Author Guidelines

Initial Submission

Manuscripts must be original work and can only be submitted by registering to the journal’s online system. All manuscripts must be in English, preferably checked by a native English-speaking colleague, before submission. The latter will greatly improve both the legibility and scientific quality of your paper for acceptance by the journal if English is not your first language. Submissions requiring significant editing for language and grammar may be rejected by the Handling Editor immediately.

If this manuscript has previously been submitted to any publication outlet and has been rejected, this must be disclosed and a rationale for its submission to MMS should be provided as a supplementary file to the main submission. In that case, we strongly encourage authors to submit, together with the manuscript, the comments made by the referees and editor of that other journal together with details about how these comments were taken into account in the new submission.

Authors are asked to provide a list of 4 potential reviewers (full name, expertise, and contact details).

Authors may contribute with submissions to one of the following sections of the journal:

• Research articles (normally comprised of 15 printed pages, i.e. approximately 9,000 words);
• Short communications, brief research notes on important new information (usually 4-6 printed pages with 2-3 Tables/Figures);
• Reviews, state-of-the-art critical evaluations of important current research areas (up to 30 pages; for longer manuscripts prior agreement with the Editor-in-Chief is needed);
• Comments, critical, fair assessments of published articles and Reply Comments, replies to comments (normally up to 3 printed pages)
• Theme Sections, integrated multi-author analyses, and syntheses initiated and coordinated by acknowledged experts; led by one or more of the MMS Editorial Staff, sometimes including Guest Editors; suggestions for Theme Sections are welcomed (please contact the Editor-in-Chief).  'Special issues covering Congresses' will be accepted only if the publication cost is fully covered by the congress organizers. They will appear in Supplement issues.
• Collective articles: These series refer to contributions from a maximum of TWO authors. 

  A maximum of THREE authors can be considered in special cases (following direct communication with the Editor), e.g., when (a) one of the authors has been invited to lead the Collective Article and collate the final publication, (b) one of the authors is also authoring another contribution in the same Collective Article, (c) the contribution involves complicated analyses/sampling (e.g., molecular justification, deep-water/large-scale expeditions), (d) the contribution includes first records at the Mediterranean scale and/or records of multiple species and/or from different countries.

  All contributors shall be considered co-authors of such collective articles. The authors responsible for each record are listed at the beginning of each section. Relevant reports should be submitted as sections (normally no more than one printed page) of a collective article and not as separate research articles or short communications. The authors should structure their text (restricted to 400 words), without headings. References: 4-5 key references, following the format of the journal. Figures a maximum of two (tables are also considered as figures). The inclusion of maps is not encouraged since a map for Mediterranean records is provided in the Introduction of each Collective Article. Lengthy tables can be added, in the form of online supplementary material. For contributions referring to photographs taken from social media and citizen science platforms, authors should provide proofs that the information/photo provider has been contacted and granted permission.

Series A. ''New records of introduced species in the Mediterranean Sea (month/year)'': This series includes new records of marine introduced species (i.e., alien, cryptogenic, crypto-expanding, and species whose status remains questionable) found in the Mediterranean and/or information on the spatial distribution of already established species of particular interest (first record in a country, ecoregion, MSFD area or geographical subarea of GFCM – GSAs). Photos of the species and coordinates of the sites where they were found (in decimal degrees) are necessary.

Series B. ''New records of rarely reported species in the Mediterranean Sea (month/year)'': This series includes new records of rare and rarely reported marine species and/or information on the spatial distribution of species of special interest (e.g., protected and/or threatened taxa). Photos of the species and coordinates of the sites they were found (in decimal degrees) are necessary.

Manuscript format

For the initial submission, manuscripts should be submitted as a single file (MS Word not exceeding 5 Mb in size), with figures, tables, and appendices embedded in the manuscript after the list of references. All files uploaded to the system should contain in their name the author’s last name and the type of file uploaded. For example Author's name_Research Article.doc or Author's name_Data.doc or Author's name_Image_1.jpg

Text

The main text should be structured in the following sequence: Title, Authors, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgements, References, Appendix, Figures, and Tables. First-order section headings (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, etc) should be in bold, second-order headings should be bold and italicized, and third-order should be italicized. Please avoid verbosity and any unnecessary details. The corresponding author should be identified with an asterisk.

Figures & Tables: For the initial submission all relevant photographs, graphs, and diagrams should be named as Fig… and numbered, and along with captions they should be embedded in the manuscript. Please refer to each figure in the text of the manuscript as Fig. 1, Fig. 2, etc. A line bar should be appropriately placed in each figure indicating the magnification and defined in the legend.

Authors are encouraged to provide figures in color. Multi-part figures should be labeled with uppercase letters (A, B, etc.). Inside the figures, Times New Roman 16pt (or larger) font is recommended. Figures may be sized to fit approximately within the column(s) of the journal; two-column-wide figures are acceptable. Avoid using any type of shading in computer-generated figures.

Tables should be numbered and referred to the text consecutively, Table text (in Word, editable) should be in Times New Roman 10pt font. Authors are encouraged to keep all tables within one or two-column widths (portrait A4 page). Please refer to each table in the text of the manuscript as Table 1, 2, etc.

Figures, tables, and their captions should be self-explanatory; e.g. abbreviations must be defined again here.

Abbreviations: Define abbreviations and acronyms in the ‘Abstract’ and at first mention them in the main text, and thereafter use the abbreviation only. If there are several abbreviations, include a list of abbreviations and their definitions immediately after the Key Words.

Genus and species names must be in italics; write the genus name in full at first mention in the text and abbreviate it whenever mentioned again. When referring to a species, do not use the genus name alone, unless you have previously defined it that way; be precise when using 'sp.' (singular) and 'spp.' (plural.) Please follow the latest I.C.B.N & I.C.Z.N. taxonomy or consult the WoRMS website.

Equations and units: Use standard SI units. Variables are usually italicized. Italicization should be consistent throughout the text. Leave one blank space on either side of '=', '>', ‘±’, etc. where these denote equalities or inequalities. Example: 'x = 3.6; p < 0.05; but: 'only three individuals measuring >20 cm in length were found.

Geographical coordinates: The location of the geographical coordinates should follow the Decimal Degrees (DD) ° written format, e.g. 38.57653° Ν, 121.49317° W.

Acknowledgements: Please provide a brief paragraph recognizing the source of funding for the work and acknowledging the assistance of individuals or organizations not identified in the list of authors.

References

Submissions that do not apply the reference format of the journal will be rejected by the editor and will not be forwarded to section editors/reviewers.

All quoted literature must be listed, and all listed literature must be quoted. References should be kept to an essential minimum and must be listed in the Reference list, in alphabetical order, and then chronologically. The order of references in the list should follow the example (please note that in cases where the number of authors exceeds 3, then the references should be listed in chronological order):

One Author:

Zenetos, A., 2010. Trend in alien species in the Mediterranean. An answer to Galil, 2009 «Taking stock: inventory of alien species in the Mediterranean Sea». Biological invasions, 12 (9), 3379-3381.

Two Authors:

Somarakis, S., Machias, A., 2002. Age, growth, and bathymetric distribution of red pandora (Pagellus erythrinus) on the Cretan shelf (eastern Mediterranean). Journal of the marine biological association of the United Kingdom, 82 (1), 149-160.

Somarakis, S., Nikolioudakis, N., 2007. Oceanographic habitat, growth, and mortality of larval anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) in the northern Aegean Sea (eastern Mediterranean). Marine Biology, 152 (5), 1143-1158.

Three Authors:

Katsanevakis, S., Bogucarskis, K., Gatto, F., Vandekerkhove, J., Deriu, I. et al., 2012. Building the European Alien Species Information Network (EASIN): a novel approach for the exploration of distributed alien species data. BioInvasions Record, 1 (4).

Katsanevakis, S., Gatto, F., Zenetos, A., Cardoso, A.C., 2013. How many marine aliens in Europe. Management of Biological Invasions, 4 (1), 37-42.

Katsanevakis, S., Zenetos, A., Belchior, C., Cardoso, A.C., 2013. Invading European Seas: assessing pathways of introduction of marine aliens. Ocean & Coastal Management, 76, 64-74.

Katsanevakis, S., Coll, M., Piroddi, C., Steenbeek, J., Ben Rais Lasram, F. et al., 2014. Invading the Mediterranean Sea: biodiversity patterns shaped by human activities. Frontiers in Marine Science, 1, 32.

Katsanevakis, S., Wallentinus, I., Zenetos, A., Leppäkoski, E., Çinar, M. E. et al., 2014. Impacts of invasive alien marine species on ecosystem services and biodiversity: a pan-European review. Aquatic Invasions, 9 (4), 391-423.

Citations in the text should be identified using an author’s name followed by the year of publication of the reference (Author, 2011). When there are two authors, both names should be mentioned and separated by ‘&’ (Author 1 & Author 2, 2009). When there are three or more authors, only the name of the first author should be mentioned, followed by ‘et al.’ in Italics and the year of publication (Author 1 et al., 2012). If a cited author has published two or more papers in the same year, the references, both in the text and in the reference list, should be identified by a lowercase letter, such as ‘a’ and ‘b’, after the date to distinguish the papers (Author, 2006a, b). Semicolons should be used to separate more than one citations, which should be in chronological order (from the earliest to the latest) (Author-A, 2005; Author-B & Author-C, 2010a, b; Author-D et al., 2012.) In cases of multi-authorship (more than 5 authors), only the first five appear in the reference list.

As well as including references in your article, you are also required to copy and paste your references in a separate field in the submission form.

Please use the following style for the reference list:

1. Regular journal articles [Authors’ surnames, initials, year of publication. Title of article. Full Journal Name. Volume number (Issue or part number): first-last page numbers.] (for ‘in press’ articles DOI should be provided):

Lemee, R., Pesando, D., Issanchou, C., Amade, P., 1997. Microalgae: a model to investigate the ecotoxicity of the green alga Caulerpa taxifolia from the Mediterranean Sea. Marine Environmental Research, 44 (1), 13-25.

Should the number of authors exceed five (5), then only the first five should be given, followed by et al.

Deidun, A., Sciberras, J., Sciberras, A., Gauci, A., Balistreri, P. et al., 2017. The first record of the white-spotted Australian jellyfish Phyllorhiza punctata von Lendenfeld, 1884 from Maltese waters (western Mediterranean) and from the Ionian coast of Italy. BioInvasions Records, 6 (2), 119-124.

2. Books, authored [Authors surnames, initials, year of publication. Title of book. Publisher, place of publication, total number of pages.]:

Zenetos, A., Gofas, S., Russo, G., Templado, J., 2004. CIESM atlas of exotic species in the Mediterranean. Vol.3. Molluscs. CIESM Publishers, Monaco, 376 pp.

3. Books, edited [Editors’ surnames, initials (Eds), year of publication. Title of book. Publisher, place of publication, the total number of pages.]:

Thompson, W.L. (Ed.), 2004. Sampling rare or elusive species: concepts, designs, and techniques for estimating population parameters. Island Press, Washington, DC, 429 pp.

4. Book chapters [Authors’ surnames, initials, year of publication. Title of chapter. Pages of the chapter. In: Title of book. Editors (Eds). Publisher, place of publication.]:

Occhipinti-Amborgi, A., 2002. Current status of aquatic introductions in Italy. p. 311-324. In: Invasive Aquatic species of Europe – distribution impacts and management. Leppakoski, E., Gollasch, S., Olenin, S. (Eds). Kluwer Academic Publishers, London.

5. Theses [Author’s surname, initials, year of publication. Title. MSc or Ph.D. Thesis. Publisher, place of publication, the total number of pages.]:

Méliane, I., 2002. Contribution to the knowledge of the ascidian fauna in the south east of Tunisia. MSc Thesis. University of Alicante, Spain, 65 pp.

6. Conference papers [Authors’ surnames, initials, year of publication. The full title of the conference paper. Page numbers. In: Full title of the conference (include place held and date). Publisher, place of publication. (Viewed date-in-full, URL – if accessed electronically)]:

Katsanevakis, S., Thessalou-Legaki, M., 2009. Documenting the presence of protected species in Souda Bay. p. 745-750. In: 9th Panhellenic Symposium of Oceanography & Fisheries, Patra, 13-16 May 2009. HCMR, Athens.

7. Collective article papers [Authors’ surnames, initials, year of publication. Title of article. Full Journal Name. Volume number (Issue or part number): first-last page numbers.] (for ‘in press’ articles DOI should be provided):

Gerovasileiou, V., Akyol, O., Al-Hosne, Z., Alshikh Rasheed, R., Ataç, E. et al., 2020. New records of rare species in the Mediterranean Sea (May 2020). Mediterranean Marine Science, 21 (2), 340-359.

In cases where a sub-section within a collective article is cited, the following format should be used:

Gerovasileiou, V., Issaris, Y., 2014. First record of the Indo-Pacific ascidian Herdmania momus (Savigny, 1816) in Greek waters. p. 675-695. In: New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (October, 2014), Katsanevakis, S., Acar, Ü., Ammar, I., Balci, B. A., Bekas, P. et al., Mediterranean Marine Science, 15 (3).

8. Reports:

Smeets, E., Weterings, R., 1999. Environmental indicators: Typology and overview. European Environment Agency (EEA), EEA Technical report, No 25, 19 pp.

9. European Official Documents:

EU, 2000. Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy. Official Journal of the European Communities L327, 1-72.

10. Websites: Permanent databases and online sources may be included in the Literature Cited list; the date accessed must be given. Other website references should only be cited in the body text [Database name OR Authors’ surnames, initials, year of access. URL (date accessed)].

ELNAIS, 2012. Ellenic Network of Aquatic Invasive Species. https://services.ath.hcmr.gr (Accessed 7 February 2012)

Froese, F., Pauly, D., 2009. Fish Base. http://www.fishbase.org (Accessed 18 August 2012)

Satisfying FP7 and Horizon2020 Requirements for Open Access

As an open-access journal, Mediterranean Marine Science helps you satisfy the open-access requirements set by the European Commission for peer-reviewed research publications funded by FP7 and Horizon2020. Additionally, the journal is linked to the central repository where all open-access research outputs funded by the EC are collected, OpenAIRE (www.openaire.eu). To make your article visible with this central repository, MMS requires that you enter the grant agreement number of your project in the relevant field while submitting your article to the journal if your article is the result of EC-funded research. If your article is published, it will be harvested and its metadata becomes available through that central repository.

Revised Submission

AFTER ACCEPTANCE

After incorporating the referees’ comments authors are required to send their revised and final submissions. This final document should be sent as a Word file and should contain a front page which will be the first page of the published article and should contain the following metadata information as has been submitted in the first submission of the paper: Title of the article (preferably not more than 100 characters, i.e. ~15 words -2 lines in print); Names of all contributing Authors (use * to refer to a footnote that identifies the corresponding author and provide her/his e-mail); Affiliations and full Institutional Addresses; Abstract (no more than 250 words; it should briefly describe the methods, results of research and conclusions; it should consist of a single paragraph and contain no citations or footnotes); and Keywords (no more than 8; preferably from the ASFA database Thesaurus; preferably different from those specified in the title of the manuscript.)

Images and other files for the final submission should be uploaded to the system as supplementary files, and any other supplementary materials.

For accepted manuscripts, high-quality figures should be uploaded separately and not be embedded in the text. The MMS accepts figures in the following file formats: .tif, .jpg. (e.g., an image of 300 ppi and 1800 x 1200 pixels has a print size of 6” x 4”, which is preferable). Figures submitted in MS Word, Excel, or PowerPoint will not be accepted.

For accepted manuscripts, Tables should be uploaded as individual MS Word files (not Excel files or PDFs) and numbered consecutively. Table (in Word, editable) text should be in Times New Roman 10pt font. Authors are encouraged to keep all tables within one or two-column widths (portrait A4 page). Please refer to each table in the text of the manuscript as Table 1, 2, etc.

At this stage of the procedure, for non-native English speakers, you will be asked to check the accepted revised version of your manuscript by a professional English editor. You are expected to send the corrected paper along with certification of professional proofreading.

This final document will be sent for layout, and proofs will be sent to the corresponding author. Corrections should be restricted to typesetting errors. Any queries should be answered in full. Please note that authors are urged to check their proofs carefully before returning them since the inclusion of late corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofs are uploaded to the system/or via email for review by the Editorial Office as enhanced pdf documents with red markups for corrections inserted by computer, or as scanned documents with corrections marked in red color.

Titles of accepted manuscripts are added to ‘Early View’ publications on the MMS Web site, together with a prepress abstract. Articles are published online soon after the corrected proofs have been returned by the corresponding author.

Electronic supplements

Material that cannot be accommodated in the printed journal or is in a format unsuitable for inclusion within the article, may be published on the MMS website as an electronic supplement, with a direct link from the online article. Examples of such supplementary material are technical appendices, extensive simulation studies, lengthy data sets, overlong tables, mathematical derivations, audio or video clips, and computer code. Supplementary material does not constitute a separate publication but is an electronic analog of what might otherwise have been a set of appendices to the published paper. Supplementary Material must be closely integrated with the article itself and should not be misused as a convenient way of disseminating large amounts of extra information. It must be carefully prepared, as it will not go through the full prepublication process of checking and copyediting. The inclusion of material in the electronic supplement is at the discretion of the Editors.

The supplementary material should be presented as a self-contained document, headed by “Supplementary material to. . .” followed by the title, author, and author's affiliation, exactly as for the paper itself. Please number supplementary figures using the format Fig. S1, Fig. S2, etc. Tables should be prepared using Times New Roman font and should be submitted as a Microsoft Word file. Please number supplementary tables using the format Table S1, Table S2, etc. Please use a separate numbering system from that used in the main article. Audio or video clips should be accompanied by a separate text (Microsoft Word) file containing titles and captions. Please keep captions as short as possible and ensure that captions of video clips explain what is being shown in the movie and any necessary details of how the movie was made.

ETHICS

Research published in MMS journals must have been conducted in accordance with institutional, national, and international laws and guidelines concerning the use of animals in research and/or the sampling of endangered species.

The authors of a manuscript should refrain from plagiarism (total or partial submission of the work of others), fabricating (falsifying) data, dishonesty (altering or suppressing information), and submitting information previously published or under consideration for publication in another journal.

All persons who have made a significant scientific contribution to the research work and who share responsibility and accountability for the results reported in the submitted manuscript should be included as co-authors. Submission by the corresponding author implies that a draft copy of the manuscript has been provided to all living co-authors who explicitly approved its co-authorship before submission for publication; the date of death of deceased co-authors should be indicated in a footnote. Other contributions, including major administrative assistance, may be indicated in the acknowledgments.

Private information obtained through discussion, conversation, correspondence with third parties, or secured through confidential services, including refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, should not be reported without prior permission.