The texts published by the Academy are original material only. Translations of articles already published in another language will not be accepted.
Languages
Papers are preferably submitted in English, but contributions in French, Dutch, German or Spanish are accepted as well, provided that an extended summary in English is included.
Each paper should be wholly written in one language (except for quotations and the reference list) and will be correct as far as the form is concerned: vocabulary, syntax, spelling.
Title
The title should clearly indicate the subject dealt with, but should be kept as short as possible.
Summaries
The text of a paper submitted for the Proceedings of the Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences should be preceded by two summaries: one in English and one in the language used in the paper, none of which exceeding 10 lines. The title of the paper should also be translated.
Keywords
The authors of a paper submitted for the Proceedings of the Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences should mention, under the title, in the languages of the summaries (no more than 5) keywords in order to facilitate text indexing.
Introduction and presentation of manuscripts
Manuscripts should be sent by e-mail.
The typescript should be in lower case (no capitals, except for initial letters), including titles, persons’ names, references, etc. No word should be underlined; the editorial staff will make the necessary markings for an adequate use of italics, bold, small capitals, etc.
Manuscripts should be complete (text, tables, reference list, illustrations), ready for printing.
The approximate position of tables and illustrations in the text should be indicated in the margin.
The publisher reserves the right to make minor alterations in the form and layout of typescripts in order to have a uniform presentation.
Footnotes
In principle, only two footnotes should be printed:
― The first one mentioning the presentation date of the published paper and the date of its acceptance by peer reviewers;
― The second one mentioning the institution which the author belongs to, his/her professional and personal email addresses.
Other notes should be numbered throughout the text between square brackets [ ]. They will appear in small print at the end of the paper.
Tables
Tables should be numbered with Arabic numerals and have a self-explanatory title.
Crop |
Reference yield |
Consumable yield (kg/ha) | |
| (kg/ha) | S1,1 (100) | S1,2 (79) | |
| Sweet potatoes | 9,000 | 8,100 | 6,391 |
| White potatoes | 10,000 | 8,100 | 6,010 |
| Beans | 1,000 | 864 | 675 |
The Academy reserves the right to refuse large tables which, after a reasonable reduction, still exceed the size of one printed page.
Illustrations
Illustrations should be presented on separate sheets and delivered in electronic format, preferably JPEG, TIFF or PDF (min. 300 DPI). For vector images, please select EPS.
Each figure (drawings, graphs, photographs or maps) should be numbered throughout the text. Graphs printed in black and white should be clearly readable.
Each illustration should have a concise but self-explanatory caption.
Drawings and photographs should be clear, clean and ready for publication (including letters and symbols). Lettering and all figure components should be large enough to permit reduction without loss of clarity.
Text references
In the text, references to the bibliography should be given as follows:
a) According to Burgis (1975) ...
b) According to Burgis (1975, p. 132) ...
c) In a recent paper (Burgis, 1975) ...
d) At the end of a sentence: ... (Burgis, 1975).
If there are two authors: Robinson & Fernald (1908) ...
If there are more than two authors: Heywood et al. (1977).
The titles of authors mentioned should be omitted : write “According to Burgis (1975), ...”, not “According to Prof. Burgis (1975), ...”.
In the text, Christian names of authors quoted should be given by their initial letter in case two authors have the same name.
Reference list
The system to be used for the presentation of bibliographical references is ‘APA Citation Style’
(https://library.stritch.edu/getmedia/68645fbb-f965-4ea0-a63d-14672a6c5fb7/APAStyleGuide6).
The reference list at the end of each paper should include all the publications referred to in the text. The number of references should be limited.
The references should be listed in alphabetical order of the authors, and in chronological order for a single author (or team of authors).
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements should be gathered in a single paragraph at the end of the paper.
Proofs
The authors will receive only one proof of their work. This proof should be returned after correction within a delay of two weeks to the secretariat of the Academy. Abundant alterations and additions at the proof stage, apart from the corrections of the printer’s errors, will be charged to the authors.
Offprints
In addition to one copy of the volume in which his/her text is published, the author will receive a pdf version of his/her article. In case paper offprints are needed, they can be obtained on payment. Orders should be addressed to the secretariat of the Academy when the corrected proofs are returned.
Special recommendations
Quotations of texts written in African languages
For quotations of texts in an African language, one should follow the recommendations given in
Burssens, A. (1972). La notation des langues négro-africaines. Signes typographiques à utiliser. Mém. Acad. R. Sci. Outre-Mer, Cl. Sci. mor. et polit., Nouv. Sér. in-8°, 41(2), 104 pp.
Units, numbers, fractions
Units should be in accordance with the International System of Units (SI), from which the Belgian metric legislation is inspired, as determined by the law of 16 June 1970, completed by the royal decrees of 27 November 1970 and 4 October 1977. An excellent account of it is given in:
Leenaerts, R. (1980). Les unités de mesures et leur notation. Louvain-la-Neuve: UCL, Institut de Génie chimique, 102 pp.
Symbols are not followed by a full point, remain invariable (even in the plural) and are identical in all languages.
Authors should consequently write m, km, ha, kg, etc. The symbol of the second (time) is s (not ”); of the minute min (not ’); of the hour h; of the day d.
The Euro, monetary unit, is symbolized by €.
The following symbols should be used: decimal logarithm = log; natural logarithm = In; normality of solutions: 10 N; molarity of solutions: 2 M.
In English texts, a comma will be put in whole numbers of four figures and more, while a dot will separate units from decimals. In French, Dutch, German and Spanish texts, numbers will be written according to European usage.
Names of living organisms
All organisms should be referred to by their correct scientific names. These names should be in conformity with the latest editions of the International Codes of Botanical, Zoological and Bacteriological Nomenclature. Authors’ names should be given, at least the first time they are mentioned.
Genera’s names have a capital initial letter; the specific or infraspecific epithets have a small one (even if derived from a person’s name).
Examples: Congothrissa gossei Poll
Osmunda regalis L. var. brevifolia Desv.
Vernacular names should be avoided, but if such names are used, they will be accompanied by the correct scientific names when mentioned for the first time.