Insecta Mundi·For authors
Instructions for authors
Open access, built for taxonomists by taxonomists — and free to publish for CSE members. A well-prepared manuscript is the fastest way to publication.
Insecta Mundi is a collaborative, open-access platform. We do not charge authors publication fees, so the journal relies on contributors who prepare their work with the same care we put into publishing it.
High-quality submissions — scientifically and technically — move through review and editing much faster; incomplete or poorly formatted ones may be delayed or returned. Please read our formatting standards, especially for word processing, figures, citations and layout. If you are new to the journal, the resources on this page walk you through each step, from document formatting to image preparation.
Before submitting, have your manuscript reviewed by colleagues and check it against the submission checklist. Submissions that do not meet these basic requirements are returned without review.
Publication requirements
- 01
Two outside reviews
Obtain critical reviews from two outside reviewers and submit their comments and Reviewer Report Forms with the manuscript. Manuscripts without them are returned.
- 02
A clean manuscript file
Manuscript files carry hidden formatting that can break the software used to produce the final paper. Please clean your file following the Manuscript Preparation Rules & Guidelines and the Common Problems Checklist.
- 03
A signed Submission Contract
The Submission Contract confirms that you followed the preparation guidelines. Authors are fully responsible for the content, organization and technical accuracy of their manuscript.
- 04
Literature Cited format Updated September 2025
- Give the DOI of any article, chapter or other reference that has one, at the end of the reference (after the page range).
- No periods between initials.
- No comma between surname and initials.
- Omit the word “and” in author and editor lists.
- List editor names in book chapters surname-first.
Examples
Arnett RH Jr, Samuelson GA, Nishida GN. 1993. The insect and spider collections of the world (second edition). Flora and fauna handbook no. 11. Sandhill Crane Press; Gainesville, FL. 310 p.
Gordon RD, Skelley PE. 2007. A monograph of the Aphodiini inhabiting the United States and Canada (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae). Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 79: 1–580.
Dal Pos D, Carpenter JM, Uliana M. 2023. The Giordani Soika collection of Eumeninae at the Natural History Museum of Venice Giancarlo Ligabue: catalogue of species and type specimens (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Zootaxa 5137: 1–111. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5137.1.1
Skelley PE, Gordon RD. 2002. Family 37. Scarabaeidae. V. Subfamily Aphodiinae. p. 42–48. In: Arnett RH Jr, Thomas MC, Skelley PE, Frank JH (eds.). American beetles, Vol. 2. CRC Press; Boca Raton, FL. 861 p.
Perkins P. 2006. MCZ Type Database @ Harvard University. Available at http://mcz-28168.oeb.harvard.edu/mcz/ (Last accessed February 2007.)
Submission checklist
Every submitted manuscript must include:
- 1
Manuscript
The manuscript and any appendices or other files.
- 2
Images
Images arranged into plates, each plate as a separate TIF, JPG or PDF file.
- 3
Reviews
Copies of the two critical reviews, showing the reviewers’ comments.
- 4
Reviewer Report Forms
One completed form for each reviewer, in addition to the manuscript with comments.
- 5
Submission Contract
The signed contract attesting that the manuscript is ready to go.
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