Many regular visitors of this forum are experienced naturalists who travel to little-known places and make a lot of interesting observations, but apparently few people ever publish their observations scientifically. For those not familiar with the process, scientific publishing might seem daunting, especially since each journal has its own style and formatting requirements. But once you get used to it, you can easily submit a short note after just a few hours of work. I’d recommend the following way to do it.
(1) Post your observations here and ask if someone else has similar ones (usually on the same species or group of species in the same region). It’s often better to pool your data in one paper.
(2) Choose an appropriate journal.
(3) Study their “Instructions for authors”, then find a similar paper they’ve already published, and use it as a template for style and formatting.
(4) Submit the paper. If it gets rejected, ask the editor to recommend a more relevant journal.
Journals published by IUCN specialist groups usually accept short notes about biology and distribution, even those based on sight records. Here‘s the list of mammal-oriented IUCN specialist groups; many of them have their journals (sometimes called newsletters). I’ve published short notes in Cat News and Small Carnivore Conservation, and am now co-authoring one for Canid Biology and Conservation. If there’s no relevant IUCN journal, there’s always some other place. You are welcome to ask me if you have any questions.
Vladimir Dinets, dinets at gmail
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Taxonomy news
Vladimir Dinets, , General Mammal Watching, systematics; new species, 0
1. A new paper argues that red mazama deer south of the Amazon should be considered a separate species...
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New Podcast Episode 9: Venkat and Hari Sankar
Jon Hall, , General Mammal Watching, 0
The 9th episode of our mammalwatching podcast is now online, featuring Californian mammalwatchers Venkat and Hari Sankar. Charles Foley...
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News and a question
Vladimir Dinets, , General Mammal Watching, Canada, China, Saudi Arabia, TIBET, 5
Dear All, A year-round road to the Arctic Coast of Canada opened last week; you can now drive past...
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Babirusas
mattinidaho, , General Mammal Watching, 0
My Cool Green Science post on babirusa conservation. Many thanks to Jon Hall and Coke Smith for use of...
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Encounter with a Zanzibar Servaline Genet
aholman512, , General Mammal Watching, 0
Happy New Year to all members of this blog! I have the following story as a followup to Valdimir’s...
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All Balkans, August 2-14
vdinets, , General Mammal Watching, 0
Dear All, I’ll be traveling around the Balkans for 12 days this summer, from 2 pm on August 2 until...
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Reliable site for Red-faced Uakari, Peru
Jacob Socolar, , General Mammal Watching, 0
I recently returned from the private Tapiche O’Hara Reserve, a reliable site for Red-faced Uakari. This site is reached...
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Updated Mammal Checklist Now Available
Jon Hall, , General Mammal Watching, mammal list, 4
I imagine many of you have already been affected by Covid-19, with cancelled trips, national lockdowns and the rest....
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