The Nautilus is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes articles on diverse aspects of the biology, ecology, and systematics of mollusks. Established in 1886 as The Conchologists Exchange, The Nautilus is one of the longest-standing journals in the field of malacology. It is a non-profit journal published by a non-profit organization, the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum. Traditionally supported solely by subscriptions and page charges, The Nautilus began receiving support from Florida State's Division of Cultural Affairs in 1999 through a general support grant to the Museum.
For more information about the history of the journal, read Celebrating a Long Life: The Nautilus Turns 120!
The Nautilus is indexed in Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts, Biological Abstracts, Current Contents, Zoological Record, BIOSIS, and Science Citation Index.
The Nautilus partners with the Biodiversity Heritage Library, an online, open-access consortium of biological and natural history journals, to make volumes up to three years before the current-year volume available on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
To purchase back issues, please email Editor Dr. José H. Leal at jleal@shellmuseum.org.
Publishing Information for Authors
The Nautilus publishes articles on all aspects of the biology, paleontology, and systematics of mollusks. Manuscripts describing original, unpublished research and review articles will be considered. Brief articles not exceeding 1000 words will be published as Research Notes and do not require an abstract.
Manuscripts
Each original manuscript and accompanying illustrations should be submitted to Editor-in-Chief Dr. José H. Leal at jleal@shellmuseum.org. Authors should follow the general recommendations of Scientific Style and Format—The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, available from the Council of Science Editors.
The first mention of a scientific name in the text should be accompanied by the taxonomic authority, including year. Metric, not English, units are to be used. The sequence of sections should be Title, Author(s) and Affiliations, Abstract, Additional Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Acknowledgments, Literature Cited, Tables, Figure Captions, Figures. If the author for correspondence is not the senior author, please indicate in a footnote. The abstract should summarize in 250 words or less the scope, main results, and conclusions of the article. Abstracts should be followed by a list of additional keywords. All references cited in the text must appear in the Literature Cited section and vice-versa. Please follow a recent issue of The Nautilus for bibliographic style, noting that journal titles must be unabbreviated. Information on plates and figures should be cited only if not included within the pagination of cited work. Tables must be numbered and each placed on a separate page. If in doubt, please follow a recent issue of the journal for sequence of sections and other style requirements.
Illustrations
Illustrations are rendered either at full-page width (maximum width 17 cm) or column width (maximum width 8.2 cm). Please take these dimensions into consideration when preparing illustrations. Page-width illustrations ideally should span the entire width of printed page (17 cm). “Tall” page-width illustrations should be avoided; square or “landscape” formats work better. Please design plates with enough space left at the bottom of printed page for plate caption. (Digital technology has made this task much easier.)
All line drawings must be in black, clearly detailed, and completely labeled. Abbreviation definitions must be included in the caption. Line drawings must be high resolution files at least 600 dpi (dots per inch) resolution at actual size. Standard digital formats for line drawings include .tif, .bmp, .psd, .eps, and .pdf.
Photographs may be submitted in black and white or color, preferably in RGB mode if in color. Standard digital formats for photographs include .tif, .psd, .jpg, or .pdf. Photographs must be high resolution files at least 300 dpi resolution at actual (printed) size.
If more than one figure is included in an illustration, all figures are to be consecutively numbered (Figures 1, 2, 3, . . . , NOT Figures 1A, 1B, 1C, . . . , NOR Plate 1, Figure 1, . . .). In illustrations with more than one figure, make sure that blank areas between figures should be kept to a minimum, thereby allowing for more area for each individual figure.
Compressed (e.g., .jpg) or other low-resolution file formats may be used to facilitate original submission and the review process, but may not be acceptable at final submission (see below).
Voucher Specimens
Deposition of the holotype in a recognized institutional, public collection is a requirement for publication of articles in which new species-level taxa are described. Deposition of paratypes in institutional collections is strongly recommended, as is the deposition of representative voucher specimens for all other types of research work.
The Editorial Process
Upon receipt, all manuscripts are assigned a number and acknowledged. The editor reserves the right to return manuscripts that are substandard or not appropriate in scope for the journal. Manuscripts deemed appropriate for the journal will be sent for critical review to at least two reviewers. The reviewers recommendations will serve as basis for rejection or continuation of the editorial process. Reviewed manuscripts will be sent back to authors for consideration of the reviewers comments. The revised version of the manuscript may at this point be considered accepted for publication by the journal.
Final Submission
Authors of accepted manuscripts are required to submit a final version to Editor Dr. José H. Leal at jleal@shellmuseum.org. High-resolution image files may be sent to the editor at this stage.
Proofs
After typesetting, proofs will be sent to the author. Author should read proofs carefully and send corrections to the editor within 48 hours. Changes other than typesetting errors will be charged to the author at cost.
Offprints
An order form for offprints will accompany the proofs. Offprints may be ordered directly from the editor. Authors with institutional, grant, or other research support will be asked to pay for page charges at a rate of $60/page.