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Instructions for Authors

Introduction
Text
References
Footnotes
Calibration
Illustrations
Some typographical rules
Correcting proofs
References examples
Rights assignment letter

 Introduction

Every author can submit a paper to the Bulletin de la Société géologique de France and is allowed 7 free printed pages per year; the charge for each additional page is 103 € (2008 rate).

Members of the Society, if they appear as first author, and provided they are up-to-date with their membership fee and subscription to the Bulletin, are allowed 7 free extra printed pages per year (including text, figures, tables and plates, each page amounting to 7,700 signs and spaces), and the possibility to download free of charge, the PDF file from the GSW aggregate.

Manuscripts must be deposited in duplicate, complete with text, references, copies of illustrations and captions, together with the form (see below) filled and signed. Whenever relevant, manuscripts should mention the title of the meeting where the paper was first read. In order to reduce refereeing delays, authors are invited to annex to their manuscripts an electronic version on CD. It is mandatory that this electronic version includes a file containing title, authors, abstract and a PDF file which merges text, references, tables, figures and captions. When authors are unable, for technical reasons, to create such a unified file, it is acceptable that they submit separate files containing texts, tables and illustrations (versions PC or Mac, formats Word for texts, Excel for tables and Adobe illustrator or Corel Draw (EPS or PDF) for figures).

Do not right-justify electronic manuscripts and do not insert hyphens at the end of lines.

Texts can be submitted in French or English. Titles, abstracts, key words and figure captions should be bilingual, thus enabling papers in French to be analyzed in the "Current Contents". In order to optimise their impact, articles in English are preferred.

Authors are invited to communicate the names of 4 possible referees for their manuscripts. Foreign referees will be welcome, but authors must guarantee that they are able to read French in the case of a French manuscript.

Manuscripts must describe original reference work, of general interest and targeting an informed international audience. They can deal with all fields of the Earth Sciences, but special attention will be given to papers that address linkages between fields. These articles will constitute the central core of the Bulletin, to be supplemented with a few review papers of wide coverage.

We do not accept manuscripts consisting of non-interpreted raw data, nor technical notes and notes of just local interest.

Short notes (maximum 4 pages, including illustrations) are planned for prompt publication after an accelerated review procedure.

 Text

The text must be typed entirely in lower case and double-spaced, only on one side of the page, without manual additions or corrections, each page being numbered. All articles must comprise, in the following order and for a text in French :

the French title ;
the common first names (spellt in full) and the names of authors ; their addresses and/or those of parent organisations, including an electronic address, are provided in a foot-note ;
key words ;
abstract (3,000 characters) ;
title in English ;
English key words ;
an English abstract (5,000 characters).

For an article in English, the English items should be given first.

 References

All the references mentioned in the text and with the illustrations must be included in the list of citations, and conversely, each quoted citation must be called in the text or in the illustrations.

All the citation should mention between brackets : cited author's name (without the initial of his first name), publication year, possibly also pagination and figuring, starting with a capital letter (ex : [Odin et al., 1992, Fig.2]). If the same first author is cited the same year with different co-authors, the citation in the text will mention the first 2 authors (or more if necessary), followed by et al.

Lists of references must always be arranged alphabetically (first and second author), then chronologically [see reference 1 in the list of examples provided in the French version].

A bibliographical reference comprises 3 or 4 zones (author and date, title, publication, complements). Each zone ends with a full stop. The 2nd, 3rd and where relevant 4th zones begin with a dash.

Author's name, initial of the first name, then full stop. In a reference to several authors, names will be separated by a comma and the sign & placed before the last author's name [see 2]. After the initial of last author's first name, type the date between parentheses (if there are several references to one author in the same year, add a, b, c to the year, depending on the order of citations in the text). - The title is fully typed in straight romans without capitals, even in English (except if necessary). If the article is part of a book, the title is to be followed by . In : initial of the editor's first name and name, followed by Ed. (or Eds.), then indicate the title of the book with the first letter in capital [see 3]. - Name of the Journal (in italics ; for abbreviations, follow the norms of the catalogue IGCP II 1978-1882, IUGS,UNESCO), or name of the editor and his city (in small roman), then a comma and the characterisation of the reference (volume, tome, pages) : for the latter, give only the numbers separated by commas (serial numbers between parentheses, tomes in bold).

To be typed in italiques : Journal titles and sub-titles (see 4), titles of collections [see 4 and 9], titles of conferences [see 6] if there is no publishing by a journal or a memoir, and the books considered as forming a series [see 7]. Single-author monographies and theses are indicated in romans [see 8]. "Special Publication" (Sp. Publ.), "Professional Paper" (Prof. Paper) are printed in italics after the title of the journal because they form part of the title [see 10], the same for Bull. or Mém. "Special issue" or sp. issue or sp. number, or "abstracts" (abst.) are printed after the issue number in straight roman [see 11].

References to internal reports and to theses should mention the libraries where free consultation is possible. If such an indication is missing, these references will be deleted [see 12].

References to papers submitted to editorial committees and in the reviewing process are excluded. On the other hand, articles which have been explicitely accepted can be cited with the mention : (in press).

References to maps or their explanatory booklets should be made according to the examples below : Alabouvette et al., and Burg et al.

 Footnotes

The use of footnotes should be avoided as much as possible.

 Calibration

A detailed layout of the article should be appended to the manuscript, together with an estimate of its global length. One page of the Bulletin amounts to 7,700 signs and spacings, and the maximal size of figures is 18.5 cm by 24.5 cm.

 Illustrations

Legends of illustrations must be typed after the list of references. For each illustration of an article in French, the caption will be in French first, then in English (the reverse for a paper in English).

Type at the appropriate place in the text the references to illustrations (fig.1), (tabl.III), (pl.VI, fig.2) and indicate in the margin where the illustrations should be inserted.

Figures, tables and plates should be planned as far as possible for reduction on a single column (9 cm width) or on 2 columns (18.5 cm), by 24.5 cm maximum height. "Italian"- style presentation of figures is not advised. If the maximum justification is used (18.5 x 24.5 cm), the caption will be transferred to the next page.

Photographs (black and white or colour) ready for reproduction should be grouped on plates and numbered. Colour illustrations will be charged to authors.

After reduction, the size of letters on figures must be comprised between 1 and 5 mm in order to ensure consistency in the overall presentation of figures. A graphic scale is required. Avoid identifying the keys of captions by numbers ; it is preferable to use abbreviations that will be spelt out in the captions (ex : UJ for Upper Jurassic, Mbl for blue marls).

Authors must always append to each original of an illustration, sent with the final text, a copy made to the exact size foreseen in the publication.

Authors who make use of figures already published by colleagues, must remember to request permission to publish.

  Some typographical rules used by the national printing office

Capitals and lower case

The names of eras, systems and stages begin with a capital.
Technical terms (flysch, syncline), minerals and topographical designations (river, cape …) begin with a lower case letter ; ex : Mediterranean sea, Millevaches plateau, Paris basin, galena …

Cardinal points

Always in lower case, except when they designate a region or are considered as proper nouns, ex : the North of France, Eastern countries … Abbreviations N-S-E-W can be used when a direction is indicated ; ex : a direction WSW-ENE.

Paleontology

Common nouns are always printed in lower case : a fauna of mammals, a crinoïd limestone … The use of latin is recommended for hierarchical groups as well as for genus and species. One should follow the international rules of nomenclature.

Abbreviations, units, numbers

Do not abbreviate nouns and stratigraphical units (Cretaceous and not Cret.).
Every designation must be fully spelt out on the first time, the acronym or abbreviation being placed between parentheses ; ex : total organic carbon (TOC).
Use of the decimal system is mandatory. In French, commas are used for decimal numerical data, against dots in English. Thousands are signalled by a space in French and a comma in English.
Unit symbols never take the plural.
In French, million years is always abbreviated to Ma. In English, "million years" is abbreviated to Ma for a date and m.y. for a duration ; ex : in English, 3 m.y. designates the duration of a geological event that took place 100 Ma ago.
Dating : ¹⁴C, 18,000 years B.P., Orientation : N010°E, N100°E.

Typesetting of maths and physics

Capital letters are always typeset in latin.
Variables, unknowns, functions, constants, parameters are typeset in latin italic lower case.
Abbreviations are typeset in roman ; ex : sin a. Beware of confusions with the Greek alphabet during typesetting. Ex : e (epsilon) and Œ ; c (khi) and k (kappa) ; n and h ; w, v and n (nu) ; p (pi) and P ; r and p ; q and Q ; y and Y, d (delta) and ?. Each sign has a different meaning, conform strictly to the lettering between formulas and texts and italics or no italics.

Foreign names

Geographical designations remain as in their original language ; ex : Sierra Morena.

 Correcting proofs

The first author will receive a proof of his text for correction. He is committed to return it at the earliest notice. Should this prove unfeasible, SGF will correct the proofs without accepting any responsibility. Only typographic errors are to be corrected. All other corrections will be charged to authors.

 References examples

[l] ACHAARYYA S.K. (1978). - Stratigraphy and tectonic features of the eastern Himalayas. In: SAKLANI P.S., Ed., Tectonic geology of the Himalaya. - Today and Tomorrow's Publ., New Delhi, 243-268.

ALABOUVETTE B., BURG J.-P., BODINIER J.-L., DELOR C. & GUILLAUME M.(1988). - Carte géologique de la France à 1/50 000. Notice explicative de la feuille 906: Najac. - lère édition. - Orléans : BRGM. - x p., y fig. et carte en coul., par BURG et al., 1987 (sous presse).

[11,3] AUBOUIN J. & BLANCHET R. (1981). - Subduction and tectonics: discussion of the results of the IPOD program in the active margins. In: BLANCHET R. & MONTADERT L., Eds., Géologie des marges continentales, 26ème Cong. Geol. Int., Coll. C3, Paris, 1980. - Océanol. Acta, n° sp., 283-294.

[6] BIJU-DUVAL B., DERCOURT J. & LE PICHON X. (1977). - From the Tethys ocean to the Mediterranean seas: a plate tectonic model of the evolution of the western Alpine system. In: BIJU-DUVAL B. & MONTADERT L., Eds., 25ème Cong. C.I.E.S.M., Histoire structurale des bassins méditerranéens, Split, Yougoslavie, 1976. - Technip, Paris, 143 - 164, 8 pl .

[10] BLAKE M.C. & JONES D.L. (1974). - Origin of Franciscan mélange in northern California. In:: DOTT R.H. & SHAVER R.H., Eds., Geosynclinal sedimentation. - Soc. Econ. Paleontol. Mineral., Sp. Publ., 19, 345-357.

BURG J.-P., GUILLAUME M., DELSAHUT B. & MURATET B. (1987). - Carte géologique de la France à 1/50 000, feuille 906: Najac. - lère édition. - Orléans: BRGM. - 1 flle en coul., et notice explicative par ALABOUVETTE B. et al., 1988, x p.

[5] BUKRY D. (1970). - Coccolith age determinations, Leg 4, Deep Sea Drilling Project. In: BADER R.G.. GÉRARD E.D. et al., Eds., Init. Rep. Deep Sea Drill. Proj., IV. - Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 375-381.

[6] CABRIERES B., CAZAUX J.-C. & WEILL G. (1979). - Spot French first remote sensing satellite geometrical performance. In: Proc. 11th Int. Symp. Remote Sensing of Environment, 2. - Univ. Michigan, Ann Harbor, USA, 867-878.

[12] CABY R. (1982). - Idées nouvelles sur la tectonique tangentielle profonde d'âge alpin en grande Kabylie. - 9ème Réun. Ann. Sci. Terre, Paris, p. 105. - Livre en dépôt à la Soc. géol. France.

[12,9] DESNOYERS C. (1981). - Etude des minéraux majeurs et accessoires dans quelques météorites (howardites et chondrites carbonées): implications génétiques. - Mém. Sci. Terre, Univ. P. et M. Curie, 81-10, 2 vol., 125 p., 24 f. - Thèse Sci., Paris, 1980. - Extr. en partie de: Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 1980, 47, 223-234. - C. R. Acad. Sci., Paris, 1974, D, 278, 3275-3277. - Meteoritics, 1973, 8, 344-345; 1974, 9, 354-355; 1975, 10, 392. - Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 1977, 41, 81-86.

DE WEVER P. (1982). - Radiolaires du Trias et du Lias de la Téthys (systématique, stratigraphie). - Soc. géol. Nord Publ., 7, 599 p. - Thèse Sci., Lille, 1982.

[8,2] GIROD M., BAILEY D.K., BAKER P.E., FISHER R.V., MAURY R., ROCCI M., SCHMINCKE H. & UPTON B.G. (1978). - Les roches volcaniques: pétrologie et cadre structural. - Doin, Paris, 239 p.

[4] HEALY-WILLIAMS N., TRAINOR D. & MALDONADO A. (1983). - Late Quaternary stable isotopic and calcium carbonate records from the western and eastern Mediterranean (Abstr.). In: Am. Geophys. Un., Fall meeting abstracts. - Eos, Trans. Am. Geophys.Union, 64, 45, 738.

[10] JACSON E.D. (1976). - Eclogite in Hawaiian basalts. - U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Paper, 86, B 5, 151-157.

LAPPARENT A.F. de, PHILIP J., MARIE P. & DUFAURE P. (1974). - La montagne de Parandaz et les transgressions crétacées en Afghanistan central. - Bull. Soc. géol. Fr., (7), XVI, 311-318.

[1] LE PICHON X., ANGELIER J. & SIBUET J.-C. (1982). - Plate boundaries and extensional tectonics. - Tectonophysics, 81, 239-256.

[I] LE PICHON X. & PAUTOT G. (1976). Ç Le fond des océans. - Presses Universitaires de France, Collect. Que sais je ?, Paris, 125 p.

[1] LE PICHON X. & SIBUET J.-C. (1981). - Passive margins: a model of formation. - J. Geophys. Res., 86, B 5, 3708-3720.

Ressources naturelles de l'Asie tropicale humide (1974). - Unesco, Paris, 490 p. - (Recherches sur les ressources naturelles, 12).

[Il] SEGURET M., LABAUME P. & MADARIAGA R. (1984). - Eocene seismicity of the Pyrénées from megaturbidites of the south Pyrenean basin (Spain). In: CITA M.B. & RlCCl LUCCl F., Eds., Seismicity and sedimentation. - Mar. Geol., 55, 1/2, sp. issue, 117-131.

[7] SINGER A. & GALAN E. Eds. (1984). - Paligorskite-sepiolite. - Developments in sedimentology, 37. - Elsevier, Amsterdam, 473 p.

YAROSHEVITCH V.M. (1957). - Les nouveaux représentants d'Archaeocyathes du Cambrien du versant oriental de l'Alatau de Kuznetsk. - Dokl. Akad. Nauk. S.S.S.R., 116, 6, 1015-1017 (en russe).

 Rights assignment letter

 Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France is published by the Société Géologique de France.