Become an author

Article topic and structure

You can prepare an account of a genus or species, a research review, a description of a biological process or documented cultivation experiences. Length depends on the topic. Divide a longer text into sections, each developing a specific subject.

Begin with a title and 3 to 5 short sentences presenting the main information. Suggest one or two categories and 3 to 8 keywords. These can be names of plants, processes, structures or methods.

Content and personal observations

Explain structure, function and relationships, defining necessary terms at first use. Connect findings from the literature to appropriate sources. Present your own observations with information on the plant, conditions, timing and course of the experience. Label a hypothesis as a proposed explanation.

Use accepted botanical names, and when discussing an older publication, add the name used in the source in parentheses. Italicize genus and species names and use plain type for rank abbreviations such as subsp. and var.

Citations and references

Include a bibliography and references beside sentences or paragraphs based on a source. Original scientific articles take priority, followed by monographs and specialist accounts. For two authors, the format is [Kowalski and Nowak 2020], and for three or more [Kowalski et al. 2020]. For one author, we use [Kowalski 2020]. Papers by the same author or team from one year are distinguished by the letters a, b.

In the list, give all authors with initials, the original title, journal, year, volume, issue, pages or article number, and DOI if available. An example from the site's bibliography

Arakaki M., Christin P.-A., Nyffeler R., Lendel A., Eggli U., Ogburn R. M., Spriggs E., Moore M. J., Edwards E. J., Contemporaneous and recent radiations of the world’s major succulent plant lineages, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2011, 108(20):8379-8384, doi — 10.1073/pnas.1100628108

In the text, this paper is given the reference [Arakaki et al. 2011]. Publications available electronically are cited in the same way as other articles.

For ordinary websites and online databases, we use [number-WWW]. The link leads to the specific page consulted, and the portal appears only once in the Electronic sources tab, with its homepage address. For example, the account of growing cacti at home on the RHS website has the reference [1-WWW]. Include full page addresses and the access date with the material. We will match them to existing numbers.

Give each reference a short description of its topic, research material and main results. If you use an abstract or excerpt, specify that scope.

Figures and photographs

Include at least one illustration or photograph of your own with the article, or material with established permission for publication. It will also serve as the text's thumbnail. Choose additional photographs, diagrams and charts to suit the subjects discussed.

Give each figure a number and a caption explaining its content. Mark its position in the text, for example [Figure 1 here]. In the caption, give the author, and for others' material also the source and licence or scope of permission obtained. Prepare JPG or PNG files separately at the highest practical resolution.

Preparing a file

Format: DOCX, A4 page
Text: Times New Roman, 12 pt
Line spacing and margins: 1,5 lines, 2,5 cm margins
Length: No page limit

Include your full name or proposed author credit. You may add an affiliation or brief information about your botanical interests.

Editorial cooperation

Before publication, we will check content, sources, nomenclature and language. Significant corrections will be agreed with the author. The author retains rights to the text and illustrations. Permission covers publication solely on “Cacti • atlas and cultivation”, with the agreed credit, and technical adaptation of files. Use outside the site requires a separate agreement with the author.