Scientific language, such as measurements, specialized vocabulary, and nomenclature, is always in flux. Nevertheless, internal consistency within a manuscript should be maintained and attention paid to current standards of usage. Where legitimate differences in language and nomenclature exist, author preference will be respected. Following is a brief survey of guidelines and references, along with usage policies.

Although APS publications do not generally follow it for copyediting style, Scientific Style and Format issued by the Council of Biology Editors (1994) provides an excellent background on the origins of scientific terms and the governing bodies that rule on current nomenclature in a given field.

Apparatus and materials. Names of unusual proprietary materials and special apparatus should be followed by the manufacturer’s name and address in parentheses (the city and the state or the city and country if outside the United States). It is only necessary to cite these materials by specific name if the work cannot otherwise be replicated. Trade names may be used and should be capitalized; trademark symbols should not be used and will be deleted before publication.

Authorities for Latin binomials. Citation of authorities for Latin binomials is optional but is appropriate for manuscripts dealing with taxonomy or nomenclature or for organisms with unfamiliar binomials. When used, authorities should be provided at first mention of the organisms discussed.

Bacteria. Spellings should follow Bergey’s Manual of Systemic Bacteriology (Krieg and Holt 1984), the Approved List of Bacterial Names (Skerman et al. 1980), or the lists of species in the International Journal of Systemic Bacteriology (IJSB). Note that, according to Bergey’s style, groups below the level of subspecies should be italicized.

Common names of plant diseases. The APS Committee on Standardization of Common Names for Plant Diseases (1994) has developed listings of approved common names for plant diseases, the Committee on Standardization of Common Names for Plant Diseases (1994). These terms are official names for use in APS journals and publications. Please refer to the publication Common Names for Plant Diseases found in the free public access section of APSnet under Online Resources.

Chemicals, chemistry, and biochemistry terms. The ACS Style Guide (Dodd 1986) describes conventions in chemistry and biochemistry. The Merck Index (Budavari 1989) and Hawley’s Chemical Dictionary (Lewis 1993) are good sources for checking the spellings of chemical terms.

Cultures. Indicate the source of cultures. Include the designation of cultures obtained from or deposited in recognized collections. Authors are encouraged to deposit voucher cultures and specimens documenting their research at recognized institutions and to cite the place of deposit in the text.

Enzymes. Use the enzyme names recommended in the latest issue of Enzyme Nomenclature (International Union of Biochemistry, 1984). Give the number (classification) of the enzyme at first use (e.g., EC 1.1.75.6).

Genetics. Rieger et al. (1991), Stenesh (1989), and King and Stansfield (1990) are good specialized genetics and molecular biology dictionaries.

Fungi. The preferred source for common and scientific names and authorities of fungi is Fungi on Plants and Plant Products in the United States (Farr et al. 1989). Ainsworth and Bisby’s Dictionary of the Fungi (Hawksworth et al. 1995) is another good reference.

Insects. Common Names of Insects and Related Organisms (Stoetzel 1989) can be used to verify insect names.

Nucleotide sequences. Accession numbers (GenBank or EMBL) for primary nucleotide or amino acid sequence data must be provided as a footnote on the first page of the paper.

Plants. Farr et al. (1989) is a good source for the spelling of common and scientific names. Other good sources include Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed. (1994), Terrell et al. (1986), and Mabberley (1987). Use the term “cultivar” for agronomic and horticultural varieties. Identify the source of the cultivars and include CI and PI numbers when appropriate. The cultivar name may be preceded by “cv.”

Software. Software used should be treated as proprietary material or apparatus. Give the manufacturer’s or developer’s name in parentheses with location. References to software should not be given in the Literature Cited section.

Viruses. Guidelines provided in the Seventh Report of the International Committee for the Taxonomy of Viruses (Van Regenmortel et al. 1999), as described by Mayo and Horzinek (1998) and Van Regenmortel (1999), will be followed. In formal taxonomic usage, virus family, subfamily, and genus should be capitalized and printed in italics. When used formally, the name of the taxon should precede the term for the taxonomic unit, e.g., the family Bunyaviridae and the genus Tospovirus. Formal use of a virus species name also should be printed in italics, with the first word and any subsequent proper noun capitalized, e.g., Wheat American striate mosaic virus. Generally, the designation of the taxonomic unit “species” need not precede the species name, e.g., Tomato spotted wilt virus need not be written as “the species Tomato spotted wilt virus.” The first use of a virus species name in a paper usually should be formal and, therefore, italicized with the first word capitalized. Subsequent reference to the same virus should be by the accepted acronym, which is not italicized, e.g., TSWV. Virus names written in tables should be written formally. The name of a tentative species whose taxonomic status is uncertain should not be written in italics, but its first word (and any proper nouns) should be capitalized.

In informal vernacular use, the virus family, subfamily, and genus should be lowercase and not printed in italics. This generally does not apply to virus species names, because acronyms are applied after the first use, which is formal. The name of the taxon, if used, should follow the term for the taxonomic unit, e.g., the tospovirus genus. When used informally, the name of the taxon should not include the formal suffix, e.g., the bunyavirus family, not the bunyaviridae family. Usually, these constructions should simply be avoided, because they lead to unnecessary ambiguity. Formal taxonomic usage is preferred, particularly when the formal family and genus names have the same root terms, e.g., Bromoviridae and Bromovirus.

Most of the style guides mentioned have good discussions of English, grammar, and style. Other good general references include The Chicago Manual of Style (University of Chicago Press 1993) and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (1994).

List references in alphabetic order by authors’ family names (surnames). When citing multiple works by the same author, list articles by one author before those by several authors. Determine the sequence by alphabetizing according to the first author’s surname, by year of publication (most recent last), and if necessary, by page numbers of articles published in the same journal. Italicize Latin binomials, capitalize German nouns, and include diacritical (accent) marks. List specific pages of books. Refer to the BIOSIS List of Serials for accepted abbreviations of journal names. Do not abbreviate one-word titles of journals. Double-check the accuracy of title abbreviations, page and volume numbers, and dates, and check that each reference is cited in the text.

Only references generally available through libraries should be listed in the Literature Cited section. If work cited is in preparation, submitted but not accepted for publication, or not readily available in libraries, cite the work in parentheses in the text, e.g., (J. Jones, unpublished data) or (J. Jones, personal communication). Authors must obtain written permission from the person(s) cited as the source of the unpublished information, and a copy of the letter from the person supplying information must be included when submitting a manuscript. To cite an article as “in press,” you must have a letter of acceptance from a journal or book editor or have a copy of the galley proof for book chapters, bulletins, etc. Avoid excessive reference to unpublished information.

For literature citations of publications available or referenced online originally published in traditional print form, the original printed version should be cited. Materials originally published online by established sources (the Senior Editor will make the assessment of the online source) should be cited as published online.

Online material citations should include author(s), date, title, publication name or sponsoring organization, and publication number or equivalent identifier, if any, e.g., Nadeem, A. 1997. Title. Mol. Plant Pathol. Online, publication/1997/0612nadeem. As of 1996, each article appearing in an APS journal has a unique publication or digital object identifier (DOI) number assigned to it.

Do not reference the electronic address or filename of the material because they frequently change. If information used in the manuscript can be found online but is not from an established publication, it should be referenced in the manuscript as a personal communication (requiring the same verification from the authors as any other personal communication), e.g., (J. Jones, B. Myers, and P. Johnson, personal communication).

Online software, programs, models, etc. that are used to analyze data should be cited in text by referencing the sponsoring organization and program, e.g., NIH Image, is available online from the National Institutes of Health.

Website addresses are not to be listed within the text of a manuscript. The optional section heading Author-Recommended Internet Resources provides an opportunity to highlight relevant websites. The website addresses are reviewed by the Senior Editor. The section is placed after Literature Cited, but the websites should not take the place of literature citations.

It is the policy of APS journals to make changes to online pdf files if an error occurs that requires publication of an erratum for that article. A note will appear at the end of the revised file to describe the change.

Tables are used to present precise numerical data that show comparisons or interrelationships. When only a few values are to be presented, the data may be better presented in the text.

• Cite tables in numeric order in the manuscript.
• The minimum number of columns is two. Lists should be incorporated into the text.
• Titles should be self-explanatory and include enough information so that each table is intelligible without reference to the text or other tables. The title should summarize the information presented in the table without repeating the subheadings.
• Subheadings should be brief.
• Abbreviations are acceptable; nonstandard ones should be explained in footnotes.
• Footnotes are designated with superscript lowercase letters. Ditto marks should never be used.
• Data presented in tables should not be repeated in the text.

Figures.