Author Guide

AmphiBios is a practitioner magazine, not a peer-reviewed journal. That distinction matters for how you write.

Our readers are conservation professionals, researchers, students, and enthusiasts from around the world. Some are specialists in your exact field; most are not. Many are reading in a second or third language. Some will find your article on a phone during a field break with limited connectivity.

The best AmphiBios articles do three things well:

• Tell a story — Every conservation project has one. What problem did you face? What did you try? What happened? What did you learn? Lead with the story, and weave the science through it.
• Show why it matters — Connect your work to the bigger picture. Help readers understand not just what you did, but why it's relevant to conservation practice beyond your site or species.
• Be practical — If a reader doing similar work could learn something useful from your experience, make sure they can find it. Methods that worked, mistakes worth avoiding, resources they should know about — these details are what practitioners value most.

You don't need to abandon scientific rigor to write accessibly. The goal is to communicate your work clearly to people who care about conservation but may not share your specific expertise.

A clear structure helps readers follow your thinking and find what's most relevant to them. Here's a framework that works well for most AmphiBios articles — adapt it to suit your content:

Use headings and subheadings to break up your text. Readers on mobile devices scroll through long content — clear section headers help them navigate and return to sections they found valuable.

AmphiBios is designed for mobile screens first, so your visuals need to work well at small sizes. A compelling figure can communicate what paragraphs of text cannot — but only if readers can actually see it clearly on their device.

Preparing images

• Submit as separate files — Do not embed images in your Word or LaTeX document. Upload each figure, chart, map, or photo as a separate high-resolution image (JPEG, PNG, or WebP, at least 1200px wide).
• Export charts and graphs as images — If your figure was created in Excel, R, Python, or GIS software, export it as a high-resolution image file rather than pasting it into your manuscript.
• Include captions and credits — Every figure needs a caption explaining what readers are seeing. Include photo credits for all images, even your own.
• Reference in the text — Mention each figure in your manuscript (e.g., "Figure 1" or "see map below") so readers know when and where to look.

Designing for mobile

• Use clear, large labels — Axis labels, map legends, and annotations that look fine on a desktop monitor can become unreadable on a phone screen. Increase font sizes in your figures, use high contrast between text and background, and test legibility by viewing on your phone.
• Simplify where possible — A figure with one clear message is more effective than one packed with data. If you have complex data, consider splitting it across multiple figures rather than cramming it into one.
• Avoid complex tables — Simple rows and columns render well on phones. Merged cells, nested headers, and wide tables don't. If your data is complex, a chart or figure may communicate it more effectively.

Maps

Maps are especially valuable in conservation articles — they ground your work geographically. When preparing maps:

• Include a clear scale bar and north arrow
• Label key features (study sites, reserves, nearby landmarks) with large, readable text
• Use distinct colors or patterns for different zones or categories
• Consider including an inset showing the broader geographic context

If you have an interactive map (ArcGIS, Google Maps), we can embed it directly in your article. Include the URL in your manuscript — see our Author Guidelines for details on embeddable content.

Clear writing isn't about dumbing down your science — it's about removing unnecessary barriers between your ideas and your reader. Here are some strategies that work:

• Lead with plain language, then add precision. Instead of starting with a technical term, explain the concept first: "We measured how many frogs survived from tadpole stage to adulthood (metamorphic survival rate)." The reader understands the idea before encountering the jargon.
• Define abbreviations on first use. Write out the full term the first time, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses: "the YUS Conservation Area (YUS CA)." After that, use the abbreviation freely.
• Use concrete examples. "The reserve covers 78,000 hectares" is harder to picture than "the reserve is roughly the size of New York City." Analogies and comparisons make abstract numbers meaningful.
• Keep sentences direct. Passive voice ("It was found that…") adds distance. Active voice ("We found…" or "The survey revealed…") is more engaging and easier to follow, especially for readers working in a second language.
• Break up long paragraphs. On a mobile screen, a paragraph that looks fine on your laptop becomes a wall of text. Aim for 3–5 sentences per paragraph. Use headings to signal topic changes.

Remember: your reader might be a field biologist in Papua New Guinea, a graduate student in Brazil, a zoo conservation manager in Australia, or a policy advisor in Europe. Write for all of them.

Conservation work rarely happens in isolation. Your article should acknowledge the people, organizations, and agreements that made your work possible.

Include an acknowledgments section in your manuscript that covers:

• Facilitating organizations — Programs, institutions, or partnerships that enabled your research or fieldwork
• Funders — Grants, sponsors, or funding bodies that supported the work
• Permits and agreements — Research permits, conservation area management committees, landowner agreements, or institutional MOUs
• Collaborators — Local communities, field assistants, technical advisors, or anyone who contributed meaningfully to the work but isn't listed as an author

Proper acknowledgment matters. It respects institutional relationships, honors contributions, and ensures your article accurately represents the collaborative nature of conservation work. When our submission form asks you to confirm that all facilitating organizations and agreements have been properly acknowledged, this is what we mean.

Here's what to expect after you submit:

We edit lightly for clarity, grammar, and house style. We won't change your meaning or voice — your work is your work. If we suggest substantive changes, we'll discuss them with you first.

Once your article is live, here's how to get the most from it:

• Share the link directly. Every article has its own permanent URL. Send it to funders, collaborators, your institution's communications team, or anyone who should see your work. The link generates a rich preview with your article's title and image when shared on social media.
• Cite in reports. Every article includes a citation block you can copy directly. Use it in grant reports, project updates, or other publications. AmphiBios articles include all the metadata needed for a proper citation.
• Save as PDF. Use your browser's print function (Ctrl+P / Cmd+P) to save any article as a PDF. Formatting and attribution are handled automatically.
• Build your contributor profile. Your contributor page on AmphiBios grows over time as you publish. It becomes a portfolio of your conservation communication work within the ASA network.