Informations à l'attention des auteurs-es

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

The Journal of Caribbean Ornithology (JCO; ISSN 1544-4953) is a peer-reviewed, tri-lingual, open-access scientific journal covering all aspects of ornithology within the Caribbean region (including Bermuda, the Bahamas, and all islands within the Caribbean basin)." JCO welcomes submissions of full research articles, short research notes, as well as reviews, conservation reports, perspectives papers, and book reviews on all aspects of avian biology, ecology, and natural history within the Caribbean region. JCO provides support for early-career authors during all stages, from before submission to revision, copyediting, and production. Each manuscript is reviewed by the editorial board and at least two external peer reviewers before acceptance for publication.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

By submitting a manuscript, the author(s) declare that:

[1] They have designated a corresponding author. The corresponding author manages the communication with the journal during review, revisions, copyediting, and production. 

[2] All listed authors have approved their inclusion as an author on the submitted manuscript..

[3] The submission is original, has not been previously published, nor is it currently under consideration elsewhere.

[4] The submitted work does not involve misconduct such as plagiarism, citation manipulation, or data falsification or fabrication. Should JCO learn that such misconduct has taken place, the manuscript will be rejected, and published manuscripts can be retracted. Substantial but unintentional errors discovered after publication may be subject to the publication of an Erratum note.

[5] The submitted work, including text, figures, and tables, represents the author's own work product and that all external sources and tools are properly acknowledged, cited, and described. 

[6] The use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as Large Language Models (LLMs) to create text is discouraged, as it undermines authorship and the originality of the work. Use of any generative AI tool, including to improve text, produce figures, graphics, and tables, compile references, or the use of language translation tools must be fully declared to the journal using a separate form, and has to be described in the manuscript, including how authors implemented quality control. The editorial board reserves the right to reject a manuscript that it deems not compliant with this policy.

[7] Permissions to re-publish figures, data, or other content, if any, have been obtained from the copyright owner(s) and include evidence of such permissions during submission. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.

[8] Relevant information is included regarding the sources of funding, financial or non-financial interests, required approvals if the subject of the research included humans or animals, and statements on animal welfare as appropriate.

[9] The data and material used support their claims and are provided to an extent to facilitate replication or adoption in future studies.

[10] All communication with journal personnel is treated as confidential.

HOW TO SUBMIT A MANUSCRIPT:

Manuscripts and accompanying materials such as figure files can be submitted electronically through the JCO online submission site as a Microsoft Word document, LibreOffice document, or Google Doc document.

You can either register a username and password, and register as an author, or submit your manuscripts per email to the Managing Editor (stefan.gleissberg@birdscaribbean.org). 

COVER LETTER

Provide a cover letter that includes:

- a declaration that all authors meet the 10 submission requirements (see page 1) and adhere to the Publication Ethics Policies laid out in the "About" section of the JCO website. 

- The names, affiliations, and e-mail addresses of three suitable reviewers. Choose reviewers that can help refine and improve your manuscript.

LANGUAGE

Manuscripts may be submitted in English, Spanish, or French. The editorial staff will assist with translating the title, abstract, and keywords to the other languages. 

SUBMISSION CATEGORIES

Research Articles present original scientific work, and are usually full-length contributions. They often:

- Involve directed investigation

- Follow a Introduction-Methods-Results-Discussion format

- Consult recent articles on the JCO website for examples. 

Research Notes present original scientific work, and are usually shorter contributions. They often:

- Involve observations 

- Follow an Introduction-Observations-Discussion format

- Consult recent articles on the JCO website for examples.

Reviews:

- Synthesize a broad array of scientific articles to discuss some facet of Caribbean ornithological research in a thematic, in-depth way

- Consult recent articles on the JCO website for examples.

Conservation Reports:

- Report on events and projects from conservation and education efforts around the Caribbean.

- Consult recent articles on the JCO website for examples.

Perspectives and Opinions:

- Address issues that pertain to Caribbean birds on a local or regional scale.

- Consult recent articles on the JCO website for examples.

Please contact JCO first if you are interested in submitting a Review, Conservation Report, or a Perspectives and Opinions piece. 

All submitted manuscripts must include:

- A title, abstract, and keywords

- Affiliations, addresses, and e-mail addresses of all co-authors

- An Acknowledgment section that details the contributions of others as well as funding sources and research permits when applicable

- An Author Contributions section that specifies the contributions of each author

- A Literature Cited section that references primary sources from the scientific literature

PUBLICATION FEES 

The journal is published by BirdsCaribbean, a non-profit society reliant on membership dues and donations. To support the conservation mission of BirdsCaribbean and the costs of producing and maintaining this open-access journal, authors are responsible for paying article charges. 1–4 pages are $60, 5–8 pages are $120, additional pages are $15 per page. Upon author request, JCO will discuss waiving part or all of the nominal publication fees. When prompted by the JCO Managing Editor, payment can be made here.

REPRINTS

All authors will be provided with a pdf file of the published article. The open-access nature of the journal will make the author’s work freely and globally available to all interested readers.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

PRIVACY STATEMENT

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

FORMATTING

Please conform as closely as possible to the style of the most recent volume. A template in MS Word format is available below for your convenience. 

Font: Times New Roman, 12 point throughout.

Spacing: Double space throughout, with one extra line at the end of each section. Use only one space after each period.

Title Page Illustration: Please submit a high quality photograph or illustration (minimum width: 2,200 pixels) for use on the title page. 

Title: Sentence case capitalization and centered, no longer than 20 words. Scientific bird names are followed by the common name in parentheses.

Authors: Use superscript numbers for multiple addresses. 

Addresses: For each author, provide their full mailing address and e-mail address. Consult recent articles on the JCO website for examples of format.

Abstract: The abstract should be less than 5% of the manuscript’s length. If possible, provide translations. 

Keywords: Up to seven keywords in alphabetical order, separated by commas, and following sentence case capitalization. Avoid keywords that are already present in the title, but include scientific names of study species. 

Header: Supply a short abbreviated title of 50 characters or less for the top of article pages.

Introduction: Consult recent articles on the JCO website for examples.

Section headings:

- Primary Headings (Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments, Author Contributions, and Literature Cited) should be capitalized, bolded, and centered.
- Secondary Headings are capitalized, be bolded, and left aligned.
- Tertiary Headings should be capitalized, indented, italicized, and separated by a period and an “em” dash from the following text. Consult recent articles on the JCO website for examples.

Bird names: At first mention, use scientific bird names followed by the common name in parentheses. For subsequent mentions, use only the scientific name. Consult Birds of the World for current bird names. 

Other organism names: The scientific name is followed by common name; common names should be in lower case.

Citations within text: Use author(s) and year (e.g., Smith 1990, Smith and Jones 1991); note that when two authors, the names are joined by the word “and”; if more than two authors, use the first author followed by et al. (e.g., Smith et al. 1992). List multiple citations chronologically, not alphabetically (e.g., Smith 1990, Adams 1995). If the source is not publicly available, cite the source within the text but not within the Literature Cited section and include the author’s first initial(s) (e.g., J.W. Smith pers. comm., J.W. Smith pers. obs., J.W. Smith unpubl. data, J.W. Smith in prep., J.W. Smith unpubl. ms). 

Measurements: Use metric units (e.g., km, m, ha, g, l) with a space between value and unit (e.g., 10 m, not 10m).

Dates and times: Use continental dating (e.g., 5 March 2005) and 24-hour clock (e.g., 1435).

Spelling and punctuation: In English-language manuscripts, use American English spelling.

Language: Use clear, direct language. Avoid cumbersome passive-voice constructions – when grammatically suitable, use active voice and "I/We".

Acknowledgments: Follows the Discussion section. Consult recent articles on the JCO website for examples.

Author Contributions: Precedes the Literature Cited section. Consult recent articles on the JCO website for examples.

Literature Cited:

Please ensure that all citations are correct and match all citations within the text. Provide Digital Obejct Identifiers (DOIs) where available. Consult recent articles on the JCO website for examples.

Journal

Costas Sabatier, M.J., and A. Ríos-Franceschi. 2025.  Observation  of  female  song  in Chlorophonia  sclateri (Puerto Rican Euphonia). Journal  of  Caribbean  Ornithology  38:20–26. https://doi.org/10.55431/jco.2025.38.20-26

[Do not abbreviate journal names. Use an “en” dash for ranges of page numbers. Author first and middle name initials are followed by periods but with no spaces between them.]

Book or report

Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA.

Chapter in book

Saliva, J.E. 2000. Status of Sooty Terns in the West Indies. Pp. 102–108 in Status and Conservation of West Indian Seabirds (E.A. Schreiber and D.S. Lee, eds.). Society of Caribbean Ornithology, Ruston, Louisiana, USA.

Birds of the World (BOW) online species accounts 

Turner, A. and E. de Juana. 2020. Golden Swallow (Tachycineta euchrysea), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D.A. Christie, and E. de Juana, eds.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.golswa1.01

Websites

BirdLife International. 2015. Species factsheet: Dendrocygna arborea. birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=353.

AOU Checklist

American Ornithologists’ Union. 1998. Check-list of North American Birds. 7th edn. American Ornithologists’ Union, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.

Unpublished technical reports

Buurt, G. van, and A.O. Debrot. 2012. Exotic and invasive terrestrial and freshwater animal species in the Dutch Caribbean. Unpublished report no. C001/12. IMARES, Wageningen University, Den Helder, The Netherlands.

Tables, Figures, and Appendices: 

Tables: Insert each table on a separate page after the Literature Cited section. Consult recent articles on the JCO website for examples.

Table format example:

Figures: Insert figures and their legends after the Literature Cited section. Figures should be embedded in the manuscript (use lower resolution versions), but must also be submitted as separate, high-resolution files. JCO's production team can assist with grouping elements into plates and formatting. Provide photographer's name. Authors should also provide a cover photo or illustration (minimum width: 2,200 pixels wide) along with a short description that includes photographer name as well as date and location.

Appendices: Insert each appendix on a separate page after the Literature Cited section. 

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