Sections

The journal Nature Sciences Sociétés publishes articles in French and English and accepts material corresponding to the various journal sections:

• The section " Articles " presents scientific articles. These may either report completed research work and its results, following the usual presentation rules, or state-of-the-art papers in the form of syntheses on a particular issue, the contributions of a method, a research approach, a scientific discipline, etc.
• Forums includes proposals for research orientations, outlines of scientific issues to be addressed, contributions to debates (in particular responses to articles published in the journal), reflection on publications or scientific events, etc.
• The section Opinions contains critical viewpoints and responses to particular events, etc.
• Research News and Scientific Life reports on scientific events, analyses of documents or events related to scientific activity or to the background of this activity, presentation of research or academic bodies, units or programmes, on-going research and state-of-the-art papers on a particular issue, etc.
• Books presents reviews of books or articles.

Manuscripts

Manuscripts should not exceed (including spaces)

• 40 000 signs for articles
• 20 000 signs for Forums
• 10 000 signs for Opinions
• 30 000 signs for Research News
• 9 000 signs for Scientific Life
• 9 000 signs for Reports.

Manuscripts in all sections should include:

• A concise and informative title (max. 50 signs) in French or English;
• Affiliation and address for each author (surname, first name, discipline and/or position, professional affiliation, full postal address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address). The corresponding author should be signalled with an asterisk.
• The number of signs (including spaces) of the paper, including abstracts, list of references and illustrations if any.

• Abstracts in French and English. For papers in French, the French abstract should not exceed 900 signs and the English abstract 1500 signs. For English papers, the abstract should not exceed 900 signs and the French abstract 1500 signs.
• A footnote (cited in the introduction) informing readers of the background of the research. The author(s) should also specify whether the work was presented earlier at a Symposium, and if so give the reference.
• Five keywords referring as far as possible to the following entries: theme or topic addressed, type of ecosystem or habitat, main discipline (or interdisciplinarity), methodology, geographical area.

Order of presentation is as follows : Title, full references of author(s) (where there are several authors, indicate the 'corresponding' author), short abstract in the language of the paper, title and long abstract in English or French (depending on paper language), key-words, text, acknowledgements, list of references, Figures and Tables and attached captions.

The text should be typewritten, 1.5-spaced, with a wide margin on left of text. Each page should be numbered. Texts in boxes, as given by author (e.g. history of topic addressed, clarifications about specific notions, commented general statistics, definitions, explanations, methodological clarification, etc.) should be typed on separate pages and included at the end of the paper, each on a separate page. The author should ensure that the length of these boxes is compatible with total length of text.

Manuscripts have to be sent to the editorial office, to Sylvie Zasser-Bedoya : This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Format and organization of text.

• Primary and secondary headings should not be numbered and be clearly identified: bold, italics, different font styles. Do not underline or use capital letters except for first letter of first word.
• Capitals in French should be accentuated: É, È, À, etc.
• Never underline or use bold lettering. Use italics only in Latin or foreign locutions, except for such words or expressions as are part of common language (ex: a priori, marketing, etc.).
• Write acronyms in capital letters with no dots between letters: CNRS, USA, etc. However, where acronyms sound as a word and are commonly known, the first letter only should be capitalized: Unesco, Inra, Cemagref, Cirad, etc. Acronyms should be defined when they are first mentioned in abstract or text.
• Short quotations are to be inserted between quotations marks in body of text. Place longer quotations (more than five lines) in a separate paragraph, between quotation marks, with left indent and spacing before and after.
• Footnotes to material in the text should be cited by superscript Arabic numbers and numbered serially. Each footnote should appear on the manuscript page upon which the reference is made.

References.

All literature references must be cited in the text and refer to a list placed at the end of the article. They should include the surnames of the author/s and year, e.g. (Author, 1997), (Author and Author, 1997), (Author, 1996; Author, 1997). Where there are more than three authors, the citation should give the name of the first author followed by et al. (Author et al., 1997). When the name of the author is quoted in the text, the publication year only should appear in parentheses (e.g., according to A. X…..(1997)…).

In the reference list, references must be listed in alphabetical order and imperatively presented as follows (mind order and punctuation):

Journal article Adams, G., Rausser, G. and Simon, L., 1996. Modelling multilateral negotiations: an application to California water policy. Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organisation, 30, 97-111.

Book Chapter Armour, A., 1996. The Citizens' Jury Model of Public Participation, in Renn, O., Webler, T., Wiedemann, P. (Eds), Fairness and competence in Citizen Participation: Evaluating Models for Environmental Discourse, Dordrecht, Kluwer.

Book Reisner, M. and Bates, S., 1990. Overtapped oasis. Reform or revolution for western water, Washington, D.C., Island Press.

Theses, DEA Dissertations and Reports
Kazmierczak, R.F. and Hughes, D.W., 1996. Reasonable Value and the Role of Negotiation in Agriculture's Use of the Environment. Staff paper 96-09, Bâton Rouge, Lousiana State University Agricultural Center.

Tables, graphs and figures. These must be typed on separate pages placed at the end of the text and numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals in the order of their first citation in the text. A brief caption in French and English should follow each table, figure or graph. Illustrations (line drawings and photographs) should be referred to in body of text. The list of illustrations with accompanying captions must be placed at the end of the text. Graphs and figures should be submitted as electronic files in .EPS, .PS or .TIF format with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi.

Illustration quality must be first rate for immediate reproduction. The publisher will not touch up the material. Illustrations are published in black and white. Given that figures in the journal must fit into a single column (80mm wide) and only exceptionally in 170 mm width, lettering size used in the A4 original should be of sufficient size to be legible when reduced to single column width.

Where required by the topic, the text should preferably be illustrated with photographs (submitted where possible in .JPG format, or in black and white on glossy paper). Reproduction of colour illustrations (photographs or figures) will be at the author's expense.

It is the author's responsibility to obtain written permission from the Editor and concerned authors to reproduce previously published photographs, figures or tables. The source must imperatively be mentioned.

File format

Authors may initially submit their material to the Editorial Board in Word or RTF format by e-mail ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ). Figures should preferably be in EPS or TIF format (ensure that fonts are correctly incorporated and that resolution is sufficient (300 dpi)). Figures embedded in Word files are also accepted. After revisions required by the Editorial Committee have been introduced and final acceptation of the article, authors are requested to send by e-mail a new original copy of the article to the Editorial Office. Illustrations (figures, graphs, tables, photographs, etc.) must also be provided in .EPS, .TIF, or .JPG format.

Proofs

Proofs are sent for correction to the corresponding author by e-mail, with an order form for additional reprints. Corrections must follow instructions by the Editor. In the same e-mail message, the corresponding author will receive a copyright transfer. This must be completed and signed, and returned to the Editor.

On release of the journal issue, a .PDF file of the article will be sent to the corresponding author as reprint.