Information For Authors

Guidelines for Authors Submitting Manuscripts to Central Valley Birds

Christopher W. Swarth1 and Daniel A. Airola2

1Mariposa, CA. cswarth10@gmail.com

2Conservation Research and Planning, Sacramento, CA. d.airola@sbcglobal.net

 Central Valley Birds is the primary journal of the Central Valley Bird Club. Central Valley Birds publishes peer-reviewed papers on a wide range of avian life history, distribution, demographics, movements, identification, geographic variation, conservation, behavior, ecology, habitat requirements, and techniques for censusing, sound-recording, and photographing birds in the field. We especially encourage field-based studies and papers that have both scientific value and are understandable to non-scientists. Our geographical area of interest is California’s Central Valley and surrounding foothills. The region stretches from Redding on the north to Bakersfield on the south, and includes the entire Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, the Delta west to San Pablo Bay, and the bordering foothills to an elevation of about 500 m (1,500 ft) elevation.

We welcome notes and articles of value from non-scientists and first-time authors. Authors do not need to be a member of the Bird Club, but membership is always encouraged. The Editor and Editorial Committee members are willing to work with authors to help them develop an article. We encourage university students to have your manuscript reviewed by a professor in your department before submitting.

Types of Paper Published

Central Valley Birds publishes both longer main articles and shorter Notes from the Field. Longer articles generally include presentation of collected data, analysis, and interpretation presented in the standard format of a scientific paper (see below for section headings). Notes from the Field generally present natural history observations of bird occurrence or behavior that contribute to a species’ knowledge base. Notes are generally short (1-3 pages). Their format can follow the standard presentation order below for main articles but without major headers, except “LITERATURE CITED”. Upon editor approval, flexibility in presentation format for Notes is acceptable.

Central Valley Birds is published electronically with hard copies distributed to some members. To view published papers, go to:  https://journal.cvbirds.org/index.php/cvb. CVB papers are now searchable on Google Scholar and each paper is now assigned a unique DOI (Digital Object Identifier). The DOI system for journal articles provides a unique, persistent link to digital content, ensuring they remain citable and accessible even if the journal moves to a different website. These important recent changes make CVB papers more widely available to the ornithological community.

Send manuscripts to editor Dan Airola at d.airola@sbcglobal.net. 

If a manuscript is accepted for publication, the author(s) then have a commitment to publish in Central Valley Birds. Author(s) will confirm that the work has not been published elsewhere, nor is it presently being considered for publication by another journal. No page charges are currently required of authors; publication costs are underwritten by CVBC members and all work on the journal is accomplished by volunteers. Contact the Editor for more information.

Manuscript Preparation

As you prepare your manuscript, please examine recent papers published in the journal  https://journal.cvbirds.org/index.php/cvb, to become familiar with format and style. This is the most efficient way to ensure that your manuscript fits with our style and this will avoid extensive re-formatting by the editors (or a return of the manuscript to you to do so). Prepare any tables and figures using the style in the journal.

Use standard American English spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Good scientific writing should be simple and direct. Write in active voice whenever possible; that is, "I saw ..." instead of "... it was seen" or "the author saw ...." Avoid bureaucratic jargon, birdwatchers' slang, and overuse of acronyms. Write in a style that is lively and engaging, but neither folksy nor pedantic. It may help to check other authors’ writing style in papers published in the journal.

Use the proper tense for verbs: present for conditions that still exist and past for completed events. Use the past tense to refer to statements in the published literature. For example, write "Grinnell and Miller (1944) stated that ..." instead of "Grinnell and Miller (1944) state that ...." Refer to cited authors as people, not papers (“noted by Grinnell and Miller 1944”, not “noted in Grinnell and Miller 1944”). Avoid writing in the conditional; that is, do not use the word "would" unless it is necessary. Introduce restrictive clauses with "that," nonrestrictive clauses with "which." For insight on good scientific writing, see, Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, and Strunk and White's The Elements of Style.

General Formatting the Manuscript

  • Pages should have standardized 1” margins, top, bottom and both sides
  • Single-space all material in Microsoft Word.
  • Separate paragraphs with a blank line, indent each paragraph.
  • Use 12-point font (preferably Calibri).

Underlining and italicization

  • Italicize scientific names and symbols for all variables and constants except Greek letters.
  • Symbols in illustrations should be in italics to match the text.
  • Italics, bold, or underlining should not be used for emphasis.
  • Do not underline text.

Capitalization

For common names of birds, follow the Ornithological Societies of North America style (AOU checklist), with initial capital letters. Example: Black-throated Green Warbler. For all non-avian taxa, use lowercase for common names, but capitalize proper nouns (example:  California vole, red-backed vole.

Figures

Figures should be inserted directly into the text file for ease of review but will need to be submitted separately as jpg files if the paper is accepted. High quality photos, with notes on circumstances or significance are welcome.

Title, Author's Name, and Author's Address 

The manuscript title should be fully descriptive but try to keep it to 10 words or less. Type the title with all major words capitalized and flush left (beginning at the left margin of the page). Do not include scientific names in the title. After a line space, type your name flush left, followed by a comma, and your physical address (street address and zip code optional), followed by a period and an e-mail address. If the manuscript has coauthors, list their names, addresses, and emails in the same manner. Combine the names and addresses of two or more consecutively listed authors with the same address on one line.

ABSTRACT

All manuscripts must include an abstract. The abstract consists of a single paragraph and should be no more than 250 words. Begin the abstract with the word "ABSTRACT" in capital letters as separate header. The abstract should be clear, informative, and as readable as possible. Write in the active voice and summarize your actual results. Do not write things like “study implications will be discussed.” Include scientific names of species (Latin binomials) in the abstract. Separate the Abstract from the Introduction with a solid line across the page.

Abstract example:

“From 2020 to 2025, we monitored a group of 23–40 nest boxes at River Bend Park, along the lower American River near Sacramento, California. The boxes were installed placed both in pairs (2.3–7 m apart) and singly (13–88 m apart). Paired boxes have been recommended to enhance Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) nesting by reducing competition with Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) and other nest-box competitors. We evaluated use of paired and single boxes by Western Bluebirds, Tree Swallows, and Ash-throated Flycatchers (Myiarchus cinerascens). Contrary to expectations, Western Bluebirds did not preferentially select paired boxes but rather used them at the same rate as single boxes. Tree Swallows, however, nested significantly less often in paired boxes than in single boxes, while Ash-throated Flycatchers nested exclusively in paired boxes. Reproductive success also did not differ between pairs using paired and single boxes for either Western Bluebirds or Tree Swallows. These results suggest that, at least at this study site, installing nest boxes in pairs does not increase nesting use by Western Bluebirds compared to single boxes, but discourages use by Tree Swallows and enhances use by Ash-throated Flycatchers.”

 Key Words

Include 4 to 8 key words or short phrases that can be used for internet searching.  Key words should be informative but should not include words found in the title. Include scientific names of species named in the title and any other key species. Include words that address location (e.g., Central Valley), biological phenomenon (“predation”), or key methods (“nest survey”). List key words alphabetically and separate each word/phrase with a semicolon.

[INTRODUCTION]

The introduction follows the abstract but does not have a header noting “INTRODUCTION.” The introduction should inform the reader about the main content of the paper, provide a concise review of relevant information that justifies the purpose of the study, and clearly lists the study's objectives, including any hypotheses you intend to test. It should be written in a crisp and engaging form to entice the reader to read on. The introduction is not the place for a long historical review of the subject.

Provide scientific names on first use in the main body of the paper (thus both in the abstract and in the main body of the paper). Generally, use the following headers and format:

STUDY AREA

Briefly describe relevant characteristics of the study area. Do not include results (i.e., vegetation characteristics) that were measured as part of the study – put them in RESULTS. Include information on location (latlongs if the study sites are not easy to identify), vegetation, topography, etc., if relevant to the study. Consider including a map of the study area or region for larger study areas or regions with multiple study sites.

METHODS

Describe how you collected your data and how they were analyzed. Cite references for standardized methodologies (point counts, vegetation transects) with a brief and specific description only of their application to the study. Include statistical tests used and programs used to conduct statistical analysis.

RESULTS

Report the results you collected and results of the analysis you conducted. Note whether your hypotheses were affirmed or refuted. Make sure that you do not: 1) include how you acquired the results (put in METHODS), 2) discuss reasons for why you did what you did (put in INTRODUCTION), or 3) what the implications are (put in DISCUSSION). Put complex results into tables and figures that will help the reader comprehend them. Consult past issues for examples of table and figure formats.

DISCUSSION

Relate the study results to your study objectives. Explain reasons you believe you acquired the results you did and what they mean. Relate the results to previous literature to note if your information is new, supports previous study results, or is contrary to past research findings. Identify any broader conclusions (status of species, effects of climate or habitat loss, etc.) that may be supported or inconsistent with previous studies. Identify any management and conservation implications that derive from your work. Suggest related topics or unanswered questions that should be pursued through further research.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

You decide who to acknowledge for help with your study, etc. Generally, acknowledge those who actively contributed to the study, including advisors, field workers, others who provided additional data, etc. Do not acknowledge researchers who conducted past work that may have inspired you. At the end of the review process, consider adding those who provided useful peer review comments to the ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

LITERATURE CITED

Ensure accuracy by checking your literature citations against the original sources. Ensure that all references cited in the text are listed in the Literature Cited section and vice versa.

In Text Citations

Use the name/date system of citation; that is, cite references as "(Jones 1970)." Distinguish papers published by the same author(s) in the same year by lower-case letters, beginning with "a” following the year (e.g., “Jones 2025a, b”). Cite references in text by three or more authors by the first author's name only, followed by "et al." (do not italicize), followed by the year "(e.g., “(Jones et al. 2023).” Cite unpublished material in text with the sources as “(C. Swarth, unpubl. data)” or “(C. Swarth, pers. comm.).” Cite unpublished material from web sources by putting the URL within the text, not in Lit. Cited.

Literature Cited Section

Please refer to recent articles in Central Valley Birds for format examples of citation styles for different types of references. Also, use the following examples as models for references. List references alphabetically by primary author, then then by second author (if present), then by year (earliest to latest).

If a DOI number has been assigned to the source, append it at the end of the reference after a semicolon as "doi.org/." followed by the number, so that the entire expression can be blocked and copied as a web link. Much of the older literature lacks DOIs, so use another URL for electronic access, if available.

Journals. Use standard capitalization of author's name (not all caps), with authors' given names abbreviated as initials. Using hanging indent format (CTRL + T) with no horizontal spaces between references.

In the article title, capitalize only the first letter of the first word and proper nouns. Fully spell out all journal names. Cite volume and page numbers, but not the issue number if, as is typical, pages in each issue are numbered consecutively (e.g., “Wildfowl 20:10-17.”, not “Wildfowl 20(1)10-17.” No comma follows the journal's name. For monographs in irregular serials, follow the same style as for journal articles but omit the number of pages if one monograph constitutes the entire issue.

Example:

Ardia, D.R. and K.L. Bildstein. 1997. Sex-related differences in habitat use in wintering American Kestrels. Auk 118:746–750. http://doi.org/10.1093/auk/118.3.746

Books. Follow the same basic format but capitalize all major words in the book title. After title, include the name of the publisher and (one) city of publisher. Do not include the number of pages in the book. Example:

Beedy, E.C., and E.R. Pandolfino. 2013. Birds of the Sierra Nevada: Their Natural History, Status, and Distribution. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.

Articles in a Book or Symposium Volume. Cite author, year and title as for a journal article. Then include the page numbers followed by “in:” and then the editor (last name, then initials), Book/symposium title, and publisher, and location of publication. Include any identifying series, report number, etc. Example:

Widdowson, W.P. Olive-sided Flycatcher. P. 260–265 in: California Bird Species of Special Concern. (W.D. Shuford and T. Gardali, eds.). Western Field Ornithologists Camarillo, CA, USA. https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=84247&inline