The Lady Slipper: Author Submission Guidelines

LadySlipper@knps.org

In support of Kentucky Native Plant Society (KNPS), The Lady Slipper, by way of published content serves the organization’s mission of education, preservation, and protection of the native plants and ecosystems of Kentucky. Articles for The Lady Slipper are posted online in blog format with a monthly email newsletter linking to the blog.

The Lady Slipper publishes several types of articles:

News: Articles announcing events related to botany, conservation horticulture, and ecology might be posted. Event details need to be included in both written and link format for ease of access.

Conservation: Articles relating to specific conservation initiatives, paradigms, and practices as they relate to Kentucky flora fit this category. Examples might include “No Mow May,” new conservation areas, and concepts of how to maintain Kentucky ecosystems (such as Julian Campbell’s various thoughts).

Citizen Science: These articles highlight ways in which interested citizens can participate in data collection as part of larger scientific endeavors related to native plant conservation and restoration.

Plant Profile: This is a scientific paper on topics related to a specific native plant, specifically to share research projects conducted with strict adherence to scientific principles. These articles will be of interest to botanists and other professionals in the field.

Native Spotlight: This is a less formal review of a native plant that includes information about its culture, botany, wildlife benefits, propagation, and garden interest (for home gardeners). The primary audience for this article will be experts in the field, the home gardener, and everybody in-between with an interest toward identifying native plants in the wild or cultivated areas and perhaps including them in their own home gardens.

Invasive Corner: Please use this category for an in-depth discussion of invasive plants throughout Kentucky. Include as much information about the plant as possible using credible sources. Also include the acceptable forms of eradication.

Kentucky Backyard Restoration: We like to publish pictures of and short articles about people renovating their yards from lawn to native trees, shrubs, and plants. Your yard doesn’t have to be all native either. We want to share your story and see the process.

General Technical: This broad category offers authors the opportunity to share technical information on processes, propagation, production, establishment, and management of Kentucky native plants and plant communities. Use this category to focus on process, and how to help the plant. This category might also capture surveys of plant communities, as well as data relating to these communities.

Miscellaneous: This category leaves open the opportunity to share personal and group experiences about Kentucky native plants and its ecosystems.

Style

We are a non-profit totally run by volunteers and we don’t press a specific style, but consider using Scientific Style and Format, The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, 8th ed. Council of Science Editors (ISBN 978-0-226116495) when submitting articles for Plant Profile, Invasive Corner, and General Technical, although doing so isn’t required.

Refrain from the use of special formatting, but please do italicize botanical names: The first letter of the genus is uppercase while the specific epithet is lowercase. Please include subspecies if applicable. Use of the scientific name is necessary because common names vary too much. It’s fine to refer to a plant by its common name throughout an article, but we do need a binomial name the first time the plant is mentioned by name.

Use contractions, or not. Use the Oxford comma, or not. We don’t restrict authors to a particular preference. We want to preserve your voice, not make your writing experience more difficult. If grammar isn’t a strong skill, be sure to use spell check, and consider asking a friend to proof your article before submitting. We’ll also help in the writing process.

Use active voice when possible.

If statistical analysis is to be presented, contact an editor through LadySlipper@knps.org if there are any questions about how to represent results.

No article will be rejected because of style alone. Nor do you have to be a great writer; we have several knowledgeable editors on staff to help.

Legalese and how to submit

Submitted files and images become the property of The Lady Slipper. The author retains all copyright and once published can request that an article be removed from our site and archives. However, we will not be responsible for returning original files. We also reserve the right to remove an article or figure without warning or notice for any reason. In general, this guideline applies to suspected plagiarism but can happen for other reasons.

Make submission by sending a query with a brief description of your topic via email to LadySlipper@knps.org. You may submit an article if it’s already written, but submission doesn’t guarantee publication. We recommend that you review the blog to become familiar with the types of articles we publish and to make sure the topic you have in mind hasn’t been covered recently.

The submission will go to the editorial team and to the KNPS board. The editors may suggest stylistic revisions while trying to reserve the author’s voice. The author may accept or reject these suggestions. Spelling and grammar errors will be corrected without notice.

You may submit previously published articles if you own the copyright. Be sure to include that information with your submission and add a brief note to the end of the actual article. For instance, “This article was previously published by… “

All articles should include a list of technical references (when necessary) and a brief author bio.

All photos should be credited, even if its Common License.

We accept only science-based factual content on Kentucky native plants. We don’t publish commentary. You may wax a bit about your love for a specific plant or a walk through the woods, but please include species encountered and so on. If you take a controversial viewpoint on a topic, be prepared to support it with evidence and references.

You may submit articles as often as you like, but submission doesn’t guarantee publication. If we decide not to publish an article, we will explain why.

Please remember that we are all volunteers. There’s no compensation for submissions, but The Lady Slipper has a large and diverse audience. You will benefit from the exposure, and our subscribers will benefit from your knowledge. We eagerly look forward to your submissions!

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