Guidelines for Workshop Reports, Program News and Opinion articles for Past
Global Changes Magazine
March 2023
General style
Workshop Reports, Program News and Opinion articles should be written for an interdisciplinary, international
audience. Past Global Changes Magazine is distributed widely not only within the PAGES and paleoscience
communities, but also more broadly to other Earth system scientists, students and interested non-scientists.
Workshop reports should aim to report on the scientific essence of the meeting i.e., why was it held and what
were the scientific achievements? Avoid lists of names, topics, awardees and sponsors where possible as well as
long descriptions of venues, social events and field trips unless particularly relevant to the science.
Structure
- The article should follow a clear and logical structure.
- The title should be appealing, concise, informative, and capture the reader’s interest. This should be followed
by the workshop details: (Name of the meeting), city, country, day(s) month year.
- Workshop Reports, Program News and Opinion articles are published on one magazine page. Some
exceptions can be made at the discretion of editors in special occasions (e.g., reports of topical science
meetings).
Language
- When possible, consider using the active voice for clarity and conciseness, e.g., ‘Brown et al. investigated
the relationship ...’ instead of ‘The relationship was investigated by Brown et al. ...’
- Opt for verb-based sentence constructions over noun-based, e.g. This approach improves Brown’s design …
instead of This approach is an improvement on Brown’s design ...
- Keep abbreviations, brackets, parentheses and quotations to an absolute minimum and anything else that
interrupts the flow of reading.
- Use short and simple sentences, and where possible choose the simpler version of words over more
- technical and complicated word, e.g. “XYZ” instead of “XYZ”.
- Avoid going into detail and technicalities that would only be relevant to a fraction of the readers. Interested
readers can refer to the original publications, or contact you if they want more information.
Text format
- All the articles have to follow the PAGES guidelines (see final checklist at the end of this document). Text,
references and figure captions (but not figures) should be submitted in one Microsoft Word file using the
corresponding template. If these conditions are not met, articles will be returned to the contact author.
- Text is submitted as a Microsoft Word file, including references and captions, following the template. The
manuscript file should be named following this structure: ‘Author last name_year’.
- The body of the article, including figure captions, should be 650–700 words.
- Use US English spelling, e.g. summarize not summarise, paleo not palaeo
- Keep figure captions and acknowledgements as short as possible.
Author information
- Maximum 7 authors. Exceptions can be made as long as all the authors names fit in two lines in the printed
version, and the total number of affiliations is not higher than seven.
- It is possible to use a group or project name instead of a list of authors, and include the name of all the group
or project participants (until a reasonable number) in the html version of the article (see an example here:
https://pastglobalchanges.org/publications/pages-magazines/pages-magazine/13267)
- Provide the name and email address of one corresponding author as follows:
John F. Schmidt: schmidt@geol.unibe.ch
- Format authors and affiliations in the following way:
John F. Schmidt
1
, T.C. Brown
2
and L. Smith
3
1
Department of Geology, University of Bern, Switzerland
2
Institute of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
3
School of Geography, University of Plymouth, UK
- The first name of the lead author should be spelled out. Use initials for co-authors. If there are only two
authors, spell out both first names.
- Affiliation format: Department, University, City (if not in the University name), Country. Do not include street
addresses or postal codes.
- Avoid acronyms and use English institution names whenever possible.
- Authors are invited to have their ORCID associated with their articles. If this is applicable, please include
your ORCID in your submitted manuscript.
References
- The number of references is limited to 7.
- All citations in the text should follow this format: (Schmidt et al. 2005). Multiple in-text citations should be
ordered alphabetically and separated by a semi-colon, e.g. (Anthony et al. 2010; Burger 1965; Turner et al.
1989, 2010; Zulu 2005).
- Use “et al.” when there are more than two authors or editors.
- Only publications that are at least “in press” (and have a doi) will be included in the reference list. Other
references can be cited in the text as “unpublished data” or “personal communication”.
- Reference list must be ordered alphabetically.
- You can download the PAGES Magazine Endnote style at:
http://www.pastglobalchanges.org/my-pages/contribute-to-magazine
- All referencing software field codes must be removed. In Word, select all text (Ctrl+A) and press:
Ctrl+Shift+F9 (Win), Cmd+Shift+(Fn)+F9 (Mac).
- Provide a DOI-URL (https://doi.org/DOI) for all of the references (e.g.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.05.024) copied beneath each reference. If the reference has no DOI,
use a direct link to the abstract (e.g. http://revistas.usal.es/index.php/0514-7336/article/view/7225).
- Use article number if no page number is available.
- Journal names must be abbreviated using ISO 4:1997 style. A good list of abbreviations for Earth Science
journals can be downloaded in these links: https://www.wsl.ch/en/publicationssearch/list-of-journal-
abbreviations.html#Q; https://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/List_of_Journal_Abbreviations_final.pdf;
https://images.webofknowledge.com/images/help/WOS/M_abrvjt.html.
- Examples of PAGES-style references:
Journal articles:
Zorita E, von Storch H (1999) J Clim 12: 2474-2489
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1999)012<2474:TAMAAS>2.0.CO;2
Lehner F et al. (2012) Quat Sci Rev 45: 85-94
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.04.025
Kellerhals T et al. (2010) J Geophys Res 115, doi: 10.1029/2009JD012603
https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD012603
Book chapters:
Masson-Delmotte V et al. (2013) In: Stocker TF et al. (Eds) Climate Change 2013: The Physical
Science Basis. Cambridge University Press, 383-464
http://www.climatechange2013.org/images/report/WG1AR5_Chapter05_FINAL.pdf
Books/Theses:
Fritts HC (1976) Tree Rings and Climate. Academic Press, 582 pp
http://store.elsevier.com/product.jsp?isbn=9780323145282
Conference proceedings:
Osman M et al (2022) A half century of partnerships in ice core sciences: evidence of progress and
areas for improvement. 3rd IPICS Open Science Conference, Crans-Montana, Switzerland
https://indico.psi.ch/event/6697/contributions/38491/
Data:
Baerbel Hoenisch. (2021). Paleo-CO2 data archive (Version 1). Zenodo.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5777278
Website:
Paleo-CO2 data archive 2021 accessed on ‘day-month-year’ https://www.paleo-co2.org/
Figures and logos
- One figure must be added. It must be a scientific figure or photo that is relevant and well connected to the
text. No group photo.
- The figures should contain only the relevant information that is also mentioned in the text. Labeling
should be as non-technical as possible. Figures should not be too large, as space for the articles is
limited.
- Figures and graphs should be submitted electronically in an editable (vector) format (e.g. pdf, eps or ai),
and saved or exported directly from the software used to create them.
- Figure files do not include the captions or ‘figure number’. The figure files should be named following this
structure: ‘Author last name_year_Fig.X’.
- Avoid using a non-color-blind friendly palette (e.g. combination of red, green and brown) in the figures.
- In the text, refer to figures in the text body as follows: “Figure 1a shows…”, but in parentheses as follows:
“(Fig. 1a).”
- In the caption, refer to the panels with (A), (B)…
- The figure must be original, significantly modified from previously published versions and cited as
“Figure modified from…” in the caption, or permission for reprint must be obtained.
- Figures and photos must be high resolution, no less than 300 dpi (at min. 12 cm width, or in A4 size = at
min. 2550 x 3300 pixels), and saved as psd, tiff, png, pdf, or jpeg.
- If available, a logo can be added, with the same resolution as specified for the figures.
- If available, please use the font “Helvetica” for all texts in the figures.
- Please give image files short but descriptive names.
- Please adhere to United Nations naming conventions for maps used in your manuscript. In order to
depoliticize scientific articles, authors should avoid the drawing of borders or use of contested topographical
names. The editors reserve the right to insert the label "under dispute" if contested borders are presented. If
disputed territories are relevant for your map, please make sure that the figure caption stays neutral as well
as the legend and labelling within your map.
Technical styles
- For ages and dates, please use “yr” instead of “a:” “15 kyr BP” not “15 ka”
- Use CE/BCE or BP (but not use both CE/BCE and BP). Do not use AC/BC.
- Use double quotes: “word” not ‘word’.
- Use capitals after a semicolon in titles and figure captions but not in the text body.
- Do not place a comma after “i.e.” and “e.g.” (for example, “e.g. x, y, and z”, not; “e.g., x,y, and z”)
- No italics for Latin words: “in situ”, “vice versa”, “per se”.
- No italics for non-English words: “Longue durée”, “fjord”.
- No space between the numbers and °C, %, >, ... but spaces before cm, m, kg.
- Spell out numbers <10, ≥10 in digits: “six,” “65”.
- Use the Oxford comma in lists: “x, y, and z” (not: x, y and z”).
- For units, use fractions rather than negative exponents: “mm/yr” not “mm yr
-1
”.
- For long domain names (e.g., Youtube links or similar), use a short-url instead.
Plagiarism
- Read PAGES’ plagiarism and ethics in publishing policies here:
https://pastglobalchanges.org/publications/pages-magazines/pages-magazine
- To plagiarize means to claim someone else’s ideas or words as one’s own. Plagiarism includes, but is not
limited to, the acts of:
(1) (Near-)verbatim copying or purposely paraphrasing portions of another author's work;
(2) (Near-)verbatim copying portions of one's own published work (self-plagiarism);
(3) Using or citing someone else’s ideas, words or illustrations that are not common knowledge without
properly acknowledging the source.
- Plagiarism in all its forms is an act of fraud and constitutes a serious ethical offence. No plagiarized articles
will be published in Past Global Changes Magazine. Consequently, all submitted manuscripts are screened
for plagiarism and appropriate measures will be taken in such cases.
CHECKLIST FOR AUTHORS (Workshop Reports, Program News and Opinion articles)
£ Article is submitted in a word document using the template.
£ Report (including figure captions) is 650–700 words.
£ Text has passed a US English spell check.
£ The author list is in the correct format, and there are no more than seven.
£ The email of the corresponding author is provided.
£ References are in the correct format and in alphabetical order.
£ Max. 7 references. A DOI-URL to the articles is provided.
£ All references are referred to in the text.
£ One figure with caption is provided and referred to in the text.
£ The figure has been modified from previously published versions OR permission to
reprint has been obtained.
£ The figure and logos are in separate files to the text, and are in an editable (vector)
format.
£ Photos have a resolution of 300 dpi or more.
