Technical Requirements
Text
• Contributions shall be accepted in *.doc and *.rtf formats.
• Please, do not use Caps Lock in headlines and highlighted text.
Length
Articles
Length of an article/review shall be negotiated with the volume’s editor.
Abstract (and how to write)
An abstract is a source of information on the main content and findings exposed in the publication; it makes reading the full text redundant, should the reader have no primary interest in it; it is used by information systems to search for documents and information.
An abstract shall be:
• authentic, comprehensive (reflecting the main content and findings exposed in your paper), well structured;
• concise (600 — 1500 characters with spaces);
• written in proper English.
Your abstract shall contain the following aspects of your work:
• subject, topic and aim of your paper (these should be mentioned, unless fully exposed in the title of the paper);
• research methods (you should define them if they are a novelty and are interesting in view of your paper);
• findings (main results, your conclusions, genuine discoveries);
• you may supply your conclusions with recommendations, assessments, proposals, hypotheses, as described in your paper).
You should avoid when writing your abstract:
• any phrase that duplicates the title of your paper;
• common wordings, redundant introductory phrases (for instance, the author of the article considers...), complex grammar constructions;
• commonly known arguments;
• information of historiographic nature, unless these make the main content of the paper, titles of earlier published papers.
Keywords (how to write)
Keywords shall disclose the following aspects of your submission: region, chronology, subjects, special terminology.
Illustrations
• We accept color pictures in RGB COLOR for the digital version of the journal. You may choose the quality of your images while scanning or otherwise preparing your illustrations.
• Illustrations shall be saved in bit map (raster graphics) format *.tif (uncompressed). This format makes the file size larger and better in quality. Illustrations are accepted in vector format too (*.ai, *.eps, in exceptional cases in *.cdr), as well as on paper in contrast black and white version (photographs shall be high contrast).
• Resolution shall be no less than 300 dpi (to the real image size); yet, if small details are expected to be seen, the resolution must be higher.
While scanning or otherwise preparing your illustrations, please set the following image size in your file settings, with regard to the standard print field in Stratum Plus:
1 column — 7.23×24.3 cm;
2 columns — 15×24.3 cm.
Please remember that the same field shall also contain the caption. The image on your figure should not merge with the outline. Please leave at least 3—5 mm indents from the margins of the figure.
• Graphs shall be drawn in MS Excel. Besides, please, supply your MS Excel graphs with the original tables.
• If your drawing contains numbers or a text, please, don’t input them by hand, they must be inserted digitally; the only exception is made for the archive materials.
• The list of illustrations and captions shall be submitted in the Declaration&Submission Form that shall be attached to your submission (see the Submission Checklist).
• For larger files, please, use a free file exchanger like: http://www.sendspace.com (max. 300Mb) or http://www.wetransfer.com (max. 2 Gb)
Tables
Contributions can also be supported by tables.
• Tables shall be drawn in MS Excel or MS Word:
• Tables shall be numbered and titled.
• If a table contains drawings, these shall be sent apart in a graphic format *.tif or *.jpg. Please, do not insert your illustrations in MS Word / Excel file.
Your publications will be processed quicker if your submission meets the following requirements. If you have any questions, before submitting your paper please contact our Technical Department at stratumplus@gmail.com
Abbreviations
• All abbreviations should end in a full-stop (.), e.g., fig. (number).
• You may use common abbreviations like etc., e.g. in your text. Should you use some abbreviations specifically for the purposes of this article or for a restricted number of topics, you should provide their full explanation. You should add this information to the list of abbreviations used in your article, which should as well be included in p.I.5 of the Declaration&Submission Form.
• Measurements should be abbreviated, follow the number with a space and without a full-stop (e.g. 100 km, 56 m, 10 g).
• Degrees should be written as 24 m².
• Radiocarbon dating shall be written as C.
Numbers
• In decimal values (either in tables or in text), please use a comma as a separating character, without a space after it. A full-stop or a comma without a space after it are not admissible.
• Numbers smaller than 9999 shall be written without a separating character (a space separating thousands), any number above 10 000 shall be written with a space. A full-stop or a comma used as a separating character is not admissible (e.g. 3583; 15 679; 2 700 000).
• All values and measurements mentioned in your article shall be written in conformity with the International System of Units (SI). Exception is for quotations from historic texts containing measurements of length, volume and weight.
Chronology and Dating
• Stratum plus accepts abbreviations BC and AD.
• Dates shall be written this way: 01.02.2013, rather than 1 February 2013.
• When you mention chronological intervals, sequences etc., please indicate the lowest and then the upmost date, i.e. 40 000-30 000 years ago instead of 30 000-40 000 years ago, or within 40 000-30 000 years ago, etc.
• Centuries are spelled in Roman figures, while years — in Arabic figures.
• Acronyms used for climatic stratigraphic scale (oxygen or marine) shall be used in their Latin spelling — OIS (oxygen isotope stages), MIS (marine isotope stages).
Radiocarbon dating (common requirements)
• When you use a non-original dating, you must indicate the source (both in tables and in the text).
• When you use it in the text of your article, you should clearly indicate whether you indicate the age in radiocarbon years or calibrated. The best is to use either standard radiocarbon or calibrated values in the same article. If you use both, then please specify every time which of the values you have used.
• If you used the dating received through accelerator mass spectrometry, the method used shall be marked in the text (or table) as AMS C.
• You should specify the material tested to produce the age value. For instance, plant detritus, plant macrofossils, gyttja, peat, wood, bone collagen (if possible, indicate the common name of the species), charcoal, hearth fill, organic content of ceramics, carbon, etc.
Non-calibrated dating
• If you used a non-calibrated radiocarbon age value, please put "C years ago" (i.e. radiocarbon years ago, calculated in relation to 1950, which is equivalent to English BP) or "C years BC" after the dating code.
• Radiocarbon dates shall be used in conformity with the following standard: [measured age value] ± [standard deviation] (lab code, sample number) [units of time].
• Use of a special sign "±" is mandatory, no other signs shall be acceptable. Sign "±" shall be separated by a space on both sides, i.e. your text shall look like this: [age value] space "±" space [value of deviation].
For instance: …plant macrofossils from horizon 8 have given AMS C 32 070 ± 210'BP* (Beta-309153)…
For instance: …plant macrofossils from horizon 8 have given AMS C 32 070 ± 210'BP* (Beta-309153)…
Calibrated dating
• If you use calibrated values of radiocarbon age, you should write "cal BP" or "cal BC"; the name of the calibrating software (database) used shall be indicated in round brackets after the age value (INTCAL09, CalPal, and so on).
• If you use calendar values of the radiocarbon age, you should indicate the probabilistic assessment (confidence interval) for the calibrated dating — 1 σ (68%) or 2 σ (95%).
For instance:
... we obtained five AMS C datings for this section... the calendar age of the wood sample from layer 5 is defined with the probabilistic interval of 1 σ (68%) within 36 680—36 500 cal BP (Beta-309153, INTCAL09).
Or:
... we obtained five AMS C datings for this section... the calendar age of the wood sample from layer 5 is defined with the probabilistic interval of 2 σ (95%) within 36 810—36 380 cal BP (Beta-309153, INTCAL09).
• Special studies dealing with radiocarbon dating of archaeological sites, methodological issues, building chronologies in calendar years, etc. shall specify the datings used in tables. They should specify the original datings in radiocarbon years, values fittnig the calibration curve, both probabilistic intervals (68% and 95%, respectively) and the name of the database used to produce the calibration, alongwith the calibrated values.