Frequently Asked Questions
About publishing in Mycotaxon
About subscribing to Mycotaxon and about the books we sell
About Mycotaxon's origins and future, this website, and our T-shirt
Answers to FAQs
What sorts of articles does Mycotaxon publish?
Mycotaxon is dedicated to articles in English or in
French whose primary focus is on taxonomy or nomenclature of fungi.
Papers on other subjects such as ecology of fungi, ultrastructure of
fungi, mushroom cultivation, pathology, etc., unless the study has very
specific taxonomic implications, should be submitted to some other mycological
journal. Distribution lists and maps, floras, and papers describing
techniques useful to taxonomists are, for example, considered taxonomic.
The audience for Mycotaxon is the international community of
scholars engaged in research on fungal taxonomy and all interested in
the nomenclature of fungi and lichens as governed by the International
Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
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Who may publish in Mycotaxon?
Anyone, professional or amateur, who has something to contribute
to the taxonomy and nomenclature of fungi may submit articles for consideration.
This is not a membership journal, and authors submitting articles do
not need to be subscribers.
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Are there page charges for publishing in Mycotaxon?
Unless your articles exceed 64 printed pages in any one volume,
or have more than one halftone for every ten pages of manuscript, there
are no page charges. Excess pages beyond 64 are billed (currently at
$18 per page). Halftones in excess of the allowance are also billed
(currently at $18 each). There is no charge for line drawings.
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Do authors receive free reprints of their articles?
We no longer provide free offprints to authors. They may
be purchased, and a price list
is provided showing the costs of 25, 50, 100, and 200 offprints. We
do send the corresponding author one copy of the printed paper
immediately on publication from which xerographic copies can be made
to serve as reprints. We are no longer able to offer offprint negatives
of published articles.
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How is the peer-review process handled by Mycotaxon?
Unlike many other journals, Mycotaxon places the burden
of finding appropriate peer reviewers outside their own institution
on the authors themselves. We believe that authors know best who constitute
highly respected reviewers in their field of research. Authors submit
a fully formatted manuscript prepared according to our Instructions
for Authors (accessible by clicking
here) to reviewers of their choice, accompanied by a copy of our
Guidelines for Reviewers (accessible by clicking
here). Signed pre-submission peer reviews and the completed Reviewer's
Report Form must accompany the manuscript when it is submitted. The
Editor-in-Chief has the option of contacting the reviewers or of submitting
the manuscript to still additional reviewers in the Editor's sole judgement.
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Will Mycotaxon consider articles rejected
by other journals?
We have very strict rules about papers that have been submitted
elsewhere and rejected, whether or not they have since been revised.
We will gladly consider such papers, but authors are obliged to advise
the Editor-in-Chief of that previous rejection, and to provide a copy
of the paper in the original form in which it was rejected together
with copies of all rejection comments by reviewers or editors of that
article and an appeal from the author as to why the article merits further
consideration in our journal. The Editor-in-Chief will carefully screen
such submissions, and authors should be aware that such papers may take
much longer to process than papers that have not been rejected by another
journal. Failure to follow these rules will result in automatic rejection
of all future manuscripts submitted by such authors.
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How soon after submission can I expect my article
to appear in print?
We aim at publication of acceptable manuscripts within six
months of submission.
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Why all the different prices?
We provide the journal to individuals below cost, in the belief
that multiusers, such as libraries and industrial subscribers, should
help bear the ever increasing costs of publication. We have three prices
for both of these groups, reflecting differences in mailing costs to
addresses in the United States, and costs to foreign countries, either
by surface mail or by air mail at the subscriber's option.
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Why do you now ask for an annual subscription?
Nearly all journals and magazines have an annual subscription.
In the past we billed after each volume. Now that Mycotaxon typically
produces four volumes a year, the high cost of invoicing four times
a year has forced us to reconsider, and to begin a policy of annual
subscriptions. If a subscriber decides to cancel during the year, a
full refund for all paid-for but undelivered volumes will of course
be sent.
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Can I begin a subscription in mid-year?
Certainly! Just tell us when you become a new subscriber
the volume number with which you want to begin. We'll invoice you for
that volume plus any others to appear before year's end.
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Who started the journal, when, and why?
Professors Richard Korf (Cornell University) and Grégoire
Hennebert (Université Catholique de Louvain) began plans for
the journal in 1972, believing that a need existed for a mycological
journal devoted solely to taxonomy and nomenclature of fungi, including
lichens. A prime motive was to reduce the time between submission and
publication. They were the original Co-Editors of the journal. Publication
commenced in 1974. Mycotaxon is abstracted in essentially all abstracting
journals worldwide, and tables of contents appear in Current Contents
and similar resources.
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Why were the current journal format decisions made?
Hennebert and Korf initially decided that a 6x9 inch page
format which fits on most bookshelves was appropriate. We continue to
deplore the many changes in format size by other journals, which cause
filing problems in personal and institutional libraries. Worse yet,
we deplore the many name-changes in journal titles that seem to be the
current fashion. We have no plans to alter format size or the title
of Mycotaxon.
The original Co-Editors also decided that archival insecurity and
ecological danger meant that glossy paper was not an option. In particular
they wanted to avoid some glossy pages (for halftones) interspersed
with regular archival paper, as some journals do. Authors who require
glossy paper for reproduction of high dot-per-inch reproduction of
halftones, such as those used in transmission electron microscopy,
can surely find another journal to suit their needs. Reproduction
of most halftones with 150 dot-per-inch screens seems adequate for
Mycotaxon, as we believe you will discover on examination of a copy.
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What do the Editors and Editorial Advisory Board do?
The Editor-in-Chief (currently Pavel Lizon) is the final authority
on what gets published in Mycotaxon and appoints the Assistant Editors.
Their names and respective duties, postal addresses, e-mail addresses,
and websites (if they have one) can be accessed
from here.
The Editorial Advisory Board does not work with manuscripts, but
instead functions to advise the Editor-in-Chief and the corporation
that provides financial stability for the journal, Mycotaxon, Ltd.,
on policy matters. Their names, postal addresses, e-mail addresses,
and websites (if they have one) can be accessed
from here.
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When will Mycotaxon become a full-text on-line journal?
Probably not in the foreseeable future, but it is certainly
one of the options being explored by the Editorial Advisory Board. We
plan to update our Taxon Index, v. 61-ff
and our Author index, v. 61-ff
links in this website regularly, to complement our printed indexes for
volumes 1-20, 21-40, and 41-60.
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Who designed this website and the Mycotaxon T-shirt?
Full credit for both belongs to Noni K. Vidal. For the website she worked
with ideas furnished by her father, who in turn thanks his student, Kathie Hodge,
of Virtual Library fame, for helpful advice. For the T-shirt, she had input from Dick,
Pavel, and Teresa. To see it, check out this link to
our T-shirt.
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