Instructions for Authors

All types of submissions, from articles to letters to the editor, are covered below. The editorial board encourages comment and correspondence on JoGG’s scope, content, and format.

Submitted manuscripts

It is expected that a submitted manuscript will be essentially unique, i.e., that it represents new material, or a new analysis of older material, not published elsewhere in substantially the same form, nor to appear in essentially the same form elsewhere at a later date. However, data presented elsewhere, but analyzed in a new or different way may be appropriate for inclusion in JoGG. Material published in the Journal may not be published or reproduced elsewhere without the permission of the author, and when permitted, citation of the original work in JoGG should be included. Authors are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and disseminate copies of the pdf version of their articles published in JoGG as “reprints.” At the present time there is no cost to publish in JoGG and no cost to access the Journal on-line.

Articles may be full length research articles, short timely reports (“brief communications”), or review articles. They should be submitted to Blaine Bettinger, Editor, at the following email address: Blaine_5 (at) hotmail.com. Acknowledgment of receipt will be by return email with that date affixed to articles as date of receipt by JoGG. Accompanying the emailed article should be a covering email letter stating the author’s intent to publish the article solely in JoGG. If there is more than one author on the manuscript, a similar letter should be submitted by each author (or a single letter with CC to other authors, stating that all agree). The author(s) will be asked to sign a publication agreement, which, among other things, states that the author retains the copyright for the article. The first author will be considered the corresponding author unless indicated otherwise. The review process will begin immediately and authors should receive information on publication within a month. Since the Journal will be published semi-annually with no defined number of pages, publication can often be expected by the next (Spring or Fall) issue.

Articles or short reports should be submitted as a document in Microsoft Word format. They should come single spaced as close to final form as the author envisions, with tables and figures with legends embedded as they are intended to appear in print. If any figure is a copy or part of a copy of one already published, permission to include it should be obtained by the submitter from the author and publisher. The final version will be converted to pdf format by an editor and will be sent back to the author for approval as “page proofs.”

Manuscripts will be considered as appropriate for publication by the editor and editorial board. Those considered appropriate will be reviewed by two or more outside reviewers or members of the editorial board. Authors should feel free to suggest appropriate peer reviewers, though the final decision will be made by the board. Authors will receive reviewers’ comments from the editor and will be requested to consider them and revise the manuscript and resubmit it in as close to final form as possible. Authors are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and disseminate copies of the pdf versions of their articles published in JoGG as “reprints.”

Articles should have a brief title followed by author or authors’ names, with institutional affiliation or postal address, and email addresses. The text should begin with a concise summary or abstract to include brief statements on purpose, methodology, subjects, findings and conclusions. An introduction should follow to include a statement on previous work on the subject, and a brief rationale for the study. Specific headings can be useful, and could include methods subjects and discussion. Sources or citations should appear at the end of the article under the heading References. Short reports need not be so structured, but should include an introduction and references.

In the text a citation for a book would appear for example as

(Cavali-Sforza, et al., 1994, p. 167)

or, if the author’s name is a part of the sentence, only the date is included in parentheses following the author’s name:

Cavali-Sforza (1994, p. 167) concludes that . . . .

If a citation is provided once in a paragraph, the author’s name be used again in that paragraph without repeating the citation.

The citation under References would appear as

Cavalli-Sforza LL, Menozzi P, Piazza A (1994) The history and geography of human genes. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton NJ.

Citations in the text to a journal article should be as for a book, but it is normally not necessary to include the specific page number of a published journal article. However, the page number may be included where appropriate.

An example of a citation for a journal article in the References section would be:

Jobling MA, Tyler-Smith C (2000) New uses for new haplotypes: the human Y chromosome, disease and selection. Trend Genet, 6:356-362.

The appearance of a citation for an electronic database or web site in the text would be handled in a manner similar to that for articles, for example,

(Database Name, 2008[cite the year the database was accessed]

and in the References, it would appear alphabetically as

Database Name, http//cedar.genetics.soton.ac.uk/public_html/ldb.html, 2008.

Alternatively, if the author of the database or web site is known, it may be used in place of the database name or web site name.

Articles should be in English, using standard language that is free of colloquial words or phrases. Informal “shortening” of terms is discouraged—use the term “modal haplotype” rather than “modals.” Spellings may follow the British or American English conventions.

The Journal addresses an international audience of many different languages, cultures, and religions, and authors should keep this in mind. Religio-centric or ethno-centric terminology should also be avoided except where necessary to make a specific point. However, mention of religious or ethnic groups will often be necessary to describe populations under study and this is obviously acceptable. Where it is important to avoid ambiguity, dates should be specified as CE or BCE (“common era” or “before common era”), rather than BC or AD (except when quoting, where the original source should be followed exactly). For BCE dates the BCE should follow the year, while for CE dates, the CE should precede the year (e.g., the year 175 BCE, or the year CE 1492). Temperatures, distances, and other units should be in the metric system (except when quoting or where necessary to avoid confusion), but quantities in other units may be included in parentheses following the values in primary units.

When authors refer to clade or haplogroup names, either of the two forms recommended by the YCC are acceptable—either the hierarchical form such as J2a1b, or the use of the first letter of the hierarchical form plus the name of the binary polymorphism that defines the clade, e.g., J-M67. Where it would be more informative, up to three letters of the hierarchical form may be used with the binary polymorphism, e.g., J2a-M67.

The hierarchical forms of the names will often change due to new discoveries, whereas the binary polymorphism form will not. When citing or quoting from articles that used a hierarchical name that is now out-of-date, the older name may be mentioned as being the name used at the time, but the current name should be the primary name used. Articles submitted to JoGG that use hierarchical names should generally follow the hierarchical names on the ISOGG web site: http://www.isogg.org/tree/, and the year or version of the ISOGG site should be stated.

Authors should understand that the peer review process is very likely to result in many suggestions for improvements in the article. Authors should not submit an article for review unless they are prepared to address in good faith, the comments and suggestions for improvements that reviewers provide. The editor will decide whether the responses by the author have adequately addressed each suggestion. Authors are not required to accept every recommendation made by a reviewer, but explanations need to be supplied when recommendations are not followed.

Reviewers involved in the peer review process will be anonymous. However, all reviewers will be acknowledged as a group in the closing issue of each year.

Authors are invited to communicate with the Editor prior to writing an article to obtain feedback on the appropriateness of the proposed article for publication in JoGG.

Reviews on topics relevant to the journal’s scope are welcomed. They will receive the same peer review as articles. Please communicate with the editor if you wish to write a review for JoGG.

Letters to the Editor, less than one printed page are welcomed, but they should concern articles or reviews appearing in JoGG, or on an issue of current importance to the genetic genealogy/anthropology community. They may also include short news items of interest to its readers. Letters should contain the submitter’s full name and email address.

Editorials will usually be requested by members of the Editorial Board, but an author may submit an unsolicited editorial which may or may not receive outside review.

Columns. The editorial board may choose to have columns on specific topics written periodically by designated individuals.

Book reviews will generally be requested by members of the Editorial Board, but if you would like to review a book for JoGG, please communicate with the Editor.

Notices. Brief notices of meetings of particular interest to JoGG readers are welcomed.