format (i.e., Word files) as long as you include all the information that should appear in the templates (i.e., titles for appendices, etc.). However, please be aware that it may result in some delays in processing your manuscript file.
You do not need to worry about the links working. The code for the links is placed by the Data Archives Manager prior to posting the files.
4). How do I convert my MS Word or WordPerfect document to HTML?
You cannot copy and paste from Word to HTML. If your document contains tabular material be sure it's been created in actual table format (i.e., "Insert table" from the "Table" menu bar) and has not been formatted by spacing across the page. Please split any joined (merged) cells before conversion. Under the File menu, select "Save as" and in the "save as type" box select "Web page, filtered (*.htm, *.html)" if you have newer versions of MS Word or "Web Page (*.htm, *.html)". If your document contains equations or images such as graphs, please note that Word automatically creates a separate folder of the images as well as the HTML document. Do not forget to send us the image files as well. If the quality of the images seem less than desirable you can also send along your files in their original format if they are of better quality. For WordPerfect documents, under the "file" menu select "Save as" and for "File type" choose "HTML".
5). How do I convert my Excel table to HTML?
Save your Excel file as a tab-delimited ".txt" file, and then it can be properly imported into an HTML table. You are welcome to send us just the delimited text file as such. We do not post Excel files.
6). How do I convert my LaTex document to HTML?
There is a "LaTex to HTML" converter ("LaTeX2HTML") available at <http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=LaTeX2HTML>. For highly mathematical appendices we can also post a pdf of the file, but only in addition to the HTML version. Please conform to ESA naming conventions for equations and appendices. See FAQ number 10 for naming conventions.
7). What if my files are too large to send as e-mail attachments?
You may ftp the files to us. Please contact the Data Archives Manager, Jane Bain, for the instructions and passwords.
8). How do I prepare appendices and supplements?
See Instructions for authors of Appendices and Supplements for details. Browse recent (later than year 2000) archives for examples. If you still have questions/concerns after you have done so, you are welcome to contact the Data Archives Manager for help.
9). Are revisions to supplements allowed?
We do allow updates and revisions to supplements. See http://esapubs.org/archive/ecol/E083/017/default.htm for an example.
10). How are online appendices and supplements and tables, figures, and equations labeled, and how should they be cited in the text of the article?
A single appendix accepted for Ecological Archives will be cited in the print article following the Literature Cited section like this:
APPENDIX
A table listing the incidence of species found at each site in the 2000 and 2001 surveys (Ecological Archives E084-084-A1).
"E084-084-A1" is known as the accession number, and the online version of the published paper will be directly linked to the archive. If more than one digital appendix is associated with the print article (and no other appendices are being printed), it is designated like this:
APPENDIX A
A figure showing the dynamics of soil moisture for different treatments throughout the study period (Ecological Archives E084-086-A1).
APPENDIX B
A figure showing predawn water potential of Pistacia lentiscus seedlings measured in Aguas on 16 June 2001 (Ecological Archives E084-086-A2).
If the article contains both printed and digital appendices, the sequence should follow in order (i.e., If "Appendix A" and "Appendix B" are printed then the first digital appendix following will be "Appendix C").
For supplements, a single supplement has the title SUPPLEMENT, whereas more than one would be designated as SUPPLEMENT 1, SUPPLEMENT 2, (not A and B) etc.
For in-text callouts (references within the print article) to the appendices, supplements, and figures, tables, and equations therein, please follow these naming conventions:
(see Appendix)
(see Appendix A) ...if more than one
(see Appendix A: Fig. A1)
(see Appendix A: Table A1)
(see Appendix A: Eq. A.1)...the first equation in Appendix A
(see Appendix B: Eq. B.1)...the first equation in Appendix B
(see Supplement)
(see Supplement 1)...if more than one
Note that only equation numbers contain the period between the letter and number. It is extremely helpful if you number the digital appendix equations correctly, particularly if you wish to have a pdf of the file posted in addition to the HTML version.
11). How are Literature Citations handled?
Any references in the archives must include full citation information as is the standard in the print article. In other words, include a Literature Cited section if your files include any citations, but keep in mind that a Literature Cited section in the archives files and the Literature Cited section in the print article are self-contained. If your print article includes full citations for references that occur solely in the archives, then they should be deleted from the print article's Literature Cited section. Follow the same style standards as is required for the print article (i.e., spell out journal names, etc.).
